Train Strike in Germany

My lovely seatmate on the way to Brussels. I tried out some German, she tried English.

There's a train stike happening in Germany, which would ordinarly be bad news for a train traveler. But I suppose this is the adventure of traveling: that you can't predict what will happen next.

I took the Eurostar out of London, and the plan was to arrive at the Brussels Midi station and make a quick connection on to Cologne. Well, I arrived in Brussels to find no platform listed for my Cologne train. It was a short time-frame anyway, so I ran to an attendant for help. He didn't have much to say, except to try platform 5. At platform 5, they said to try platform 11. Time was running out! On platform 11, I happened to run into a nice man from Prague in the same predicament, and he had more information. Our train to Cologne was delayed, and the train was skipping the Brussels Midi stop! I followed him onto a local train, where we got off two stops later and rushed onto our Cologne train. Quite exciting, but the excitement doesn't end there.

Outside the Cologne train station.

In Cologne, I found out my overnight train to Warsaw was canceled. I tried to keep cool even though missing one train might mean missing all the others down the line! The man from Prague said, "Your train trip is stacked like a house of cards." Sure is. Anyway, I waited patiently in line to find out my fate: I can take a train, a bus, and another train into Warsaw tomorrow, and get there about an hour before my train from Warsaw to Kiev. Pros: they gave me a hotel room here in Cologne and I'll get to see more of Germany on my way, instead of sleeping through it. Cons: I don't get to spend the day in Warsaw and I'm nervous because I have to pick up my Warsaw ticket at the Warsaw post office when I arrive, and hopefully still make it onto my train!

Stay tuned!