The Long Travel Days (story version)

What an interesting time getting over to Florence! Getting from the US to Munich was simple; it was not until I got into Europe that my journey started to take a turn for the worst. The plane landed at about 9:45am in Germany or 3:45am eastern time, I proceeded to enter into the airport a bit jet legged and deprived of sleep. I scanned the sign of departures and arrivals and could not find my flight anywhere. My heart beat a little faster in fear of a cancelled flight and I went to go find help. Around the corner, up three flights of stairs, down a narrow hallway, my feet were dragging, the service center was finally in sight and with relief I picked up my pace. The other passengers were making their way through the double doors that led to the service center, in stride my eyes met a young man’s. Instead of dismissing me through the doors with the other passengers he motioned me to step aside and place my bag on the table. The sign behind him said customs. Just my luck, I was the cute girl or hundredth person to walk through and get my entire bag checked, emptied and packed up ever so neatly (he stuffed it back in). Good thing I had nothing on me. This is also when I learned my lesson that you should never look anyone in the eye, Europe is not as polite as America.

After the not so brief meeting with customs, I spent a solid ten minutes trying to translate German signs to find my economy class Lufthansa service center. The lady was very nice, until she told me that my flight… was… cancelled. Those are the last words anyone wants to hear when you are traveling in a foreign country. After she saw the fear in my eyes, she worked at her computer vigorously, searching for any and all flights departing to Florence. To both of our surprise there was one departing at 11:20 am which was an hour away, however it was full. She gave me a ticket to board if there was a seat and comforted me by telling me I had a good shot at getting on. In addition she handed me a ticket to Florence departing at 8pm that evening in case I missed the other. I thanked her, and hurried to the gate. There were two young ladies working the gate. I walked up; with great confidence I could charm them as a lost traveler, earn their pitty, and make it on that flight. To my dismay, my puppy eyes and pretty please, did not work. She said she could not tell if there would be room. All the passengers boarded and there was me and one other girl sulking, or hoping to get on the flight. I went to the counter again, pleading to let me on, I decided no water works in case of what others would think. In pleading for my life, I may have asked to sit on someone’s lap, or said I would sit with the flight attendants or help hand out pretzels to give the attendant a break, but I don’t remember.

Despite my efforts, they did not let me on. Rude. Anyways, I had to go back to the service center to claim my ticket to Rome. I showed the lady my papers, instead of receiving my ticket, I got a very solemn stare. My stomach dropped as she notified me that all the airports in Italy were on strike starting right then at 12 noon. She frantically tried to search for other flights and train stations that would get me to Florence that same day. Right next to me was the other girl who could not get on the last flight to Florence either. She was doing the same, discussing other possible ways to get to Florence. The girl looked over at me and asked if I was a student in Florence and if I was, she could help me get there because she spoke Italian and was a grad student at Lorenzo de Medici. The angel choir broke out in song. I was saved, no matter how I got to Florence; I knew I could be with someone who has traveled around Europe before and was going to the same place as me.

Now all the ladies at the service center were collaboratively trying to help us get to Florence. The only promising option seemed to be by train to avoid the strike. The only train that was from Munich to Florence was the night train. We decided that was truly the only option. The tricky part was getting to the Munich train station which happened to be 45 minutes from the Munich airport. Lufthansa paid for our night train ticket, beds and the bus ticket. We had all day to kill 12-9. The bus turned out to be rather scenic, which was nice.

 

The train station was huge, and it was freezing since it was in-door out-door.  The time was 4pm, and we still had five hours until our departure. We hopped from heated place to another seeking a sitting place. A couple hours past and we were board out of our mind, and tired with almost no sleep the night before. Across the way, we spotted a luggage storage place that offered 24 hour service for six euros. We carted our luggage and stuffed it into a small storage space and were finally luggage free to explore the city. Munich is quite beautiful.

 

Three hours past, I could not feel my toes or fingers, and we headed back to the station to collect our luggage and board the train.

By that time, it was surreal that something would finally go as planned. I was very much looking forward to a nice bed on the train, and nine hours to just relax. I should not have asked for so much. The train rooms were about as big as anyone’s bath room, with triple bunk beds on each side. There were six beds total in each room, and each bed measured about 3ft wide by 5ft long. Super comfy. The train rode all night, stopping in Switzerland and multiple places in Italy. Believe it or not, nine hours on a train, is a long time and trains are very loud. I probably did not get more than three hours of good sleep; instead I lay awake praying that the train would make it safely. At about 5am the train was making weird noises. We stopped in Milan, and stayed for quite a while. Forty five minutes passed and we were notified that the train needed some repairs. It took thirty more minutes for us to leave Milan, and another hour on the train to reach Florence. I WAS FINALLY THERE. 6: 15 am, two nights with no sleep.

My wonderful roommates greeted me at the station and helped carry my luggage to our apartment. I was about to sleep when I realized that I had orientation starting at 8:45am and ending at 4pm. What a long three days!!!

I am very grateful towards the grad student who helped me navigate my way through Europe, without her I would not have made it. And also very thankful for my roommates to pick me up, because otherwise I would have had to wait outside the LdM building until the faculty came to work at 8am to give me a key. It all worked out just fine, and I made it safely!