Ah, Tuesday. Usually, I do not think of Tuesday as a particularly rushed day of the week. On a typical Tuesday, I work out, I go to work, I actually get some work, grade some papers, get home at a reasonable hour, usually have dinner with Tony, maybe watch some television, get some work done at home and go to bed. Today, was anything by typical in Germany. I could not sleep, so I got up early and went to breakfast. I was the first there, and after being around so many people every day, it was nice to have some hot tea and read a bit before the chaos of the day. Having packed and checked out, we soon planned to head to the main train station in Munich – Hauptbaunhauf München – to get on a train as a part of our trip to Wolfsburg. As we said out goodbyes to our guide in Munich, Michael, we got some photos with him. Of all the tour guides I have had on all the trips I have taken over the course of my life, none of them matches Michael. He is truly one in a million. Each of the students even gave him a small tip, and he was so touched he blushed and blurted out, “My face is lighting up like a street lamp!” What a hoot!
So the train pulls into the station, and we have about 5 minutes to haul ourselves and all of our luggage onto the right train cars, find our seats and start stowing the (heavy) bags overhead. What an ordeal! If it had not been for some of the students like Albert Vaughn, Taylor Perkins, Tyler Walker, and Marko Bajic, I am not sure what we would have done. So, we rode in relative peace for about three and a half hours until we arrived at our next stop. We had about 90 seconds to unload ourselves and our tightly stowed luggage jump off the train, and them within a few short minutes our next train pulled up. Of course, by the time this train stopped, most of us were back by car 18, and most of us had seats in car number 5. Again, with only about 60 seconds to get ourselves and our luggage onto the train, we started to run towards car 5 until it became evident many of us would never make it as we were hauled substantial loads of luggage. Consequently, many students followed my lead and just jumped onto the nearest train car they could reach – luggage and all. I will not even describe the hell we then endured as we dragged our big old bags through crowded train car after crowded train with scowling passengers sometimes hissing at us – only to get to our car and discover that four of the seats that we had been assigned did not exist!
So the train pulls into the station, and we have about 5 minutes to haul ourselves and all of our luggage onto the right train cars, find our seats and start stowing the (heavy) bags overhead. What an ordeal! If it had not been for some of the students like Albert Vaughn, Taylor Perkins, Tyler Walker, and Marko Bajic, I am not sure what we would have done. So, we rode in relative peace for about three and a half hours until we arrived at our next stop. We had about 90 seconds to unload ourselves and our tightly stowed luggage jump off the train, and them within a few short minutes our next train pulled up. Of course, by the time this train stopped, most of us were back by car 18, and most of us had seats in car number 5. Again, with only about 60 seconds to get ourselves and our luggage onto the train, we started to run towards car 5 until it became evident many of us would never make it as we were hauled substantial loads of luggage. Consequently, many students followed my lead and just jumped onto the nearest train car they could reach – luggage and all. I will not even describe the hell we then endured as we dragged our big old bags through crowded train car after crowded train with scowling passengers sometimes hissing at us – only to get to our car and discover that four of the seats that we had been assigned did not exist!
About 90 minutes later, we did FINALLY arrive in Wolfsburg. We had a “guide” who stood near a tall cage that was meant to haul our luggage to the bus for us – if we so desired. Since most of us had been hauling luggage all day, we chose to continue hauling, but about 10 people allowed the “guide” with the cage to haul the luggage. So, we get to the bus, and Tony helps the bus driver load the luggage we hauled ourselves. Next thing we know, the bus driver takes off, and kids are screaming in the back of the bus that there is still luggage on the sidewalk, and that the man with the cage of bags is standing there watching the bus drive away. The bus drives makes a U-turn in the middle of this tiny road and goes back to the get the backs. Less than a mile a later, the same driver hit a curve, and left us all wondering what in the world we had gotten ourselves into.
We have checked into a lovely 4-star hotel, Hotel an der Wasserberg. After a quick dumping of bags into rooms, we headed back to the bus and checked out some Wolfsburg history. We visiting the Wolfsburg Castle, but honestly, after seeing Neuschwantein Castle yesterday, Wolfsburg Castle hardly compared. Then we went to the Kunstmuseum of modern art where we experienced a current exhibit by James Turrell who is a light and space artist. As modern art goes, I suppose his work is interesting (I am not a fan of most modern and contemporary art, which I am sure, appalls Dr. Townsend), but this might have been interesting if I had ANY depth perception at all. Combined with the fact that I have epilepsy, and I have been dealing with vertigo most of the trip, I just felt a strong compulsion to get the hell out of there! The students found it very cool, though, so that is fantastic.
At this point, it had been 11 hours since most of us had eaten, so eagerly boarded our coach back to the hotel for a lovely 15-minute “freshening up” period before we re-boarded the coach to head out to a group dinner. Candidly, I still do not know where we ate. I can tell you that we were all so hungry by the time they served our food we would have eaten just about the anything. The first course was some sort of soup in a beef stock with an onion flavor. It included matzo balls, onions, tofu and something else that I did not recognize. Nevertheless, I ate it all. Next course was a salad that was fairly standard followed by a third course of huge steaks with mushrooms, garlic butter, some sort of tomato, and baked potato. The final course was the sweet part – a chocolate covered pear with ice cream and wafers. One of the students at our table mistook the pear for a potato and got lots of teasing for thinking the restaurant would serve a chocolate-covered potato. In any case, a good time was had by all, but we got back to hotel really late, and after such a hectic day, we all had to get some much-needed sleep. Now we are heading to breakfast and then a tour of the enormous Volkswagen plant here in Wolfsburg.
Thanks again for following us. We have loved hearing from you!
Joanie and Tony and the rest of UHON
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