Stations and Closing Times

Monday, 3 November 2008.

Today, we planned on going to Bingen, a small town on the Rhein, and not far form Mainz. Me and Rob went to meet a couple of fellow language assistants who are staying in the area, not sure how far exactly, but close enough!

We planned to meet at the train station, so I parked my car at this multi-storey car par and made our way. However, this place has two train stations at opposite end of the town, which is stupid because it really didn’t seem necessary. But it took a lot of time searching for a ‘small pub’ and a few phone calls to figure out that we were at the wrong station.

Me, Emma, Laura and Rob on a bridge.

So, eventually we met each other about half way, but not without me and Rob taking a scenic riverside path that lead us to a dead end and a few community service people. And we decided that the best side of town was our side, so we walked around there. Played with some Autumn leaves and a statue, took photos of a giant yellow duck and went to a pub for a bit.

All went über good and Rob’s train was due, so we left, said Tschüß and me, Laura and Emma made our way back to the carpark.

But… much to my disappointment, the carpark was locked, which was stupidly early to lock a shopping centre car park on a weekday (which was 7 o’clock), and only then I noticed small insignificant looking signs about the closing times.

So… I had no access to my beloved automobile. I had no access to my phone either, as the battery died on Saturday. I was rather screwed. I could have waited until 8 the next morning, but as it was absolutely freezing that night, and I had school in the morning, it was not going to happen.

The only sensible option left was to rely on the Deutsche Bahn. Me not being a fan of public transport, and with stupidly expensive fares, and with the reliability similar to that of a blind taxi driver in a foreign city, I was actually contemplating on staying in Bingen, or at someone’s place. But because of school, I had to go home, and then return the next day.

So, me, Laura and Emma went to the Hauptbahnhof (on the bad side) and waited for the train. The ticket from Bingen to Recklinghausen (changes at Koblenz, Köln and Essen), and an arrival time of 0108 after a three hour journey, and also the same journey back the next day, would cost me a total of nearly 100 Euros. I was not amused. Especially by the fact that the taps in the toilets soaked my arms and lower body, which didn’t go down well in the coldness outside.