After a couple quick days in Germany, I made my way to Rome. Before leaving the states, I purchased a 3 country Eurail pass with 6 days of travel. It costs about $500 but is absolutely worth it if you plan on hopping around. It is cheaper and easier if you purchase the pass before leaving the States but isn’t required. This pass does allow you to jump from train to train at most any time but some trains require reservations for an extra 7 to 10 euro so you have to be sure to check. Most of these are the speed trains and night trains. I would also recommend reserving those trains in advance otherwise you spend much of you time waiting in line at the train station customer service desks waiting to get a ticket. It all depends on your trip plans. I didn’t plan ahead because I wanted to be free to come and go as I pleased but in July, the highest travel time, this may not have been a great idea. I spent my fair share of time in line waiting to reserve my seats.
My trip from Heidelberg was a bit of a bump in the road at first. I left on an evening train to Munich so that I could switch trains and take the night train to Rome. I wasn't even 20 minutes into my trip when I realized I made my first mistake. While looking at the schedule I realized that the train I was going to take would actually take me through Austria and not Switzerland. That is a problem! The 3 Country Eurail pass that I have is only for Italy, Germany and Switzerland so if I was to travel through another country I would have to pay for that entire leg of the trip. Luckily I found this out right before reaching Stuttgard because that is where the rail splits and I was able to hop off. I had to then reroute my trip and there was no night train except for me to go to Zurich, spend the night and leave for Rome in the morning. I was getting into Zurich at 11pm which is not very desirable when you have no idea where you are staying and have never been to the city before. Caro helped me to find a hostel and gave me the directions so I was at more ease knowing I would have a place. BUT, I reached Zurich at 11pm, took the wrong train (that has the same number as the one in the directions but was a regional train not a city one) After a few stops and not seeing any names similar to the stop I would get on, I hopped off and too the train back into Zurich. It was now midnight and POURING rain. I finally saw that there were city trains outside and figured out that those are what I needed. After walking a few blocks, sopping wet to find my train number stop, I finally found it. At that point I still had no clue where I was going. Then a kind older man in an Iowa sweatshirt came to the stop and I said Hello. We visited for a while and he ended up inviting me to stay with him and his wife. He was just headed back home from dinner with her and his cousin. Ok Ok....I can not type this in a way for anyone to feel at ease but I know it was a safe choice so dont worry. I was cautious. In the end I had a place to sleep for a few hours before heading back to the station. On to Rome....finally
Matthieu and I ...........I now have a contact if I want to go to the Ivory Coast in West Africa...the joy of meeting people from all over the world!
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