The next morning I woke up at 5:30 for my 8:00 am train. I wasn't going to miss this one. And I also needed to buy a reservation for that train and was going to try to by my reservation for my train from Paris to Hamburg. I got to to train station at 6:30 and naturally the ticket offices didn't open until 7:30 so I grabbed a bite to eat and then went to the ticket counter. The train agent told me second class was sold out on the train to Hendaya but I could by a first class ticket for €55. Reluctantly I forked over the money and inquired about the overnight train from Paris to Hamburg. Can't be done the agent said. Has to be done in Paris. That was going to be a problem since I only had 30 minutes to get from the southernmost train station to the northernmost. A 25 minute metro ride or 15 minute taxi. I got on the train and while walking past 2nd class it seemed pretty empty. I don't know why they called it first class, the only different was that they served a crummy breakfast and that the cabin was almost empty compared to the (supposedly) full second class. After a 5 hour train ride I arrived in Hendaya where, just to be safe, I bought a reservation for the next train as well. I got to Paris at 19:51, right on time for once and hurried over to Gare du Nord. I got there at 20:10 and with only 5 minutes to go until the train left I hopped on the train without a reservation. Out of sheer luck I timed it perfectly so that the conductor was already past me, checking other people's tickets. I befriended a group of Swedish kids who said I could hide my bag in their compartment and if need be, sleep on the ground. They agreed and as I was going to get my bag, the conductor reappeared and asked to see my ticket. (The way it works for overnight trains is that you need to make a reservation (€25) if you have a rail pass, since there are only a certain number of beds.) I played dumb and gave him my rail pass. He asked for my reservation and I said I have no idea what he was talking about. He said I needed a reservation and if I didn't have one he was kicking me off the train at the next station and I had to pay a penalty of €20 euros. I begged with him but he would have none of it and told me to wait in the corner and he would be back in 20 minutes when we were close to the station. I got the Swedes to translate for me and after begging him for a while, he finally told me that the one person hadn't showed up yet and if he didn't show up by the next stop, I could have his bed. Wohoo! I grabbed my bag and practically sprinted to compartment 6, bed 3. I stashed my bag and jumped in bed and pretended like I was asleep for 3 hours, until I finally fell asleep.
In the morning we arrived in Hamburg 45 minutes late (which I didn't realize) and I went to grab some food, as I had left my food on the second train and hadn't eaten anything in 24 hours. As I was walking to the train I saw the conductor blow his whistle and step inside the train. I sprinted to the train and got there just in time to stick my hand in the door and jump in. The conductor gave me a wide eyed look but didn't say anything and stepped aside. The train was full and there were no seats available I found myself a spot on the ground. To get to Denmark I thought we would have to get off and take a ferry and get on another train, but the train just drove straight onto the ferry. The 45 minute ferry ride was just long enough for everyone to stock up on duty free beer and alcohol. And so when the train departed from the ferry in Denmark the train turned into a big party.
When I arrived in Copenhagen I asked for directions to the ferry terminal from the information book. "Right outside next to the 7 Eleven you take the 26 bus and it goes straight there." I went outside and saw the 7 Eleven and the number 26 bus pulling up. I hustled on and sat down. After about 7 blocks I went up to the driver just to make sure I was on the right bus. After a rather confusing conversation trying to explain to him what a ferry was, he told me that that I should be going on the bus the other way. He kindly pulled over immediately and I started back the opposite direction. I had only exchanged 5 euros, which I thought was a lot but after a commission fee that worked out to be 3.5 euros, I had only exchanged enough money for one bus ride. So I had to walk all the way back to exchange office and get 5 more euros exchanged. It turns out that there are two 7 Eleven caddy corner from each other, each with a number 26 bus stop in front of it. I don't know if the information guy just liked to mess with people or if he was a moron. After a 20 minute bus ride I finally arrived at the ferry terminal. The last leg of my journey! I approached a ticket agent and proudly told her that I have a rail pass and that I'd like a ticket to Oslo. After a minute of typing on her computer she told me that after the rail pass discount, the total would be 110.50 euros. My jaw hit the floor. There must be a mistake I said. I had a rail pass, and the timetable booklet says that if I have a rail pass I can ride for free. Besides not even having enough money to ride the ferry, I was so fed up with all the extra charges I had been hit with since Madrid. The only reason I was taking trains instead of flying is because I wanted to save money but in all I ended up spending more money traveling by train and spent 50 hours instead of five.
My rail pass was going to expire at the end of the day and then it would have probably been more expensive to travel by rail, so I couldn't see any other options. I gathered my €95 remaining in bills and counted out €15.50 in coins, using my 10 cent coins for the last 50 cents. I walked back up to the counter and dropped my money on the counter. The travel agent gave me a funny look and told me in matter of fact tone that they do not accept coins. "That's absolutely absurd" I replied, as I imagined myself throttling the lady's throat. Sorry company policy. After sweet talking her and making it clear that I had no more money, nor credit card, she turned to her manager and had a long conversation in Danish. She then turned to me and said I could keep my coins and she would just charge me €95. I almost jumped with joy until I realized I was spending $140 on an otherwise free train ride.
On the ferry I had my own room and bathroom which was a great luxury. I wandered around the ferry and discovered it was a luxury cruise ship, and full of old people and families. Not a single backpacker on board. Apparently no one else had been swindled like me. As I wandered I saw everyone eating nice dinners and buying cheap, duty free beer. And since they didn't accept coins on onboard either, I went foodless once again.
Windmills in Denmark
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Location:Madrid to Oslo
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