Dec 27, 2007

I have had more adventures on my way to Chernivci this time than ever. I'll try to describe them briefly...

Darmstadt --> Framkfurt Hanh Airport
On Friday 21 December on 14:16 I started my journey by almost failing to catch a tram. I should have done it. Because then, I would take the bike to the train station. That it the fastest way. But I am sometimes too lazy, so caught the tram, and hence, 18 minutes later, I was watching the back of the train to Mainz I was supposed to go with. However, the local train to Frankfurt, that would leave at the same time, was 5 minutes delayed. So I took it. From Frankfurt, there were other buses to the Hahn airport. I paid a somewhat more, but came to the airport in time.

Gdansk Airport --> Gdansk Train Station
The flight to Gdansk was alright. From the airport there, I took a bus to the city center. I must say, I do not speak Polish. But knowing Russian and Ukrainian makes me think I understand some of what the Poles say. So I think I understood that one guy bought a ticket to the train station. So I decided to follow him. But at one stop, after about 20 minutes, I turned around and looked at the place where he sat and found him missing. I ran out of the bus and found myself on a completely unknown place (I know the city center of Gdansk since my previous visits). The time table told me I was 11 minutes bus drive from my destination. So I decided to walk. However, it was quite boring and cold, so, after 20 minuted I changed my mind and took a tram, hoping it would bring me where I want. I was lucky: It did.

Gdansk --> Warsaw
What I did not think of is that all the Poles go home for Christmas. As the train to Warsaw arrived at 23:57, there were already no sitting places left. So I put a T-shirt on the floor, sat down on it and tried to sleep somewhat. I was not very easy, but I think I succeeded a few times. On the left of me, there sat and laid on the floor a group of girls that were sometimes speaking English and sometimes German to each other. Somehow, my mind noticed this fact and even found it interesting, but I did not have the mood to try to make contact with them.

I Warsaw, I waited for 3 hours for the next train to Przemysl. I was very cold in the train station. First I tried to sleep in the waiting hall. But I froze to much there, and after two hours I went down to the main hall.

Warsaw --> Przemysl
At the new train, I succeeded to get a sitting place, and the first 3 hours of 7 I was enjoying a comfortable journey. It was reasonably warm and I even slept for a while. But as we arrived to Lublin, I somehow understood someone say that this car would not go further. So I ran to an other one and found myself standing again. At the beginning, there were so many people one could hardly move. But after a while, the density decreased and for the last half an hour I could even find a place to sit.

Przemysl --> Ivano-Frankivsk
I new there was one bus a day from Przemysl to Ivano-Frankivsk. But I was sure it would live in the morning. I would arrive there at about 14. So I thought it would be a wonder if I caught it. And a wonder it was. The bus would have left at 12:35. But for some reason, It was more than two hours delayed.

Now I was hoping I would be in Chernivci before night break. I was wrong. As Poland entered Schengen just a few days ago, the queues of the border were extremely long. We needed 5 hours to get through. But finally, I was in Ukraine. The rest of the journey to Ivano-Frankivsk took 4 more hours. We arrived there at about 1:30 a.m.

Ivano-Frankivsk --> Chernivci
I new there were two night trains from Lviv to Chernivci. The express train would arrive at the final destination at about 4 a.m. and the snail train at about 9 a.m. I hoped to catch the first one in Ivano-Frankivsk. But as I came to the train station, I found out it left at 01:22 a.m. that is just a few minutes before. The next one would come at 5 a.m.

I was tiered and upset because of such an misfortune. I became desperate. So I did something I would never have done it in a situation where I can think clearly. A taxi driver told my a bus to Chernivci also leaved a few minutes ago, and that there were a possibility to catch it up on the way to Kolomya, a city about 80 km away. I agreed to give it a try. So he drove me as fast as he could, but the bus where nowhere to be seen. I asked whether there were a possibility to catch up the train. The driver told the chance was very small and that he even never did it before. I got even more desperate and upset, but asked to take me to the train station anyway. As we approached it, I literately prayed for one more wonder. And it occurred as well. We arrived a few minuted before the train.

The rest of the journey was a pure pleasure. I slept for a while in the train. Then, I took a taxi from the train station in Chernivci. Before 5 a.m. I was in bed enjoying my first peaceful sleep in two days.

The journey was much more hard and cost me much more money than I previously expected. But isn't it such things that are worth to remember?

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