As a kid I always wanted to travel to Switzerland (perhaps Heidi had an influence on this). Later I also dreamt about traveling by train across Europe. Seeing different countries.
I have been lucky enough to see a town in Switzerland as part of a Contiki tour in 2008, and I have had a few train trips, longer and shorter, in the past, but this time I have been fortunate enough to combine the two to make a long weekend trip to Switzerland!
I have lovely friend, Simone, who lives there and invited me to visit her.
So in the evening I boarded the train, and so my adventure begins!
The journey is quite simple: From Amsterdam to Basel with a change over in Frankfurt, Germany.
Fun fact: the train stops at 2 stations in Frankfurt.
And only after realising there’s only 4 tracks and I need to board at track 18, it dawned on me that I got off at the wrong station.
I hastened to the information desk and as the nice person was confirming that I am in fact on the wrong station, I heard the train pull away.
The efficient young man at the information kiosk helped me find an alternative connection that meets up with the train I need to be on, and I managed to find my way.
My train was somewhat delayed, but so was the one I needed to catch, so it was a bit of a tense situation. Luckily Simone is something of a public transport expert and she checked various apps to see if I would make the connection and find alternatives in case I don’t. Luckily she warned me that there are also 2 stations in Basel, so this time I knew that I should stay on the train until the right one.
It was a nail-biting experience, but I made it and it was a treat seeing my friend again!
Be kind. Stay safe.
mcharlottesmith 