Tuesday, 13 June. London to Offenburg

Today has been a big travel day, starting at 6.00 when I left the hotel and walked to Paddington Station to catch the Heathrow Express to Terminal 2. Checked my case in and queued through security then waited ages for the gate number to be announced. The plane left just after 9.30 and we were soon coming down to land at Frankfurt Airport. Suddenly the plane soared up again which was slightly alarming but it turned out that the plane ahead of us had a bird strike and they had to check the runway for bits of bird.

Going through immigration took ages as they weren’t using the new technology. I was admitted by a real person who even put a stamp in my passport. I think the Brits slowed us down as they had to go through with the non EU folk.

The train signs were pretty easy to find but first I had to get a SIM card so I could ring my apartment host for instructions. Probably paid too much but on this trip I’m not worrying about that if it makes my trip go smoothly. Found my platform and the right place to stand for my carriage number and was soon seated in an ICE fast train and on my way.

However I have a bad record with European trains and this was no exception. Didn’t quite notice/understand the announcement that passengers for Offenburg should change at Mannheim so was surprised to discover a few minutes later that the next stop was Karlsruhe, where the train ended. There was nothing on my ticket to indicate that I would have to change trains. This train travels at 180 or more kph so I was a tad concerned. Collared the train man and asked him how I was to get back to Offenburg and fortunately I could catch another ICE from Karlsruhe at 3.11. Checked it with some other workers when I hopped off at Karlsruhe and they said that was correct. So did the sign on the platform.

Sat next to a very nice lady, who had been visiting her sister at Lake Garda in Italy, on the next train. Got very concerned when the sign in the carriage left out Offenburg and said Freiburg was the next stop. The nice lady and the man across the aisle insisted that it would stop in Offenburg and that was just what it did. Phew!

The platform lift wasn’t working so I was just starting down the stairs when a young man took my suitcase, carried it down to the underpass, then up to the street and grabbed a taxi for me. How lovely! We gave each other a big hug and off he went. The taxi probably took as long as if I walked because he had to go around the one way streets and it was peak hour, but by then I was past the effort of finding my way, even though I’d done it on Google Earth a number of times. 

I rang my landlady and she gave me the instructions over the phone - up the stairs beside the building, key from one of the lock boxes, through the big front door, up a couple of steps and the door on the left. I had read this in German earlier and it was as clear as mud because I didn’t know where this staircase was.

Finally inside my HUGE and very pretty apartment, I made a cup of tea and took it out to my little courtyard. Bliss! 

After a suitable period of recovery I went out to look for a mini supermarket but the ones on Google Maps either weren’t there or weren’t food stores. Gave up and had noodles at a little Thai place just around the corner. The supermarket and laundrette can go on the list for tomorrow of the next day as there is now no hurry. By the way, not everyone in Germany does speak English, in fact hardly anyone so far.

It’s going to be a very early night (again) tonight.