More adventures in travel...

Well, I can't say enough about the fantastic time I had once again in Haarlem, my friends there will be very dearly missed... thanks again especially to Michiel and Rob & Rit for Hosting me this time around, I am blessed with wonderful friends...

Anyhow, after a rather long last night in Haarlem :) I packed up my things and headed to the train station... the first two trains went off without a hitch... aside from a grumpy conductor on the high-speed train between Rotterdam and Paris who charged me 36 euros on top of my eurail pass... idiot. Then I got to Paris to find that the French Rail workers of the SNCF were on strike!!! This meant that trains were still running, but much less often, my train at 2:12 had fallen victim, so I had to make a quick decision: do I take the safe route and wait 2 hours for the later train or have an adventure and blindly hop the next train going in the general direction?

Well if you know me it goes without saying the decision I made :P This high-speed TGV train to Strasbourg was packed! People standing in the isles, in the bar, it was nuts... so, not only did I not have a reservation, but I was on an overcrowded train... usually a recipe for getting my butt kicked off right? Well, my legs and back were tired from carrying the big bag, so I decided what the heck, I'm already illegal, why not see if there is an empty seat in first class? So I went up and sure enough, there was one more, so I rode the quick 2 hr ride in 1st class comfort, free drinks and all! Didn't even get caught... what an adventure...

In Strasbourg it was the same story, so I had to figure out first which trains were actually running, then which was the soonest to take me to Saverne... Finally found a regional train that left in 45 min, so I got on and arrived in Saverne only an hour or so after I had planned... a pretty darned successful adventure if you ask me!

At the station though, nobody was there to meet me because I was late, and I realized that I left Jeremie's cell nu,ber in Haarlem! So I waited around for a bit, then realizing that wasnt doing me any good, so I started problem-solving again... I picked up all my stuff and started walking until I found a business with an open door, a barber shop it turned out. The owner spoke a little english, but betzeen my crappy french and his little english I ,anaged to get a phone book and borrow the phone! Thankfully Jeremie's family are the only Ostertags in Saverne :)

So Jeremie, his sister Sarah, and their friend Barbra picked me up from the station and took me to their house where I met their parents too! They graciously let me take a shower... or maybe they were hoping I would haha... and then we ate dinner. Soon after dinner, Jeremie got an invite to go hang out with some friends, so we drove over to their house and had a fun night! (Evidentially I look like Dawson from Dawson's Creek...lol) Stayed there until late in the night talking, hanging out, and listening to music! Then Jeremie and I went back to the house and slept!

Got to sleep in this morning, and then after breakfast Jeremie and I went over to his Grandma's to pick some fresh cherries! Had lunch outside on the patio, enjoying the beautiful weather, and am now listening to Sarah play guitar as I type... in a bit Jeremie's band is comin over to practice, this is a very musical family, I love it!

Well, I think I am going to head outside and journal for awhile... having a great weekend already!

Blessings to all,
John