Thursday, October 7, 2010

The End Of The Line

End Bahnof, two small words with big meaning.  Picture this:  Two people... foreign country...with little knowledge of the language, but they didn't let that stop them.  They hopped the train into the city to go sightseeing and visit the zoo.  After a fun afternoon, and feeling quite proud of themselves, they boarded the train to return to their hotel.  Theirs was the last stop and so they waited.  End Bahnof came and went and still they sat...waiting for their stop...until...  The train finally came to a stop...in something like a tunnel, dark and deserted.  


photo credit: wikipedia
Concerned?  Yes.  Scared?  A little.  After what seemed like hours, but probably more like 15-20 minutes, the train started moving again.  When the doors opened again at the "first stop", they got off, in the face of all those people waiting to get on.  What do you suppose those people were thinking?  The train was supposed to be empty. 

Who were those people, you ask?  Why, that would be me and my hubby, of course, in Germany, back a dozen or so years, and after sitting in what was probably a turnaround, we'll never forget the importance of End Bahnof. (Translation - end railway station, or the end of the line).

12 comments:

  1. Linda -- LOL I can identify with this story and it well shared. I can imagine the looks you must gotten back at the "first stop."

    I remember is Switzerland, we had so much trouble figuring out the trains, especially in the Italian part of Switzerland, which does NOT run like a Swiss clock.

    Thanks for chuckle today. I needed this:~)

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  2. Ahhhh, well told. A great lesson, eh?

    I missed my Grandes Lignes first train from Pairs to Tournon. Luckily the next tone left in 30 minutes, and my friend knew enough to wait for me!

    I loved the trains, I went First Class from Paris to London and had champagne, yum, yum. That was in 1999.

    xoxo

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  3. Paris, not Pairs. Good typo tho? :)

    And next one, not next tone. Gee, Jannie!

    xo

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  4. Too funny.. Now if only it had said "End Getoff" you would have probably understood. ;)

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  5. At least you got there in the end. I ended up in a siding at Clapham Juction once. The porter that found us was really nice about it.

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  6. Sara- Glad I could make you smile. :)

    Jannie- That sounds like a fun time. 's ok, I read what you intended.

    Hilary- It was funny, after the fact anyway.

    Anji- I don't know what a siding is, but it sounds like you had quite the adventure too. Thanks for visiting.

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  7. I found the trains in Europe to be very much easier than I expected. Still, when you are in Germany away from the big cities, nobody speaks English and that is scary. I'm glad you weren't lost forever! But sometimes it does seem like forever!

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  8. It would be frightening being in a foreign country and not knowing what exactly was going on! But trains are such a great way to travel, aren't they?

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  9. Hi Linda .. well you were lucky .. the train came out again .. if you'd been in England - you'd probably still be there!!

    Having said that .. 2 friends and I when we were 17 went by train to ski in Austria .. I read the train stop and said this is it we must get off .. but our part of the train was way beyond the station .. I insisted we jumped off ..?! I was right .. but I certainly wouldn't do it now!

    Thank goodness I was right! Not sure what the impact was on the other two .. we had a great skiing holiday!

    Have a good week .. Hilary

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  10. I started stressing out at, "... with little knowledge of the language...."

    But then the idea of going to a foreign zoo seemed like so much fun! I've never even thought about doing that.

    Hey, does the train go in a huge circle so you're always going forward or backward depending on where you sit? Or does it hit a wall (you know what I mean) and then does it just drive the opposite way?

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  11. Hilary - It sounds like you got lucky when you jumped off the train. I wonder that each car didn't stop at the station? Anyway, quite an adventure.

    Cardiogirl- The zoo was fun, the whole trip was fun, and I have many great memories. About the train, this one turned around. Some do just reverse direction, that is stop and then start off in the opposite direction.

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  12. A siding is a track on the side where they leave trains that are not in circulation.

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