So here is the really long blog I wrote on the train at about 5:00 in the morning when I was really angry. It's rambling but it explains why my train got messed up and what happened. At this point I'm tired and just going to maybe take a nap before my class at 12:30...or if I can't sleep I'll just upload pictures. I'll update about Rome later....
Sorry this is long winded but if you feel like reading about my train misadventure it’s all written here. I am seriously so pissed off right now I could scream. When I bought my tickets for Rome, I got a round trip ticket for Salzburg to Villach, and then a one way (each way) from Villach to Rome. So on the way to Rome, I went from Salzburg, to Villach, to Rome. On the way home it was supposed to be just the opposite. Well, it worked fine on the way to Rome: I got on at Salzburg, got off at Villach, waited for a one hour layover, and got on the train to Rome successfully. But this time…
I got to the terminal with plenty of time to spare with the train leaving Rome at 7:05 pm. I got on the train that was the same number and time as my ticket: #234 at 7:05 pm, got in the section with the seat it told me to be in (63) and rode all the way to the time when I was supposed to be getting off (4:14 am) in “Villach.” I stood up to get ready to get off, and a German mother and daughter ask me as I started to get up, “are you transferring in Innsbruck too?” I said “no, I’m getting off in Villach,” and they were like…”this train isn’t going to Villach.” I went and asked the police that had just checked our passports as we got back into Austria, if the train was going to Villach, and they said no, you’re on the wrong train, you can get off at a certain stop, I think it was Klagenfurt or something like that, or Innsbruck, and change trains. Apparently, the train was in two pieces or something ridiculous like that, and one of them was headed in the wrong direction (to Munich) which was the one I was on, and the one I was supposed to be on was headed to Vienna (with a stop in Villach where I needed to go). Well, first of all thanks for all the informative signs and things letting me know there are TWO HALVES to the damn train. So I was a little shaken and pretty pissed but I thought, whatever, I should just get off here rather than any other station. Innsbruck is a big station, and that’s where the mother and daughter were getting off the train so they could help me.
So I get off the train at Innsbruck, and the mother and daughter and daughter were really nice. The mother went and spoke to the train officer in German to be absolutely sure I couldn’t get to Villach from the train I had been on. Then they went downstairs with me and looked at the board and told me that I could get on the train going to Budapest, but to be sure to get on the back part of the train because the back part was headed towards Vienna, meaning it was stopping in Salzburg. Again, who knew trains had two halves…I will admit at this point there was another girl who was trying to find her train that spoke English, and I sort of tried to help her but I was worried about my own situation, although I do feel bad I didn’t help her more. She was trying to figure out which train to get on at the same time the German people were talking to me, so I only half listened to her and sortof waved her off to check one of the platforms, which is probably why Karma came back to bite me in the end. Hopefully she got to her train.
Anyway, I said thank you to the mother and daughter (they were really nice to help me), and ran to that platform, where I met these 3 random Hungarian people who I thought were just traveling to Vienna. They said yes, we are going to Vienna, blah blah. So then the driver of the train came up and the Hungarian guy spoke to him for me, and I told him my situation. The driver said, “you don’t have the right tickets, but it’s ok. You can get on this train and ride with me and get off at Salzburg.” I said, thank you so much, and then stood there for 10 minutes and talked to the people a little bit, the random Hungarian guy was like “oh yes, I’d like to go with you to America,” in that stereotypical foreign accent, implying that America was so wonderful. He seemed nice, I was really happy at that point that he had spoken to the driver for me.
Then, the train finally came and the driver walked away to one end, which I thought was where we had to go (so worried about which half of the train to take) but then the Hungarian people were going to the OTHER end of the train, so I said, “is this the part of the train going to Vienna?” to the Hungarian guy, and he said something I couldn’t really understand, so I asked the other Hungarian man and he said yes. So I got on the train, and finally see a sign that says the train is going to Salzburg, and I think YES this is awesome, I finally made it.
As I got on the train I realized that the Hungarian people are actually workers on the train serving food in the dining car to first class and everything. It was strange. So anyway, the driver had told me it was fine to be on that train, so I just sat down in the back of first class after asking a final random guy at the info desk if both parts of the train were going to Salzburg (of course I was overly paranoid at this point about being in the wrong half of the train). He said yes, the whole section I was on was all Salzburg.
So I’m sitting there, thinking I have it made, I even got juice and a Kit Kat bar, when the same info booth guy comes back to check everyone’s tickets. So, thinking he would be as nice as the driver who SAID I COULD RIDE WITH HIM AND IT WAS FINE, I tried to explain the situation, and instead of being understanding he decided to be an, excuse my language, asshole. He also didn’t speak perfect English or anything but he definitely understood what I was saying. He kept saying, “this ticket is not for this train,” and I said “I KNOW it’s not for this train, I was on the WRONG train and I talked to the officer on the platform and he said it was ok and I could ride to Salzburg on this train, he told me it was ok.” The guy said, “this is not the right ticket, I’m the officer right now on this train and this is not the right ticket.” I even tried to flag down the Hungarian guy, who halfheartedly attempted to explain the situation, as well as the Hungarian girl that was with him, but the officer on the train seriously had to be an asshole and ruin my day, he was like “where did this happen” or something along those lines, I was like, “I just talked to him out on the platform, I KNOW this isn’t the right ticket he told me it was ok.” But this guy seriously would not budge and I was starting to cry because at this point it was 5:00 in the morning, I slept awkwardly and hardly very well on the whole 9 hour train from Rome to “Villach” aka Innsbruck, and all I want to do is get back to Salzburg. I was also upset that the Hungarian guy would not help me more, he just shrugged and said “well, you don’t have a ticket for this train.” Thanks for sticking up for me buddy! You barely explained to this guy that I talked to the driver and he already said it was ok…whatever, maybe he was afraid of getting fired or yelled at if he said something.
So I finally said “fine, can I just buy a ticket here then?” He said yes, and I was sitting in first class luckily I was able to tell him I wanted to move and sit in economy class because I would not want to pay for a first class ticket. So I had to pay 40.80 Euros..which is like the equivalent of probably $55 or $60, for a ticket just to go from Innsbruck to Salzburg. Absolutely ridiculous. Thank God they took debit cards because I did not have enough cash for that, I don’t even know what I would have done in this situation if I had decided not to bring my debit card with me to Rome, which I almost didn’t do. I’m just so infuriated that I already paid for the round trip ticket from Villach to Salzburg, used one half of it and probably will never use it. And it makes me really angry that the signs at the train were not more clear that they were going to two separate places, or maybe you had to switch halfway through, but I wasn’t aware of it. Two different people looked at my ticket that said “Roma to Villach” and didn’t say anything to help me. I’m just really angry that I had to spend that money on a stupid ticket, all because that one guy decided to be a real ass and ruin my day. I’m so tired and right now it’s 5:39 in the morning, the ONLY good thing about this is that I don’t have a 3 hour layover in Villach, so I’m getting back to Salzburg a few hours earlier than I was going to, I should be back in Salzburg at 6:57, rather than 9:48. I’ll probably take a nap for a few hours and then I have a class at 12:30. I really just want to GET OFF THIS TRAIN. Oh, and by the way I kept the orange juice and the Kit Kat that I got when I was sitting in first class, I think I deserve it. I was so thirsty for 9 hours on that other stupid train going in the wrong direction, I guess orange juice will have to do for now. As long as the guy doesn’t come and make me pay for that too. Ugh. I know everyone says that the train system in Europe is “so great” but really, it’s not that great….I do not enjoy taking the train alone, and I think next time I may try taking a flight wherever I travel, depending on the price. The good thing is, I handled the situation well enough, I don’t think there was really anything else I could have done at that point, it definitely wasn’t made clear when I got on the train at Rome that one HALF was going to Munich and one HALF was going to Wien, I was a little bit confused about why the sign said “Wien-Munich” in Rome and my ticket said “Wien Medlung,” but now I guess I know. Thanks for the help train people, I’ll be flying next time if I can help it.
I will have to write more details about the actual FUN WEEKEND I had in Rome later! This was just kind of a crummy experience, and at this point all I want to do is get off the train and be safely in Salzburg. Luckily less than an hour until we are due to arrive there, and I can put this situation behind me.
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