Germany                  To Frankfurt and Back              25 July 2024


   This week started with a minor and somewhat annoying mishap, which,
   however, led to a small adventure.  On Monday, right after visiting
   the grocery store and returning home to take out the trash, I hurried
   and left my apartment without my keys.  I closed the door exactly at
   the moment I realized I had left the keys inside.  Unfortunately, it
   was too late: without the key, there was no way to open the door.  Oh
   well, that's life.  But no big deal, I've handled worse: when life
   gives you lemons, make lemonade.

   First, I tried calling the emergency number of the housing
   cooperative from which I rent this apartment.  Unfortunately, I
   couldn't get through, and I didn't want to call a locksmith who could
   regain access to my apartment through a small surgical operation on
   the door, as that would have cost me quite a bit.  Then I remembered
   that I had given a duplicate of my keys to my friend from Frankfurt a
   little while ago.  I immediately called her, explained my
   predicament, and asked if I could come to retrieve the keys.  I
   could.  Excellent!  Off to Frankfurt, then.

   I immediately informed my colleagues at work about the incident and,
   leaving the house, I first threw out the trash and then went to the
   store to buy something to eat on the way.  Fifteen minutes later, I
   reached the nearest train station and mapped out a route from Wolfen
   to Frankfurt with transfers in Bitterfeld, Halle, and Kassel.
   Deutsche Bahn did not disappoint: the first train, as it often
   happens in such situations, was half an hour late, but fortunately, I
   had plenty of time for the transfer in Bitterfeld.  While waiting for
   the train, two regional express trains to Leipzig sped past my
   station.

   I arrived at Frankfurt's main train station at half-past eight in the
   evening.  My dear friend met me and handed over the keys.  We
   wandered around the city a bit, and now all that was left was to
   complete my journey by returning home.  I had planned the return trip
   while on my way to Frankfurt.  It turned out that I could get to
   Leipzig from there by bus, which departed at half-past midnight and
   arrived at five in the morning.  I checked if there were any trains
   running from Leipzig to Wolfen at that early hour, and having
   confirmed that there were, I bought a ticket for the bus.

   Boarding the bus was quick and convenient; the driver checked
   passengers onto the bus using their electronic tickets presented as
   QR codes.  One fellow, however, was not allowed on the bus because it
   turned out the date on his ticket did not match.  It happens.  The
   driver spent about fifteen minutes trying to sort out his situation
   and even offered to sell him a ticket on the spot.  During the trip,
   I managed to get some sleep, although sleeping in a sitting position
   was quite uncomfortable.  We arrived in Leipzig on schedule, and I
   felt very strange when the driver, who was from Ukraine, announced
   the arrival station in Russian.  So unusual.  Within five minutes, I
   was at the train station.

   All that was left was to get to Wolfen by train and from there to
   Wolfen-Nord by local bus.  The train departed from platform 18a,
   which turned out to be outside the station building.  Thanks to this,
   I had the chance to witness a beautiful sunrise and the endless
   railway tracks, with the curves of the rails gleaming in the morning
   sun.  Reaching Wolfen, I transferred to the bus and got to my
   neighborhood.  The journey was nearing its end; I just needed to get
   home and use the keys.  On my way home, I stopped by the store to buy
   some food for breakfast.

   And now, here I am, writing these lines for another note.  One of my
   colleagues sympathized with my predicament, but I found nothing in
   this small adventure to be pitied.  I'm not a big fan of Mondays, and
   this trip was an excellent opportunity to perk up and get energized
   for the rest of the week.  I love such spontaneous, unplanned trips,
   and this little circumnavigation was just what I needed.  Calling a
   boring locksmith and boringly watching him boringly cut open a boring
   door to boringly get into a boring apartment - boring.





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