Cologne Hotels
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We're On Strike!
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The other day, I had to pick some friends up from the airport in Cologne. Their flight arrived at 8:30 a.m. and so I had to take a train from our apartment to the Main Train Station and then catch another train to the airport. No problem. Since the Cologne Bonn Airport is much closer than the airport in Dusseldorf (where I had traveled to before), I was certain that this trip would be much easier. Unfortunately I was wrong.
When I got to the first train stop, there was no one there. I noticed that there didn't seem to be any trains running either. It was eerily quiet and it almost seemed as if the stop had been abandoned. I checked the train schedule posted on the platform and I was clearly in the right place at the right time but still there were no trains. I finally realized something was wrong when I saw a German word (that I could not understand) flashing across the departure screen.
As I stood there looking dazed and confused, a car pulled up next to me at the train stop. A woman rolled down her window and said to me, "There are no trains running today...they are on strike." I'm not sure what surprised me more...the fact that the trains were not running, that she stopped to tell me, or the fact that she spoke English!
Once I got over my initial shock, I thanked her and was about to start walking back to our apartment when she asked me where I was going. I told her I was heading to the Main Train Station to catch a train to the airport. I followed up by saying, "I supposed it doesn't really matter though since none of the trains running today." She told me that the "City to City" trains were still running, just not the local ones. Then she said, "Please get in...I'm heading that way to meet some friends for breakfast and I will give you a ride." Surprised by her kindness, I hopped in and we headed into the city.
On our way to the train station, "Wilma" and I had a chance to talk for awhile and I told her about some of our experiences here in Cologne. We even touched on politics a little bit...enough for me to know that she likes Hillary Clinton...A LOT! We were friends in no time and it almost didn't seem fair when we had to part ways once we got there. I tried to give her money for gas before I left but she wouldn't accept it. She said, "Certainly not Andee... you have a safe trip and enjoy the rest of your time here in Germany!" I thanked her graciously and said goodbye. As I watched her drive away, I noticed that she was heading back in the same direction from which we came. She wasn't going my way after all...she was heading back into the city.
In my blog called "Good Samaritans", I shared a similar story of how two people helped me find my way here once before. Well, this is the second time I have experienced an act of kindness for no other reason than because someone saw that I needed help. Because of Wilma, I made my train to the airport in time to meet our friends and everything worked out just fine.
Later in the day when I told Steve about the strike and the trains being shut down, he said to me, "Honey that's terrible...you must have had the worst morning ever." I thought of Wilma, smiled, and said, "Actually, I had a really great day!"
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