In Transit - Day 4
The day started early—5 a.m. As I left Hamburg for Frankfurt, my feet were massively swollen from days of endless walking. Somewhere between sips of train coffee and watching the countryside roll by, I got a notification that my train had been canceled. That couldn’t be right—I was already on it! Moments later, the conductor confirmed it: we’d be stopping in Hannover and would need to find another connection. It suddenly became clear why so many Germans grumble about Deutsche Bahn. After some scrambling, I finally caught a new train and arrived in Frankfurt nearly two hours late, where Caitlin was meeting me.
Ashley’s brilliant idea of renting an electric car to save money on fuel turned out to be a logistical nightmare. In theory, it was perfect: eco-friendly, efficient, and modern. But we lost countless hours hunting down compatible charging stations, only to discover that each had its own payment system. Some accepted cards, others required apps that we couldn’t even download with our American phones. What started as a smart travel move quickly became one of the most frustrating parts of the trip.
After a delayed arrival in Munich, Caitlin was completely wiped out and ready to call it a night—but I wasn’t letting the evening slip away that easily. I convinced her to head out for dinner, and we made our way to Marienplatz, the heart of the city. We ended up at Augustiner Klosterwirt, where we enjoyed a hearty, delicious Bavarian meal that made the long travel day worth it.
On our slow walk back toward the train station, we stopped to admire the Münchner Rathaus glowing beautifully against the night sky. Somewhere between snapping photos and wandering the cobblestone streets, “Tour Guide Caitlin” made her debut—enthusiastically narrating German architecture facts.
