Saturday was an eventful day for us. My husband and I went to
Nürnberg to meet up with a friend who is stationed in Heidelburg. We decided to take the train because we knew we'd have a few drinks and didn't want to worry about driving home. We bought the Bavarian ticket (from the machine, 26 euro) and went on our way. We met up with our friends, explored the Easter Market, the
Nürnberg Castle, ate dinner at Nürnbergs oldest brathaus then went out for a few drinks.  |
| Nürnberger oldest brathaus since 1419 |
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| Easter Market |
We knew we had 2 train times to get back home depending on when we were done for the day. We decided to take the earlier train, 21:48. We get to the train station and check the track number for our train. Track 17. We say our goodbyes to our friends and head to the train. We check the board at that track to make sure it says 21:48 and we hop on. About 20 minutes into the ride we noticed none of the stops sounded familiar. I pulled out my phone to check Google Maps and see where we are. We were definitely heading north which is NOT the way back home. At that moment we started to realize we might be on the wrong train. Often times the name for the train is the final destination. So if I'm taking a train to Regensburg it might say Munich because Munich is the final stop even though we're getting off before then. We noticed the train was heading to Bayreuth and desperately hoping it was taking some strange route and would get us to Weiden. We ended up looking at train times from Nürnberg to Bayreuth and that's when we realized that that train left Nürnberg at 21:48 from track 17!!! WHAT? Two trains, one track?  |
| On the train thinking it was going to be an easy ride to and from Nürnberg |
We were definitely on the wrong train! Now what? We started looking at train times from Bayreuth to Weiden. There was one more train at midnight that would take us to Marktredwitz but once we got there the train to Weiden wouldn't leave until 06:00 getting us home to Weiden at 06:30. Uhhh now what do we do? If we go to Marktredwitz where do we stay for 5 hours? Train stations close! Once we got to Bayreuth we asked a taxi how much it would be to drive us home, $95 euro... uh no thanks! We then went to a hotel thinking we'd just catch a train in the morning, $117 euro. Uh definitely not. We then decided to buy another Bavarian pass, since ours was no good after midnight and planned to catch the train to Marktredwitz and figure out another plan once we got there. Luckily my husband messaged a buddy from work who offered to drive up and come get us! Thank goodness for him! We were so thankful he was willing to drive an hour north to pick us up and take us back home! We sat in a McDonald's until he got there. I honestly don't know what we would have done once we got to Marktredwitz, probably just slept in the train station, if it was even open. But I'm so glad we didn't have to figure that out! So always remember to check that there aren't TWO trains on the same track! Also, if you have a smart phone, download the DeutchBahn (DB Navigator) app so you can look up train times even when you're on the train! And since we had already bought that Bavarian train ticket we decided to go to the Nürnberger Volksfest the next day. Didn't want to waste 26 euro! And this time on the way home, we did it the right way!
