I hate public transportation

[bluepea]

In an update to a post yesterday I mentioned I'd be in Poland today. No such luck because of frigging stupid circumstances and misunderstandings and I'm sooo depressed about it. Jakes parents and aunt headed to Poland via Wizzair but we didn't want to spend that much so we decided to bus it and just lose out on some time there but save mucho money. Haha. We take the train from here to Frankfurt and for some reason I was thinking we'd just go to the airport (bus station listing). Well, we end up doing either one of two things: missing a transfer or just hopping on a train that was a couple mins earlier (think it was second) so we ended up getting rerouted. As we headed to the airport I suggested we just go to the station in Fra-main. So, we attempt that, but go confused and ended up getting of at the station right before the huge station... We had left here with time to get to Fra by 5 30 with our bus leaving at 7, ended up at wrong station at 6 30 because of the transfer and couldn't catch another train until about 7.

So, we headed back to the airport and looked for a ticket - would have cost us 230 Euro one way to get there at 7 this evening. So, we went to a bar sat there and drank, went back to Frankfurt main, drank more, stayed in a totally overpriced not super hotel because of the national cup or something, and came back here today. My inlaws are in a fabulous humongous but cheap hotel in Poland right now.

The worse is this was really important to Jake cuz his mom's family is from Poland (she has tons of family still there) and her father is buried there. This is her first time back in 30 years and she speaks Polish (would have helped us!). Jake and I have decided we're for sure going but it just won't be the same without everyone.

Sorry to rant a little. Im just very very upset about it.

[space virgin]

Aw, I'm sorry you're having such a difficult time! I hope you find your way to Poland.

It probably doesn't help but I think everyone goes through a *little* bit of this at some point in their travels... like the poor girls who wanted to go to Monaco from Rome and ended up in Munich, because "Monaco" is "Munich" in Italian. Moral of the story: when booking a train from Rome to Monaco, say "Monte Carlo"!!

[GoKrazy]

I feel for you. It's especially frustrating if you have your heart set on something and things seem to happen exactly in such a way as to stop you from doing it. Just think of it this way - once you get there it will be that much more of a great experience.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!

[tumblezweedz]

Oh Jamie, how frustrating! Are you able to rebook on another bus? Eurolines run fairly frequently, they might be a decent option... and coming from Germany you might get a decent bus (ours had no toilet for the 12 hour overnight ride from Vilnius!) The first time I went to Poland from Germany, I also had a complicated time, I went from train to U-Bahn to S-Bahn and finally ended up crossing the border at 1 in the morning by taxi with a bunch of Polish girls that I'd met on one of the trains. They dumped me at the train station and I hung out there til the next train at 4 am... Come to think of it, every time I go to Poland it's more complicated than it appears at first... But it's SO worth it!

Good luck finding your way and your family again. Man, are you going to have some stories to tell when you get home!

[worldwidemike]

Originally posted by tumblezweedz@Jul 1 2005, 03:31 PM
you might get a decent bus (ours had no toilet for the 12 hour overnight ride from Vilnius!)

That reminds me of one of my "Big mistake, Indy" moments. At the end of our stay in Vilnius, we decied to take the bus back to Warsaw, rather than fly (there weren't daily flights from Vilniuis to Warsaw on LOT Polish Airlines, who our cheapie passes were on).

Three words about that bus ride:
Oh.
My.
God.

Without a doubt, that was the most miserable, least comfortable bus ride I've ever taken. The border crossing seemed to take forever, and was a real clusterfuck. The guards were drunk (according to our bus driver) and seemed to have no clue what they were doing.

That's why, if the price is even remotely comparable, flying is the way to go when crossing borders in Eastern Europe (IMO).

worldwidemike (who's sorry his advice is late, Jamie!)

[bluepea]

Thanks guys. We didn't rebook just because we would have lost another day and and would have had very little time. Oh well, the rest of the family had a good time. My mother in law finally got to see her father's grave. We're going to head back there once we do France-Spain-Morrocco.

As horrible as it sounds I'm glad we're not the only ones that endure so much trouble. Try try again. Haven't thrown our hands up yet and given up.

I'll keep you updated on all other horror stories. LOL.

[TheJake]

being the voice of insanity here I might point out that that is part of the very essence of traveling. Things that would never happen at home happen on the road. That's part of the excitement. So I urge you and Jake to try and take a slightly different outlook on it and not get frusterated.

Rather Enjoy the here and Now and live for the moment.

[bluepea]

On the contrary other Jake - my Jake has been the continuous voice of "its not a vacation, it's an adventure" but when you have no money, lose your only bank card, get one confiscated as your only means of $$. lose time and end up in a funky city with no money/no resys, have to use the huge ripoff of western union 2X! and miss out on one HUGE part of everything (trip to Poland with family that it also means a lot to them) in THREE weeks, the frustration starts to hit you and you want to punch the next person (including beloved husband) that say "it isn't a vacation...it's an adventure...." and when we missed Poland, he never said it. sometimes it's fun and games, sometimes it isn't. I'm so up for adventurous (sp?) but this has been a little excessive!!