Well, for weird Skymiles reasons, I’m in Germany a day or two earlier than normal… As it turns out, it is almost half as many Skymiles to fly Saturday than on Monday.  The “value” of those points was actually less than getting a Deutschland travel pass for the month and two inexpensive hotel rooms.  So, why not take the opportunity to see a few things?!

For those of you coming here in the next few days that were planning to take the trains, do yourself a favor and download the DB (Deutsche Bahn) app for your phone.  There are some known track construction issues that will possibly affect you, and today, there were a bunch of trains running super late or just altogether canceled.  I was able to track delays in realtime, and then in my nightmare situation (which happened TWICE today) – the train line just ends, they tell you to get off and give you super explicit directions on how to make your connection in German at the pace of that FedEx Guy… I was pretty glad to have the app already on my phone so I could look up the information in a way that I could understand it.

(If you want a Deutschland pass, you’re too late – you had to book it in the month prior.  And, you do have to remember to cancel it before the 10th of this month, or else they’ll charge you for November).

I’m not sure when I’m going to make it to Essen.  In part because my itinerary is super fluid, and in part because the trains today have not inspired confidence.  It took me 4.5 hrs to make it to Aachen when I was expecting it to take only 2.

Also, if you’re going to be here on Tuesday, don’t forget that it’s German National Unity Day.  Who knows what sort of schedule things will be on. I’m pretty sure all the shops are closed.  Best of luck with the trains…

But, here’s some old buildings that I got to see

Until your next appointment