On to Oberstaufen

You left us sitting in first class on a train full of skiers and kids leaving the station at Uhm and heading toward Oberstaufen.  Once the conductor gave us a pass, we could relax and enjoy our journey the rest of the way.  We flew through a couple of stops and stopped at a couple of depots including Landau, Switzerland.  There all the skiers went flocking off.  We just settled in and smiled.  

A stop or two later as we sat in the depot, they attached another car to the front and Steve remarked that there must be more skiers coming on at the next stop.  Sure enough, he was right.  We sat there snug and smiling in our first class seats as they finally all got on board and closed the doors.  We moved on to the next stop, the skiers got off, and the extra car they had added to our front began to pull away.  And we began to move backwards, again!  So many expressions crossed Steve’s face, as I’m sure did mine as well.  We were confident (after all, we had been through this before), concerned, amused, and the real panic seemed to hit us both at the same time.  

We ran through the train trying to find someone who spoke English.  Turns out Obersdorf is a big ski area as well as Oberstaufen.  And when everyone is saying, “Obers…”, it’s possible for the brain to take a break and latch on to whatever it wants.  Apparently everyone we had asked for help, latched on to the "Obersdorf."  

We finally found someone who could help us head in another direction.  We pulled into a stop and started to get off.  A bunch of people yelled, “No!  No!”; so we got back on.  We got off at Sonthofen with the help of a man who looked very much like the sarge who used to say “Let’s be careful out there” on Hill Street Blues.

While I snapped some pictures, Steve went into the depot and came back out with a small handout which was labeled Sonthofen to Oberstaufen.  But it only showed Immenstadt to Oberstaufen. I found Immenstadt on the train schedule and realized we only needed to change trains in Immenstadt to get to Oberstaufen. We met a man on the platform who spoke impeccable English; I know it’s not polite to hug strange German men, but his was the first English I had heard in a while.  Meanwhile we saw a train that said “Immenstadt” and gathered our luggage and ran toward the train.  He yelled “No!  Other way.” 

So we settled in to watch for the next train that came along going the opposite direction to take us where we needed to go. I watched people and listened to conversations I couldn’t understand.  I saw a family with three adults and two children who were going on holiday.  They had formed a box of skis and a long, wooden sleigh and their belongings were packed in the middle.  The toddler had on a ski jacket and hiking boots.

Seems like it should have been an easy trip from there.  However, we were very tired and a little hesitant.  But we found another kind conductor who pretty much pulled us off the train at the right station.  He even lifted the luggage off for us.  I suspect we were more trouble than the cost of our train pass.  But we’ll make a good story for someone,

By the time we arrived in Oberstaufen, pretty much any kind of room and bed would have been suitable.  However we were so pleasantly surprised.  The young women behind the desk spoke English and were dressed as milk maids.  This pleased Steve more than I can say.  They asked if we wanted fresh pastries and pretzels delivered to our room the next morning.  The charge was not great.  Our room is cozy, sweet and totally what we would have hoped for.  I have rambled on about the trip, and I ask your forgiveness and patience.  However this is also a travel diary for us and we would not want to forget any of these details.  

It gets funnier.  I just read this to Steve and he said, “You might want to add that we were at Immenstadt when the train started going backwards.”  Bottom line, we were only twenty minutes away and couldn’t seem to get there.