The last time I saw David was when our train was pulling out of the train station in Basel and I was standing with the conductor with my gold colored back pack and my brown nylon shoulder bag. He was looking out the window of the train rubbing sleep out of his eyes and spotted me standing there on the platform.
I waved goodbye not knowing when and if I we would ever see each other again.
You know what happened next as I shared in the last chapter.
I was technically arrested and fined for carrying 100 roles of 35 mm slide file and 50 audio tape cassettes in their packing as if I was trying to sell them around Europe during the next 100 days.
Though the conductor's supervisor did believe my story he still charged me the $50 fine for smuggling.
I learned that morning that the typical Swiss citizen is not very flexible in their thinking. At least it seemed that way.
After I left the two officials with my pack on my back and my bag hanging from my shoulder I went searching for some breakfast and place to sit and think about what I would do next.
It was 10:00 and I was in Basel.
I had never been there before and never been in a foreign city alone having no clue of what I would do next.
I don't recall feeling stressed, mad, angry, pissed. I was alive. Now to MAKE A PLAN as my friend, Nico Botha from South Africa always says when situations change.
In each direction I looked I could see that I was in a downtown commercial area. In each direction there were pasty shoppes, coffees shoppes, stores of different types. Across the fully stone paved plaza was the FERRY TALES coffee shop. That seemed perfect. I felt like I was in a real life FAIRY TALE. There were other shops with names such as Smilia Cafe, SMUK, La Columbiana Coffee Roasters in each direction.
I walked into the FERRY TALES and found a vacant seat at the counter and propped my two bags at my feet. Looked at the menu and saw a couple familiar pastry names and order two Schweizer Nusstaler cookies that looked great, and a cup of coffee with milk and sugar. The cookies were very much like shortbread with sliced almonds and hazelnuts.
What was I going to do?
After enjoying the cookies and drinking a couple cups of coffee ideas for a plan started to come to my mind. I would go back to the train station and figure out how to get to Luzerne and try to catch up with David & Mindy tonight.
We had a basic survival plan that if we ever got separated or lost we would go to the closest police station, American Express office or tourist information location in the next city.
It took me about 30 minutes to MAKE MY NEXT PLAN.
Once I returned to the SBB train station I looked for the lowercase letter "i" sign that is international for information. Within a few minutes I found it and asked about how to travel from Basel to Lucerne that day by train using my Euro-Rail Pass.
I learned that Basel is an important interchange and transport hub with three mainline train stations, that provided excellent connections to all Swiss cities and major European cities too. Actually I had been to all 3 of the train stations thanks to the train conductor who arrested me 2 hours before. He had taken me from one to the other until we finally reached the SBB station.
Fortunately there was a train leaving in 45 minutes that would take me to Lucerne. There were several leaving from the 3 different stations in Basel. One left from the station I was at 11:05 am and would arrive in Lucerne at 12:05.
I felt great with that news and began making my arrival plans upon reaching Lucerne.
First I would find a modest hotel near the train station. Second I would freshen up and drop off my pack and bag so I could freely walk around the city. Third I would search for a police station, the American Express office or the closest information office to try find David and Mindy. The clerk at the hotel or pension would know where those places would be.
I waved goodbye not knowing when and if I we would ever see each other again.
You know what happened next as I shared in the last chapter.
I was technically arrested and fined for carrying 100 roles of 35 mm slide file and 50 audio tape cassettes in their packing as if I was trying to sell them around Europe during the next 100 days.
Though the conductor's supervisor did believe my story he still charged me the $50 fine for smuggling.
I learned that morning that the typical Swiss citizen is not very flexible in their thinking. At least it seemed that way.
After I left the two officials with my pack on my back and my bag hanging from my shoulder I went searching for some breakfast and place to sit and think about what I would do next.
It was 10:00 and I was in Basel.
I had never been there before and never been in a foreign city alone having no clue of what I would do next.
I don't recall feeling stressed, mad, angry, pissed. I was alive. Now to MAKE A PLAN as my friend, Nico Botha from South Africa always says when situations change.
In each direction I looked I could see that I was in a downtown commercial area. In each direction there were pasty shoppes, coffees shoppes, stores of different types. Across the fully stone paved plaza was the FERRY TALES coffee shop. That seemed perfect. I felt like I was in a real life FAIRY TALE. There were other shops with names such as Smilia Cafe, SMUK, La Columbiana Coffee Roasters in each direction.
I walked into the FERRY TALES and found a vacant seat at the counter and propped my two bags at my feet. Looked at the menu and saw a couple familiar pastry names and order two Schweizer Nusstaler cookies that looked great, and a cup of coffee with milk and sugar. The cookies were very much like shortbread with sliced almonds and hazelnuts.
What was I going to do?
After enjoying the cookies and drinking a couple cups of coffee ideas for a plan started to come to my mind. I would go back to the train station and figure out how to get to Luzerne and try to catch up with David & Mindy tonight.
We had a basic survival plan that if we ever got separated or lost we would go to the closest police station, American Express office or tourist information location in the next city.
It took me about 30 minutes to MAKE MY NEXT PLAN.
Once I returned to the SBB train station I looked for the lowercase letter "i" sign that is international for information. Within a few minutes I found it and asked about how to travel from Basel to Lucerne that day by train using my Euro-Rail Pass.
I learned that Basel is an important interchange and transport hub with three mainline train stations, that provided excellent connections to all Swiss cities and major European cities too. Actually I had been to all 3 of the train stations thanks to the train conductor who arrested me 2 hours before. He had taken me from one to the other until we finally reached the SBB station.
Fortunately there was a train leaving in 45 minutes that would take me to Lucerne. There were several leaving from the 3 different stations in Basel. One left from the station I was at 11:05 am and would arrive in Lucerne at 12:05.
I felt great with that news and began making my arrival plans upon reaching Lucerne.
First I would find a modest hotel near the train station. Second I would freshen up and drop off my pack and bag so I could freely walk around the city. Third I would search for a police station, the American Express office or the closest information office to try find David and Mindy. The clerk at the hotel or pension would know where those places would be.
