MIKE AND JESS' TRAVEL DIARY

I stepped away for a moment and Mike took a look at what the trains would be like for tomorrow’s trip to Dortmund. When we had booked the train to Dusseldorf the night before we needed to leave, they were almost booked up, so he wanted to make sure we secured a seat for tomorrow. When he pulled up the site, there was a big warning at the top: German Rail employees will go on strike this evening until at least tomorrow, nationwide. Our plan was to train to Dortmund for our hotel/Futbol match package. That was also non-refundable. 

Panicked, we rushed back to the hotel to get on the laptop and figure out what we were going to do. From what we read about the last time they went on strike, the majority of train rides were cancelled and the ones that weren’t cancelled were impossible to get onto. 

First, we researched flights to Dortmund, thinking a short hopper would not be bad. Google said they started at $4,000. Next, we looked at rental cars. We can drive here with a US drivers license, so no problem. All were sold out. The whole city.

Dortmund was over an hour away, so rideshare seemed unrealistic. Finally it dawned on me. What if we left right now, get a train before the strike, and were able to get a hotel in Dortmund for tonight? It was past noon at this point, but it was worth a shot. I looked up the hotel we were already staying at in Dortmund and Mike looked up trains. The train to Dortmund at 2:00 was fully booked. Try the 2:45, and it let him get to checkout! The hotel had 3 rooms left for tonight! We booked simultaneously and immediately started packing our stuff. Within an hour, we were wheeling our suitcases out of the hotel and to the subway.

Once at the train station, most trains were delayed and the station was a mad house. Once we knew what platform to go to, it looked like our train was the only one not delayed, the screen showed it was on-time. We waited for it to come. And waited. As time went by, and the screen did not update showing to be delayed or a changed to  a different platform (which happens regularly) we started to get nervous. Thirty minutes later, without any information, it finally pulls up! The strike was scheduled to start at 6PM and we arrived to Dortmund Central Station at 4:45. We were so fortunate and thrilled we were able to navigate this hiccup.

It was a huge relief to check in to the hotel and drop off the stuff. The sun was going down and it was time to decompress. Off to the Dortmund Christmas market!