Cool greetings from Wertach

My persistence is finally paying off after 1.5 years of applying.

I'm traveling by train and would like to immerse myself in relaxation right from the first day.

Yes, I also have a positive attitude regarding the Deutsche Reichsbahn.

Even though the start is a bit bumpy.

A week prior, I received an email notifying me that my train is being replaced by another one.

As a result, my travel time extends from 10 to 11 hours.😬

What feels silly at first turns out to be a stroke of luck.🍀

At least I get to enjoy one less transfer and can stay seated from Stendal to Ulm. Now, for six hours, I can savor coffee, sleep, or read while enjoying the landscape.

I think it could be worse.🤭

At first, I'm a bit perplexed 🤔 and seriously wonder if I'm in the right compartment and not in a moving office.

Here, the laptop keys are being pounded away as if for a high-performance course; writing an essay on the task: How does the landscape change when traveling at 180 km/h on the ICE?🙄

No one is speaking. Just then, the man opposite me shares something private, and I get quite startled. However, I lean back relaxed and am glad I don't have to ride with people that have apparently mutated into robots.🙏🏼

In Ulm, I change trains for the first time and desperately look for an elevator on the platform. My suitcase is about the size of travel cases from the early 20th century and is difficult to manage up and down the stairs.

I quickly ask a fellow traveler (a good-looking Croatian type) next to me, who seems to have been waiting for his moment, and he easily makes my heavy suitcase appear light in his strong hands.🏃🏾‍➡️🧳

I struggle to keep up with him, and for a brief moment, I think he might want to disappear with it, but he sets it down, and before I can thank him, he’s already gone.👻 Magic.

Once seated on the train to Kempten, I realize I’m not traveling alone.

I’m not exactly wearing a revealing 👗 dress, but it’s still airy since Germany is just entering the hot phase, not just in terms of weather.

The FIFA World Cup 2026 has just begun in the USA 🇺🇸, Canada 🇨🇦, and Mexico 🇲🇽.

Anyway, I notice, as I gently stroke my thigh, that a tick is currently burrowing into my skin.

Traumatized from last year, I immediately address the conductor.

Since he is not yet very familiar with the German language, half the train compartment translates what is needed. And each passenger speaks a different dialect. For a brief moment, I forget my situation and enjoy the spectacle. 😂

Finally, he brings me a pair of scissors ✂️.

I don’t think I should separate the head and torso, I tell him.😬

So, I must endure a whole hour of tension on the train ride to Kempten.

Pff, that was the end of relaxation.

In Kempten, I decide due to the distance to head to the travel center instead of the pharmacy.

The train employee is immediately on the spot and super helpful. However, I have to pull it out myself, as she is very squeamish about it. No matter, we function wonderfully as a team. She hands me the disinfected tweezers as a nurse 💉, and I, as the doctor 👩‍⚕️, operate.

Cool, hardly arrived in Allgäu, I’ve also advanced professionally.😚

I reach Wertach after 11 hours feeling pretty worn out.

Now, it’s only a mere 200 meters, but feeling like I need to overcome 300 meters in elevation.😫

I fight like a lion and mobilize my last forces when two girls with youthful enthusiasm (doing tricks, since it’s downhill)

approach me.

I quickly ask them if they want to earn a little money. They look at each other first, then scan me... but they still say yes.🤭

You just need to push this “little thing” up here, roll it, however you want.🤪🙏🏼

In the end, they are happy to have earned 5€ for not that tough of a job, and I was able to enjoy the breathtaking, as already mentioned, uphill, view.😌