Bed 33, Car 278

The train to Poland was everything and more than we expected. Now, Ted and I had never been in a sleeping car of an overnight train. So, not sure what to expect, we definitely did not expect what we got. 6 beds made of a soft plywood – stacked in a column of 3 with about 2.5 feet in between each bed in the stack and about 24 inches for a walkway in between the beds. Very exciting. A little cramped, but we’re family, right?

We started playing Cribbage..er…Cabbage and the next thing we know our door opened and another person walked in. Don’t remember his name..Cindy may though. He was from Brazil and was on the last leg of his European Vacation. He spoke very little English, but we managed to make it through with some short sentences.

After buying some water and beer for 1 Euro each from the Train Conductor, we arrived at the border in which the Passport Controllers came around to stamp our passports since we were leaving Germany. Now, nothing was said to our Brazilian roommate from the German controllers; however, once the Polish Controllers took a look at his passport, they noticed that he did not have a visa. They asked him to put his shoes on and grab his bag and jacket and then asked him to get off of the train. It was crazy….after he got off the train, every 30 seconds or so, you could see a few more security type guards walking outside towards the guy. Eventually there were like 15 men trying to figure out what to do. “How many Border Controllers does it take to tell a guy that he needs a visa to enter a country and then make him go back to Berlin?”

I suppose not speaking the language would make the situation a bit scary. He did say to us before he left our cabin, “I don’t care if I have to get off the train..I just care about my life.” So, I guess he wasn’t too disappointed that he was getting kicked off the train.

So, this Blog posting is a shout-out to the guy in Bed number 33, Train Car 278. Hope you made it back to Berlin and you were able to continue your journey.