The key items were in place, I had my backpack filled with general essentials, my passport and most importantly my hat. The look “I’m a tourist around Europe trying to look cool” was complete. I excitedly made my way to Gare de L’Est imagining life like a 19th century traveller Istanbul bound on the Orient Express. In reality I was Orestiada bound taking a series of trains covering a vast array of speeds and comfort levels. It was no longer the age of steam, it was the age of the TGV and a stark reminder greeted me as I arrived, “The TGV2407, 8:40 train to Strasbourg has been delayed one hour due to a failure on the line”. What an ominous beginning I thought but if all went smoothly from now on it would be a small sacrifice to make to the train gods.
So 9:40 am I finally boarded the Orient Express, well the TGV2407 to Strasbourg. The candles I had imagined replaced by delightful LEDs and the waitress now a buffet car that offered small tuna sandwiches at 4€ and an amusing barman who wondered if I was Chinese simply because my bank was HSBC…
The conversation went something like this.”Oh is your card English” (Picking up on my English accent)
”No, French”
”Oh, which bank is it. What does HSBC stand for?”
”Hong Kong Shanghai Bank”
”Oh so, you’re from China”
”Well… my mother’s Chinese but that’s not the reason I chose HSBC…”
After backing away from this amusing exchange, a lunch in Strasbourg and a train ride along the black forest I found myself descending on my first random European destination, Heidelberg.
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