Friday the 13th... I mean 16th

Well it has been a week since I got back from my adventures, but things have been a little crazy trying to get back into the swing of things, and I have been way too lazy to do homework, not to mention update my blog. But I will warn you up front, this is going to be a long update... and this is only one day. I will break my trip up into a few posts which I hope will be up by mid-week. Anyway, enjoy.
It all started on Friday the 16th of October. I had one class in the morning, lunch, and then I was off on my European adventure. I packed my trusty school backpack full of everything that I thought I would need on break; clothes, some warm gear, the normal toiletries etc... It was overstuffed and bulky, but to keep costs down, I had to make sure the bag was a certain size and weight to keep it a carry on for my plane trips. So I departed from my room in Salzburg at around 2:00. I went to the train station and boarded the first train to Klagenfurt 2:14. The train was expected to arrive at the station in Klangefurt at 4:30, and I figured I would have ample time to check into my first hostel, and then grab a bite to eat... I was sorely mistaken. After rushing to find a seat, then getting my ticket checked by the conductor, I fell soundly asleep listening to the wonderful music of Pavarotti (considering that it would be our last night hanging out for two weeks a large group of the Salzburg students stayed out late). I awoke and checked my watch... it was now around 5:00, I was confused, because I remember that the train was supposed to arrive in Klagenfurt at 4:30, but I assumed that there must have been some sort of delay that had occurred while I was asleep. I gazed out the window, and was slightly confused to find that none of the signs on buildings, or advertisements were in German. I was extremely confused, and after glancing quickly again at them, assumed falsely that they were in Italian. At around 5:15, a man came in asking in German for tickets. This really confused me, considering that they had already checked our tickets. I asked the man if he spoke English, to which he replied, "ein bisschen" or a little. I showed him my ticket to Klangenfurt, to which he immediately replied "get off at the next stop and go back", and then left the compartment. I was mortified. I had no idea where I was or where I was going, but we arrived at the next stop and I quickly got off to check the train schedule. As I went to check the schedule I realized that it too, was not in German, but in another language. And the schedule had no mention of Klagenfurt, the town I needed to go to. I tried to go inside for help, but the station was not open. There was a small "tabak" stand open, which is a place for bus tickets and cigarettes in Austria, and I thought I would try my luck there. I asked the woman if she spoke English or German, to which she just shook her head no. "Klagenfurt" I asked. I motioned that I needed to go there. And after some ridiculous motions on my part, she finally replied "Jesenice" I assumed she was telling me where I needed to go and I thanked her with a "danke." I walked back over to the train schedule. I saw that in 10 minutes there was a train to Jesenice. So, on a whim, I took it. After about a 20 minute train ride I arrive in Jesenice and went to check the schedule there. Still no Klagenfurt, but there was Villach, and I remembered that my train to Klagenfurt had to go through there. The problem was that it was now around 6:00 and the train was slated to arrive until 10:20. Great. Now what was I going to do, in what I supposed to be a small Italian town. Well I was hungry, so I left the small train station in search of food. I found a small mom and pop store and entered to get some food. I bought a small container of sugar wafers and left. I headed back to the train station to eat and figure out what to do. On my way back I noticed a large tourist sign and approached it, thinking maybe I could find something interesting to do on it. Trying to read the letters I discovered that in fact I was in Slovenia. Great, I didn't even know this country existed before that moment, I have no idea what language they speak, and I am stuck here. I gave my parents a quick call to let them know that I had left for my adventure, but that I had hit a minor snare, but that I was ok. I also called the youth hostel in Klagenfurt to let them know that I wouldn't be in until late. The woman was very nice and told me that she would leave the key under a large red ash tray outside the hostel, but that she would have to charge me for a single room because she didn't want me to disturb people when I got in. So I was relieved that I would be able to sleep, but now I was paying almost 50Euros for one night instead of 17. This was simply another point of frustration for the day. After another 15 minutes or so I became bored and restless, and I was also quite cold. So I added a few layers of clothing and headed out into the streets to find something to do. I noticed a sign for a "Euro Spar" which is a popular grocery store in Austria that I knew, and so I figured that I would be able to get some good there. I arrived at the Euro Spar, and not really seeing anything to my liking picked up a pack of gum and a water. I paid for the water and gum and as I was leaving, the detectors for shoplifting went off. I turned to the cashier to try and explain that I had paid for everything, but of course she did not speak English, or German as well. I turned from the cashier frustrated and ready to leave when I noticed that there were two police officers heading towards me. They approached me and began to speak to me in their native tongue, which must have been some sort of Slavic, because I had no idea what they were saying. I asked if they spoke German, English, heck I even tried Spanish, but to no avail, they just looked at me confused, and after a minute or two, motioned for me to follow them. I followed them to their police car and then opened the door and motioned for me to get into the back. By this point I was freaking out, it was my first day on my trip and already I was getting arrested! Thought of "holy crap what will my parents think" "Will Roberts hear about this" and "Am I going to jail?!" flew through my head at Mach 1. We drove for only a few minutes in silence and arrived at the police station. They opened the door for me, and escorted me into a room in the station with double pained glass, I was in a genuine interrogation room. Holy crap. So the two officers motioned for me to give them my bag. And I did. They proceeded to empty it out onto the table and examine everything with the utmost scrutiny. After going through my bag for who knows how long, they left the room. Then I had maybe 10-15 minutes of freak out time by myself (I was too scared to take my phone out of my pocket and check the time) Finally, another man entered the room. He seemed to be a more senior official, but I really had no idea. He opened with "do you speak English?" in a very thick accent. "YES!" I thought, "now I can finally defend myself!!" I said yes! He explained very slowly that his English was very basic. And then he proceeded to tell me that I had been accused of shoplifting, (which I had already assumed). I tried to explain to him that I had not stolen anything, and showed him receipts for EVERYTHING that I had bought up to that point. After a time of trying to explain to him that I was not a criminal he finally paused, looked at me, and said slowly, "I will drive you to train station" "thank you very much sir" I remember replying. And so, I was set free, and this man was nice enough to drive me back to the train station. I was still freaking out a bit, but began to calm down after being in the train station for a few minutes. It was now around 8ish. And I was really getting hungry, and decided to leave the deserted train station again for food. This time, I would just go to a restaurant, and besides, all the grocery stores were closed by now. The first place I came upon was a small restaurant/bar and I headed in hoping for the best. They were close to the train station, and actually had a menu for English speakers!! So I checked out the menu and ordered a "hamburger with fries" There was a hockey game going on and I decided to watch that. The burger finally came... oh boy, it was like no burger I have ever eaten. Sure it was on a bun, and there was some sort of meat in the middle (it looked white-ish), but the burger was covered in some strange sauce, which was very spicy, and included peppers, cheese (not cheddar), and some other strange condiments. I asked if they had ketchup... no such luck. And besides, the waiter knew about 7 words in English. So I picked at the burger, and gobbled the fries, and then just relaxed for awhile and watched this random ice hockey game, not wanting to go back into the cold. At around 9:30 the game finished and I decided that it was time for me to go. I paid my bill, and headed back to the train station. I checked my phone, 9:40, still another 40 minutes until the train. So I plopped down on a bench, freezing cold, and began reading a book for school "February Shadows" Now if I wasn't already cold, lonely, and upset enough, I began reading a book about a woman with intense psychological problems who is trying to forget a night in which her and her fellow villagers killed 500 Russians in a work camp during WWII. Holy cow. After 20 minutes, I just couldn't take it anymore, I dropped the book and headed to the platform to wait for the train. 10 minutes passed, then 20, then 30... it was 10:30 and still no train. There was no announcement, and I was the only one on the platform. I began to freak out again, seeing that the next train out of this God forsaken town was 6:30 am. At 10:40 an announcement came over the loud speaker, too bad I didn't speak Slavic! But I was just hoping that the train was late. A few more people had gathered at the platform and I figured that the train was just a little late. The train finally arrived... at 10:50, a half hour late. I jumped on and grabbed a seat, but it didn't really matter because the train was empty. By this time I was exhausted and I did everything I could to stay awake. After a few minutes the man who checks tickets came by and I purchased a ticket to Villach, hoping and praying that there would be another train to Klagenfurt. I turned on all of the lights, turned the heat down, left the door open, and sat straight up in my chair all in a vein effort to keep awake. However, in true Kimpel fashion, I was passed out within a few minutes. I awoke abruptly as the ticket man was shaking me and yelling "Villach" at me. I jumped up, thanked him and sprinted off the train. If I didn't wake up this time, I would have ended up going towards Innsbruck, and eventually Switzerland. I got REALLY lucky. So I ran to the nearest departure chart and much to my relief saw that there was one more train at 11:50 to Klagenfurt, and I had about 20 minutes until the train. I went in search of a warm place to stay, as it was freezing outside and I was half awake and shivering like crazy. I walked towards the warming platform, and to my delight, found some friends from school waiting for a train to Rome. I walked in took my hat off my head, threw it on the ground and proceeded to tell my story. By the end they were all laughing hysterically, and I was simply frustrated again. It was great to see them however, and a much needed link to something familiar. I left to board my train and was off to Klagenfurt. I arrived there at 12:30, and (after originally planning to walk to the hostel) was so frustrated and exhausted that I took a cab. Well this cab driver was a really nice guy, but after talking a little bit in German, I found out that this was his first night... and you could tell. It took us 30 minutes to go (what I found out the next day) should have been a 10 minute drive. His meter read 32.23 Euros, but he had gotten lost 4 different times, and kept apologizing profusely in German. He told me that I only had to pay 15 and I gave him a 5 euro tip, partially for being so nice, and partially because I was too lazy to break a 20. So I finally got to my youth hostel... and they key was there!!! I was relieved. I got into my room (normally for 6 people) stripped off my clothes, set my alarm for 8 and passed out. It was one of the most intense, emotionally challenging days of my life... And it was only the first day of my 16 day adventure...