Saturday, July 9th 2011 Another Day of Traveling

By: Erica Keenan

Today we said our goodbyes to the lovely island of Borkum. Us GAPPies managed to pull ourselves out of bed in time to be packed and ready for breakfast at 7:45. After enjoying fresh, warm bread, hard boiled eggs, and a variety of other things, we headed off back home to Greven.

With our stomachs full and us all wide awake we grabbed our bags and started walking to the train station. The cobblestone roads made walking with luggage a bit more difficult, but we made it to the train station with no problems. At the train station we had about half an hour to kill before our train actually arrived. So I went into a little shop with Frau Gierke, Emi, and Zoe. We spent a little time in there and did some last minute shopping before hopping on our train.

Once we finally got on our train almost everyone seemed to have lost the energy we had after breakfast. So the 15 minute train ride to the ferry was pretty quiet and very peaceful.

Ashley and Steph on the train that took us to the ferry.

We got off the train and it was very chilly outside...and a bit wet! It had started to lightly rain, but luckily the train let us off very close to the ferry. Once we had gotten on the ferry we soon found that finding a place for our luggage was going to be difficult. The ferry was more packed this time around than when we were on our way to Borkum. With a little effort we all managed to fit our bags in somewhere so we could find a place to sit down.

Frau Gierke finding a place for her bags.

Now, it wasn't just the place for baggage that was full. The whole ferry was packed with people! But luckily all the way at the bottom of the ferry there were a few open tables where we could all sit and relax. There were a number of things that people were doing to occupy themselves on this two hour ferry ride. The most popular option? Sleeping! At one point in time more than half of the people I was sitting with were asleep! I also took a quick nap myself...but it was difficult to stay asleep for long with all the noises around us. Besides sleeping many people read, wrote in journals, and ordered food from the ferry. I didn't try any of the food but the french fries looked delicious!

Zoe and her partner, Jenna, on the ferry.

After getting off the ferry we boarded yet another train. This one was a short ride though, and none of us really had time to do much of anything. So we all sat patiently and waited to get off at our stop.

Finally we got to the last train we had to board today. When everyone finally settled in we braced ourselves for a two to three hour ride. Some people fell back asleep while others stayed up to talk, read or play some Pokemon! I think we were all ready to just get back to Greven.

When the train dropped us off at the Greven train station we were greeted by the sun. A friendly face we hadn't really seen much of that morning. I was ready to go home, and I think everyone else was too.

After getting back to my host family's house I unpacked and took a long nap! Day's of traveling can wear you out, but the experiences you get with them are well worth it.