Samstag, 13. Okt. 2007, 10:30 GMT+1
(continuing transcription of my handwritten journal)
Thinking I could save myself some money, I had bought my Zugfahrkarte from Koblenz straight through to Paris. I thought it was strange, then, when the man handed me two separate tickets, one for Koblenz-Metz, and one for Metz-Paris, but I didn't think anything further of it.
It wasn't until Saturday morning on the train from Metz-Paris that I discovered why.
"This was a reserved ticket for yesterday's train. You'll have to buy a new ticket. Seventy-two Euros, please."
I wasn't faking it when tears started to well up in my eyes. This was already turning out to be an expensive trip for me, my German bank account was already nearing empty, and I had left my Citibank ATM card in Germany.
The guy let me off with only a 20€ penalty, but still that was 20€ that I ended up having to spend, just because I wanted to "save" money.
Two things I'm thankful about through this experience:
1. It's only money.
2. It's a mistake I can learn from.
