Last minute bus from Brussels to Berlin...

No Erasmus or study abroad experience is complete without a disastrous travel story, and this is mine.

I like to plan ahead. I like to plan trips months in advance, to research accomodation, to research things to do and be prepared for everything. On Erasmus, that isn’t always possible. Part of the study abroad experience is last minute travelling.

Myself and some of my housemates saw cheap flights going for Berlin, and cheap hostel rooms so we went for it. We booked our flights just a couple of days in advance and all got pretty excited, looking up all the places to eat, go out and things to do.

The night before our flight, I got a notification on my phone that our flight had been cancelled. I checked my emails. Nothing. I check Ryanair. Nothing. I checked the news. Nothing. Now, I’m getting worried. I don’t say anything to my housemates in case I get them unduly worried.

I let this go on for an hour, until the email came from Ryanair. Our flight was cancelled because of a strike in Berlin. So, we looked at alternatives. Cancel? A different day? Bus? Bus…

We found the cheapest bus we could, and decided to just go for it and book one - for that night. My ticket cost €30 but as more of us tried to book ours the price went up to €70. We haphazardly packed within an hour, and left our house to head for the train to Brussels. It was late, and we were already exhausted.

We got to Brussels some time around 11pm, and passed by several soldiers on our way to the bus stop. We checked in, and sat in the run down little waiting room for about a half hour or so. Our bus arrived on time, and we boarded. Free WiFi was promised. Free WiFi was not delivered. It was going to be a long 11 hours…

We set off into the night and I fell asleep after maybe an hour or so, thankfully.

Sudden stop. Lights. Doors opening.

“PASSPORTS!”

It turned out it was 3am, and we were at the German border and being stopped by police to check everyone’s passports and Visa. Three officers came on, shining lights and looking for passport books and cards. It was a little terrifying to say they least. Once their checks were done, they let the bus go on its way.

We eventually go to Berlin, some 11 hours later. Totally wrecked and sore from the journey. We were ready for the weekend.

At the end of that weekend, guess what? Our return flight was cancelled due to a second strike. We panicked and tried to get in touch with Ryanair. There were eight of us looking to jump on the next available flight. We pleaded with Ryanair to let us go on the last flight that night, and they thankfully transferred us. So there we were, early in, early out and all unplanned.