Lois decided that she would take the top bunk and swung herself up. She promptly fell asleep. The train departed on schedule and circled Vienna before heading north. The journey was noisy and bumpy and the train kept stopping and starting. This was not conducive to sleep. It reminded Dr Anne of a time, in centuries past, when travelling by carriage, there had to be stops to rest the horses.
At 2 am, part of the train splt and headed off to Berlin. At 4 am the train shuddered to a sudden halt. It was dark outside... Where were they? There were no announcements. The train did not move. Dawn came and it appeared that the train was in the middle of a forest. It was grey and misty. Silence... Were the occupants of the train being led to extermination or had the history of the Nazis and Soviets just got to Dr Anne?
Around 6 am there was noise in the corridor. Dr Anne ventured out and talked to an American. Her husband had tried to find out what was going on, without success. A Polish lady told Dr Anne to remain in her carriage as there had been an accident. The Duty Officer shook his head pretending he did not know what was happening. Dr Anne peered through a locked door to see workmen with yellow fluorescent jackets.
Around 6.30 am the train started to move with a shudder. Very slowly it limped its way to Kraków arriving at 9.30 am instead of 6.30 am with no explanation. Around 9 am the Duty Officer opened Dr Anne's carriage door and handed her her rail ticket with a wry smile.
One good point of the late arrival was a scenic view could be seen as the train travelled from Slovakia into Poland.
The mist had lifted to become a beautiful day.
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