Röderland

It was just too good to be true. The trains weren't chock-full of people. The air conditioning worked on all of them. In the first two I was able to observe a couple and their dog (who'd start barking anytime anyone passed by) discuss the bark-activeness of their pet. I even got bumped to first class in the third one.

But then, the last change before reaching my destination for today: 10-minute delay, the connecting train gone. Stuck in Elsterwerda, 8400 souls. For two hours.

About 20-25 people, all with the same 'kinda lost' look on their faces, forlorn on the plattform of a train station where freight trains were a more common sight that passenger trains.

But the small train station in the middle of nowhere had a bar (and nothing else) and I soon found myself at a table with two retirees from Regensburg, drinking beer and listening to their stories from post-war Germany and life in the 70s and 80s. Later, an old sailor on his way to Stralsund joined our group and more and more people joined in on the conversation.

By the time the next train to Berlin finally arrived, a handful of strangers that had bonded over the shared experience continued their journey with a light buzz.Read more