As planned, I met Susie today and we had a wonderful time! We went out for a Bavarian lunch and she brought me two gigantic jars of Skippy Extra Crunchy Peanut Butter, two new embroidery hoops, and a couple of pairs of kitty socks from America! It is like I had my own GISBE package delivered in person! 
We did our cross stitch shopping, she bought some Art Deco make-up, and then she was off to meet her hubby and I was on my way home… And that is when the real adventure started!
I hopped on the train to take me home and when we were three stops from Hauptbahnhof the announcer came over the loudspeaker and announced that my train was going to Pasing! My train doesn’t go to Pasing! It is in the opposite direction of where I live! Everyone on the train must have had the same thought because we all gave each other confused looks and then when we stopped, the entire train disembarked. As the train pulled away I was left standing there with two choices:
Number one; I could take the S8, the other train that goes in the direction of the airport (that is the direction in which I live). It goes around the opposite side of Munich, so when I get to the airport I then have to change trains to the one that comes back around to my side of Munich. I have done this before and it works; but it is the longer of my two options.
Number two; I could go back to Hauptbahnhof, take the subway to Feldmoching, and then take my regular train home. This is usually my “Plan B,” and when everything is working right is the shortest both time and distance-wise.
Well, I chose “Plan B.” Unfortunately though, the problem that redirected my train to Pasing was the result of a broken track between where I was thrown off the train and the end-station of the subway. We were told a train would be coming in about 15 minutes.
This week, spring is finally trying to peek through the left over snow and since it was so warm today I didn’t wear a coat, just a heavy long sleeved T-shirt. I was O.K. all afternoon, but unluckily for me, after the promised fifteen minutes had passed there was still no train and the sun was rapidly setting. I was getting chilly and since I knew I would be getting the peanut butter today I didn’t even have a book with me! (Huh?! A book adds weight to my bag… weight that the peanut butter replaced.)
Once again the loudspeaker came on and through the mumbling I understood that the train was delayed by fifteen minutes! Talk about déja vu! The man beside me grumbled, “Yeah, that’s what they said fifteen minutes ago!” My sentiments exactly!
About fifteen minutes later we were informed that the “express” train to Landshut would be coming in five minutes and then after that two trains going in the direction of the airport would be coming. Ten or fifteen minutes later, the “express” train crawled through the station and five or so minutes later the first train to the airport came.
By this time it was well into rush-hour and literally hundreds of people tried to cram into the train. I was chilly, but decided since I had waited that long I would just wait a few more minutes for the NEXT train. When it came, I got a seat and the rest of journey home was uneventful until we learned that between my stop and the airport there was another track malfunction and everyone going to the airport would have to wait for the next train! By that time I didn’t care though, we were at my stop and almost exactly two hours after I boarded my first train at Hauptbahnhof I walked in my door and kicked off my shoes. It was good to be home!