Sleeping in Train Stations...Again

Well, here we have arrived.  My last European backpacking trip.  It's difficult to pinpoint exactly how I felt about this last trip.  Sometimes I was really looking forward to going home-at other times I couldn't imagine life without traveling around Europe on trains!

Emily, Greg, Kirsten, me and Matt left Maastricht on Monday afternoon.  I casually mentioned that, "This time next week we'll be flying home!"  I was quickly shushed.  It was an uneventful trip into Switzerland.  We did have to spend the night in the Brig station.  I was not looking forward to it, nor will I miss that occupational hazard of sleeping in uncomfortable places. 

When we first got to Brig, it was ridiculously cold and we couldn't figure out where to sleep.  It really did not help the situation when the loud jackhammer began to start up.  I was really resenting the whole sleeping-in-a-train-station thing.  It's one thing to sleep on a moving train, that is usually warm and safe.  It's a whole different ball game to have to sleep in a station. 

But as always, I sucked it up and found us an enclosed waiting room up in between the tracks on the platform.  I looped my arm through my backpack strap and locked the compartment with my iPod, phone, camera, etc.  The leg pouch was securely fastened to my right calf with all my important documents-passport, Eurail pass, credit cards and some cash.

Settling down onto the bench, it was now time to get some shut-eye.  It's pretty difficult to manage in a room that is as bright as daylight.  I did my best, until I was awakened by Greg telling some random person, "I don't know what you're saying, man" 

Then I faded back into unconsciousness.  When we awoke at 5 am to catch the night train, I was shocked to learn the real story about the random guy in the middle of the night.  When Greg woke up, he noticed a guy going through Emily's purse.  The guy then apparently shoved her wallet back into her purse when he noticed Greg was awake.

That was when the intruder started asking a question in a language neither of us recognized.  Then the creeper made his getaway.  He was able to take about 20 Euros of her cash, but either missed or didn't want her American currency. That was an interesting experience.