I'm here in Florida now, bouncing between Titusville and Daytona Beach, waiting for my flight from Orlando to Düsseldorf which is coming up on Monday 26 June. The reason for flying into Düsseldorf is simple: it's much less expensive than flying into France—that I get to spend time with friends in Florida and near Düsseldorf finalized the decision.

But getting to Düsseldorf is easy—step inside a plane in Orlando and like magic step back outside into Germany. Now here's the challenge: first get to Bochum, then get from Bochum to Strasbourg. And keep in mind that my knowledge of German revolves around counting to twelve, saying good morning/evening, and singing a children's song. In Bochum is my friend Yunir, who recently moved there from Uzbekistan to attend graduate school at Ruhr-Universität Bochum (this is, in fact, the first time I've ever had an Uzbekistani friend in Germany).

So here's the "plan."

1. Arrive in Düsseldorf at 8:15am on Tuesday, 27 June
2. Train from Düsseldorf to Bochum on Tuesday [15€]
3. Train from Bochum to Strasbourg on Friday, 30 June [72€]

Oh, I just remembered—I can say bier and danke schön. Perhaps 'beer' and 'thank you' will come in handy...

Links

• Flughafen Düsseldorf International
• Ruhr-Universität Bochum
• Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr
• Die Bahn