Bitter Journey from Stockholm to Paris: Sweet Miracle Happens

Testing of Faith in Stockholm: We are stranded for two days…

Kissing and hugging my husband, thanking him for this wonderful night camping.

Our first camp together in Stockholm.

Bad things happen for us, but God meant it for GOOD. We experienced the miracle of God during our journey. I know He has been working on us and He works on the impossible thing.

On Friday, we were excited to book for next destination, which is in Hamburg on Sunday. Unfortunately, the agent told us with her unfriendly face and unapologetic that there was only one slot for Sunday’s schedule. Come to think that neither one of us can’t go separately."I don't want to go alone," I exclaimed. We shrugged and having these sad faces, we sit down and having deep thoughts about what she said. We looked at other options like going by train or other bus lines. After checking the prices, we gave up. We agreed that risking 1000 SK for each is like sleeping for 3 nights accommodation. We sigh and my husband said,” Okay… we’ll stay one more night and let’s book for the next schedule.

We went back to the desk, where the unfriendly and unhelpful agents there. We talked to the next agent. She told us about the price. My husband claimed,” Sorry… we have pass. She responded,” I’m sorry we don’t accept Euroline pass because we are just an agency.” Just please call the Denmark’s Office. Dial this number.

I thought it’s over, but it wasn’t as we expected in the previous travel we had. We went to the Sky Travel Agency, where these two unhelpful agents were working. The people there were so relax and they showed willingness to help. However, it was late afternoon then. She tried to call the office, but no one answered. So, she convinced us to go back on Monday 10am, so she could help us. Afterwards, the other agent suggested us to go to other agency. She knew that this agency was authorized to book the Euroline pass. So, with out any time to be wasted, like the bolt of lightning, Tibor walked swiftly. I told him go ahead. 

"You have 45 minutes to catch the office opened".

I was walking slow and when I almost near, I saw him approaching back. He said,” The guy charged me 150 SK and he will call and he can print out for him. Before, they were allowed to print Euroline pass in the office, but now it has changed by the management. Therefore, we decided to go back on Monday.

Monday came. We were excited to book and to get out from this city. We’d already missed our Paris adventure. But anyways, my husband went there around 10am. We were ready to check out. When he arrived, I could read his face. He was still panting after running and he tried to catch his breath. I asked,” What happened?”

He said that the agent had made a mess on the ticket. We had different tickets. His ticket goes to Hamburg, then Paris, while mine is to Copenhagen to Paris. It means we will be in separate bus in Copenhagen. We will meet up in Hamburg. We don’t like the time of arrival in Paris. It’s 22:00. We know that Paris is not safe this time. Where are we going to stay? So…we should alter it or else?

After that incident, we called Denmark’s office and they made an alteration for our arrival successfully, that we both stop in Hamburg. Then, later we’ll decide and book our ticket to Paris in Hamburg’s office. Then, our problem was to print  out the ticket. My husband had to look for internet cafe. Very unfortunate, he couldn't find. As he retold, he didn't know what brought him to the Sony Centre and he was given a chance to print inside their office for free. What a miracle! He was really jumping for joy and he couldn't forget the helpfulness of this young guy allowing him to use their company's printer. Finally, we had our tickets and the journey began.

Apparently, we thought we were getting ahead, but we were just walking around the circle. When we were booking our ticket, the guy said that later schedules for Paris had been fully booked. We sighed for sadness and disappointment. But, we ended up the same schedule and had no choice, but to leave at 5:45am in the morning and our bus is expected to arrive at 22:00.  Come what might happen. We couldn’t buy food and no shelter when we get there. We trust everything to God because He knows better and we know He won’t leave us in times like this. This was another trial for us.

Along the trip, there was something happen that cause our delay. The German police were here again. This time, they were checking for the driver’s paper. Unfortunately, he didn’t have it. We had to wait more than 30 minutes to look for this document and asked the office to fax it in Kolon Germany. The delay was no good for others, but it was good for us. We took the opportunity to buy bread, chips and fruits to feed us for the entire journey. Not only that, my husband did refill our empty bottle of water.

Even worst case happen, there is always good out of it. My husband is so optimistic and he even praised God for all the bad and good events that we went through. We reached Paris passed 12m.n.However, we felt doubtful and we don’t know where to go. We just stayed outside the bus station and wait until next morning.

Good. God brought us companion to keep us safe. A couple also who were there sleeping and two guys waiting for the bus to open, so we all could continue our journey. I know Paris is not safe. If we leave the post to look for accommodation in the middle of the night, I doubt we could get one. Thank God for keeping us safe. Amen.At last, we found a good resting place to stay for one night in Paris at the Etap Hotel.

The journey to get to the destination is not easy. There are a lot of twist and turns and worst case is your patience has been tested– you feel want to give up and go home or go on and don’t give up.