Catching the Tram

I did it, but........
        I found the public transportation system to be quite daunting since I have very little experience with the use of such things. In fact, the only time I have ever really utilized it has been on my visits to see Amanda in Chicago (and when you're in Chicago with Amanda she does all the thinking for you!)
I  just follow her lead, get on the train she tells me to get on, and ta-da that was it. Here not only have I never used the train but I can barely understand the broken English instructions.
   So I started off walking from our hotel to the Klemensplatz station to buy a ticket. I asked the young woman working if she spoke English and of course she said a little (that's the usual answer.) This girl however was telling the truth she only spoke a little. It was enough to get the temporary ticket I needed for 13 euros.  One single day group ticket later and I was on my way. I walked back to the hotel and had them drive me to our new home. There was simply to much left in the hotel for me to carry alone on the tram. So I got a lift and I was at our house with no way to pick up the kids except... the tram.  The tram I had never ridden with a ticket I was not quite sure how to use (still not completely sure.)
    I walked to the station an hour early just in case I did something wrong I would still have some time to undo my mistake.  I waited for the first train just to watch and when everyone boarded I sat and waited for the next train. The second train pulled up and I got on board scanned my ticket and hopped off 4 stops latter. After about a 15 minute walk from the station I was at the kids school 40 minutes early in 20 degree weather.  The trip had been a little too easy, now I had to freeze outside while I waited for the bell to ring.

     Now it was the kids turn to try the tram for the first time. I had spent a little extra time out side the school talking with new friends, so after walking to the train stop it was getting close to 4:30 and the train was full. We all had to stand and hold on while the train sped away. The kids seemed unimpressed by the entire situation and I think it may have been because the train was so full. Eli said it smelled horrible. When we arrived at our stop I took them into a grocery store right by the platform for a treat. We were wondering the aisles when Michael popped up around a corner. He had gotten home at 4:30 and was worried that the first train ride had been a failure. He drove to the house, then to the school, and because he knows me so well tried the grocery store (he said because he knew I didn't have coffee for the morning), and there we were. The rest of the way home was in the warm van. Michael saved us an extra 15 minutes of trudging through the snow. When we arrived the kids went straight back out in the snow to ride in some of the moving boxes down a snowy hill with friends.