Megan almost got stranded in Dresden.

We were taking the train from Prague to Cologne and enjoying the relaxing sway of the train and Megan decided to look for the dining car down to the end of the train. So I stayed leaning against the window in the tight hall right outside our compartment while Megan went traveling car-by-car to the end.

So then it was taking awhile, and then I started pacing back and forth in our car wondering where she was. I walked to one end, looked through into the next car, and walked back. I walked to the other end -- the end Megan had gone -- and stared curiously at the red metal bar strapped across the door. I looked out the window. The next day down's outer door was open. I didn't see Megan. I pulled my head back in.

I looked back out the end-window which was crossed by the red bar, realizing for the first time that there was no platform for crossing from one car to the other. Instead, I was looking straight down through between the cars onto the bare tracks. The moment I realized this, the cars began to pull apart from each other. They were completely decoupled and our car was the last car in the line continuing on. All the rest were still.

I freaked out because I thought Megan was still on that car. Turns out she had stepped off of the car behind ours about two minutes earlier and passed our car and gotten on the next one up without us seeing each other. So there were about eight minutes where I thought I was inexorably heading away from Megan toward Berlin with all our stuff.

When she called me and came bursting in from the other end of the car, my hands were shaking, and so were hers. Now we're here safe and sound in Cologne and going out to a beer garden in a bit. Hobbes loves it here. Germany is cool.