Anniversary of a tragedy in a neighboring country -- partial building collapse at a train station. I was actually in a train station in that country on that morning, but I was in the national capital, having taken the legendary overnight train in from the Adriatic coast. (Less than a bus ride.) It was a difficult ride, as I hadn't yet figured out that the ticket agents could call down to the yard at the origin station to find out which cars were open-plan and which were compartments. I was stuck in an airless compartment with five others, very warm. And the custom in these areas is apparently indoor clothing, no shoes, etc. Spent most of the ride hunched over in the corridor, half seated on a small ledge, trying to get some sleep.
When I arrived, I discovered that tickets for the trains to the new part of the city could only be purchased, at that hour, with a credit card from that country. It was a bright, new spacious station, some distance from the city proper. I stared in disbelief for a moment at the information desk, and then said in my best low-key ironic tone, "not much of a train station then, is it." Irony can be comforting at such times, but a more perfect spirit wouldn't have done that, I suppose. So, having done this walk before, I walked the vector to the large church (not the city's cathedral, much like St. Peter's in Rome), and from there to downtown, across the bridge, and to the new city.
Heard the news about the events in the other city later that day in some disbelief. I suppose a pleasant morning's walk through a city I like a lot wasn't that high a price to pay.
On a subsequent visit, I discovered by hopping on a train at the station in the new city (intending to pay on the train) that there's no fare collection between those two stations. Or at least so I was told by someone with a lanyard. But I also later found a proximate bus line, after taking it to the museum of the old republic, and the buses and trams are free now.
An interesting morning. Also a lesson to be a bit more jedi, even after a night like that and even in a circumstance like that.