Overnight train to Berlin sparks lasting love for Minnesota couple
A chance encounter on a European overnight has led to a marriage that's 30 years and counting.
In the summer of 1991, Katy Vernon and Randy Vanderwood met by chance on a crowded train platform in Amsterdam.
Vernon, a drama student in London, noticed Vanderwood's bright coat and his tidy appearance.
"I just really liked him right away, he had this bright jacket on and he was just so clean and put together, not like any British boy I knew up until that point," said Vernon.
Vanderwood, a serviceman in the United States Air Force, wasn't immediately stricken by Vernon and her friends.
"I remember thinking there were a couple of obnoxious British girls on the train. We were on a train that was full of people you couldn't get a seat and they were singing in the aisles," said Vanderwood.
But by chance, they connected on that overnight train to Berlin. They all got to know each other, and by the time they reached Berlin – they all decided to travel together.
After their initial trip, Vernon's group decided to go to Prague. Vanderwood and his group decided to follow, but found that his paperwork would not allow him in Czechoslovakia.
"At the border, they stopped to check everyone's passports and I didn't have mine. All I had was my military ID," said Vanderwood. "They said I didn't have the correct papers to go into Prague so they kicked me off the train."
From the window of that train, Vernon yelled from her window telling him to find them in Munich.
"We said goodbye in the middle of the night. I really thought that we would never see each other again," said Vernon. "I remember walking around Prague and feeling sad."
Vanderwood and his brother headed back to Paris. With nothing to lose, Vanderwood took a plane to Munich.
"There were no cell phones, no internet, we had no chance of knowing if that plan would work. I screamed out of a train window," said Vernon.
Some might call it fate or luck, but Vanderwood found his way to the train station in Munich hoping that he would see them.
"I spotted his jacket right away," said Vernon. "I was like 'Oh my gosh there's Randy.'"
Vernon saw Vanderwood's bright jacket that she had initially seen in Berlin. Vernon couldn't believe that Vanderwood was able to get there and find her.
"The fact that we reconnected, to me, has always been the most special part of our story," said Vernon.
Vanderwood set out with Vernon's group to the Greek islands where they grew to know each other more.
But like all good things, it had to come to an end.
"I flew back to Athens and she flew back to England," said Vanderwood.
Although their adventure was over, their journey together was just getting started. Vernon reached out to Vanderwood and discussed visiting.
Vernon and her close friends visited Vanderwood at his base. Her friend eventually left, but she stayed a few days longer.
They decided it was time to make it official, and began dating and seeing each other every few weeks. But Vanderwood was only deployed for one more year in England.
"We dated the rest of the time and I basically said goodbye," said Vanderwood.
When Vanderwood left England, he left with an awkward goodbye. Vanderwood went back to Iowa to start college, and couldn't promise things would work out.
Vernon called a week later, saying that she was going on summer vacation and would like to visit him in Iowa.
"She spent the whole summer with me, coming to work with me. We were together 24 hours a day," said Vanderwood.
After the summer, Vernon left, and Vanderwood would make an easy decision on where to take the relationship next.
"After that summer, she left, I said, 'man, I really miss this girl. I really enjoyed spending time with her,'" said Vanderwood. "It was at the point I thought I needed to do something about that and so that following Christmas, I flew back to England and proposed."
They got married in Minneapolis in 1993 and eventually decided to live in Minneapolis because of the art and music scene. They had two daughters and moved to White Bear Lake, where Vanderwood is a photographer and Vernon is a musician.
Find out more about Katy Vernon and her music here and more about Vanderberg's photography here.
