It's drizzling under sunny but chilly skies during my 1st cigarette, so I'm glad I brought the bike away yesterday already.
Pedaling a heavy and power-less e-bike with ALL my luggage in sprinkles? NOT a good idea ...
The owner is preparing breakfast today. No eggs available! He's exhausted by the looks of him. No wonder though, he is running TWO hotels !
Today I will make another step into the digital present. I will present my train ticket on my cell phone ! The fact that I now have a phone without the spider-web of cracks on the display certainly helps in this endeavor. We'll see how that goes ....
10:15
I check with Radstation whether they have received my money-drop and maybe have figured out what was wrong with the bike. All seems to have been the fault of that bloody little display computer on the handle-bar. NOTE TO SELF: On the next long bike trip, take TWO of those little fuckers along ;-)
11:25 Was about time one of these trains was late ....
NOT only is the train 25 minutes LATE, and not only does it leave from a platform different from the one indicated. German train stations have indicator boards showing where each car will stop along the platform. German boards are digital whereas in Vietnam, where the same customer-friendly system is in use, the information is written by chalk onto a board. The Viet chalk-written information is always accurate, i.e. the train actually stops where it is supposed to stop.
NOT so here, as I and an old lady I was talking to have to find out. The train is already LATE, so it tries to keep its stops to a minimum, and we have to run (hobble in the old lady's case) for more than 100 meters along the platform. There isn't even a conductor in sight, who I can instruct not to close the door before the old lady arrives.
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| NOT amused ! |
In the train, the seat-reservation display system is Kaputt, as it also was in the previous 2 trains. This seat is POSSIBLY reserved it says above EVERY seat.
VERY helpful indeed, LOL.
12:15
NO WiFi at Cologne Central Station ;-(
But at least my seat strategy paid off. The German Rail seat-reservation system seems to automatically fill the train car by car, BUT there is also an option where you can choose your own seat. So I chose a seat in a car where pretty much nothing was reserved yet. The result: I'm sitting at a window in a mini compartment of 4 seats all by myself.
12:40
NO WiFi at Bonn Central Station ;-( Please note that Bonn used to be the Capital of Germany !
12:55
We're already passing Remagen (February 2018), when a conductor finally wants to check my ticket. He scans my cell phone. And it actually WORKS. I have saved one sheet of paper. Of course, there is a drawback ! I had to write down the connecting train #s, times, and platforms on the inside of an old and empty cigarette pack ;-)
13:15
NO WiFi at Koblenz Central Station....
13:30
I've noticed the very positive effect that cycling has had on my body shape, debris-content of my lungs, and general disposition during the last week and I am hatching a CUNNING PLAN on this train ride.
WHAT prevents me from buying one of those fabulous 45 km/h Speed Pedelecs when I bring mother back in about 6 weeks and having the store SHIP the bike to VIETNAM ?
Absolutely NADA (except maybe German export regulations?).
An S-Pedelec with 2 batteries in Quy Nhon.
Now THAT sounds like a DREAM that is just MEANT to come TRUE ;-)
I get to the bus stop 3 minutes before the twice-an-hour bus leaves.
Karma Kredits ;-)
I feel like HOME, when I see that my hotel room has a fridge & a water kettle. COFFEE is the thought that comes to mind right away.
WTF? NO coffee. And WHAT KIND of tea is THAT? Strawberries & Cream. LOL, the hotel owner must have found 200,000 bags of that for a buck, LOL. Which person in their right mind would buy that????
Nap or just a lay-down?
But it's nice to see my pseudo-relatives again. Good food and fabulous wine.
The evening lasts longer than expected and I crash into my bed at 23:30
Breakfast has been open since 6:00 but I only make it there at 8:00.
It's dark and drizzling outside, which is a nice way to ease into today's destination, LOL
To think that I will be locked into a metal tube for 10 hours with a large number of people who are actually excited to fly to Vancouver is a bit unsettling at this early hour.
I spend the hour before check-out reading my blog for September 2016. The bike trip from Paris to Frankfurt. I realize how much I miss that semi-aimless wandering on a bicycle through parts unknown. !
11:00
Time to take the 751 bus right to the Airport Terminal 1 for 3.20 Euros. Much preferable to a 30 Euro taxi ;-)
They built a smoking enclosure outside the terminal. But everyone still smokes in the old spot, LOL
Time to buy cigarettes. 'Duty Free' is becoming more and more of a joke. HINT: There is no duty on chocolate to begin with and it is MORE expensive in duty free stores than in your regular store. As for cigarettes, which carry duty, their duty-free price has climbed to 45 Euros. Outrageous. On the other hand, that's CAD$ 68, still only half the price of American smokes in Canada, LOL.
(I stop laughing when I buy my first pack of Winston cigarettes in Vancouver one week after this event. $16.50 for ONE PACK)
Rose wine & Frankfurter sausages. I'm probably going to regret that later ....
OK food and good wine. How about a cigarette? I check Airportsmokers.com and learn that there is a smoking lounge right next to my gate....
How convenient is that ?
12:30
Half an hour until boarding time. But then they always lie about the boarding time, don't they? At least the plane is already here and is tethered to the walk-way tunnel. One less worry ....
I have to smile when I see that the plane has been named Achim.
Good Morning, my name is Achim and I'll be your plane today ...
Thank you Karma and Thank You Cleaning guy !
There is not much worth mentioning about the Condor flight. Everyone already knows they're horribly CHEAP with the in-flight entertainment and the food. The check-in woman had fucked up and given me a center seat when I asked for an aisle seat. Karma to the rescue: The stewardess gets me an aisle seat after I ask her. And it's at the emergency exit with endless legroom ;-)It's a good thing the Canadian Immigration Officer (she looks like a 17 year old girl) asks me "Where do you come from?" and not "Where have you been?". That allows me to answer "Germany" without having to lie. Much less likely to result in stupid questions than "Vietnam, Turkey, Austria, Germany".
It's actually SUNNY in Vancouver.
Switching from the SkyTrain to the bus downtown, I realize that not much else has changed around here ....
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| A tiny Canadian flag on top of the hotel is the 'Canadian Content'. The rest is US chains .... |
Wrong side of the train....hmmm
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