Back in Europe three days, and, already I'm looking for the next flight to Bora Bora, or Fiji or anywhere
I got back relatively on time Monday (merci, Air France!) and my wife was there to pick me up at the Düsseldorf Airport.
The weather was glorious, and instead of sleeping my jetlag off, I sat outside, drank tea and had dinner with my wife. I then went into town and got my train tickets for Brussels the next day.
THEN, I got reminded why I keep warning people who think all they have to do is move here and all will be handed to them on a silver platter.
Arriving from Germany more or less on time at 9:35 in the morning, I looked for the commuter train that would take me to the town where I had my first appointment. Oops. No train. Not even a mention of a delay. Just not there. There WAS a train to a town about 15 minutes further away by car, so I jumped on that. My colleagues knew where it was, and picked me up. I asked what was going on. They said general strike. Huh?? The Germans didn't seem to know about it when they issued my ticket the day before. OK, so no service to the town I was supposed to be in. OK, so they took me back there to get back into Brussels. Oh, but now all THOSE trains were canceled, and I had to wait about an hour for a stop train that actually DID stop in the town where I had been. Last minute decision.
I didn't even try to risk the metro. I got off at Centraal and walked the rest of the way to my next appointment in central Brussels. The center of town was full of strikers in red shirts, but I still couldn't get a straight answer as to why the strike was on. They were all just sitting around, eating, smoking, drinking and reading the newspaper. As typical weather for Belgium is grey and rainy, I could only guess that they were protesting the sunny weather, which is, admittedly, highly unusual in Belgium.
I was booked on the usual 4:22 PM train from Brussels-Midi back to Köln in Germany. Time was getting short, and one of my work colleagues drove me down to the Gare du Midi in time to get the train. I jumped out, walked the last 300 or so meters (BXL-Midi has been one vast construction site for the last 20 years). Running into the main hall, I saw that now THIS train had been canceled. I jumped on a train to Liège in eastern Belgium,hoping to get some kind of train over the border to Germany. There WAS a Eurostar, usually unaffected by strikes, as it is not part of a national network, but they were booked solid. However, when I got to Liége, two seats had been canceled, and 40 minutes later was a Eurostar that went through all the way to Düsseldorf!! In Düsseldorf, there was a local train up to the airport train station, and I finally made it home by 10:00 PM.
That was enough adventure for a week. Or so I thought. Naïvely enough, as it turned out. I got up the next morning at 4:30, and made the 6:03 AM Eurostar through train to Paris. It arrived close to on time, and I got the Métzro (1 change of lines) down to my office there. I made all my appointments in Paris, and then shortly after 5:00 PM headed back on the métro to the Gare du Nord, from whence the trains back to Germany left. I already got a bad feeling when the whole train station, a huge 19th century caverbous structure, was packed full like a sardine can. There was SOME kind of "incident (no one would tell anyone what)" and trains heading north were all delayed. There were two trains heading to Germany, one at 3:55 (which hadn't left yet) and one at 5:55, the one I was booked on. At about 6:30, they canceled the 3:55 train. Gulp. At about 7:30, they canceled my train. I knew there was a Eurostar office about 200 meters away, outside of the station, so I went there to ask for help. Their "help" was right out of the American Airlines playbook. No, we can't help you. Find a hotel and try to find a train for tomorrow. I knew what this meant for trains going north out of Paris the next morning, and hotels in Paris are unbelievably expensive, especially if you want something with electricity and hot water.
They were giving such helpful advice as, "the first available train is at 10:00 AM tomorrow." "Wait, isn't there also a train at 7:55 AM?" "Oh, yes, there is that one, too." Like I said, right out of the American Airlines handbook. It is entitled "Customer disservice."
I got an idea, and asked about some of the later trains going to Brussels. The Eurostar people said that MIGHT work. I booked a space on one leaving at 8:22 PM, and it indeed DID leave, if a half hour late. I booked my usual hotel in Brussels, which had a room, since today is a holiday in Europe (May 1 is labor day here). At 11:00 PM in Sprout City, there are a LOT of unsavory characters running around the train stations, so I decided to get a taxi to the hotel, something I usually do not do. I got into a taxi, and my luck was still holding. It is a fresh immigrant who speaks no Flemish, no English, and only primitive French. How he got a taxi permit is beyond me. Anyway, he hands me his phone, and I have to tap in the coordinates for him. THAT works, at least, and ten minutes later I was at the hotel. The staff there knows me, so it was no problem checking in, even though they weren't expecting me.
So, after a short night's sleep, a decent breakfast buffet (I'm there so often, they never ask me to pay for it any more), and a ride on the métro, I get to the station, and the 8:25 train to Köln in Germany is running!!! I grab my seat, and despite the constant warnings to keep a constant eye on my luggage (theft is rampant there, including on the international trains between Belgium and Germany), I nod off immediately. However, when I'm on the road, I try to look like a dumb tourist who would not be worth the while of any self-respecting sneak-thief. So far, this has worked. I did wake in time to get off in Köln, and switch to a semi-local train north that stopped at the Düsseldorf Airport. It left right on time, so my wife left to pick me up there (15-20 minute drive). At Düsseldorf Hbf. (Central Station), the train stops (this is normal), and goes no further (this is not normal). The airport is the next stop, and only 8 minutes away by train, so WHAT NOW???? "Polizeieinsatz" which means anything from someone committing suicide by throwing themselves in front of a speeding train to a shootout between rival drug gangs. Whatever it was, it halted all train traffic to the airport train station, where my wife was already waiting for me. I got off, found a local train that headed for some suburb I had never been to, but was only 14 minutes away. I called my wife, and she tapped it into her GPS, and we finally hooked up at around 11:45 AM, home 15 minutes later, only FOURTEEN HOURS after I was supposed to be here.
So, now, finally, I am able to vent my frustration, during this glorious weather, and my wife had bought a huge salmon filet, and is currently backing it in some mustard-white wine-ginger combination that smells fabulous. It is garnished with baked white aspagus spears and rice. For later, she made a big flourless semi-sweet chocolate cake with fresh strawberries.
I have to be over in the Netherlands tomorrow, and am VERY weary about what will go wrong then. Next week, I have to be in both Portugal and Spain, and after what happened last week, I am not optimistic about that, either.
Anyone who wants to tell you what a paradise it is to live here in Central Europe either has no idea, is no longer working, or does NOT live here!! Welcome to my world.
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