Friday, September 05, 2008

(p)art of travelling

"Art of travelling" is a major part of travelling. Sometimes it is all about good planning, and sometimes it is all about good decision-making during the process. A serene mind, good intuitions and an in-shape body will always go a long way...

- Sleep 11 hours, have a nice breakfast with omelette and milk-shake, get over the migraine.
- Go to bank to put money in your account, see the long queue, give up. Head to Bethnal Green Station to take a tube at 15:55, where you initially planned to be at 15:30.
- Get the Central Line. Change to Metropolitan line at and the train arrives simultaneously as you arrive in the platform. Good timing!
- Get to St. Pancras railway station, buy a ticket to Luton Airport and a delayed 16:03 train arrives at 16:18 right when you reach the platform.
- Embrace your luck and "good karma", arrive at the aiport check-in desk 3 minutes before it closes. Embrace your fast-thinking mind and your fast body-moves. Control your excitement, check your heartbeats and dose off in the plane.


- Arrive in Hamburg, adjust your clock, go to security check. Bus 39, U3,U1 and U2, and your're home.
- Eat dinner, go to bed. Next morning.....


- Fix breakfast, check emails, head to the Hauptbahnhof. You've got 12 minutes for the train you want.
- You have to tell your friend in Bremen that you're taking the next train. You don't have money on the phone. Nevermind, you'll do it at a phone booth once you get there.
- Find the nearest ticket machine. Choose ticket. Pay. Oh, you don't have change. Insert card. Damn, the machine didn't like the card. Go to the Travel Centre in stead.
- The queue is too long. Give up. Think of something else...


- Go the kiosk, buy a cappucino. Not for the cafeeine of course, for money change.
- Go back to the ticket machine, get your ticket, you're on the train 2 minutes before it leaves.
- Read Orhan Pamuk's new book on the train, recieve an unexpected message from your Turkish phone operator: "Your first 3 SMS outside Turkey are for free. So that you can tell your relatives back home that 'you've arrived safely'".
- Embrace your luck and the decision to keep your Turkish phone connected...
- Send an SMS to your friend.


- Look for a pen to write all this down to put it in the blog later. Can't find one.
- Take a sip from the coffee, relax and start typing all of this into your mobile phone.
- Once you're done (after 15 minutes, dizzy fingers, and 22 SMS long writing), enjoy the train ride and hope that your friend shows up.
- Boost up self-confidence in travelling and celebrate: Alles in perfekt Ordnung!

1 comment:

Sofia Stevi said...

I'm so happy!!! I leave tomorrow for Athens via Zurich (one hour though). I will be back on the 17th! Keep my present fresh and safe! What do you want from Greece?
xxx
Sofia