So, I finally began my travels yesterday at 13:30. You could argue that I had already started on the 21st, when I boarded my train to Tallinn, but hey, we can leave that for now. Rest assured I will get round to telling you about it later.
Getting here...
I'm currently sitting in an internet cafe in Münich. The weather is, apparently, -3 degrees today, but the sun is out and all the snow I can see (well, a partial dusting) lies upon the grassy verges and the island strips between the tramlines.
Getting here was an adventure itself. I boarded the coach at London Victoria yesterday afternoon at 13:30 as I already mentioned. I was expecting to be driven to the underground tunnel to get from Britain to France, but to my surprise and delight we ended up at Dover. I hadn't been on a ferry for years, so was pretty excited. As soon as the coach was parked in the boat, I rushed off, eager to explore. I was moderately disappointed by the diminutive size of the ship - I had remembered ferries being a lot larger the last time I caught one. Mind you, I was about 10. So, I relaxed for a while. Took some night time shots of the white cliffs, enjoyed a Coke, watched the dark sea licking the sides of the boat. Then disaster struck, and another side of seafaring I'd forgotten about reared its ugly head - yep, seasickness. Thankfully after a quick chat on the porcelain telephone I was feeling OK again, and made my way to the duty free shop where I purchased some perfume and a handy little bag that rolls up to fit in one's handbag (I hate the fact that my eye for practicality grows sharper by the week now I'm getting older...)
Anyway, an hour and a half or so later we were back on the coach driving through Belgium. Stops in Gent and Brussels, then a bit of a sleep was had. I woke up as the coach stopped at a service station near Aachen, just across the Belgium/Germany border. It was by now about 1am, and I dashed inside to a) Use the loo, b) Gobble down a fruit salad and c) Buy up about 10,000 litres of water. Back on the coach I fell straight back to sleep and was next woken up in Karlsruhe by some retard asking if he could take the seat next to mine. He was with his missus, and why they felt the need to sit by my seat (at the back of the bus) I don't know, as there were spare seats elsewhere. But...nevermind. They got off in Stuttgart, and then we made another bathroom break. Somewhere near Munich, the factions of travellers on the bus split and those of us going to Munich (god knows where the others were going) had to get onto a minibus for the remainder of the journey. It wasn't any old minibus either - it was the coldest minibus in world history. Seriously. The whole bus was just a symphony of chattering teeth. The driver tried to put on the heating, but as is usual in such situations it blew out cold air for the first 15 minutes before changing to warm. We finally reached the bus station which is right by the footy stadium (Allianz Arena). I'm sure you've seen it - it's the one that looks inflated, like some kind of big bouncy castle. Or like it's wrapped in a big snuggly quilted blanket. I think it's a lovely looking building, myself - it certainly makes a change from all the identikit new stadia springing up in Britain.
Anyway. To wrap up that part- arrived in Munich, at last. Got to the centre. Got rid of giant bag. Headed to travel agent to book the next part of my trip...and then I hit my first planning rut.
...Oops.
So, what I've done is bought a Eurolines pass for 15 days. It basically entitles me to unlimited coach travel across Europe. As many journeys, as many countries as I like. However, the one drawback, and what I just discovered to be a potential banana skin for my carefully planned itinerary, is the fact that except for the first journey (my trip from London to Münich), none of your travel plans are actually confirmed or reserved. This has to be done in the city of departure. I had assumed that I would be able to sneak aboard my chosen coaches with ease, as I wrongly assumed that everybody would be at home or whatever over the festive season. Turns out I was wrong. Very wrong, in fact.
I found the office easily. I waited for about 5 minutes, then explained to the lady that I needed a ticket to Prague, which *was* going to be my next destination. She politely informed me that there wasn't any space left on the coach, to which I initially (for about half a second) thought "shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!!!" before realising that in all fairness I'll have plenty of other opportunities to visit Prague. I asked her where else I might be able to go. After searching for about 4 minutes for different destinations, it eventually transpired that there is a coach tonight at 22:45 to Vienna. There was ONE seat left on it - which I took immediately. I haven't been to Vienna, either, so I am looking forward to it.
Unfortunately, I now need to plan how to get away from Vienna tomorrow afternoon/evening, and get to Paris for New Year's eve. Once I've done that, I can finally go and have a look at Münich!
No comments:
Post a Comment