Firstly, the hotel gave me a detailed receipt ….this means the massage by the pool and the breakfast in bed….could not be reimbursed…..shit!
Secondly, when I was about to catch a cab for the airport, my travel agent called to tell don’t go, your flight has been cancelled due to bad weather. She first put me on the waiting list for the next flight to Vienna, just to move me later during the day on an evening flight via Budapest.
Thirdly, with one day in front of me and nothing to do, I brought a one day card for the public transport, just to find out 10 minutes later that the Berlin public transport went on strike that day. So, I walked nearly 6 miles from West Berlin to Alexander platz in East Berlin, in order to have the thrill of the day – facing my fears of heights in the Berlin Tower.
cruel, insane, but it's good that's all history now
..a place where an attempt to cross the road could get you shot in cold blood....
Brandenburg gate....not as impressive in size, but with a moving story around it
"American" and "Russian" "soldiers" on sale....
the famous Unter den Linden avenue is less vibrant these days, but maintains a majestic character
While I’m writing these lines the day is not finished and did not stop to bring surprises one after the other. The evening flight to Budapest is late 30 minutes….after killing some time in a bookshop, I pass again in front of the departures screen just to find out that the flight has been delayed 90 minutes. Ok, if I thought I had enough for one day, I was totally wrong –I’ll most probably miss the connecting flight, is there an option to get redirected via another city? No, I would advise you go Malev and spend the night in Budapest, you’re closer to home in Budapest, says the ticket seller. “Well, until now I have orders for Larnaca and Kiev, but I do not have orders for Bucharest, maybe if there are enough passengers flying to Bucharest…” replied Mr. Radoszi, the Malev boss at Tegel. What could I do? Nothing, except to wish there are many other sorrowful people in the same boat with me, enough to convince Malev to delay the flight to Bucharest rather than pay the hotel. What a merchandise I became, my days traded in the IF clauses of an excel programme. Hope I won’t get sold on a sale J
And yes I did get sold on a sale. We landed in Budapest at 23,20 while the Bucharest flight left on time at 23,10. You know, our pilots have a tight schedule and the captain said he cannot wait a single minute. You’ll get on the next flight tomorrow lunchtime, came the dull reply from a Malev guy awaken from his sleep. Isn’t there an earlier one, like in the morning? No, tomorrow is Saturday, so there is no morning flight. But we need to catch another flight from Bucharest during the late afternoon, replied two diplomatic passports. Finally, they got their tickets via Frankfurt and I got my direct one at lunchtime, and we all ended up in a lousy chain hotel, courtesy of the same Malev. A faceless morning start in an impersonal hotel and the comfort of flying business 20 hours later, I would very happily trade with flying on time.
One last remark – the “fitze” diplomatic passports ended up in the same plane with me – their argument about earlier arrival was obviously false and put to the table just to show off.
