Europe on Three Double Scotches a Day

I once remarked that London’s Gatwick Airport was the “butt-crack of Hell” and that a certain US airline (not about to be mentioned given the financial state of most US airlines and my fear of being sued) was its chariot.  

After my recent travels through Europe by train, I have now decided that the theme song for Hell must be the Nokia mobile phone ringtone. You know the one… didi di di didi di di didi di di diii. One has to wonder if Francisco Tarrega is rolling over in his grave every time a Nokia cell phone rings. 

Oooo, how’s THAT for obscure knowledge? 

Yes, the hellish ringtone actually has its roots in a classical guitar piece called “Gran Vals” (Grand Waltz) by the aforementioned composer, Tarrega. It is also quite a pleasant tune when listened to in context and on a classical guitar.

 Here… try it out. This is a MIDI file so it's probably not quite perfect but I didn't want to post an MP3 file because of little things like copyright laws, etc. PLAY

Anyway… 

As I said, I recently returned from a trip where I decided to take the train for the entire journey. I took the train from the station down the road from my house to London, the Eurostar from London to Brussels, another train to Liege and on to Aachen. Then the reverse coming home. 

I have to say that although it may have taken a bit longer than by air it was far and away less stressful and actually enjoyable! Just to prove the point I took a trip to Heidelberg, Germany this past week for my daughter’s bowling tournament.

Proud Daddy comment: This was the European Finals for the Youth Bowling League. Ronnie did exceptionally well considering she just started bowling this year. She unfortunately had a bad second game in her series and missed winning a trophy by 13 pins. Next year, though, watch out! 

Back to the trip… 

We flew RyanAir from London Stansted to Baden-Baden. The actual flight was fine. It was typical no-frills but a short hour and a half flight. Other than that everything else about flying RyanAir SUCKED! 

Check-in at Stansted is a mob scene. Just trying to get through to the correct check-in line was a battle through a sea of rude people who were determined to not allow any courtesy to be extended to or by anyone. It took forever with only one or two people working the counter, and the boarding process was a free-for-all where even women and children were trampled by the crowd jockeying to get on board first. Although the check-in process was much better in Baden-Baden, it was still the same pain boarding. All in all, I hope I never have to put my daughter through that again. 

Well, at least until next year’s European Finals.

As always, Life is a Sandwich. Eat it up! 

Mike