Recently in Travel Category

When the train is overly crowded, like it was again this morning, I'm always relieved when I find an unoccupied seat over there.

I try to squeeze myself ever so politely next to the kind fellow passenger without disrupting things too much.

What really bothers me are those few uncaring folks who do not move a single iota to the left nor to the right in order to give you some extra wiggle room.

Their left leg remains extended outward with the bony knee jabbing your outer calf, and a misplaced elbow pokes into your side.

Not even a subtle cough or poking back with your shoulder seems to help, in fact the immovable form becomes even more resistant to your unwanted presence.

Tomorrow we will be traveling to the Spanish island of Mallorca where we'll be staying for eight days at a small place on the east coast called Cala d'Or. I look forward to a fun and relaxing time. According to the weather forecast it will be a warm and sunny week there.

It had been a pretty busy day at work, so sitting in the train I gave a quick yawned and stretched my arms in the air and back of me.

That's when I felt something unusual, something scratchy and furry at the same time. Confused, I felt it with my fingers and rubbed the scratchy mass between my thumb and forefinger.

What is that?!

When I turned my head to the left and craned my neck backwards to see what this eerie object might be, my two eyes met the two eyes of the passenger sitting behind me.

We were sitting back to back and that furry object happened to be his bushy hair at the back of his head.

An uncomfortable grin and a quick nod were my non-verbal apologies, and when he nodded back at me with an equally slight grin I felt better.

What an idiot I'd been.

Not everyone is familiar with the idea that in Holland bike paths are everywhere, especially not foreigners. In Amsterdam they are all over the place, which is good because one can pretty much bike easily from one end of the city to the other.

The foreigners are unaware of this and walk along the marked bike paths thinking that they are designated pedestrian walkways.

So I'm walking back to the train station from my work, and this old guy on a bike wings by, ringing his bell in continuous spasms screaming at the top of his lungs:

"Get out of the way, can't you see that this is a bike path, watch out!" And continuing in Dutch he proceeds to cuss and offend kind folks because he's too much of an idiot to understand.

He gives no regard to the poor unknowing pedestrians who are innocently trying to find their way to the nearest place of interest, and almost runs them over. In fact, he glances off of one older person nearly knocking him over into the canal. People run for cover as if some complete maniac is doing who knows what.

I simply continue my way to the train station, knowing that no matter what my opinion is, it doesn't really matter and will not change things. Better to accept those demented bike maniacs and continue on your way.

Is that guy sitting next to me on the train watching porn on his portable DVD-player? How disgusting.

Although secretly I gaze from the corner of my eye to see what is happening (and see half-naked folks frolicking this way and that).

When caught looking that way I turn my head to look out of the window as if nothing unusual is happening.

I'm really excited about my daughter Marlies having a fun adventure in Australia.

She's leaving on November 19th for several months with a Dutch organization called TravelActive that's specialized in these kind of travel and work trips for young adults.

Although it is so far away, and I will certainly miss her very much, the trip will prove to be a fine learning experience for her, which matters the most.

Half the people in this train are sleeping or at least their eyes are closed and that's how it seems to be. I wonder why. Have they all had such a hard day at work? Slept so lousy last night? Perhaps hung over to one degree or the other? Exhausted with life and in search of something new? All I know is that I should not waste too much of my time being concerned about these issues and need to concentrate more on the more urgent needs. Close my eyes and doze off into wonderland.

With the warmish sun beating down through the semi-transparent window of the train together with a few splotches and other smudges here and there the temperature slowly but surely exceeded the limits of what is comfortable and what is not for a passive observer of external happenings. You can stare as long as you like at the nice landscape and the green grass but if nothing happens then it is probably time to look elsewhere.

I opened up my can of beer in the train and accidentally sprayed the poor guy sitting next to me. He jumped as if I had poured a bucket of ice on him, leering angrily back at me as if he had been doused in slime. Sorry about that young man.

So why is the train slowing down at this very moment and why is the surrounding terrain looking so unfamiliar all of a sudden? Within five minutes of this near stop the train is speeding along full of glee as if nothing ever happened in the first place.