Plans are the things we intend. They are the stuff we think will happen; what we hope will happen; right? Plans are what some of us are busy making while the rest of us are busy living. (I know that’s a load of crap, but…)
A bike ride to a bus ride to a train ride...that was the plan
Today I had a choice. I could whine about the rail system shutting down while I was at the train station at Schiphol Airport, after I had my day pass ticket to The Hague in hand, after I waited two hours because the trains were delayed; or I could get on with my life. Uh, yeah, at about ten minutes before eleven o’clock this morning, a general announcement informed me and the hundreds of other people waiting on or near the platforms that “no trains would run from Schiphol today.” (I’ve already told you how direct the Dutch are—case-in-point.) No explanations and certainly no apologies. No trains would run.
On the bus ride downtown we were pretty sure how sardines in the can feel
After my refund, I found my way back to the bus port and decided to head downtown. Uh, yeah, ok, I forgot one thing: I was at the airport, the same airport that serves the fourth most popular tourist destination in Europe. Can you imagine how many people (and their luggage) were waiting for a bus headed to Amsterdam Centraal Station? How many? A lot. What’d I do? I did what all Dutch people do (hey tourists, better get used to it!) I walked around the hundred or so tourists lined up neatly waiting their turns, and I boarded the bus to town. (I told you—Dutch people don’t queue. Neither do guys from Essex living in Holland.) I was the last person to board and twenty minutes later I was at Leidseplein—familiar turf!
Leidseplein!
Hey, The Hague will still be there when I finally head that direction. At least for now, that’s the plan.
No comments:
Post a Comment