Am I alone???
October 20th, 2006 by JB
Dear friends,
This is a prologue to sending you accounts of the trips that Ben and I took this fall…….and I’ve been struck by what is probably an obvious thought: When one recounts a trip (or an event) the incidents that seem to remain……aren’t the moments of beauty….or the mountain top experiences….even though those are the moments that we are searching for, rather its the moments of vexation….of trial….of near disaster….or actual disaster….many of these seem humorous in retrospect. One small example: Ben and I were boarding the plane in Cologne (Koln) to fly to Dublin…..everything seemed normal….we checked in at the correct gate….I went first to checked in then I followed the other passengers into an enclosed waiting room. After a few minutes I scanned the room, but Ben was not to be seen. “That’s strange ,” I thought, however I wasn’t really terribly concerned….Ben’s always charging off to one place or another.
The plane was just boarding when Ben came into the waiting room with a somewhat hostile expression: “I wondered how long it would take you to figure it out?”
“Figure out what?”
“You’re in the wrong waiting room. This plane is going to St. Petersburg!”
The explanation was simple…..the desk at the gate was handling two flights at the same time…..passengers going to St. Petersburg and the one s I follwed occupied the left waiting room, Dublin the right…..There were no signs…..a honest mistake…..that would have been embarrassing if not worse. Still in the years to come I’ll forget the castles and cathedrals…but I’ll remember this incident. right? JB
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[...] Also i shoud say a bit about the way Ben and I travel, We’re good travelling companions but our style is a bit unconventional. Surprise, surprise! When we travel we have a vague destination: We went to Prague for our first trip in Europe—that’s as specific as our plans were. Ben told me the one thing I needed to know: Prague is cheap! Next we went to Anatalyia, Turkey. When we boarded the plan I didn’t know anything about Anatalya, Turkey but since Ben paid the airfare with his credit card it. OK with me. Neither of us knew that we would have to pay $100 for an entry visa (almost everybody else–other than Americans–paid $5 or $10 dollars—Thanks a lot George W). Well this fall our distination was Ireland. “Everybody tells me its a great place to visit, but expensive.” OK, Ben I had already heard that Ireland was expensive from Jackie who was born in Tipperary. Jackie’s sister, Judy and her family, live in Waterford. Jackie and Helen (J’s daughter) and family visited there this summer, but I couldn’t get it together in time to join them. Nonetheless, Waterford was the only place in Ireland that I had as a distinct destination. I had heard a good deal about Judy so now was my chance to meet her. Ben booked passage from Bonn to Dublin. Ben’s friend Hendryk drove us to the Bonn airport where I almost managed to board the wrong plane…..I was sitting in the waiting area for a plane to St. Petersburg, Russia when Ben rescued me. (see blog..benbrouhard.com- Am I alone for that story). [...]
Ben,
You’ve probably already realized that I sent a second message covering Kilkinney….thanks for posting this one….Dad