Layzlump (sic) in Deutschland…

Though I had better things to write about my trip than to begin this with cribbing about the keyboard, I cannot help but feel piqued at the number of times I have had to use the backspace key in typing just a simple sentence properly. Typing just a few sentences, I can say that ‘Y’ is a much underrated alphabet. Not just are the alphabets ‘Y’ and ‘Z’ swapped there are some more (otherwise seemingly innocuous) differences on the German keyboard, which are sure to irk one (at least) for the first dew days.

Anyway, let me start from where it all began…

I barely had a day and a half before I was confirmed to fly to Germany. Under normal circumstances, it would have been manageable; but the fact that I had to vacate my room, move all the stuff over to a friend’s place (who stayed on the 4th floor of an apartment without an elevator), pack my luggage while constantly following-up about my travel tickets & accommodation details plus a whole lot of official formalities, I wasn’t sure if I could make it through all this. Though I did manage to plonk my luggage into the cab on time, it obviously left me with no time to let many of my friends know about my travel. So on my way to the airport I was frantically making calls & letting people know that I was on my way to Bonn for a couple of months.

Fortunately for me, this time round I had colleagues travelling with me for most part of the journey. So the nearly three hours at I.G.I. Airport, thanks to an early check-in, passed off without much trouble. As Delhi metamorphosed into a sea of tiny lights, I could then sense that MVY – III had begun! This time round I was too tired to even sit through a single movie & as soon as I had some food, I dozed off. Though sleep was intermittent, I do think I am managing to nap more than I could during my travels before.

Flight take-offs are always captivating! Be it day or night, just after the plane takes off from the ground, the view from the window holds in it something special, every time. It was early morning and Vienna was enshrouded in a blanket of grey when we took off for Frankfurt. However in a couple of minutes, the airplane was making its way through the clouds, as if tenderly caressing them with its wings. It soon rose above what now seemed like a cotton landscape – hills & valleys of cotton clouds, glistening tufts spread across infinite miles.

The flight was short & soon I was at Frankfurt Flughafen (Airport) looking for an immigration counter. Though I had my passport stamped at the Austrian capital, I was expecting an immigration stamp in Frankfurt, proving my arrival at my final destination country. But it was not to be, I was asked to head straight for my baggage. Hesitatingly, I picked my bags (which surprisingly came very quick) & inquired from some more people at the airport which resulted in only partially allaying my fears. It was here that I also realized that I was going to be a rank outsider in Germany with me not knowing their language & them, not any good at the one I knew!

My last minute travel plans had ensured that I do not get confirmed tickets through the Köln Airport (which was the closest one to Bonn). So, a train journey from Frankfurt to Bonn was still in order. Wearily as I trudged my trolley outside the airport, I now looked for directions to the Bahnhof (Station). Thanks to some broken advice from the locals & directions, I somehow found my way to Fernbahnhof (Long-distance Train Station). I was amazed (and eternally grateful to Deutsch Airport Authority) that I could take the trolley with my baggage up & down the escalators till the platform from where I was to board the train. Though initially I did not have the confidence of goading the trolley onto those moving stairs, I knew there was no way I could haul my check-in & hand baggage, totalling to some 40 odd kg of don’t-ask-me-what, around this terrain. The illustrations helped & with a prayer that I don’t trip my luggage or myself, I carefully pushed the trolley… I survived… and so did the bags… and the trolley too!

Knocking down some more language barriers, I got myself a ticket & settled myself on a bench at the platform, while waiting for the train to arrive. As I looked around, I couldn’t help but notice the broken window of the station’s dome or some odd pieces of litter. I sensed Germany wasn’t perfect (a word which I somehow associated with USA, at least when it came to cleanliness). Even though it wasn’t such a big deal, my belief firmed up when the train (Die Bahn) arrived 10 minutes late. It seemed quite like saddi-Dilli’s Metro; no wonder it made me feel proud. Peeping out of the window, I noticed over-bridges with posters & graffiti – it was not an isolated stretch, this seemed to be a recurring feature with many public walls being sprayed with incoherent writings & patterns.

After a while, I sighted River Rhein flowing parallel to the rail tracks. It was a picturesque sight, with streamers cruising through the river and verdant hills forming the perfect backdrop. Unfortunately, the train was speeding too fast for my archaic camera to do justice to this serene setup, so I just let my eyes savour these moments.

All these hours of travel & lugging my bags had exhausted me and I arrived at my hotel dead tired. At that moment, all I could think of was a warm water shower to soothe my crumbling body. Even food was not a consideration, as slumber pulled me into its arms soon after…

P.S. I just realized (after a week) that I can swap Windows’s keyboard to an English (U.S.) layout! Though now I have the keys in the place I expect them to be, I don’t necessarily see it saying what I want to type!!!