Murphy Law states "Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong". As we were walking to the train station, we passed this young man who had a t-shirt that stated "Murphy was a damn cynic," which really made me chuckle until Murphy proved himself correct twice today.
In the Amsterdam train station there are innumerable lockers to store your goods while enjoying the last remnants of a vacation before moving closer to the world of reality once again. With hours to spare, we found a locker ready to be filled on a lower level while a German family found one near us, but up higher. They are asking me questions about the locker in German. Other than "is this the large or small locker", they lost me. The directions for operating these lockers are in Dutch and English. However, the English directions are severely lacking as are the computer generated flashcard directions that appear where you have to pay. Each section of lockers is controlled by one computerized payment center and it only takes credit cards.
I put our luggage in the locker and closed the door. It immediately locked. When I went to pay and pressed the button marked LANGUAGE, the door popped open from where the Germans stored their things. Opps! When I tried closing it again, it would not snap shut. Apparently now, they had the claim ticket for our locker since I slammed our door shut while they were busy paying.
There is one attendant there for emergency use only. This qualified. The Germans had exposed luggage and although the Germans are known for exposing many things, the luggage that they usually let all hang out is of a different sort entirely. They had a claim to our luggage and theirs was left unprotected. After explaining this mess to the man in charge, after he swallowed a few aspirin, mopped the sweat from his brow, he had us fill in forms. He wanted to see our passports. Sure, but they are locked in the locker. Well, give a description of what is in the luggage in detail. Suddenly, I felt relief in not getting those sex toy joke items for friends. Twenty-five minutes later, he had everything under control except for my blood pressure.
Hours to kill, we had thought of taking a canal cruise, not for the sightseeing, but to spend the time. I had been on so many of these cruises, they awarded me an honorary captain's position. Instead, we walked the streets, looked into stores and found one of my old time favorite coffee shops that has gone from independent to chain; that was a major disappointment. The last stop was to look for a book to read on the plane. I had just finished The Highest Tide by Jim Lynch and want Ron to read it, so I would not leave it behind. I picked up a copy of Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier. Strangely, both have similarities, yet are different enough to be captivating. The latter is so good, I read half of it on the plane during an hour and fifty minute flight.
To backtrack a bit, we took the train from Amsterdam to Eindhoven without a hitch, though it was a longer ride than we had remembered. I started clock watching since Wizz can be a stickler with the 2 hours rule for being at the airport. Soon after the train was pulling into the station, we were running for the bus to the airport. We were told we could buy tickets on the bus, but the driver said "Not today, you can't" without an explanation. We had 6 minutes to run inside to get tickets before the bus left the station. I ran, Ron waited; I made it back with 3 minutes to spare. We make it on the bus, found seats; the bus takes off the minute it was scheduled. Being a local bus, we make stops along the way, I continue to monitor my watch like I am timing a sporting event. Actually, I was, it was the race to the airport.
We are driving along when all of a sudden, the bus makes noises like we have just run over a Volkswagen Beetle. Our immediate thought was a blown tire, but since it was one of those extended buses, there should have been enough tires to get us to the airport. Regardless, the driver stopped to check, came back with the same blank look he left with and attempted to drive off, but we were not moving a centimeter. It was either the transmission or crankshaft that skipped out along the way, not leaving a parting gift when it deserted us. The bus was full of people and luggage. It was not like we were the only people flying today. No one seemed concerned but me. Even the driver looked like he only needed to finish his shift and then his worries were over. After 3 false starts of letting the engine rest and try again, he called for a rescue, but never said a word to anyone. Finally, Ron went up to ask him the plan, while once being enlightened, it was Ron who had to announce it to the bus crowd. No one applauded, which disappointed Ron, and he will probably never intervene again on public behalf unless accolades are assured.
A second bus finally arrived and we passed all scheduled stops until the airport. No one seemed to complain if they had a different agenda. We were 2nd in line for WizzAir's check-in only because they were late opening their counter.
The flight home was uneventful; our one suitcase was the 2nd piece of luggage off of our flight. So there Murphy!
All photos will be posted in our photo blog. The link is to the right. However, I will alert you here when they are ready.
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