Still Grumpy

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Today we’ve got a long and convoluted day of travelling from Monopoli to Athens … via Rome. So that would be five hours on a train going 500 or so kilometres in the wrong direction, followed by six quality hours waiting in an airport, followed by a plane flight. And after half an hour of that flight we’ll be back over Monopoli again. So after eleven and a half hours of tiring travelling we will have made zero nett progress. Zero. I call that cruel.

It’s an early start, and too early it seems for Monopoli’s taxi drivers. They’d apparently be more than happy to take our money if we were going far enough to make it worth their while, but for the sake of the couple of kilometres to the station it seems they’d all rather stay in bed. Our excellent host Enzo spent half the night ringing around trying to find us a ride, and when he couldn’t come up with anything he very kindly volunteered to drive us to the station himself. Now that’s service for you. So whilst the taxi drivers here mightn’t be early risers the same certainly can’t be said for the tourists. The sun isn’t even up yet, but some have already set up their umbrellas on the small sandy beach in front of our apartment … well we think they’re umbrellas, it’s still a bit too dark to be able to tell for sure.

It’s been a relatively uneventful day, so some random observations and rants about airports and flying to pad out the entry. Our flight was delayed by an hour and they changed gates on us three times. And every time they did that, the announcement in English was last, so by the time we got to the new gate all the seats were taken. So we’re feeling grumpy and needing to vent.

We’ve noticed some slightly interesting tee shirts on youngsters waiting to board their flights. There’s a young lady displaying “I love breaking hearts”. Really, your parents must be so proud. Hang on they’re travelling with you? I doubt “Vice is nice” has got teenage daughters. And best of luck getting on your flight to the young Asian man sporting “One two f**k you” only with the asterisks replaced by letters. I mean that’s not even clever. OK, maybe it rhymes, but so does “The boy stood on the burning deck …”, and I don’t remember that ever winning any literary awards.

And then there’s price gouging at airports, and Rome seems to have that down to a fine art - the equivalent of $6.60 for a tiny bottle of Fanta. Really? But if you buy it from a vending machine you can get exactly the same thing for a relatively bargain basement, but still exorbitant $3.40. They're $1.35 at the supermarket! Issy buys a small block of chocolate from the duty free store. It’s self service checkout, and they won’t let you complete the transaction until you buy a small paper bag to put your purchase in. You’ve got no choice, and the bag costs about fifty cents … for a tiny paper bag. You don’t have to take the paper bag, but you do have to pay for it. In what universe is this either logical or fair?

And then there’s queuing systems. There’s a yellow line in front of the check-in counter telling you that you have to wait behind it until it’s your turn. Which is fine, except that the line’s about thirty centimetres away from the counter. If you stand just behind it the people who are checking in in front of you can’t manoeuvre their suitcases to get them on the scales.

Anyway that’s enough ranting for today. Hang on, I forgot about the large guy sitting next to me who snored loudly all the way to Athens. I thought I’d feel better after that, but no, still grumpy.

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Comments

[RENanDREW]

Grumpy pants
I love your grumpy airport posts! Mostly because I recognise all your points as being absolutely 100% valid. On a related, well kinda related topic - have you read Alain de Botton's The Art of Travel? I think you'll like it :)

[DaveandIssy]

Art of Travel
Haven't read this, and sounds like I probably should.