Short trip to Germany
Part of my family is living in Germany. Another part in Iran (and, yes, yet another part in the Netherlands). One of my aunts from Iran visited one of my aunts in Germany. I realized it might be helpful if she (the Iranian one) could help me in obtaining my Iranian ID-card. She would be able to give her opinion on the matter and, hopefully, supply the three addresses in Iran I need for the application.
Because I’m pretty much a pauper at the moment, I had no choice but to take the bus to Hamburg (where my German/Iranian aunt lives). At 62 euros for a round trip, a far better deal than the 126 euros I would have had to pay for a train ticket.
I did feel a bit annoyed that, seven years after I got my M.Sc. I can’t even cough up the money for a decent ticket to Germany. Maybe I should get a decent job.
The cheaper bus tickets were also reflected in its travellers. No one on the bus (except me) seemed to speak Dutch. On the bus, in front of me, an Iranian grandmother. Behind me, two Mongolian girls. Next to me, across the isle, two Indians with a crying baby.
As I noticed years ago, it’s possible to travel for free to Amsterdam, using the Eurolines buses. You get on the bus in Rotterdam or The Hague, but check in is in Amsterdam, and they don’t check your tickets before.
I was hoping for there to be enough room on the bus for me to take a nap during the night-long ride from The Hague to Hamburg. But in Utrecht, all two-seaters were already occupied, with several people sharing.
I had to succumb to the same fate in Bremen, where a younger girl decided to sit next to me. Luckily, she was soft and small, leaving enough room for me to loll my head around, feverishly dreaming of XML constructs and waking up every time I encountered an empty tag. I know, this is sick.