Monday, April 19, 2010

Volcanoes in Iceland??? Berlin to London by Land

A little story about meeting the right people and being in the right place at the right time…

Growing up, I had been taught not to talk to strangers. After my adventure from Berlin to London yesterday, I am glad that I broke this rule, as I never would have gotten to London safely had it not been for the kindness of strangers, and a whole lot of luck.

I had been in Berlin since Tuesday, April 13th. It was the last city I had planned to visit as part of my two week Easter Break before returning back to London on Friday, April 16th so that I could play in my rugby game on Saturday and use the weekend to prepare lessons for a new job I was to start the following Monday. Unfortunately, due to forces beyond my control, namely the disruptions in air transport as a result of volcanic activity in Iceland, I missed my rugby game and showed up to work today completely unprepared and exhausted (but at least I went- 17 teachers were absent from school as they were stuck in other countries!).





Due to the dangers of flying through volcanic ash clouds, my flight was cancelled and rescheduled until Tuesday morning at 9:35 am. I was a little annoyed and stressed: I would have to spend an extra four nights in Berlin and would miss two days of work. Since I work for a teaching agency as a temporary worker, I do not get compensated for days I miss from work. By missing two days, I would have difficulty paying my rent for May, since I had essentially spent all my money during my two week holiday and was relying on a full week of work for my next paycheck.

In order to avoid complete financial anxiety, I telephoned my parents on Skype from an internet café in Berlin to see if it would be okay if I borrowed some money from them in case my personal funds ran out as a result of the extra travel expenses I would incur. Luckily, my parents are very supportive and in a position to be able to help me out whenever I need it and agreed to transfer money into my Canadian account if required.

Having to ask my parents for money was worse than the feeling of being stuck in another country, as for me, it felt like a complete loss of independence. Even though I lived on the brink of existence financially, I had done well managing my money and budgeting so far this year- but I had not anticipated needing an emergency natural disaster fund. Neither did most other travelers, as I soon learned. I am very fortunate that I have people who I can go to for help when I need it, but there are many stranded travelers who are sleeping in airports and train stations, and who are probably starving due unplanned expenses.

My friend, Nita, who I was travelling with told me that she thought that what I needed to learn from the “being stuck in Berlin” fiasco was that it is okay to ask for help when I need it and that I won’t be able be self-sufficient all the time- that I will need the support of others from time to time. She is probably right.

On Friday and Saturday, I tried to take advantage of having more time to experience Berlin. It is ironic that on Thursday I had told Nita how I wished that we had booked a longer vacation, as I didn’t think I would be able to see everything I wanted to. Although I was appreciating the extended holiday, by Saturday night, the news reports were predicting that flights might not resume for another week or so, and I became a bit panicked. Would my flight be cancelled Tuesday? If it was, when would I be able to leave? I decided that I could not wait any longer. I needed to feel as though I was doing everything I could to get back to London. Who knew how long the volcanic activity would last?


On Sunday morning, I went to the train station in Berlin to see what my options were. Nita decided to wait in Berlin until Tuesday and see if she could get on our scheduled flight before taking action to travel by land. This meant that I was travelling alone. I was also without a cell phone, which I had stupidly left at my friend Angela’s on my trip to visit her in Brussels a few days earlier.

I thought that I would probably travel to Calais, France, and then try to take the ferry from Calais to Dover, England. When I got to the train station, I realized that my best option was to take a train to Brussels, Belgium, via Cologne, Germany and either take the Eurostar or coach bus through the Channel Tunnel to London. I knew that both the Eurostar and bus were sold out and that I would probably have to spend a few days in Belgium before I could travel onwards to England. Since Angela lived in Brussels and I knew I would be able to stay with her family if I needed to, I decided to go there instead of France. Unfortunately, I did not have her number. It was saved on my phone- in her house! I did not have enough time to e-mail her either. The next train to Cologne was to leave in ten minutes. I was alone and not really sure where I was going, or what I was getting myself into. All I could do was hope that everything would work out.




I had to stand on the train from Berlin to Cologne since I had bought my ticket last minute (and paid 140 Euros. Eww.). However, this turned out to be a blessing because I met Geraldine and Patrick, an Irish couple who were trying to get to Ireland from Berlin, and Bryan, another Irishman who was trying to get to Dublin from Poland, and had already had quite the adventure before we met him. Bryan was in communication via text with his wife, who was researching our options online, and Geraldine was in similar contact with her daughter. Although I was cellphone-less I had my Lonely Planet guide, “Europe on a Shoestring”, which proved to be a valuable resource in providing them with ferry options to various places in the UK, as well as to Ireland. The four of us instantly became friends and talked non-stop about our lives and backgrounds, which made the uncertainty of getting home and travelling alone less scary. I was no longer by myself.

When we arrived in Cologne, the train was overbooked and we had to get on a bus to Brussels. The four of us stuck together to make sure that we all got on the bus. By the time we were nearing Brussels, Geraldine, Patrick, and Bryan had all been booked into hotels by their families and were very worried about what would happen to me once I got to Brussels. My plan was to find an internet café (if I couldn’t get the bus or the Eurostar, which were both extremely unlikely options) and e-mail Angela in hopes that she would get back to me soon. Geraldine and Patrick insisted that I stay with them if I was not able to get in touch with her, as they did not like the idea of me staying on my own.

The internet café at Brussels Midi Station was closed. This completely baffled me: with so many people stranded at the station it was a good opportunity for the business to make money! I wandered around the station in search of internet options and started to get a little bit nervous. Perhaps I would have to spend the night in Geraldine and Patrick’s hotel room after all. As I shuffled through the crowds of tired and frustrated passengers hoping to get on the Eurostar stand-by, I saw a familiar face: my friend Anna, another Canadian teacher who lived on my floor in residence in London! What a relief to see someone I knew.

Here is where the story gets unbelievable:

Anna: How are you going back to London?
Me: No clue. I am currently trying to find an internet café in hopes of getting in touch with a friend who lives in Brussels. I’ll probably be here a few days.
Anna: I have an extra Eurostar ticket for a train to London tonight. Do you want it?

Was she joking? Did I hear her properly? Looking at the hundreds of people hoping to get on a train at some point in the next couple of days, let alone tonight, I realized I had literally hit the jackpot.

Even more unbelievable was how Anna came to have an extra Eurostar ticket. She booked the Eurostar the previous Thursday after she decided to head back to London from Amsterdam via Brussels on Sunday. However, while she was booking her ticket, her session timed out. This was after she had entered her credit card information. She thought that her credit card wasn’t working, so her friend, Ashley, another Canadian teacher whom Anna was travelling with, booked tickets for the both of them. Later on, Anna got an e-mail from Eurostar confirming that she had a spot on the train she thought that she had not booked for Sunday. Therefore, Anna and Ashley had three tickets between the two of them- by accident. I ran into them as they were waiting in line to see if they could get a refund for the extra ticket. What are the chances?! Miracles really do happen. Thank you, Anna. Thank you, Guardian Angel!





The whole trip to Berlin was an emotional roller-coaster. In addition to the stress imposed by the looming uncertainty of how and when I would return to London, I had been feeling a little disheartened when I was sight-seeing. Reminders of terrible events in history, through visits to the Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie, the Holocaust Memorial, and Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp, made me reflect on the dark side of human nature and the root of evil. Fortunately, my faith in reality was restored when I saw people coming together to ensure that complete strangers were able to get home safely. I would like to thank Bryan, Geraldine, and Patrick, who really took care of me on the journey from Berlin to Brussels. It was amazing how quickly we became a team and helped each other out. I hope that you are all able to get back to Ireland safely!

I would also like to thank Chris and Oliver, who allowed Nita and I to stay for free in the flat that we had rented from them for our first three nights in Berlin, once we learned that our flight had been cancelled, forcing us to stay in Berlin longer than planned. Otherwise, we would have had to pay for 4 extra night’s accommodation. They were also incredible hosts and went out of their way to ensure that we were taken care of while in Berlin. Future travelers, please let me know if you need somewhere to stay in Berlin. Their flats are really nice and in great locations!

The chaos and disruptions created by the volcanic eruptions made me realize how much we take the power of nature for granted. No matter how hard we try to control our lives, we are completely helpless to random acts of nature, or “Acts of God”, as some airlines and insurance companies are using as justification for not having to pay their passengers’ expenses while they wait for a rescheduled flight. It has also made me think a lot about the existence of fate and fortune. I still cannot believe that I bumped into Anna in a busy train station in another country and that she had accidently booked herself into 2 seats on the sold-out Eurostar.

I told the students at my new school that the universe had somehow enabled me to teach their lessons this week, so that they better behave as to avoid bad karma! Unfortunately, this only tamed them for a little while!

I also did not know much about Iceland before this experience, and certainly did not know that it had any volcanoes. I guess the whole world does now!!!

Good luck to all of my friends who are stuck in Greece, India, Egypt, Thailand, Spain, Morocco, and elsewhere in the world. Stay positive: miracles can happen!

Monday, April 12, 2010

When in Oslo…



A few weeks ago, I went to Oslo, Norway, with my friend, Mel, an Australian who I met on my ski trip in France. It was a jam-packed weekend, as we tried to squeeze all of the sights into two days, but definitely worth it.



Our decision to go to Oslo was a little spontaneous. I was having an incredibly rough day at work (but now can’t remember what even happened, so it mustn’t have been that bad!), and started browsing the Ryan Air website to get myself excited about my next adventure. The wonderful thing about teaching in London is that your next holiday is always less than 6 weeks away, so whenever you have a bad day, you can always start dreaming about your upcoming vacation. While I was searching for flight prices for weekends I had off rugby, I came across a flight deal to Oslo: 5 pounds each way! What a bargain. This would be a cheap weekend getaway, I had thought. How wrong I was! Oslo is ridiculously expensive. I still feel sick at how much money I spent in a single weekend. Oh well, when in Oslo…This experience taught me that a cheap flight does not equal a cheap trip and I will be a little more cautious as to where I go for budget vacations. In hindsight, however, I am not upset I spent so much money in Oslo, as I did enjoy my time there and learned a lot about Norwegian history and culture.

As a result of my confusion in converting currency, I did not initially realize how expensive Oslo was, especially for food. Norway’s currency is the Norwegian krone (NOK). One British Pound is approximately 9 NOK (and 1 Canadian dollar is just less than 6 NOK), which is a little disorienting when trying to figure out the value of items. Mel and I were being pretty frugal in where we ate, but what is usually considered cheap food in London ended up being quite pricey. For example, we ate at Burger King, which I paid for on my credit card. I was shocked when I looked at my statement. A simple burger, drink, and fries combo ended up costing 13 pounds, which converts to over 20 dollars Canadian. Yikes…and this was a cheaper meal! It was also funny when I withdrew 200 NOK from an ATM thinking that it was alot of money, when it was really less than 25 pounds. This being said, I felt foolishly rich when I had 500 NOK in my possession (less than 60 pounds).

We arrived in Oslo late Friday night, checked into our hostel and went on a wander around the city. My first impressions of Oslo were really good: it seemed lively and cosmopolitan and the people were really friendly. Also, as it was the first place I have been to where I did not understand the first language (Norwegian), I was a little taken aback by the fact that many signs were meaningless to me. Everything was written in Norwegian (although most signs, menus, and brochures are also written in English)! Luckily, most people spoke English fluently so we did not have much difficulty communicating.

On Saturday, we ate what I now realize was a very overpriced breakfast at the hostel and went for a walk around the city. Our first stop was the tourist information center, where we bought a 48-hour tourist pass, which granted entry to most of the major attractions and allowed for unlimited access on public transport. I would highly recommend the tourist pass to anyone planning on visiting Oslo in the future. It is definitely good value for what it offers and forces you to see as much as you can. The public transport system is also efficient and user-friendly and we ended up using it a lot.

On Saturday morning, we visited the Norway Opera House (which Mel was not too impressed by since it apparently did not compare to the Sydney Opera House), and walked around the medieval Akershus Castle. We later stumbled across “The Mini Bottle Gallery” en route to the Nobel Peace Center. This bizarrely delightful gallery is basically a collection of over 50 000 mini bottles and ended up being the highlight of the trip. I thought that it was quite funny (and reflective of today’s youth-haha) that we spent so much time in what could be considered a silly, meaningless exhibit during the time we had intended to spend in a very serious and meaningful one.

When we were finally able to pull ourselves away from the mini bottles, we went to the Nobel Peace Center, as planned, and it was incredible. There was a very moving exhibit, “From King to Obama” which portrayed how the work of 1964 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Martin Luther King, Jr., in the American Civil rights movement helped create an opportunity for Barrack Obama, this year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner, to become President of the United States.

In the afternoon, we had a late lunch at the waterfront and enjoyed the view of the harbor. Afterwards, we walked through the Vigelandsparken Sculpture Park, which contains walkways lined with 192 bronze and granite statues of naked and obviously passionate lovers, naked screaming babies, naked affectionate elderly people, and most centrally displayed, a 14-meter phallic-like column consisting of 121 entwined naked human figures. All the sculptures were carved by Norwegian sculptor Gustav Vigeland (1869-1943) and I would have liked to know what his intentions were when he created the park because I simply didn’t get it.

On Sunday, we took the subway and a bus to Holmenkollen Ski Park, where we saw the newly rebuilt ski jump and visited the ski museum. There was actually a biathlon competition going on that day, so it was neat to see all of the fans dressed up in their country’s colours and waving flags to support their athletes. Later on, we went to the Bygdoy peninsula, which is located just outside the city center, and visited the Viking Ship Museum and the Norsk Folkemuseum. The Viking Ship Museum is really impressive, as it showcases three 9th century Viking ships which are in surprisingly good condition. By the time we got to the Norsk Folkemuseum, I was feeling pretty exhausted from all the sight-seeing so did not really appreciate it as much as I could have.


The aspect of Oslo that I loved the most was its proximity to the wilderness. In fact, this made me a little homesick, as it reminded me of all of the outdoor activities that I participate in regularly in Canada. Although London has many beautiful parks to run and cycle in, I often crave the beauty of the great outdoors.


Oslo is in an amazing location. It lies at the tip of a fjord and is surrounded by forests and mountains. It was common to see people with their skis on the subway, as the public transportation system in Oslo connects people with a few ski hills and an extensive network of cross-country ski trails. It was too bad that we were only there for a weekend because we did not have time to both ski and see the sights. While we were there, I made a tentative plan to go back the following weekend to do some cross-country skiing…unfortunately, the one weekend ended up being too expensive to justify a second trip. I really would love to go back to Norway in the summer and venture north to do some camping and hiking.



Despite the fact that my weekend in Oslo did major damage to my bank account and made me a little homesick, I absolutely loved it. I could really see myself living in a place like Oslo forever, as I appreciated the culture, the arts, and the opportunities it offered for healthy, active living. I guess it is a good thing that I enjoyed it so much, because it reminded me a lot of Canada! Hopefully, I’ll be able to go back at some point to take advantage of the outdoor activities…but next time I go for a weekend, I’ll budget for a week!