Passport passport... where are you ?
One of the incidents that happened to us while we were on this trip confirmed to me that my brain is in my stomach.
It was about 9:30pm by the time we made it back from Antwerp to Dusseldorf. Of course we were hungry and we had decided that we will stop by a McD or a Burger King and pick up a burger or something.
We pulled up at the McD's on our way and as usual, I carried the "backpack". The "backpack" is usually an extension of my back. It had the laptop, camera, ipod, cash, passports. Basically everything important. So rather than leave it in the car, I usually carry it around.
So we walked in into the McD, looked at the menu, found nothing vegetarian, and walked out. Simple - 2 minutes flat. We got back into the car and drove off to our hotel to eat at the indian restaurant opposite. Once there, Anusha got out at the restaurant to reserve us a table and I made my way to the basement to park the car. It was when I was locking the car that I realized that I had left the backpack at the McD. Running like crazy, I found Anusha at the restaurant. Both of us ran back to the hotel reception without paying the restaurant bill (but promised the guy that we would be back to pay take care of the damages). Back in the reception, I was rambling incoherently to the reception desk fellow, partly because of the panting and rest because of this choking senstation that usually occurs when you have done something really stupid.
As with any other city, there are umpteen McD in Dusseldorf and we had no idea which one it was. All we knew was that it was close to the big tower and tram lines. With the reception desk dude calling every McD in Dusseldorf, Anusha calmly suggested that we try to trace our way back. We left our mobile number at the reception desk and drove off trying to find a place we both knew we couldn't find. We headed out trying to retrace our steps but no breadcrumbs to lead us to this place.
Fortunately for us, the hotel called a few minutes later. He had found the right McD and they had informed him that the bag was safe with all its contents in place. Thanks to the GPS, we found our way to the new address, found the bag and all its contents intact.
What was most noticeable was how calm Anusha was during all this. I know it's easier to be calm when you are not the one who has made the mistake, but her being calm was exactly what we needed. Needless to say, Anusha never let me forget this incident for the rest of this trip or the next one.
The stupidity-of-the-day was enough to drain us every ounce of energy we had left after a full day of travel. We went back to the Indian restaurant, ate, paid our bill this time and went back to our room for a good night's rest.
One of the incidents that happened to us while we were on this trip confirmed to me that my brain is in my stomach.
It was about 9:30pm by the time we made it back from Antwerp to Dusseldorf. Of course we were hungry and we had decided that we will stop by a McD or a Burger King and pick up a burger or something.
We pulled up at the McD's on our way and as usual, I carried the "backpack". The "backpack" is usually an extension of my back. It had the laptop, camera, ipod, cash, passports. Basically everything important. So rather than leave it in the car, I usually carry it around.
So we walked in into the McD, looked at the menu, found nothing vegetarian, and walked out. Simple - 2 minutes flat. We got back into the car and drove off to our hotel to eat at the indian restaurant opposite. Once there, Anusha got out at the restaurant to reserve us a table and I made my way to the basement to park the car. It was when I was locking the car that I realized that I had left the backpack at the McD. Running like crazy, I found Anusha at the restaurant. Both of us ran back to the hotel reception without paying the restaurant bill (but promised the guy that we would be back to pay take care of the damages). Back in the reception, I was rambling incoherently to the reception desk fellow, partly because of the panting and rest because of this choking senstation that usually occurs when you have done something really stupid.
As with any other city, there are umpteen McD in Dusseldorf and we had no idea which one it was. All we knew was that it was close to the big tower and tram lines. With the reception desk dude calling every McD in Dusseldorf, Anusha calmly suggested that we try to trace our way back. We left our mobile number at the reception desk and drove off trying to find a place we both knew we couldn't find. We headed out trying to retrace our steps but no breadcrumbs to lead us to this place.
Fortunately for us, the hotel called a few minutes later. He had found the right McD and they had informed him that the bag was safe with all its contents in place. Thanks to the GPS, we found our way to the new address, found the bag and all its contents intact.
What was most noticeable was how calm Anusha was during all this. I know it's easier to be calm when you are not the one who has made the mistake, but her being calm was exactly what we needed. Needless to say, Anusha never let me forget this incident for the rest of this trip or the next one.
The stupidity-of-the-day was enough to drain us every ounce of energy we had left after a full day of travel. We went back to the Indian restaurant, ate, paid our bill this time and went back to our room for a good night's rest.
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