Calle Turística

With everything packed this morning, all goodbye's said, we made our way to the airport. This still being germany, we made our way to the airport quickly. Which meant that when we got a message saying: "I just went 140km/h in the Northern Territory!", we replied with: "We're currently cruising at 160km/h."

The flight seems to have been a bit interestingly organised. We got onto the plane on time, but then things kept on failing to get going. By the time we actually took off, we had a 45 minute delay. On arrival, the gangway failed to approach the plane due to lack of staff, and the luggage carrusel that was supposed to be for our plane, came pre-loaded with enough luggage for a small school bus, yet static and not looking like it's about to spit our luggage out. With enough patience though, everything came.

The hotel we booked here is probably the most expensive hotel that I've ever personally paid for. 4 stars. The inspector for the stars must have been blind. We didn't remember booking so far away from central (though we assume that was us being blind when we booked it), we got a room with a view of a wall and very little natural light creeping past it, the bed has a bent post which means you can rock the entire frame back and forth. And when we came back to our room with the window being accidentally slightly ajar, the thing smelt like an ashtray. Should I mention that the window is ajar because the closing mechanism is broken? The room is not lacking in space, but I'd rather sacrifice space for a little bit more … refinement.

Immediately after leaving the airport, I got the impression of a rather empty city. The train that we took from the airport (of which there is only one line) had less than 10 people in it. And the connecting trains also had ample space to seat everyone. This changed however when we went into the city, right into the middle of the biggest tourist trap of town. There were certainly a lot of people walking, but just as many people trying to slow you down and sell you sunglasses. One of the signs referred to them as blanket salesman, and the same sign mentioned a €50 fine if you buy anything from them. Considering that these stalls appear by the hundreds, and they sell directly underneath those signs, you wonder why the customers are the ones which need the fining …

Hopefully we get to sleep in a bit. No early morning need to be somewhere. There's a lot to see, and it should be seen with rested eyes.