Travelling

I travelled today from Stansted to Hannover and have something to say of the Airport, the journey and the Dutch.

Travelling at 20:40 means that Stansted is usually quite quiet, tonight it was very quiet, reminded me of what it was like 10 years ago. A joy to travel through, no real delays, the staff themselves under less pressure were polite and helpful. But, why, when I was quizzed by a policeman as to where I was going did I feel slightly disconcerted when, on being asked what the reason for my travel was, my reply of “Business” was not enough. The next question was “What’s the nature of your business?” I felt like saying “None of your business”, but instead told the truth “Helping to implement a computer system”. Why do they need to know? Makes no difference to them at all, and I have never been asked, when in any country in Europe, “Why are you here?”


I, and my co worker, needed a bite to eat, and it was during that time that the comment on the Dutch came up. Sitting on a table next to us was a Dutch guy who, having eaten, asked for his bill, so far so good. He decided to pay for it by card, again, normally not a problem. He put the card in, the waitress started to ask him to put in his PIN when his mobile rang. He then kept the waitress waiting while he dealt with the phone call, by the time he’d finished the machine had timed out and the whole transaction had to be repeated. Why couldn’t he just have asked the person on the phone to wait 10 seconds instead on making the waitress wait for minutes? The Dutch are some of the most rude people I have met. The Germans, on the other hand are some of the most gracious, they can be full of righteous wrath if you cross them, but if you behave in a normal fashion, the Germans put us Brits to shame for courteousness.

Finally the journey with the ever reliable Air Berlin. Ryanair could learn lessons in how to run an airline from this lot. The plane was on time, the cabin staff were very good, we arrived slightly early and the baggage appeared within 10 minutes. Totally brilliant.