A Hovercraft Ride
Long before the Chunnel was available
the quickest way to get between France and England was on the Hovercraft. I
made one trip across the English Channel from Calais, France to Dover, England
and found that when the hovercraft got up to speed, the ride became very noisy
and bouncy.
I felt like a staggering drunk as I
tried to walk about, and after awhile just gave up the idea. Fortunately the
trip was only 55-minutes. The white cliffs of Dover were easy to spot as we approached
the coast. It was one of those things I was glad I did, but once was enough.
One can still ride a hovercraft, but
not across the English Channel. Its last trip between Calais and Dover took
place in October 2000. The underwater Chunnel opened in 1994. For me that would not be a very good
alternative as I’m quite claustrophobic and in general am not very excited
about tunnels, and I know I could not hold my breath 35 minutes for the
crossing. Maybe only if I were tranquilized to nearly being in a coma!
Hands Out
It is not uncommon to see people with
their hands out as you travel around the world. Sometimes it is the mentality
that all Americans are rich and of course they want some of that wealth.
In China the hawkers are annoyingly
pesky; never taking no for an answer, and never quit following you until you
break down and buy whatever it is they are selling. The price keeps going down
with every few steps you take.
On my very first trip to Europe I
found the Italians blatantly dishonest on more than one occasion. They
contradicted and raised a printed price. This happened with ice cream and wine.
In one incident a store keeper took a deposit and when the gal returned to buy
and make her purchase, there was absolutely no memory of any deposit. No amount
of arguing changed that and she ended up not making the purchase. In St. Mark’s
Square the vendor put the bill in his pocket and then refused to make change as
he argued he’d been given only the proper amount. This was in the day of the
lira before the euro, when it was easy for tourists to get confused about the
currency and the Italians took advantageous use of that fact, often being paid
twice what something was worth. Not a single person on that trip escaped some
incident, unfortunately leaving a really bad impression.
It is common in many places to pay a
dollar to take the picture of a local person. Always ask permission before attempting to photograph people.
Almost always it is ok to take general pictures of the scenery and landscape.
In Cuba we were charged a dollar to
take pictures’ in museums.
When off your own turf and in other
countries it always behooves you to pay attention to the rules. There is no
need to debate them or to try to sneak around them. It is not worth a trip to
the police station or jail!
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