Europe--2 days in the life: back at work in "the new normal"
I am still "sorta" in my enforced reduced/eliminated work schedule, but three things cropped up that were of the "if you at all possibly can" category. It involved a LOT of paperwork to get into France and Belgium, but I got it all done. My USA passport alone wouldn't have cut it, but my German residence card filled the necessary gap.
"Know before you go" says State Department literature to first-time travelers, and it sure as hell applies to France now. Before even facing the distantly remembered routine of getting up at 5 AM, I had to print out and fill in two documents for France with name, DOB, nationality and country of EU residence, plus a written request from the office France that was asking me to come and a written explanation why I couldn't do it remotely. I first had to show all the to the Belgian border police, as I had to change trains in Brussels. Then again when arriving in Paris (LONG line, and everybody was checked. More than a few were refused entry, and had to take the next train back to Belgium (they don't stop between Paris and Brussels).
In Paris, a big guy with a colonial accent asked me if I needed a taxi. I was a little suspicious, but none of the cops said anything, so I said yeah. There were taxis lined up outside, but he said they were only for the airport. What did I know? Like an idiot in a hurry, I got into his car, and he charged me 22 Euros to get to my office there. I asked for a receipt and he said by email. I gave him my address. Of course, no receipt. Oh well, so the asshole got me for 15 euros more than I should have paid, and for his trouble, he'll get a warning to everyone I know to avoid him and his pals from now on. I'm not sure it will have been necessary in the long run. Maybe the legitimate taxi drivers will beat the shit out of him and his fellow scammers. Wouldn't break my heart, and they do tend to do stuff like that in France.
I got my stuff done in record time, and got a legitimate taxi back to the Gare du Nord (€6.50 this time). The train left on time back to Brussels, and I had an appointment in the train station there. The Belgian border cops were again there, but when I spoke Flemish to them and showed them my onward ticket to Germany, they waved me through. Nothing was open and I had two and a half hours to kill, which I did from a seat on the train track, doing what I imagine was an approximation of Transcendental Meditation. I couldn't nod off completely, because there are bands of trick thieves all over Sprout City's train stations. I got home at about 9:30 PM, which is normal for me.
Today I had to go over to Nederland (Holland). The train I usually take at 7:09AM out of Düsseldorf isn't running at all. So, I had to take a local train from Düsseldorf to Arnhem, and from there, switch to another train for the last 35 minutes from Arnhem to Utrecht, where I was picked up by a guy from my office. First necessary meetings were conducted at warp speed, and then one of the women from our office, who knows her way around the country, drove me to a place I had never been before. It was about 50 KM north of the Belgian border, and it was REALLY the definition of "out in the middle of nowhere." We were driving through farms and fields, and after one hand-painted sign saying "fresh-picked Asparagus here!" and another saying "organically grown potatoes here!" I had to ask, "you're SURE you know where you're going?" She laughed and said, "not only that, we're here!"
And so we were. The installation was in one of those "you-can't-get-there-from-here" places. But the guy I was supposed to see (I had never worked with him before, although he said he remembered me from some affair in Berlin we had both been at (?? I guess). But warnings I had been given about how difficult the guy was to work with turned out to be vastly exaggerated, and I had a very relaxed and productive session out there between the asparagus and the potatoes. I had two options in the way of trains home, and so as not to rush our very capable woman into driving faster than she should (Holland has speed limits), I said I'd take the later connection.
So, we got back to our office near Utrecht, took care of last-minute stuff and another of our people there drove me back into Utrecht to get my train(s) back to Düsseldorf. This is where the Yin turned into Yang. I got the train from Utrecht to Arnhem (eastern NL, near the German border). In Arnhem, there was an announcement (only in Dutch, unusual for an international train) that there had been a serious electrical problem on the German end of the line I needed to take, and that they didn't know how long it would take to repair it. They said at LEAST two hours before the next train on that route. Great. I called my travel agency in Germany and asked if there was any roundabout route I could take. The agent's computer came up with a convoluted route: Arnhem to Nijmegen, then Nijmegen to Venlo, then Venlo to Düsseldorf, and I had less than four minutes to make the connection in Venlo, or I would have to wait an hour for the next one. I ran and made it with 20 seconds. I was getting a bit weary by now. There was only one other guy in my compartment, a somewhat elderly (probably my age! LOL) German guy. About two thirds of the way there, in the German station of Mönchengladbach, two young Arab guys, from their accents, probably Moroccans living in Belgium, barged into the compartment with no masks on (NOT optional on German trans), and started hurling abuse in French at the other guy in my compartment. He at first asked them (in German, which they didn't understand) to calm down, and they kept yelling at him in French (which he didn't understand) and were getting threatening. It was like they were on speed or something similar. I was torn between intervening and probably getting knifed and shutting up and hoping things didn't escalate. Fortunately, one of the conductors, a stocky guy who looked like he could take care of himself in a fight, headed our way, and the two Arab guys left the car. We continued on to Düsseldorf without incident.
In Düsseldorf, I finally got my little commuter train back to my small town. I was surprised how full it was, considering the hour (8:30 PM). There was a 40-ish woman with a bicycle who ignored the "social distance" and stood right in front of me, jabbering away with some guy she knew who was also in our car. Oh, well. Sixteen minutes, and her face was pointed at the other guy. When we got to my town, we all got out, and the woman with the bicycle, was yelling at some poor elderly Asian (maybe Burmese?) woman to get out of the elevator because she and her bicycle were in it, and there was distance to maintain. Funny, she didn't to think that was important when she was practically standing on my toes with her bike in the train. The Asain woman didn't appear to understand when the German was woman was badgering her about, but she saw that it was probably wiser to wait for the elevator to come back up empty the next time. And so she did.
After a rather unpleasant, and quite prolonged, trip back home, my wife had waited with dinner. But she was getting hungry (as was I anyway), and so started cooking as soon as I got home. She made what is called "sea-salmon" here. It is not salmon at all, but a white fish which (I think) is called pollock in the USA. It was sautéed with chives and lemon, and some finely chopped ginger. She also made a pan of sautéed chopped zucchini enhanced by lightly browned onions and slivered garlic. A small arugula salad was on the side with some grated cheese, and dessert was some Quark with fresh sliced strawberries and a little Canadian maple syrup poured over it. The fish had been on sale, and the whole meal cost under €2.50 euros each. How's THAT to put me back in a good mood??
Tomorrow is a Europe-wide holiday. I had only been "back" at work for two days, but I'm already happy for the day off.
Welcome to my world. I must be getting old or something.
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please post your dinner info @ Cooking & Baking, so everyone can see how 'the other half' eats!
For your very interesting essays on travel and everyday life in places many of us only dream of.
I’m glad your exhausting and somewhat frightening day ended on a happy note!
I see boorish behavior is not exclusive to MAGATs here in the U.S.
"Bob Dylan once wrote "The times, they are a changing." Ron Burgundy had never heard that song." 
... back in 1990, we wandered all over the Midlands for hours because of track blockages. Nice way to see the country, though. 
-- Mal