60 Days in Europe…#61 Düsseldorf-London

Thinking my last day would be pretty quiet…was on the tram,inspectors got on,no worries still got a few hours on my app ticket,then the lady asked for ID  card or passport.Obviously I didn’t have my passport with me so she called her three colleagues.By this stage I am the centre of attention on a fairly full tram…even though I had a perfectly valid ticket certain regions also insist you have ID to go with a phone ticket.I was ignorant of this and whilst they were pondering if to fine me I asked if any photo ID with my name on will do because I remembered I had my old bastards don’t pay not nothing on public transport in London (after 9am) so stop your bloody whining pass ( that should be its official title) anyway it passed the old grey whistle test.Just…

At least it gave the watching public something to pass the time.Stupid Englischeser doesn’t know the rules etc.So remember people don’t be ignorant,or if you are, be old,live in London and carry your freedom pass…

After all the years of knocking out this blog on my phone it has taken me until this year to discover how to save text without the pain of banging out an almost full blog then losing it all…it might take time for me to pick up on modern technology sometimes but eventually I get there.Not lost one bit of self indulgent nonsense this time around…

In a previous blog I debated with myself if Italy was beginning to surpass Germany as my favourite country but whenever I come back to Germany it wins me over again(not really difficult) We have this impression in the UK of Germans being a bit uptight & serious( the famous “ no sense of humour “ trope) but in all my visits I have not found that at all…I think the big difference is that over here if someone isn’t interested in having a conversation with you they just won’t bother whereas in the UK we will not shut up shop,talk to a stranger for four hours then at the end of the night say something like “ god what a twat he was” a waste of everyone’s time & effort,and of course if you bump into each other again you’re almost obliged to spend time with them even though it’s the worst thing you can imagine.I have been in this situation myself,doubtless from both sides! As maybe all of the Brits reading this have…you tend to know when a German likes or dislikes you…

Anyway thinking ahead to German trips it might sound strange but I’m happy to keep it to five/six cities that I know quite well and obviously like a lot.Berlin,Hamburg,Leipzig,Düsseldorf,Cologne & Bremen…I want to spend more time in Bremen as I’ve only been there twice and it needs more attention…have been to others of course but that would be my ideal month long trip.Don’t really feel much of an itch to explore elsewhere…will save that for France & Italy…

Been trying to get an angle on ETIAS the visa exemption that’s supposed to be coming in force May 2025.To be fair it’s been coming into force for about five years now so don’t hold your breath.Basically it seems to be something you apply for online,costs about £7 and is valid for three years or until your validity of your passport runs out whichever is sooner…however have also been hearing that now it will require photo & finger print ID.I get the impression nobody really knows what the hell’s going on…if they do photo & fingerprint ID at the point of departure I think we all know how hellish that would be so I’m guessing that would also be online too( hopefully) One way or another it’s coming in but it’s just a case of when & in what form so be prepared otherwise you could miss out on your holidays…

I can hear Yorkshire voices.It’s very disturbing…I feel like my personal space is being violated! Seriously though I’m gonna miss all this.Never felt so relaxed and I don’t just mean today but for the last two months…when I did the three months thing last year it was great an all that but mostly it was a bit of a rush with usually two or three days between travelling.This time it’s closer to five days between cities and it’s far better…now some may say that all I’m doing is going from bar to bar but I’m averaging over 10,000 steps daily but to be fair sometimes it’s been a trek between decent bars…just looked at my kilometre stats and it’s on over 19,000.I think it went a bit haywire after “The French Sunday “ but even if you take off 4,000 km I still think that’s a decent haul around Europe…

The Yorkies are at the “You’re alright Mike I don’t care what they say” stage and it’s only 4-30pm…they need to get in the shade…

Anyway when I get back I need to get out more.I don’t mean doing what I’m doing here because that’s just not feasible in London( the beer’s much more expensive and far worse) but I need to discover more about the city and also get out on the bike more too…the easy thing is to stay in and vegitate…I have also got a few bits of work lined up at my old place too,about four/ five days before Xmas so that’s cool…sorry I’m rambling…

See you later crocodile…

See you back in Blighty.I’m off the French Bar soon for some more cultural enrichment…so that was nice.Got a hug from the sexy landlady.Never got a hug from Gary,just a handshake and no eye contact…as an added bonus the young barman who had a whole Enimen vide and will henceforth be called Stan asked if I was going back to Wolverhampton ( he evidently clocked the badge yesterday) so to save complications I said yes and he tapped his heart twice and any football fan will tell you that means a lot,not as much as a hug from a sexy woman,but a lot.Sweet dreams and hopefully see you on the other side…