Seat 666
September 26th, 2008
When I was preparing for this trip, I got lots of advice from people who have clearly mentally planned all the elements of their own round-the-world trips, but just haven’t set the date yet. One colleague sent me the link to The Man in Seat 61, a site devoted to rail travel. I wish I had time to take the Trans-Siberian railway to Shanghai next week, but I will be flying instead.
On the way back to Freiburg I got a reservation for Car 6, Seat 66 at a table across from a little girl who managed to kick me in the shins every time I fell asleep and next to a guy who hadn’t bathed in several days and made up for it by gargling Listerine. At first I thought he was snoring, but his eyes were wide open along with his mouth, and he was expelling sparkling drops of mouthwash like Old Faithful. It was hard not to laugh.