Friday, 20 March 2009
Bratislava Is An Airport Of Limited Appeal.
Waiting on the bus to Bratislava. Looks close to 10 minutes after scheduled departure. 4 passengers. Watching men in red, white circles and red crosses on their backs, stream steadily out of the underground and across the road. In front of bus one and a half hours to the airport. 7am.
Bratislava is an airport of limited appeal in a world of cheap airports of limited appeal. Arriving from Vienna, 7 am bus, arriving an hour or so later, hazy after a really bad nights sleep. To realise I have no local currency and hours to kill. I’ve had no breakfast, I have no food with me and I can’t spot any kind of exchange office anywhere. There also seems to be a reluctance to take my card to allow me just to get some basic stuff. Eventually I find someone who will take my card if I spend over 200SK. Wow. Sounds like lots, but I work out that it doesn’t get that much regardless of what the exchange rate is. So a breakfast of iced green tea and paprika Pringles it is then, with a bottle of water, being what I was originally after. Stansted offers more, but weighed down by baggage, I need to wait at least an hour to check bags in before finding lunch.
The flight is full of dubious Slovaks on their way to London. The girls sat beside me being particular cases. Arriving late with heavy carry on that is too large for the over heads. They use their mobile phones as MP3 players the whole flight despite repeat warning not to. But they play at being furtive, hiding them beneath jumpers. At several points through the flight strange me turn up, their other halves scattered around the plan, more dubious associates. The second a shaven headed thug, disappears to the toilet, the two of them quickly disappear after him. Then coming in for landing, they field strip their phones like seasoned experts, exchanging SIM cards, with a flip of the battery, for the local conditions.
Bratislava is an airport of limited appeal in a world of cheap airports of limited appeal. Arriving from Vienna, 7 am bus, arriving an hour or so later, hazy after a really bad nights sleep. To realise I have no local currency and hours to kill. I’ve had no breakfast, I have no food with me and I can’t spot any kind of exchange office anywhere. There also seems to be a reluctance to take my card to allow me just to get some basic stuff. Eventually I find someone who will take my card if I spend over 200SK. Wow. Sounds like lots, but I work out that it doesn’t get that much regardless of what the exchange rate is. So a breakfast of iced green tea and paprika Pringles it is then, with a bottle of water, being what I was originally after. Stansted offers more, but weighed down by baggage, I need to wait at least an hour to check bags in before finding lunch.
The flight is full of dubious Slovaks on their way to London. The girls sat beside me being particular cases. Arriving late with heavy carry on that is too large for the over heads. They use their mobile phones as MP3 players the whole flight despite repeat warning not to. But they play at being furtive, hiding them beneath jumpers. At several points through the flight strange me turn up, their other halves scattered around the plan, more dubious associates. The second a shaven headed thug, disappears to the toilet, the two of them quickly disappear after him. Then coming in for landing, they field strip their phones like seasoned experts, exchanging SIM cards, with a flip of the battery, for the local conditions.
# posted by remotepush @ 22:35 
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