Back from a 3 weeks journey with wife and kids accross Europe : Germany, Poland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Swizerland and back to France.
I realise how lucky we are, to have at hand such a variety of cultures and landscapes on such a relatively small area. A consolation for the pain we have localizing languages, currencies, accents, ümlauts and keyboards.
It is said that the British take food for granted, and talk about sex, while the french take sex for granted, and talk about food. So I'll comment on food.
Ironically if you consider the richness of the western Europe cuisine, the market winners are outsiders. Number one by far is the Turkish Kebab, which is now the fast food Sultan of the european street. Number two is the big american yellow M, the place where your kids insist to go when you desperately try to convince them that eating local food is part of a travelling experience.
Now, the promised story.
As a private pilot I'm used to check-lists, but cars is not planes, and habits are different. After a number of coincidences, I forgot to lock the car's roof box.
The result was my son's rucksack to jump out of the car's roof on a heavy traffic German highway. Where there is no speed limit, and the guys drive at an average 200km/h. The supreme bad taste was to spread my dirty loundry over one of the cleanest macadam I have ever seen.
As you would expect, the German polizei was über-efficient, and managed to stop the traffic in a few minutes - I still cannot realize how they did that so quickly and safely.
So while Usain Bolt was beating the world-record in Berlin, I was doing the same on the other side of Germany, running like mad with wife and kids on the autobahn, picking-up my son's socks and underpants. In front of linings of Porsches, Audis and BMWs heating there motors like waiting for a Grand Prix starter.
The Polizei was perfecly professional and gentlemen, requiring my driving licence in french, with a kind of 'business as usual, in August' attidude. Auf wiedersehen, and don't forget to lock your roof box before you go ...
The family consensus is that blocking the german trafic is superior to any of Copenhagen's Tivoli park attractions in terms of adrenaline production.
Back to DNN next time. Have a good week, and don't forget to lockup your boxes.