29 September 2014

A Year In Scotland

29 September 2014

September

/October--------------

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
				25	26	27
28	29	30	1	2	3	4
5	6	7	8	9	10	11
12	13	14	15	16	17	18
19	20	21	22	23	24	25
26	27

Monday 29 September 2014--My plan for the day is to pick up a rental car and drive west across the border into France, to see the Canadian memorial at Vimy; then back into Belgium, to Ypres, before returning to Bruges. This year is the 100th anniversary of the beginning of World War I, the Great War, The War To End All Wars, and it seems only right to make a visit to these sites the centerpiece of my European visit.

Drag myself to breakfast, then catch a cab to the Hertz office, a couple miles outside town. Get through the usual paperwork and start to settle into the car. I notice that there is no power to the 12-volt outlet. I've purchased European maps for my Garmin GPS, and am depending on it to guide me on my intended route. A mechanic checks the fuses, and then starts fiddling under the hood. After a while, I tell the manager that I want to cancel the rental. He offers me another car, but I refuse it. It's already after 11:00, and I don't have the energy to do what I had planned, anyway. I walk back into town and go back to bed.

* * * * * * * * *

Saturday 29 September 2000--The fickle Shetland weather did its thing, and it was cloudy by the time I got to Sumburgh. I went straightaway to the airport and checked in. I found they were asking for volunteers to take a later flight, at an inducement of a hundred pounds. I thought about it. I could have booked for a flight tomorrow, and perhaps the same thing would happen again. With luck, one could play this game for several days at a nice profit. I could even go to the Lounge Bar's season-ending party on Monday. But I've been in Shetland long enough, I think.

* * * * * * * * *

Don't get out again until 4:00. Miss last entry at Belfort, and have a serving of fries from one of the two stands out front in the market square, recommended to me by Bobby. There are nineteen sauces available; I choose straight mayonnaise. Have a beer at the Rembrandt and another at 't Brugs Bertje, then wander around town as twilight turns to darkness. I have dinner at Le Panier D'Or on the square, even though the fries were filling.

So a lost day. I regret not going to Vimy and Ypres, of course, but I know I did what I had to. Hopefully there will be another chance, another time.

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