Not much longer now, in fact in about 24 hours I will be getting ready to leave for the airport, destination Bangalore, India.
Normally trips are pretty easy nothing major but in the case of Bangalore I needed a visa and that of course was just a pain in the butt.
To get the visa I need to go to Frankfurt, normally I could do it via the mail but due some change my "state" in Germany I live in was not able to mail them in so it had to be in person. Being Frankfurt that is a 3 hour card drive or train drive. With the current weather in Germany I wanted to go by train, but with the current train strikes that really was not working out. So my trip via train had to be canceled and rescheduled for the following Monday (last Monday) but with the idea in mind that if they decided to strike again I would need to leave Sunday afternoon to ensure I was there in enough time as I could only drop off the visa application between 830 and 1130. Luck would have it and the trains did not strike so Monday morning 5am comes along and I board the train which was of course late. Then the next train which is of course late as well, and I miss my final connection to Frankfurt. 30 mins later I get the next train and make it to the Frankfurt airport followed by a short wait then the train to Frankfurt and I'm a grand total of an hour later than originally planned. I then rush out to find a taxi to take me to the building, it's a new outsourcing center the consulate is using so I've no idea where it is. After a 10 min cab ride the guy stops and says here you go, I pay and as I get out of the cab I see the train station a straight walk away and probably 5 mins (confirmed later when I was finished - 7 mins).
Now here I go into the office and within a matter of a few minutes I am in, now get this 3 people working the desk, 2 in the office one to process and one to take my money so I think a it of overkill on personal but hey I was in and out so I was happy.
I then spent some time heading into Frankfurt to look around and look for a cafe or somewhere I could comfortably sit and work; no luck so back to the train station and about 6 hours of waiting as I could not pick up the completed visa until 1800 (it was now 1200). After 3 bums, 2 drunks, a crazy guy, 20 euro, no power, uncomfortable chairs which lead to back pain I was able to head over and pick up the visa then pay an additional 10 euros because I missed my train and the next one was a bit of a different route I was on my way home.
It's now Saturday morning the sun is not yet up and all that is left is to pack my bag and enjoy time with the family, it's been one of those weeks so certainly looking forward to relaxing today!
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Normally trips are pretty easy nothing major but in the case of Bangalore I needed a visa and that of course was just a pain in the butt.
To get the visa I need to go to Frankfurt, normally I could do it via the mail but due some change my "state" in Germany I live in was not able to mail them in so it had to be in person. Being Frankfurt that is a 3 hour card drive or train drive. With the current weather in Germany I wanted to go by train, but with the current train strikes that really was not working out. So my trip via train had to be canceled and rescheduled for the following Monday (last Monday) but with the idea in mind that if they decided to strike again I would need to leave Sunday afternoon to ensure I was there in enough time as I could only drop off the visa application between 830 and 1130. Luck would have it and the trains did not strike so Monday morning 5am comes along and I board the train which was of course late. Then the next train which is of course late as well, and I miss my final connection to Frankfurt. 30 mins later I get the next train and make it to the Frankfurt airport followed by a short wait then the train to Frankfurt and I'm a grand total of an hour later than originally planned. I then rush out to find a taxi to take me to the building, it's a new outsourcing center the consulate is using so I've no idea where it is. After a 10 min cab ride the guy stops and says here you go, I pay and as I get out of the cab I see the train station a straight walk away and probably 5 mins (confirmed later when I was finished - 7 mins).
Now here I go into the office and within a matter of a few minutes I am in, now get this 3 people working the desk, 2 in the office one to process and one to take my money so I think a it of overkill on personal but hey I was in and out so I was happy.
I then spent some time heading into Frankfurt to look around and look for a cafe or somewhere I could comfortably sit and work; no luck so back to the train station and about 6 hours of waiting as I could not pick up the completed visa until 1800 (it was now 1200). After 3 bums, 2 drunks, a crazy guy, 20 euro, no power, uncomfortable chairs which lead to back pain I was able to head over and pick up the visa then pay an additional 10 euros because I missed my train and the next one was a bit of a different route I was on my way home.
It's now Saturday morning the sun is not yet up and all that is left is to pack my bag and enjoy time with the family, it's been one of those weeks so certainly looking forward to relaxing today!
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