You never can tell what will make a day of travel memorable. We were on Richard Wagner Straße in Bayreuth, Germany some Monday in July, having a Bavarian lunch with a colleague of a colleague. The sun was shining and we were having a perfectly good time digesting our delicious food and strolling through the pedestrian area of town.
Then a massive rainstorm blew through - thunder, lightning, rain falling in sheets, wind knocking over sidewalk displays, the works. We don't get much rain in Sharjah, and we were not prepared with an umbrella or raincoats, so it was especially dramatic for us. We sought shelter under some store awnings with the Bayreuthers and watched the worst of it pass. Then the sun came out, and we went on our way.
That's it. That's all that happened. But looking back - and even at the time - it was such an exciting travel experience. And it's one we could not possibly have planned.
The reverse is true, of course - that sometimes our best-laid plans go all to crap and ruin a day of travel - but how delicious it was to have a straightforward walk through Bayreuth turn into an afternoon of adventure.
Then a massive rainstorm blew through - thunder, lightning, rain falling in sheets, wind knocking over sidewalk displays, the works. We don't get much rain in Sharjah, and we were not prepared with an umbrella or raincoats, so it was especially dramatic for us. We sought shelter under some store awnings with the Bayreuthers and watched the worst of it pass. Then the sun came out, and we went on our way.
That's it. That's all that happened. But looking back - and even at the time - it was such an exciting travel experience. And it's one we could not possibly have planned.
The reverse is true, of course - that sometimes our best-laid plans go all to crap and ruin a day of travel - but how delicious it was to have a straightforward walk through Bayreuth turn into an afternoon of adventure.