Trapped

Did you see where some 400 people were stranded the other day for more than an hour on the London Eye while engineers worked to fix a mechanical problem?



Can you imagine? I'm glad it wasn't me! It served as poignant reminder, however, of a similar mishap that DID happen to us on our first trip to Europe as a couple way back in 1994. We decided to go to Switzerland and Austria, and "we" decided to take my mother along with us. She was 74 at the time and, though she had travelled elsewhere, she had never been to Europe. The trip got off to a bit of a rocky start. We flew from here to Montréal, Dorval (now Trudeau airport) and then had to transfer by bus to the now defunct Mirabelle airport. After waiting around there 3 or 4 hours, we took off for Zürich, where we arrived about 8 and a half hours later. In our wisdom, rather than stopping and spending that night in Zürich, we had decided to start our adventure in Interlaken. Hence, after collecting our luggage, we had to wait another couple of hours for a train to central Switzerland. Brad and I were tired enough by the time we boarded the train, but my mother was completely exhausted. She drifted in and out of sleep as we made our way to our desination, mumbling and groaning and making other funny noises that we'd never heard her make before. Brad and I just looked at each other. What had we done? Bringing mom all this way only to have her croak before we'd even arrived! Once we reached Interlaken, we somehow managed to walk the short distance to our hotel, whereupon mom collapsed on her bed and begged us to just let her rest for a while and then bring her something to eat. A McFish Burger and fries constituted her very first meal in Switzerland, and ours too, I think.

But the following day, refreshed after a good nights sleep, we were all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. After several days in Interlaken, we continued on to Lucerne. On our second day there, Brad went off to explore a bit on his own. Mom laid down for her afternoon rest, and I went to a café and indulged in an enormous bowl of café au lait. It was yummy. So good, in fact, that I had two. Two gigantic bowls. Of café au lait.

Reunited at the hotel, Brad regaled us with a story of how he had found the most excellent view of the city, which mom and I just HAD to see. He was quite adament and convincing, so we followed him back to the bottom of a hill where an automatic funicular was waiting for us. It was one of those hillside railway contraptions that haul people up and down every 15 minutes or so - in this case up to a lovely hotel with stunning views of the city and the lake below. There were already some people inside, so we got right in, making for a total of about 15 all told. Soon enough, the doors closed and a little electronic bell sounded to announce our imminent departure. The Swiss are big on little electronic bell sounds. And ... there we sat. Nothing happened. Rather than wisking us to the top of the hill with Swiss efficiency, we simply sat there. The funicular didn't budge. And the doors were closed and locked. They wouldn't open. A couple of the locals hit some buttons and muttered away in Schwitzerdütsch, but to no avail. We were trapped inside this small compartment with about 12 other people, including one guy who hadn't bathed in at least a week and whose breath smelled like a distillery. And then there was the matter of those two enormous bowls of coffee that I had recently consumed. The caffeine had quickly travelled through my system and was looking for a way out. Ahora mismo. I had to pee so bad my back teeth were floating. I verbalized my predicament several times during our confinement. After about an hour in, one local woman jokingly remarked that perhaps I should just "tie a knot in it." I was tempted to shower her with my thanks for her thoughtful suggestion!

Finally, we spotted a couple walking nearby. We pounded on the glass window and attracted their attention. They were an English couple who understood our pleas for help. They went and fetched someone who was able to open the doors from the outside in no time. Somehow, I made it to a nearby washroom where I stood, I'm sure, for close to 10 minutes relieving myself. And what a relief it was!

On this same sojourn, still in Lucerne, we walked across the famous covered bridge that is a city landmark. I was happy the bridge was covered because, as had been the case on many days of our trip up to that point, it was raining. (There's a reason that Switzerland is so green!) Mom's spirits were not dampened by the weather, though. As we strolled across the bridge, she exclaimed, "Oh, this is just like a dream!" "Yeah," I deadpanned, not really thinking, "a WET... uh ... um... nightmare!"