Striking Times

IMAGINE a dystopian world in which train drivers are on strike, airline pilots are on strike ...

YESTERDAY I flew from London to Munich, reaching Heathrow Terminal 5 in what I thought was plenty of time.

It was lucky I was early as the queues at Security were horrendous, as were queues in the toilets after getting to Departures.

My flight with British Airways took off 40 minutes late, but made up most of that time before landing at Bavaria's capital.

That was when the 'nightmare' began.

German train drivers were on strike - so were pilots at Lufthansa, with whom I often fly to Germany - and that meant no trains to Bad Wörishofen, which is where the 38th edition of ChessOrg's chess festival starts today.

Instead I was directed, along with three other players who were on the same flight, to catch a train from the airport to München-Pasing, and from there to board yesterday's last train to Augsburg, which is about 40 miles from Bad Wörishofen.

Unfortunately the Augsburg train was so crowded there was no way we four could get on, at least if we wanted our luggage to accompany us.

Peter Kirby tried using his Uber app, but could get no response, so there was nothing for it but to hire a taxi, which came to 200 euros.

That sounds bad, especially on top of a 61-euro train fare, but splitting it four ways certainly helped.