We landed in Riga, Latvia. It's around 6 pm; my flight to Vilnius, Lithuania boards at 7:45 pm. I'm at a cafe, perhaps in the duty free section of the airport. All the tables are taken, so I picked a spot on the counter overlooking the runway. The bitter smell of coffee in the air makes me feel all lazy and mellow. Two airBaltic planes are parked in front of me - the green color of their tail matches the color of the large patch of grass behind them. Scatterred on the runway are puddles of water - leftover from rain that fell earlier. Beyond the planes are trees - maybe pine. There are hundreds of them - all tall, thin and shadowy as the sun sets behind them. Overhead, thin clouds rush over the airport like cars driving on a freeway.
In the cafe, we're all waiting. Some are slumped on their chair or couch while others are gazing at their laptop monitors. Some are enjoying their cigarette while the rest are either looking into space, reading a something or talking to someone. Next to me is a lady - middle aged and blonde. Her black sun glasses matches her shirt and shoes. She sighs, picks herself up, drinks coffee then leans on the counter. She looks at her watch, stares at the trees in the distance, sighs again, drinks some more coffee and leans back on her chair. I drank my coffee, connected to the 3G network on my phone and went through the routine: update location on Google maps, check for new emails: more pictures/videos of my cousin's baby boy; reminders of bills to pay - mental note: check balance in account before paying; an acquaintance in Lithuania finally replied - we're getting nearer to scheduling a meet when I visit the city of Klaipeda; a couch surfer in Vilnius confirmed a meet this Thursday... I must have been online for 10-15 minutes. When I looked up from my phone the blonde lady was no longer there. Sitting on her side of the counter was a mug, a plate with cake crumbs and a small bottle of Evian. The bottle sat on the edge of the counter near her tall chair. She left it behind still full, its water capturing the golden light from the setting sun.
*
It's 8:45 pm and we're still on the runaway in Latvia: the bloody plane has a 'technical' problem. Our original arrival time in Vilnius was 9:05 pm! I hope my airport pick up hasn't up and went. The delay wasn't bad, though. I made the acquaintance of the person sitting next to me and our conversation made time fly until we took off and until we finally landed in Vilnius. About how we met: I must admit that it did not happen out of an initiative from my part. I sat in the middle seat on one side of the walkway while he sat in the aisle seat on the other side of the walkway. The seats to my right and left were still free when all passengers were on board while he sat next to two people. He asked if I didn't mind he sit in the aisle on my side.... on the condition that I move to the window seat. The man wants his personal space - I completely understand. As a result, we got talking: from cloud computing to couch surfing and frank zappa. My acquaintance was on a short business trip and had a presentation to give the next day at a conference on internet governance. I hope that went well for him - I took his business card and promised to drop him an email.
To my surprise the airport pick up was still there waiting for me! He was a young man - tall, lanky and in dark clothes. He and his brother manage the B&B I'm staying in. I apologized for the delay and thanked him for his patience, especially for saving me from being ripped off by a taxi. It was around 10 pm and the streets of Vilnius were pretty much deserted. The drive in his BMW was smooth. He drove into a narrow street wide enough for one car, opened the gates to the B&B and pulled into a cobblestoned courtyard. After taking a copy of my passport the young lad showed me to my room. We walked out of the reception and into the courtyard, up a set of stairs, through a couple of doors and up some more stairs until we reached my room in the attic. He opened the door and turned on the lights: queen size bed, sofa, small round table + 2 chairs, chest of drawers, large cupboard, TV, stereo and a private bathroom. Some kind of backpacker I am...
No comments:
Post a Comment