Oh, how I had been looking forward to writing this article. In anticipation waiting for the big adventure to come and then write about it. Excited at the prospect of experiencing something exciting … since daily life is kind of dull like for all of us with work, home, dinner, TV, bath and bed. So, making a trip to Hamburg to see the place where some of the biggest planes are built, was a welcome change. Thrilling. Something to tell about.
Airbus. The European pedant to Boeing and probably its biggest competitor.
3 and a half hours of sitting on the bus lay ahead of us to get to Hamburg. Well, usually, I’m not THAT choosy, complaining about every little thing … hey, I travelled around South America in the 90s in buses on unpaved roads, in trains with narrow uncomfortable seats, residing in shabby “best hotels” with brass beds as the only furniture and outdoor showers. So, I’m not unfamiliar with less luxurious ways of travelling. BUT … I’m not 20 anymore (I just love to use that phrase, don’t you?) and spending all those hours in a short distance style bus with narrow and hard seats merely suitable for kids below ten with the seat belt buckle poking my butt whenever I moved an inch PLUS non-existing dampers … you can imagine my mood by the time we arrived in Hamburg. Way too early, by the way. Waaay too early. One hour before we were expected at the restaurant for quick lunch and even longer before our guided tour. Luckily, we neither had to keep sitting in our comfy bus seats nor wait outside in the cold and drizzling rain with some fog thrown in. The restaurateurs had mercy on the 14 of us and we at least could warm up with hot tea until lunch was ready. Courageous as I am – I just can’t help myself – I had ordered “Wiener Schnitzel” and was less disappointed as expected. It was at least half crisp, the fries were plainly salted and the only fly in the ointment was the curry ketchup they served. Euw, disgusting. BUT, being the Austrian everyone knows, always having special requests I carefully inquired regarding cranberry jam and was delighted that they actually had it in stock. My Schnitzel was salvaged. And I was happy. Even my better half had to admit that cranberries and Schnitzel go very well together. (Ha, I rest my case!)
Way ahead of time – again – we arrived at the huge Airbus complex and had to show ID in the visitor center before receiving headsets with transponders. A much more comfortable bus drove us around, from one station to the next. Seeing the different stages of where the plane parts were put together. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pics (big surprise) and had to switch our phones off. Officially because of sensible instrumentation and measuring equipment. (Yeah, sure! Everyone believed that!) More like because of fear of espionage. Which large company isn’t.
Nevertheless, it was fascinating, seeing their daily business of building the usual sized A230 planes everyone knows from uncountable business and vacation trips and the A380 and the sheer size of it. The gleaming parts, the huge dimensions and the question how in the hell such a huge and heavy thing will ever be able to leave the ground. And to imagine that the Airbus transport plane “Beluga” manages to deliver parts of the A380 (actually, 3 fuselage parts) from France to Germany. Impressive. Very impressive. Recounting all the facts and figures and bits and pieces would go too far. And is probably not that interesting for most of us. So, I’ll stop right here and keep reminiscing about the impressions I gathered silently and in my mind. It’s something one has to see himself anyway.
Unnecessary to say that the drive back was hell and exhausting and every one of us was beat by the time we were back home. We even rejected the suggestion for a break because we just wanted to get home as quickly as possible. And then sighingly sinking down onto the couch, with a nice refreshing G&T in our hands, not getting up for a loooong time.
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