There are few sketches that come as emotionally loaded as this one. Little did I know as I enjoyed the breeze on top of the viewing deck while sketching the spectacular view of the Mosel's many bends, that one heck of a weekend was waiting for me in the parking lot.
After a quick stop at the Roman Villa in Mehring, I decided to visit some more obscure sites near the Mosel before heading up to Koblenz for the night. This is the first weekend that I didn't check out of my week hotel on Friday but instead stayed until Saturday morning. Rolling out of bed while slowly packing up my things felt strange even. And so I had my sight set on the "Fünf-Seen-Blick" Aussichtsturm. The arrival and ascent were uneventful. I was back in my car trying to search up a castle to visit on my way to Koblenz before I noticed that the car is beeping at me. What followed was a 2-day adventure with Hertz's somewhat helpful roadside assistance help line, and ADAC's somewhat helpful service. I waited up to 5 hours with no progress Saturday afternoon, during which Hertz tried unsuccessfully to call on Renault and didn't realize they have zero manpower to come out to such a remote location (technically not nearly as remote, being only 30 minutes from Trier. But alas, it is European remote) and so after 3 hours wait for nothing, they finally called up ADAC, the actual 24/7 roadside help line. I remember when Hertz first picked up my call, the lady was even trying to get AI to somehow troubleshoot my problems, therefore wasting another 20 minutes of my time. By the time ADAC got back to me it was more than 4 hours after the initial call, and the guy basically said he needs at least 2 hours to get to me because it is super not important and I'd better not waste his time because there are another 2 cars stranded on the highway that are waiting for his help. The sun was setting at this point and there was no one left in the parking lot. So I said, fine I don't need your help today I'm going home without the car. The ADAC guy couldn't care less and hung up. And so I made a final angry call to Hertz telling them I'm leaving the car and demanding that an appointment be made for tomorrow morning, while I pulled up Uber to try and arrange a ride back to Trier.
5 minutes later and the app was stuck in "finding driver"...and that was when panic set in. I kind of assumed that as long as there is a price estimate, there is a driver available. Turns out that is not the case... The last couple who left the parking lot actually checked on me and asked if I needed a ride into town...I was too optimistic and said I'll just get uber as last resort... Thankfully as I was searching for taxi service in googlemaps, a private taxi business the next town over popped up. I dialed them up and they knew the location as soon as I told them the attraction's name (it was super difficult to describe the location to Hertz because there was no street address and it is just a gravel parking lot off a road) Finally, after a grueling 10 minutes wait, a man with a van showed up and I finally felt that maybe everything might be okay. Initially I had told them that I wanted to go to Trier (thinking maybe I will get another hotel for the night), but I legit could not find a free room online and I'm totally exhausted. And so I told the driver that I would like to go to Koblenz if it is alright with him. He looked up the price and said it would cost 310 Euro for the trip, probably thinking I'd be crazy to agree. But I said, if you don't mind the long trip, let's go for it. And so off we went. Since he didn't have a card machine with him, and of course I didn't have 300+ cash with me, I was half expecting to stop at an ATM in Koblenz, but we somehow got the instant bank transfer via app working (first time seeing things happen so fast digitally in Germany??)
The next morning I prepared for the worst, ordered 2 large sandwiches from the bakery and brought 2 large bottles of water and then stepped on the train towards Trier. While I was half dozing off in the train, Hertz actually called me (the only helpful and sympathetic lady throughout my whole interaction with them) and asked if she should call up ADAC now so that when I get there I don't need to wait. I was beyond grateful that I got at least one German who could think outside the box and bend the rules slightly. And so I decided to kill some time at a cafe first and then meet ADAC when they're on their way to the location (so that at least I have access to a comfortable seat, bathroom, and food) Surprisingly, as soon as I ordered my food, ADAC rang and said they'll be there in 5 minutes. A little taken aback, I had to settle my bills and pack up the food in a hurry, before calling up the same taxi service again to take me up to the parking lot.
The taxi and ADAC car ended up arriving almost at the same time, although unfortunately the technician said he could not fix the problem (probably to do with the high voltage system, instead of a dead LV battery) and said he will call a tow truck. I sadly watched him leave and resigned myself to a possible multi-hour wait. Perhaps road traffic on Sunday was light, I got a call back within an hour, informing me that the driver will be there in 30 mins or so. (I didn't want to wait in the sun-exposed parking lot, so was basically pacing the 10 minute stretch between the viewing platform at the parking area)
When the tow truck showed up, it basically captured the attention of everyone in the parking lot. (Granted it also blocked anyone from entering and exiting) The driver was surprised that I was alone with the car, and then frowned at the electronic brake. I told him wait wait, the HV is faulty, but I can still release the brake and put into Neutral! (to show him it is indeed in Neutral, we almost had the car slide into the ditch in front of it) At that he was super relieved and called up 2 senior citizens spectators and said, lads, help me push the car. He then had the 2 older gentlemen position themselves on either side of him pushing the front of the car and had me sit in the car and move the steering wheel. At one point he yelled take the brake take the brake! I was like: waaait, is that release the brake or on the brake???? Anyway, through some confusion, we succeeded in pushing the car out of its parked spot with its front facing the back of the tow truck. (by now I finally understood what he was trying to get at) As the tow truck driver started working his winch to get the car onto the ramp, one of the senior citizens handed me a bottle of water from his car and said "good job. everything will be better". I was like, wait didn't YOU just pushed my car out? What good job did I do??
Everyone in the lot was watching the towing action with rapturous attention. Even got a little kid being narrated the whole thing from his dad lol. After he got the car successfully loaded on top of the truck, and driver came to me and asked, now there is only one more problem...what do I do with you? ...And so I ended up getting a free ride into Trier, on a tow truck! When I got on the tall bright yellow truck and left I did feel like we're the circus leaving town.
We ended up having a decent conversation all the way into town. Talked about the rise of Chinese cars (driver refused to comment on the quality of other cars), record low water level on the Rhein river, being in a small river town vs Berlin (he said he couldn't stand more than 1 weekend in Berlin) and finally he expressed his admiration of the Three Gorges Dam project, having seen it in a documentary. Couldn't ask for a more scenic drive as we rolled through the Mosel valley into Trier. He checked and made sure to drop me off within walking distance of the correct train station (he is on his way to the Renault dealer in town) and told me to get something nice to eat as parting word. At this point I still had 1.5 sandwich, 1 whole bottle of water, and a half eaten yogurt bowl left.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.