Everything is proportional. Quality is proportional, beauty is proportional, fun is proportional and so is money and everything else. I was thinking that how much we are willing to pay for different services and items and is it justified to pay double or triple for the same things in different countries?
I was in Norway, well one could ask that why did I go there; everyone knows it is bloody expensive country. But still, do you think it is justified to pay £20 for a hamburger, an apple and a bottle of diet coke at a service station?
I was somewhere on my way from Bergen to Stryn when I stopped for a call of nature and was hoping to get some grub as well since I knew that stopping for a decent meal would make my journey even longer. When the lady behind the counter told me that my grub would be 210 Norwegian kroner – I spontaneously asked: HOW MUCH? - Tvåhundra tio kroner - That is twenty quid I said, but the expression on her face did not change at all and I understood that – yes it is 20 quid for a hamburger, an apple and a bottle of diet coke.
Monday, 13 July 2009
Friday, 10 July 2009
Business Opportunities in Denmark?
I have been thinking that maybe starting a reasonably priced bed & breakfast with clean rooms (inc. bathrooms) and friendly staff would be a hit in Denmark. I believe there is a need for those...
Another good idea I had: start a business as a ferry operator, apparently there is a need for those as well in the country with ... I don't know how many - but many islands and not that many ferry crossings at all.
I know it was my cock-up. I was thinking of being clever and saving some time and driving. So I took a route from Odense to Nakskov including a ferry ride from Spodsbjerg to Nakskov. The whole journey would have been 95 km or 60 miles alltogether. I got into the ferry terminal at 2pm and a big sign told me that the next sailing is at 2:15pm which was fine to me, BUT when I reached the ticketing point and gave my credit card and said that I would like to have a single journey, the young man asked if I had a reservation?
A reservation, what sort of a reservation? Isn't this the ferry that goes between Spodsbjerg and Nakskov? Yes, but everything is fully booked till 5pm, the young man said. Well, I thanked him and turned my Avis Peugeot 207 pointing back to where it came from. That meant that I should have taken the route via Store Baelt which would have been 260km or 160 miles and would have taken about 3.5 hours to drive to Nakskov. No way to make it to the customer before the evening... and my EasyJet flight was on the same evening as well.
That made me wonder why on earth they have not increased the number of ferry crossings during the summer time, when especially as so many tourists from Sweden, Germany, Holland and other countries rush to the white sandy beaches of Danish coasts?
Definitely there are business opportunities in Denmark, it is just so sad that the language is so strange...
Another good idea I had: start a business as a ferry operator, apparently there is a need for those as well in the country with ... I don't know how many - but many islands and not that many ferry crossings at all.
I know it was my cock-up. I was thinking of being clever and saving some time and driving. So I took a route from Odense to Nakskov including a ferry ride from Spodsbjerg to Nakskov. The whole journey would have been 95 km or 60 miles alltogether. I got into the ferry terminal at 2pm and a big sign told me that the next sailing is at 2:15pm which was fine to me, BUT when I reached the ticketing point and gave my credit card and said that I would like to have a single journey, the young man asked if I had a reservation?
A reservation, what sort of a reservation? Isn't this the ferry that goes between Spodsbjerg and Nakskov? Yes, but everything is fully booked till 5pm, the young man said. Well, I thanked him and turned my Avis Peugeot 207 pointing back to where it came from. That meant that I should have taken the route via Store Baelt which would have been 260km or 160 miles and would have taken about 3.5 hours to drive to Nakskov. No way to make it to the customer before the evening... and my EasyJet flight was on the same evening as well.
That made me wonder why on earth they have not increased the number of ferry crossings during the summer time, when especially as so many tourists from Sweden, Germany, Holland and other countries rush to the white sandy beaches of Danish coasts?
Definitely there are business opportunities in Denmark, it is just so sad that the language is so strange...
Wednesday, 8 July 2009
Did Bruce Springsteen steal all hotel rooms?
If I had known that Bruce Springsteen concert is in Herning, Denmark tonight, I hadn't bother coming here. I thought I am in good time for hunting a hotel room for tonight, but NO NO NO, I was wrong again. No hotel rooms available here or anywhere near, but a nice lady at the reception of Scandic hotel told me that there is one possibility to find a room and only about 10 minutes drive from here. I thanked her and took a map and headed towards Hammerum.
The hotel was closed when I arrived here and with my limited Danish language skills I understood the sign on the door was telling that the owners are on a holiday wishing everyone lovely summer or something similar, so that was that I thought, but then a nice young man at the parking area told me that he called to the number shown on the door and he had been told that he can get a room and someone is going to come and open the hotel in about 30 minutes time. GREAT news, so I dialled the number and a man told me that yes, they have a single room for tonight at a price of 690 DKK which equals £80!
Well, soon a lady aged between 60 and a coffin spot at graveyard came to the hotel to give the keys and take a payment. She served the other people first (by that time there were 4 people waiting to get a room) and then she asked if I am the English who called her boss? I obviously didn't understand a word but the young man helped me and translated it to me, so I nodded and she asked my credit card and put through 800 DKK! Well I was not very pleased with that and I told her that the man on the phone promised it at 690! In the end I paid 750 DKK =£87 (60 DKK for paying with credit card!). AND the room is without a bathroom, no breakfast included and the tv does not work at all!!!!
Sometimes I do wonder where the hell is the glamour of traveling as my pub friends back at home are always so envious about my job because I can travel like a loony around Europe...
So my question remains: did Bruce Springsteen steal all the hotel rooms and also did he make these Danish people greedier than ever before?
The hotel was closed when I arrived here and with my limited Danish language skills I understood the sign on the door was telling that the owners are on a holiday wishing everyone lovely summer or something similar, so that was that I thought, but then a nice young man at the parking area told me that he called to the number shown on the door and he had been told that he can get a room and someone is going to come and open the hotel in about 30 minutes time. GREAT news, so I dialled the number and a man told me that yes, they have a single room for tonight at a price of 690 DKK which equals £80!
Well, soon a lady aged between 60 and a coffin spot at graveyard came to the hotel to give the keys and take a payment. She served the other people first (by that time there were 4 people waiting to get a room) and then she asked if I am the English who called her boss? I obviously didn't understand a word but the young man helped me and translated it to me, so I nodded and she asked my credit card and put through 800 DKK! Well I was not very pleased with that and I told her that the man on the phone promised it at 690! In the end I paid 750 DKK =£87 (60 DKK for paying with credit card!). AND the room is without a bathroom, no breakfast included and the tv does not work at all!!!!
Sometimes I do wonder where the hell is the glamour of traveling as my pub friends back at home are always so envious about my job because I can travel like a loony around Europe...
So my question remains: did Bruce Springsteen steal all the hotel rooms and also did he make these Danish people greedier than ever before?
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