Getting there

Getting to Karlsruhe, Germany, home of this years European Juggling Convention, isn't a terribly difficult feat, particularly when departing from London which avails you numerous choices of airlines and flights. There are some notably good deals to found via the budget airlines if you're inclined for a visit.

So, getting there isn't particularly difficult. Lots of options. Unless you decide to book your flight just two days in advance. In which case choices are decidedly... limited. A choice of one in fact - Swiss Air.

Not the worst option in the world. Slightly pricier than I would have liked, and it was via Zurich, and arriving in Stuttgart, meaning that I'd have to do a bit of train swapping after landing, and ultimately be pushing things for time. Rushing away from work at 4:30pm would see me arrive at my hotel in Karlsruhe at approximately 1:30am. Assuming the gods of travel smiled their benevolent smiles upon me. Should they be inclined to foist even a small delay upon me, my carefully laid travel plans would avail me naught and I'd find myself stuck in a foreign country in the middle of the night.

At it happen the gods of travel were on my side. They were not however on George W. Bush's. A problem with Airforce One at Zurich led to my flight being delayed. All I can say about that is: Vote Obama. By all that's holy vote Obama!

So, foreign country, middle of the night. Thank goodness the foreign country was Germany. I've often heard stories of railways on the Continent and, as a frequent passenger on rail in this country, generally turned a verdant shade of envy. Privatisation has left the British railways severely malnourished compared France and Germany in particular. Having now travelled on rail in Germany I'm even more envious. Everything I'd heard is true. Most importantly was the fact that the railways run throughout the night. Trains in Britain generally stop at around midnight, sometimes stretching through to 1am at the weekends if you're lucky. I caught my train from Stuttgart to Karlsruhe at 3am and I'm forever indebted the German rail system as a result.

The 3am departure did leave me with a few hours to kill in Stuttgart. I declined to explore the city (thinking about it now it seems like far too sensible a decision from me), which seemed still boisterous despite the late hour, and attempted to find a small nook in which to rest until my train left. One thing to note about the German police. They don't like people resting in nooks in train stations late at night.

I ended up the stiflingly hot waiting room where the police seemed to shepherd lost souls like myself with characteristic efficiency. I did manage to elicit a round of applause from my fellow travellers with a small display of contact juggling. The applause may have been for my skills, or it may simply have been because I managed to silence a group of remarkably noisy children for a few minutes.

And after that, it's on to Karlsruhe - more about that tomorrow!