Anyone who stays in the only hotel in the 6,000-strong community of Bagshot, around 45 kilometers south-west of London Central, either needs a lot of time, a car or the intention of never moving from here again. The latter is more likely to be ruled out, because – to be honest – there is nothing here that keeps you stuck. After all, the basic supply is guaranteed. However, how three nail salons can exist in parallel is doubtful and at the same time not our problem. don’t give a damn.
Things get more complicated when you want to go out from the small bagshot into the big wide world and don’t have a four-wheel base at your disposal. As a EURO reporter, you should check that out as much as possible, but you didn’t do it. With which, in theory, the distances would get out of hand. It’s a 55-minute drive from Southampton to St Mary’s Stadium, where Austria’s women’s soccer team beat Northern Ireland 2-0. For the trip to Brighton, the scene of the third group game for a quarter-final ticket against Norway on Friday, the route planner spits out 75 minutes.
And by train? Two to two and a half hours garnished with two to three changes. It doesn’t have to be. So, thankfully, we hang on to our colleague from the radio and check in as co-drivers. Which is extremely pleasant. At least for the first three minutes. Then there’s a rumble, the shock absorbers endure the ride over the notches, but the two police officers in the rear-view mirror go into alarm mode. Blue light, follow-up horn, stop.
Now you can’t blame the radio man, in England there is left-hand traffic, apart from treacherous roundabout situations and demanding intersections, it’s hard to judge the distances to the left outside – sitting on the right hand side of the wheel. A notch or ramp then rarely comes alone and the suspicion arises that you might not be walking sober.
Incidentally, the radio man was completely sober, as was his passenger. But the policeman had to check that with a few questions. One of the guards (the other stayed in the police car) quickly revealed itself as a friend and helper after not having heard a slurred undertone. “Why do you think I stopped you?” – Answer: “Maybe we were too fast?” – “Wrong, you went off the road a bit.” He says that with a dash of humor, quite nice, stoic calmly, without any attempt to punish us.
Then he also proves that he knows his way around football. “Are you from Austria? Are you going to Southampton? You play against Northern Ireland there. All the best and be careful.” The best wishes for the women’s national team have had an effect, as have those for the car ride in general.
Source: Nachrichten
