An interesting piece of news caught my eye this week – tourists are being warned of tough drug laws in the United Arab Emirates.
This is the only country that I have ever been to in the Middle East, and even then I only saw the airport as I was in transit between Singapore and London. I can remember how the cabin crew told us to leave our hand luggage on the plane to avoid any problems when re-boarding.
Maybe now I understand why – the article describes how people have been sentenced for having minute amounts of cannabis stuck to their shoes. Other had prescription medicines with them.
The one that really makes me shudder is the man traveller who had poppy seeds on his clothes from a bread role that he had eaten and was sentenced to four years in jail!
It all makes me want to stay away from that country. But wait – only today I read that Germany has a similar situation. Apparently eating three pieces of poppy seed cake is sufficient to fail a roadside drugs test, resulting in the loss of your driving license.
I think I’ll stick to cheese cake!
Why I think I'll avoid the United Arab Emirates
The longest trip yet in my bio-ethanol car
Yesterday was a real test for the bio-ethanol car – I drove to a meeting in Cologne and back.
This may not sound like anything special, but with Cologne being about 200km away and the car showing 409km remaining on a full tank I was a bit worried as it would be the first time that I had had to fill up anywhere else and, of course, mix the contents of the tank.
In the end though – I didn’t have to. The journey turned out to be about 370km, and even though there was a hold up on the motorway on the way home the on-board computer still calculated that I had enough fuel for 100km when I arrived home.
Of course, this is all down to the lower fuel consumption on the motorway compared to driving around the local towns. The computer worked out that I used 11.6 litres per 100km for the trip – about 2.5 less than normal and hence the extra distance available.
Another interesting fact was that Cologne now has an environmental zone in place – your car needs to display a green “fine particle disc” in order to enter the city. I didn’t see anyone actually check mine, but I did have it on display. More about that another day.
Karneval – Fasching – Fastnacht
Karneval, also known as Fasching or Fastnacht (even Fasnet, Fasnacht or Fasenacht), officially begins on 11th November at 11:11, but it only really gets going after Ephiphany.
However the really mad days only start on the Thursday before Rosenmontag, when the main events such as the processions take place.
This Thursday is also known as the Weiberfastnacht – on this day the women celebrate. (A word of warning to all men: don’t wear a tie to work on this day!)
The season is the last chance to drink and be merry before the start of Lent, and it is also to drive out the darkness of the winter.
To hear a simple explanation and a short discussion in German, listen to the podcast:
(Press the “play” button to listen to the podcast)
