manual transmission? no, please, no.

Hi from Darmstadt, Germany.  It's near Frankfurt.  Getting here today easily shaved a week or two off the length of my life. 

Yesterday I was also in Germany, for a little while.  I'd had a concert in Munich (at the same hall where the Munich Philharmonic plays, more on that later!) the night before, then got on a bus and lay around for 6 hours while we drove back to Basel.  Back to my flat around 2 PM, first thing I did was check my email.  "Dear Megan, we missed you yesterday, we are hoping you can make it to one of the rehearsals today" -- in Darmstadt. 

Here's the deal.  Three weeks ago, I got a call at 10 PM asking if I could do an opera with the Kammerchor Darmstadt.  I said yes, but I'd have to miss the first rehearsal; I'd be playing in Munich.  But let me know, etc etc, and then I could travel directly from my other concert.  I heard nothing, nothing.  I called the guy who had called me, twice even, and heard nothing; I assumed it wasn't happening.  Literally the FIRST confirmation about the gig I got was yesterday, sent at noon.  Yesterday!  What happened to, Here's the rehearsal plan, Here's the location of the concert, or, better yet, Here's A Contract?!?  It seemed impossible to do anything but go, so I looked at the train schedule and figured I'd take the 9:13 this morning.

8:45 I got to the train station.  Oddly, it wasn't crowded at all.  I went to a ticket counter and asked if I could buy a ticket up here today, and was informed that the entire German Railway was on strike, there would be no trains at all today.  So.  I still had enough time, Darmstadt is near Frankfurt, and about 3 hours from Basel.  My first rehearsal wasn't until 2, so I figured I could find a car and be there with time to spare.  I walked next door to the train station to the rental car place, and discovered it would cost me around Fr. 500.- which, certainly, was too much.  Oh, let me remind you that I have my bass and a suitcase with me (ready for 4 nights away from home).  Heavy.

500 chf is too much, duh.  So I went home (Heavy!!) and started looking around for a cheaper car.  After an hour of calling different rental car agencies and talking with the organizers of the project, I finally decided to rent a car just one way, Switzerland to Germany, and I could get a cheaper price on it because it was originally from Germany and wouldn't have the one-way fee.  It would come to approximately Fr. 270.-.  Also, I was told it would be automatic transmission.

They were wrong, as it turns out.

It was a Mercedes, something kind of resembling a Toyota Matrix, hatchback-style.  They didn't even have time to clean it, I needed to leave so quickly.  Crumbs all over the floor.  Anyway.  I can't drive a stick.  I mean, I can, sort of.  I did.  I got here.  I was able to drive home, mostly in second gear, telling myself the whole time, People who are way dumber than I am do this all the time.  I can do it.  And I got back to Efringerstrasse with only one stall, so I was feeling OK about things.  Bass and suitcase in car, I headed for the autobahn; that went fine, too.  The weather was beautiful, the trees red and orange, and southern Germany is all wheat fields and far-off hills and dark woods of skinny trees.  Lovely.  I checked the radio, heard Karma Chameleon and some random German-language pop songs.  Then I hit the construction.  Oh My God.  Two lanes, but so, so skinny.  The choice was either be in the slow lane behind all the trucks (What Gear Should I Be In?  What If I Have To Stop Suddenly?  What If I Stall On The Autobahn?!?  What If I Destroy My Bass On The Way To This Dumb Gig??!?!?) or to be in the fast lane (Can I Successfully Navigate This Car With Only An 8" Cushion Between Me And The Wall, and Me And The 18-Wheeler Beside Me?).  I went back and forth, as needed.  White-knuckled.  Alternating feeling feelings of panic and dread kept crushing up my shoulders, and I kept feeling tired, probably from all that panicking.  When I finally got to Darmstadt, around 2:05, I made my way to the hall, and started stalling.  I stalled at the first stoplight.  Then I saw a parking spot, and stalled turning around to get back to it.  Then I stalled turning onto the street.  Then I tried to park and stalled three times in a row and ended up asking someone on the street to help me park it but no one would and I finally was able to pull in the wrong way into a different spot across the street.  Stall.  Stall.  Stall.  Oh My God. 

Reading back on this it sounds like a comedy.  Isn't there some movie like this?  Someone driving and Jerky Stop, Jerky Stop, all over town?  That was me!  Almost funny.  Not funny really at all.  But maybe kind of funny.

Plus, by the time I got to the hall, sightreading an opera that no one has ever heard, four rehearsals in, didn't seem so bad. 

I will never, ever, ever rent a car with manual transmission again.  Remind me.  Don't let me.  It's not worth it.  I'd rather pay the extra. 
Anyway, I found some people in the orchestra to help me drive the car around, so you don't have to worry about me getting it back to the rental company... phew.

Now, a well-deserved rest sleep.  Pictures to follow!