Well, getting a taxi the morning after Mardi Gras Day is kind of difficult. We knew that. But we had no choice, since our Greyhound to Austin left at quarter past six on Wednesday morning, plus we had to be there an hour early to pick up the tickets we had bought online. So expecting that we had to wait for a long time or maybe even walk the three and something miles to the Bus station, we got up half past three and immediately phoned the cab company. Surprisingly, they told us the cab would be there in 15 minutes. Well, it actually took him more like 45 minutes to get to us, but we still had plenty of time, so we weren’t worried too much.

The guy got out of his car, closed the door, took our backpacks and put them in the trunk, closed the trunk and went back to the front door. Then he realized, he had left the keys inside and all doors had locked automatically. Great. With  our luggage locked in as well we could not just walk or call another taxi. We had to rely on him to somehow get back in his car. After a moment of cursing and then apologizing he luckily got creative. With a knife he created a small gap between door and the frame of the car, in which he could insert a disassembled coat hanger. (THANKS, Sandra, for the coat hanger and the knife – we owe you one!!)

With that he hit the button that activates the electric window winder to open the window and could then grab the keys out. Took him only 30 minutes. He told us, he’d done that before…

Well, a crazy end of a crazy week.

Addition to my travel playlist: “Cab fare” by Souls of Mischief, great storytelling about taxi drivers…