Berlin Cabbie Reveals President's Call of Destiny
A Berlin taxi driver told a German newspaper Tuesday how he witnessed history in the making when the man due to become Germany's next president was told the news in the back of his cab.
Russian-born Vadim Belon, 44, told Bild he just saw an older grey-haired chap with a suitcase when he picked up Joachim Gauck at the capital's Tegel airport late Sunday and set off to take him where he wanted to go.
But after a while, the passenger's mobile phone rang.
"I turned down the music. As a taxi driver, you never hear exactly what people are saying on the phone. But I did hear how he said: 'Ok, I agree. I'll do that'," Belon told the mass-circulation paper.
A moment later, he said Gauck told him: "You're now driving the new Federal President. We have to change direction and drive straight to the Federal Chancellery."
Gauck, 72, an East German Lutheran pastor and human rights activist, was later Sunday nominated to replace the scandal-hit Christian Wulff in the largely ceremonial job of president and will be elected March 18.
Belon, whom Bild dubbed "Germany's most famous taxi driver", is due to appear on a German chat show later Tuesday, said Gauck had tipped well for his just over 23-euro ($30) ride and had even signed his taxi driver permit.
Source: Agence France Presse
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