I am now home safe and sound in Tucson. It's not too hot here thankfully.
Tuesday was such a long day. I woke up at 5am Hamburg time and was at the airport by 6. Anne and I said our goodbyes and I went through security. Gosh what a joke. I didn't have to take off my shoes, or my hoodie. I felt kind of weird doing that and it makes you wonder what the Europeans are sending over the the States. They did feel compelled to take my pill splitter from my suitcase though. The TSA let it go through, but the Europeans didn't. Go figure. I was very lucky that the air traffic controller strike was called off at the last minute. Everything in the airport flowed smoothly. The flight to London was just over an hour and I was very disappointed in the "comfort" of my seat on the Lufthansa flight. There was practically no padding on it. It was as if I were sitting on a resin lounge chair. The flight was rather empty with hardly anyone on board. There was no one in the middle seat next to me, which was nice. I bet lots of people switched flights at the last minute. On board we got the standard service of beverages and was given a rasin roll or rasin bread. It was actually very good.
Coming into the Heathrow was pretty neat. I got to see most of the famous London landmarks from my seat. I even saw smoke from the riots that were going on there. Poor London. When I arrived at Heathrow it was a hike and half to get to my next terminal. I felt like I was walking forever and it's a good thing I had 3 hours to spare. I had to walk to a connection terminal and waited for a bus to pick us up to take us to Terminal 4 where the Continental flights departed from. Riding on the left side of the road was a bit freaky for me. It felt strange. I kept thinking we'd collide with someone. haha. We arrived at Terminal 4 after a 5 minute bus ride and I of course walked some more until I found civilization. Wow what a busy terminal! There were people from all over there. I immediately found some gifts for myself and mom, then grabbed a muffin and juice for breakfast. (yeah I just ate on the plane, but I was still hungry!). They did not release gate information for my 11:40 flight until 10:10 so I had plenty of time to browse around. There were a lot of high end shops there. I got to my gate and while I waited I watched BBC News. Of course they spoke of the riots, I feel so bad for them.
We finally boarded and I braced myself for a 10 hour flight. Unfortunately my seat was right in front of the bathroom, so it didn't recline too much. It was a full flight with lots of young (I mean under 5) children. One child cried for over 2 hours while I tried to sleep. When I woke up, she stopped. Then when I tried to sleep again, she started again. Ugh. We got fed about four times on this flight, it was crazy. Pretzels at first, then a meal (it was either chicken or Lasagna...I got the chicken. It was the same as my flight to Germany), then while I was napping they must have dropped off ice cream cups because I woke up to find one on my tray. About an hour before we landed they passed out Turkey tortilla wraps (they weren't bad). The stewardess at first gave me a veggie meal...no thanks! Cucumbers and tomato on bread does not fill this chick up! haha. I was getting stir crazy about 7 hours into the flight and there was 2-3 hours left. I think next time, I return to an east coast airport so I can get a break. Flying from London to Houston was just too much for me.
We landed around 4pm Houston time and my flight to Tucson started boarding at 5. I had to stand on line at customs and have them check my passport and what not, then I had to reclaim my suitcase and recheck it to be rescanned. I was in a panic because I know that airport is HUGE and I was afraid I wouldn't make it. Luckily my bag was waiting for me on the belt and I just had to hand it to some dude who rescreened it. I went upstairs and discovered I had to go through security again (ugh!), thankfully it was only for transferring passengers so the line wasn't too long. I had to then go to terminal C (I was in E or something like that), so I had to take the tram around. 3 minutes later I'm in my terminal and of course my gate is at the end of the hallway (just like last time). I got there about 10 to 5. And then I hear there is a mechanical issue and we'll be delayed a bit. AFter about 15 minutes we were told to board, I get checked in and start to walk to the plane and then we're just standing there. The pilot told us to go back inside. We sat and waited about 10 minutes more and then reboarded. There was an electrical/engine issue that was quickly resolved. I didn't hear the details, I was distracted at how tall our pilot was. haha. His head hit the ceiling on that little plane.
It was a 2 hour flight to Tucson and the flight wasn't even full. Sometimes they aren't and sometimes they are. There were maybe 25-30 people on the flight. We landed at 6:30 local time (3:30 am Hamburg time...the next day!), and I was surprised to see most of the airport closed down...as in no more flights for the day. I mean, at 6:30? Seesh. It took a few minutes for my luggage to arrive (don't know why...we were the only flight there! haha) and Johanna was there to take me home. I finally got to my apartment around 7:30 and immediately unpacked. That only took an hour.
It's good to be home, but scary to realize what lies ahead of me this semester.
Overall it was a great trip, it was great to be back in Deutschland after so many years to see how much things have changed. Cars have gotten bigger, SUVs are really popular there it seems. I was surprised about the "German rudeness" on the streets and at the wonderland museum. I was also surprised that I was able to understand so much after not speaking German for so long! It was great to see Anne's family again, and meet Peter's family. They are such a wonderful group of people. I made new friends and of course fell in love with my Patenkind (Godson). I miss my squirmy wormy Henry. :) I was exposed to a nude beach...which I never plan to return to again. hahaha. And I got to see more of "East" Germany and it's similarities to PA and the American Heartland. I hope to return again soon, hopefully it won't be another 14 years!
I am signing off on this blog, I hope you all enjoyed reading about my adventures as I enjoyed sharing them with you! Tschuss!
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Monday, August 8, 2011
Last Day: August 8, 2011
I leave in a few hours, "hopefully." The German Air Traffic Controllers are threatening to strike from 6am till noon tomorrow. As of right now, everything is on schedule. I called Expedia and they contacted Lufthansa (whom I a flying out of Hamburg on) and they said everything is on schedule. I spoke to mom and dad this evening and dad said that the military has air traffic controllers, so perhaps they will step in should a strike go on. It's about 11:30 pm here at the moment and there is still no word on what will happen tomorrow. There was a hearing in Frankfurt at 1:30 pm and the court ruled that the controllers could strike. Then at 9pm the courts heard the appeal to block the strike from the government (I think). I'm not feeling well tonight, so this will be a brief entry.
Another rainy day today. It rained on and off and barely reached 65 today. We didn't do too much, stopped at a second hand shop, and then a mall just to walk around. I didn't buy too much and I think I'm down to about 3 Euros. haha. Pretty lame. Henry was quiet last night and so far this evening he's pretty quiet. His tooth finally broke the gum and it's slowly coming in. I've managed to get everything packed and I hope that my suitcase is under the limit. When they weighed the bag in Tucson it was 43lbs and in order to check it for free it should be under 50. I don't think I purchased 7lbs of things. haha. Or I at least hope not. Keep your fingers crossed.
If all goes well tomorrow I should arrive in Tucson at 6pm. I will not have internet on my 10 hour flight from London to Houston as I anticipated. I thought I was flying on a Lufthansa plane but it's actually operated by Continental and they don't have wifi. So it's 10 hours of semi-lame programming. Let's hope there's a better selection than the last flight. And let's hope I get some dissertation work done and some sleep. 10 hours is a long time.
I will do my best to update before I got to bed tomorrow. I hope Roger is happy to see me. See you tomorrow, Tucson!
Another rainy day today. It rained on and off and barely reached 65 today. We didn't do too much, stopped at a second hand shop, and then a mall just to walk around. I didn't buy too much and I think I'm down to about 3 Euros. haha. Pretty lame. Henry was quiet last night and so far this evening he's pretty quiet. His tooth finally broke the gum and it's slowly coming in. I've managed to get everything packed and I hope that my suitcase is under the limit. When they weighed the bag in Tucson it was 43lbs and in order to check it for free it should be under 50. I don't think I purchased 7lbs of things. haha. Or I at least hope not. Keep your fingers crossed.
If all goes well tomorrow I should arrive in Tucson at 6pm. I will not have internet on my 10 hour flight from London to Houston as I anticipated. I thought I was flying on a Lufthansa plane but it's actually operated by Continental and they don't have wifi. So it's 10 hours of semi-lame programming. Let's hope there's a better selection than the last flight. And let's hope I get some dissertation work done and some sleep. 10 hours is a long time.
I will do my best to update before I got to bed tomorrow. I hope Roger is happy to see me. See you tomorrow, Tucson!
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Day Thirteen: August 7, 2011
My second to last day. It's bittersweet. Will of course miss everyone here, but also will be happy to be home and see my Tucson pals. I've missed the desert and the monsoons. Rain here just isn't the same as a monsoon storm. I'm also excited and scared to start this semester
I enjoyed my time in Rostock and Schwerin. Eastern Germany--although in a united country--is like another world. It's starting to build up again. Anne said they pay 20 Euros a month in taxes out of their paychecks to help rebuild the Eastern portion of the country. After 20+ years that's a lot of money.Last night just as I was ready to go to sleep it started to pour buckets, it was insane. I popped a second melatonin and that was the last thing I remembered. I slept well. haha. This morning we cleaned up Isabelle's apartment, did some laundry and packed the car. We hit the road about 1pm and were back in Hamburg by 3. The ride back was good. Spotted some Swiss and Italian license plates. When we got back into HH (Hamburg) we stopped for something to eat. I'm proud to say that I ordered my food all by myself. Although the waitress didn't understand me at first. Figures. We came home and unpacked and I managed to get most of my belongings situated in my suitcase and backpack. I gave mom a call since I was unable to do so for the past few days.
Around 6pm Anne and I took the train into the city to meet up with here sister and her sister's friend. We stopped and had a drink at one of the bars in the "hip area" of the city. We had a good time. Anne was busy teasing her sister and wound up breaking her wine glass. haha. She behaved after that. The girls wanted to take me to the Reeperbahn after our drinks since when I was here in 97 we only drove past it. For those that don't know, the Reeperbahn is a street with many sex shops and other "interesting things". Think Times Square in the 70s. As we were waiting for our train to the Reeperbahn we spotted a shady looking drunk dude sitting down that had a hard time getting up. He got up and hopped on his train. But then we noticed a 7" knife on the ground. It was like a Crocodile Dundee knife. Anne called security and we waiting for them to come take it. We were afraid that some drunk would spot it and then stab someone. When the security guys came their faces were priceless. ha. We caught the next train and were on our way. When we arrived, we stopped in a "boutique" and had a few good laughs. There were some interesting and yet frightening things there. I'll spare you the details. :)
And here I am, getting ready for bed in Anne & Peter's apartment. Let's hope Henry is quiet tonight. Tomorrow's my last day. I think we're going to stay local. It's supposed to rain, so we'll see what we get done.
Three posts in one day...wow. I suppose I'm making up for my missed time!
I enjoyed my time in Rostock and Schwerin. Eastern Germany--although in a united country--is like another world. It's starting to build up again. Anne said they pay 20 Euros a month in taxes out of their paychecks to help rebuild the Eastern portion of the country. After 20+ years that's a lot of money.Last night just as I was ready to go to sleep it started to pour buckets, it was insane. I popped a second melatonin and that was the last thing I remembered. I slept well. haha. This morning we cleaned up Isabelle's apartment, did some laundry and packed the car. We hit the road about 1pm and were back in Hamburg by 3. The ride back was good. Spotted some Swiss and Italian license plates. When we got back into HH (Hamburg) we stopped for something to eat. I'm proud to say that I ordered my food all by myself. Although the waitress didn't understand me at first. Figures. We came home and unpacked and I managed to get most of my belongings situated in my suitcase and backpack. I gave mom a call since I was unable to do so for the past few days.
Around 6pm Anne and I took the train into the city to meet up with here sister and her sister's friend. We stopped and had a drink at one of the bars in the "hip area" of the city. We had a good time. Anne was busy teasing her sister and wound up breaking her wine glass. haha. She behaved after that. The girls wanted to take me to the Reeperbahn after our drinks since when I was here in 97 we only drove past it. For those that don't know, the Reeperbahn is a street with many sex shops and other "interesting things". Think Times Square in the 70s. As we were waiting for our train to the Reeperbahn we spotted a shady looking drunk dude sitting down that had a hard time getting up. He got up and hopped on his train. But then we noticed a 7" knife on the ground. It was like a Crocodile Dundee knife. Anne called security and we waiting for them to come take it. We were afraid that some drunk would spot it and then stab someone. When the security guys came their faces were priceless. ha. We caught the next train and were on our way. When we arrived, we stopped in a "boutique" and had a few good laughs. There were some interesting and yet frightening things there. I'll spare you the details. :)
And here I am, getting ready for bed in Anne & Peter's apartment. Let's hope Henry is quiet tonight. Tomorrow's my last day. I think we're going to stay local. It's supposed to rain, so we'll see what we get done.
Three posts in one day...wow. I suppose I'm making up for my missed time!
The Rostock Diaries: Days Eleven & Twelve
Day Eleven: Friday August 5, 2011
It was a bit rainy today, but we didn’t let that dampen our plans. We started the day with brunch at a local strawberry farm called Karl’s. It was about a 20-minute ride from us. They had brunch for 2,50 Euros. It consisted of two rolls, or two slices of bread, two little cups of either Nutella, butter, or fresh strawberry jam, tea or coffee, and of course the traditional German cold cuts and cheese. Well, I thought that wasn’t filling enough for me so I grabbed some scrambled eggs and had toast, jam, Nutella, and the tea. The jam was amazing. This was also my first time using a tea strainer. I had no clue what to do, but I suppose I got it. Haha. The store was HUGE. It was like a German Cracker Barrel. They had so many tea pots in the store on display and it turns out they hold the 2009 Guinness World Record for the most tea pots (I’m not sure how many, but I can bet you there are at least a thousand). After breakfast we walked around the store and outside in the kiddie area. They had rides, a petting zoo, and a corn maze. It was like I was back home on LI out east at Lewins Farm or some Windy Acres…only filled with Germans…? It was nice though.
After that we took a trip to downtown Rostock. First we hit a traffic jam due to traffic. We must’ve sat in it for at least 10-15 minutes. It must’ve been backed up a mile or so. We found parking and walked around the main street that had a bunch of shops. I didn’t buy anything, but it was nice to look around and sight see. It rained a bit harder, so we stopped in Burger King for lunch (not our first choice…McDonald’s was packed and there was no place to sit…it’s that German “rudeness” I spoke of before. Nobody offered their seats for us and the stroller). By the time we were done eating the rain had stopped. It was very muggy today but not too hot (not the Tucson sauna that we experience after it rains!). We walked around a bit more, saw a “mime” dressed in “Mozart clothes”…Peter said he’s lazy…stands and does nothing all day and gets money. Haha. I didn’t give any money. We also stopped in one of the nearby churches (St. Mary’s). We saw it from the road and it was right by where we were shopping. It was huge. We went in and I was astonished at the size of it inside. It was under renovation inside. I walked around a bit then turned around and I noticed the organ. HOLY COW! Wait to till you see the size of it! They have organ music for a half hour every Wednesday evening. Too bad we missed it. I think this church’s organ is bigger than the St. Michal Church in Hamburg. It’s also eerie looking because it’s painted green.
One thing I have to express is my shock of the amount of smokers there are here. Or that it’s just more noticeable since they can smoke in public here. Not in the mall or restaurant, but they’re all over the sidewalks and the beach. They smoke around babies and children it’s gross. I’m so glad my parents quit. Ok my rant there is done. After 2-3 hours of walking around Rostock we came home and of course the stupid sun comes out. Tomorrow is supposed to be nice and sunny, but a bit cooler. I believe we are visiting Peter’s sister and her fiancé at his new apartment in Schwerin. There’s a castle there that they are getting married at next month that we may visit. That should be fun!
Day Twelve: Saturday August 6, 2011
I’m tired today, not sure why. I slept well the night before, and Henry was quiet. I was very slow moving this morning. I think I got in the shower around 10, finally was done and had breakfast by 10:30-10:45. We didn’t leave until around 11:30-12 to head to Schwerin. It was a nice drive there with a few drops of rain. It was sunny and warm when we arrived around 1 or so. Jens’ (Isabelle’s fiancé) apartment is huge and really, really nice. Tall ceilings and big rooms and even a terrace. They have a lovely view of a church steeple (I bet it’s hundreds of years old) from their living room. The view from the terrace isn’t that great at the moment since the surrounding buildings are being renovated on the exterior so it is currently filled with dirt and crumpled concrete. Their building is centrally located between the castle and the mall. Strange configuration huh? New and old? Or maybe old and new?
That aside, after a brief tour of the apartment, Anne, Isabelle, Henry and I went to the mall. Anne wanted to check out a children’s store for some things for Henry. Sadly she was unsuccessful. Too many things for girls. Henry can’t wear dresses. So we walked around on all levels and browsed. As we reached the third floor I looked up and saw it was pouring rain…the sun was just out when we entered the mall. It looked like someone was aiming a hose on the roof it was coming down in buckets. We stopped in a store and came out and looked up again because it was so loud to see it was hailing (I think it was about nickel sized). Who thought it hailed here? Not more than 10 minutes later it was done and the sun was out. Just like Tucson. We stopped for lunch (McD’s….I was craving a burger…sad.) Then we walked to the castle. It was bout a 10 minute walk. As we walked through town I spotted a bride and groom getting their picture taken. I took their picture too. It was very pretty.
I felt as if I were in Disney World. The castle is on an island in a lake. It’s beautiful. Jens and Isabelle are getting married there in about 6 weeks or so. She gave Anne and a mini tour of where her celebrations will be. After we walked through it’s gardens and took some pictures we stopped inside to get a pamphlet for information. Turns out the castle—which was built in a Renaissance style—was only built in the mid 19th Century. That killed the fascination for me a little. Haha. It now is a museum, restaurant, and houses the state’s parliament; the city is the state capitol.
We went back to Isabelle’s apartment, and then later returned to the gardens with Peter and Jens to show Peter where they are getting married and to walk around a little. First we browsed through a renaissance festival they were having in front of the castle. Nothing to write home about, but it was cute. I had Anne take my picture with Henry in front of the castle. Suddenly, a dude dressed as Elvis in all gold came up and was selling junk. I didn’t understand what was going on then Anne told me it was a bachelor party. Apparently they drag the groom to be around town to sell things. Poor Elvis had a ball and chain on him. As we walked around some more, there was another bachelor party. This time the men were dressed as doctors, but they were doing the same thing. Selling stuff. I suppose that’s better than going to Vegas for a weekend.
We headed back to the apartment again so Peter can have dinner and suddenly it started to pour buckets again. We waited for it to calm down and headed to the car. As we were driving back to Rostock we got stuck is several down pours. No Rain-X on the windshield made it difficult to see. And the Autobahns only have white lines on the road, no yellow line or reflectors, so it’s difficult to see even in the evening rain. As we reached Rostock, the rain calmed down enough for us to get out of the car without getting soaked. It’s nearly midnight now and it’s still thundering a bit. The rain has stopped at the moment. This is my first full on German thunderstorm. It seems different to me, I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s because I’m not in the desert. The lightening was mostly in the clouds (there were some ground strikes) and the thunder sounds different. Could it be because I’m at a lower altitude? Or do those Tucson Monsoons just have a special feeling to them?
Let’s hope I get some sleep tonight. Tomorrow we are heading back to Hamburg and in the evening Anne and I are meeting her sister Sonja for a drink somewhere in the city. Funds are running low (I have about 10 Euros left! Haha), I better get a cheap drink.
It was a bit rainy today, but we didn’t let that dampen our plans. We started the day with brunch at a local strawberry farm called Karl’s. It was about a 20-minute ride from us. They had brunch for 2,50 Euros. It consisted of two rolls, or two slices of bread, two little cups of either Nutella, butter, or fresh strawberry jam, tea or coffee, and of course the traditional German cold cuts and cheese. Well, I thought that wasn’t filling enough for me so I grabbed some scrambled eggs and had toast, jam, Nutella, and the tea. The jam was amazing. This was also my first time using a tea strainer. I had no clue what to do, but I suppose I got it. Haha. The store was HUGE. It was like a German Cracker Barrel. They had so many tea pots in the store on display and it turns out they hold the 2009 Guinness World Record for the most tea pots (I’m not sure how many, but I can bet you there are at least a thousand). After breakfast we walked around the store and outside in the kiddie area. They had rides, a petting zoo, and a corn maze. It was like I was back home on LI out east at Lewins Farm or some Windy Acres…only filled with Germans…? It was nice though.
After that we took a trip to downtown Rostock. First we hit a traffic jam due to traffic. We must’ve sat in it for at least 10-15 minutes. It must’ve been backed up a mile or so. We found parking and walked around the main street that had a bunch of shops. I didn’t buy anything, but it was nice to look around and sight see. It rained a bit harder, so we stopped in Burger King for lunch (not our first choice…McDonald’s was packed and there was no place to sit…it’s that German “rudeness” I spoke of before. Nobody offered their seats for us and the stroller). By the time we were done eating the rain had stopped. It was very muggy today but not too hot (not the Tucson sauna that we experience after it rains!). We walked around a bit more, saw a “mime” dressed in “Mozart clothes”…Peter said he’s lazy…stands and does nothing all day and gets money. Haha. I didn’t give any money. We also stopped in one of the nearby churches (St. Mary’s). We saw it from the road and it was right by where we were shopping. It was huge. We went in and I was astonished at the size of it inside. It was under renovation inside. I walked around a bit then turned around and I noticed the organ. HOLY COW! Wait to till you see the size of it! They have organ music for a half hour every Wednesday evening. Too bad we missed it. I think this church’s organ is bigger than the St. Michal Church in Hamburg. It’s also eerie looking because it’s painted green.
One thing I have to express is my shock of the amount of smokers there are here. Or that it’s just more noticeable since they can smoke in public here. Not in the mall or restaurant, but they’re all over the sidewalks and the beach. They smoke around babies and children it’s gross. I’m so glad my parents quit. Ok my rant there is done. After 2-3 hours of walking around Rostock we came home and of course the stupid sun comes out. Tomorrow is supposed to be nice and sunny, but a bit cooler. I believe we are visiting Peter’s sister and her fiancé at his new apartment in Schwerin. There’s a castle there that they are getting married at next month that we may visit. That should be fun!
Day Twelve: Saturday August 6, 2011
I’m tired today, not sure why. I slept well the night before, and Henry was quiet. I was very slow moving this morning. I think I got in the shower around 10, finally was done and had breakfast by 10:30-10:45. We didn’t leave until around 11:30-12 to head to Schwerin. It was a nice drive there with a few drops of rain. It was sunny and warm when we arrived around 1 or so. Jens’ (Isabelle’s fiancé) apartment is huge and really, really nice. Tall ceilings and big rooms and even a terrace. They have a lovely view of a church steeple (I bet it’s hundreds of years old) from their living room. The view from the terrace isn’t that great at the moment since the surrounding buildings are being renovated on the exterior so it is currently filled with dirt and crumpled concrete. Their building is centrally located between the castle and the mall. Strange configuration huh? New and old? Or maybe old and new?
That aside, after a brief tour of the apartment, Anne, Isabelle, Henry and I went to the mall. Anne wanted to check out a children’s store for some things for Henry. Sadly she was unsuccessful. Too many things for girls. Henry can’t wear dresses. So we walked around on all levels and browsed. As we reached the third floor I looked up and saw it was pouring rain…the sun was just out when we entered the mall. It looked like someone was aiming a hose on the roof it was coming down in buckets. We stopped in a store and came out and looked up again because it was so loud to see it was hailing (I think it was about nickel sized). Who thought it hailed here? Not more than 10 minutes later it was done and the sun was out. Just like Tucson. We stopped for lunch (McD’s….I was craving a burger…sad.) Then we walked to the castle. It was bout a 10 minute walk. As we walked through town I spotted a bride and groom getting their picture taken. I took their picture too. It was very pretty.
I felt as if I were in Disney World. The castle is on an island in a lake. It’s beautiful. Jens and Isabelle are getting married there in about 6 weeks or so. She gave Anne and a mini tour of where her celebrations will be. After we walked through it’s gardens and took some pictures we stopped inside to get a pamphlet for information. Turns out the castle—which was built in a Renaissance style—was only built in the mid 19th Century. That killed the fascination for me a little. Haha. It now is a museum, restaurant, and houses the state’s parliament; the city is the state capitol.
We went back to Isabelle’s apartment, and then later returned to the gardens with Peter and Jens to show Peter where they are getting married and to walk around a little. First we browsed through a renaissance festival they were having in front of the castle. Nothing to write home about, but it was cute. I had Anne take my picture with Henry in front of the castle. Suddenly, a dude dressed as Elvis in all gold came up and was selling junk. I didn’t understand what was going on then Anne told me it was a bachelor party. Apparently they drag the groom to be around town to sell things. Poor Elvis had a ball and chain on him. As we walked around some more, there was another bachelor party. This time the men were dressed as doctors, but they were doing the same thing. Selling stuff. I suppose that’s better than going to Vegas for a weekend.
We headed back to the apartment again so Peter can have dinner and suddenly it started to pour buckets again. We waited for it to calm down and headed to the car. As we were driving back to Rostock we got stuck is several down pours. No Rain-X on the windshield made it difficult to see. And the Autobahns only have white lines on the road, no yellow line or reflectors, so it’s difficult to see even in the evening rain. As we reached Rostock, the rain calmed down enough for us to get out of the car without getting soaked. It’s nearly midnight now and it’s still thundering a bit. The rain has stopped at the moment. This is my first full on German thunderstorm. It seems different to me, I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s because I’m not in the desert. The lightening was mostly in the clouds (there were some ground strikes) and the thunder sounds different. Could it be because I’m at a lower altitude? Or do those Tucson Monsoons just have a special feeling to them?
Let’s hope I get some sleep tonight. Tomorrow we are heading back to Hamburg and in the evening Anne and I are meeting her sister Sonja for a drink somewhere in the city. Funds are running low (I have about 10 Euros left! Haha), I better get a cheap drink.
The Rostock Diaries: Days Nine & Ten
Hello everyone! Yes, I’m alive. I just returned from Rostock. We had no luck with the internet connection where we were staying. But I of course wrote my day-to-day events for you! It will be a long entry as it covers the past five days. Enjoy!!
Day Nine: Wednesday August 3, 2011
Greetings from Rostock! We are staying here until Sunday in Peter’s sister’s apartment. She’s attending school here (studying to be a Pediatrician). Her apartment is very nice. It certainly cries out “Eastern Europe” here. Anne and I both feel like we’re in another country. It’s completely different than Hamburg or “Western Germany.” There are streetcars (I hope Tucson doesn’t look like this when the downtown street car is done) and the apartment buildings look “old” (It definitely reminds me of East Berlin back in 97) on the outside but have been painted to look more modern. Besides Berlin, this is my only other time in “East” Germany. It’s very different here, but it seems like a nice city. It’s also a college town but I’ve yet to see the campus. They really don’t feel like they’re split anymore, but they have the same mentality that we Northeasterners do about the South. Haha.
This morning we checked out of my guest apartment (I cleaned it up nicely) and I brought my stuff to Anne & Peter’s apartment. I still have items that I have to pack in my suitcase (I’ll worry about it on Monday) So I have several bags of things hanging around there. They spent a few hours packing their things and Henry’s. We hit the road around 1-1:30 and drove for two hours here. It was a beautiful ride. There is nothing but rolling farmland between Hamburg and Rostock. Open fields with green trees and grass. I felt as if I were in southern PA. Very beautiful. I spotted license plates from Sweden, Finland, and the Netherlands (so far to date I’ve seen those listed, plates from France, Poland, Austria, and Denmark). After we arrived, we went shopping for dinner and came back and ate. Henry is currently asleep (has been for about 3 hours). He’s been yawning all day long and even slept for the entire ride out here. Poor baby has had a busy week.
Day Ten: Thursday August 4, 2011
Henry was quiet for most of the night from what I experienced. I only heard him once and it was around 5 am. I woke up a little after 8 am, Anne told me Henry was up for most of the night crawling around his crib and was restless. I heard nothing. Peter made breakfast (scrambled eggs, they were really good), and Henry took a nap. Since the sun was out we decided to go to the beach. It was about a 20-25 minute drive to the town. It was a cute beach town with the typical shops. Anne noticed a few Nazi posters around and we go to talking about the neo Nazi movement and suddenly we found ourselves driving down Richard Wagner Street. Ironic, no? hahaha. I may have been the only one in the car that got that.
There was a cruise ship docked in town, I didn’t get a closer look at it, but it was huge (and pretty). We tried to find an inexpensive parking space. One garage charged 2 Euros for the first hour then 4 for the second hour….that’s NUTS. We found a lot and it was only 1,50 Euros for 2.5 hours. Not bad. Only thing was the beach was partial nude beach. We really didn’t want to go to a nude beach, but after walking for about a half hour, it seemed we had no choice. We had some lunch at a little beach stand and they fed Henry and walked back to the car to get ready for some beach time. It was amusing to hear the two of them complain about wearing flip flops for about an hour. They’re not used to them. They would stop whenever they got a rock in their shoe. Meanwhile, I was a mile ahead of them. Ha!
We found a spot on the quasi-nude beach and stayed for a bout 45 minutes or so. The water of the (Baltic Sea) was freezing, I don’t know how anyone could swim in it (let alone be nude in it! Haha). The beach was a bit a rocky (more than North Shore LI beaches!), and of course there were some nudies (young and old), believe me there was no eye candy. Haha. I saw a license plate in the parking lot from what I may assume is Bulgaria. It had “BY” on it and had a Red and Green flag on it. We got stuck in a little traffic jam on the way home due to a fallen tree blocking the road (that and of course the Fire Dept. and Police cars in the way too). But we are now home and soon will be having dinner. Peter is making Lasagna, it looks and smells like Ziti, but they call it Lasagna. Anne, Henry and I made a quick stop to the grocery store for some dessert and odds and ends. We are all tired. Salt air sure makes one tired.
Day Nine: Wednesday August 3, 2011
Greetings from Rostock! We are staying here until Sunday in Peter’s sister’s apartment. She’s attending school here (studying to be a Pediatrician). Her apartment is very nice. It certainly cries out “Eastern Europe” here. Anne and I both feel like we’re in another country. It’s completely different than Hamburg or “Western Germany.” There are streetcars (I hope Tucson doesn’t look like this when the downtown street car is done) and the apartment buildings look “old” (It definitely reminds me of East Berlin back in 97) on the outside but have been painted to look more modern. Besides Berlin, this is my only other time in “East” Germany. It’s very different here, but it seems like a nice city. It’s also a college town but I’ve yet to see the campus. They really don’t feel like they’re split anymore, but they have the same mentality that we Northeasterners do about the South. Haha.
This morning we checked out of my guest apartment (I cleaned it up nicely) and I brought my stuff to Anne & Peter’s apartment. I still have items that I have to pack in my suitcase (I’ll worry about it on Monday) So I have several bags of things hanging around there. They spent a few hours packing their things and Henry’s. We hit the road around 1-1:30 and drove for two hours here. It was a beautiful ride. There is nothing but rolling farmland between Hamburg and Rostock. Open fields with green trees and grass. I felt as if I were in southern PA. Very beautiful. I spotted license plates from Sweden, Finland, and the Netherlands (so far to date I’ve seen those listed, plates from France, Poland, Austria, and Denmark). After we arrived, we went shopping for dinner and came back and ate. Henry is currently asleep (has been for about 3 hours). He’s been yawning all day long and even slept for the entire ride out here. Poor baby has had a busy week.
Day Ten: Thursday August 4, 2011
Henry was quiet for most of the night from what I experienced. I only heard him once and it was around 5 am. I woke up a little after 8 am, Anne told me Henry was up for most of the night crawling around his crib and was restless. I heard nothing. Peter made breakfast (scrambled eggs, they were really good), and Henry took a nap. Since the sun was out we decided to go to the beach. It was about a 20-25 minute drive to the town. It was a cute beach town with the typical shops. Anne noticed a few Nazi posters around and we go to talking about the neo Nazi movement and suddenly we found ourselves driving down Richard Wagner Street. Ironic, no? hahaha. I may have been the only one in the car that got that.
There was a cruise ship docked in town, I didn’t get a closer look at it, but it was huge (and pretty). We tried to find an inexpensive parking space. One garage charged 2 Euros for the first hour then 4 for the second hour….that’s NUTS. We found a lot and it was only 1,50 Euros for 2.5 hours. Not bad. Only thing was the beach was partial nude beach. We really didn’t want to go to a nude beach, but after walking for about a half hour, it seemed we had no choice. We had some lunch at a little beach stand and they fed Henry and walked back to the car to get ready for some beach time. It was amusing to hear the two of them complain about wearing flip flops for about an hour. They’re not used to them. They would stop whenever they got a rock in their shoe. Meanwhile, I was a mile ahead of them. Ha!
We found a spot on the quasi-nude beach and stayed for a bout 45 minutes or so. The water of the (Baltic Sea) was freezing, I don’t know how anyone could swim in it (let alone be nude in it! Haha). The beach was a bit a rocky (more than North Shore LI beaches!), and of course there were some nudies (young and old), believe me there was no eye candy. Haha. I saw a license plate in the parking lot from what I may assume is Bulgaria. It had “BY” on it and had a Red and Green flag on it. We got stuck in a little traffic jam on the way home due to a fallen tree blocking the road (that and of course the Fire Dept. and Police cars in the way too). But we are now home and soon will be having dinner. Peter is making Lasagna, it looks and smells like Ziti, but they call it Lasagna. Anne, Henry and I made a quick stop to the grocery store for some dessert and odds and ends. We are all tired. Salt air sure makes one tired.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Day Eight: August 2, 2011
I am doing a post this evening since I am not sure if we will have internet where we are going for the weekend. Tomorrow (Wed) we are headed to Rostock to say at Peter's sister's apartment. Rostock is about 2 hours east of Hamburg on the Baltic Sea. We will stay there until Sunday.
This afternoon we went to the Hagenbeck Zoo in Hamburg. We took the highway (what they call the Autobahn....see the Autobahn is not one particular road and no we didn't go 200 mph. There was a lot of traffic this afternoon. It was like driving in Queens). It was Henry's first time at the zoo and he seemed to enjoy what he saw of it. He napped a bit but did watch the elephants and geese. It was a well kept zoo. All the animals were cared for and seemed happy. The elephants were allowed to be fed by the visitors and if they were given a coin the elephants gave the coin to the zookeepers behind them. There were a lot of interns there learning how to care for the animals. It was a lovely day today for the zoo. In the mid to upper 70s and sunny. There were some interesting animals there, but what really made me laugh was a Guinea Pig enclousure. Yes that's right. They had guinea pigs at the zoo. They had them set up in a little village with a barn, a church, and other cute buildings.
It's a rather short entry today, I have a bit of a headache so I don't have too much to say. But it was a nice afternoon. Tonight is my last night in my little apartment. I will stay in Anne & Peter's apartment on Sunday and Monday night.
Maybe I will update tomorrow? We shall see. I must go keep an eye on Henry now while Anne tidies up the kitchen.
Day Seven: August 1, 2011
A week has gone by since I departed Tucson. And tomorrow will be one week since my arrival. It’s gone by fast. I have exactly one week left.
I had a slow start to the day today. I was so tired from yesterday’s festivities. Poor Anne & Peter had a short night’s sleep yet again. Henry woke up pretty early from what she told me. The three of us had planned to go to the Miniature Wunderland Museum (get website) in the city, but Peter’s mom had too many kids today (she baby sits). So Peter stayed in with Henry and Anne and I went. When she and I arrived to the city we had to catch a bus from the Rathaus (city hall). We waited for the bus, and the sign said it was coming. I saw it behind another bus and we both assumed it would pull up once the tourist bus left—but no. It totally left. So we had to wait about 10 minutes. So we walked to the St. Petri church to pass the time. What a pretty church. I have a soft spot for Gothic architecture and this was just that inside. Wait until you see the pictures. We left and started to head back to the bus stop across the street and there was the dang bus. We had to run like the wind to catch it and we did just in time. One stop later we got off (believe me the stop wasn’t exactly in short walking distance), and we walked over to the museum.
The Wunderland museum is basically a large setting of HO model trains set up as different countries. They had the western US, Austria, Germany (of course), the city of Hamburg and even the airport, Scandinavia, Denmark, & Switzerland. There was so much detail! You can change the “mood” of the rooms (day or night) so you can see the city lights. They had cars driving up and down the roads, boats moving on their own in water, and the Kennedy Space Center with our now non-existent shuttle program taking off. I believe they have plans to have the planes take off on the airport runway. There were rock concerts with thousands of people placed in attendance, a carnival, a nude beach (yes, that’s right), and my favorite was the little welders in the shipyard. The torches actually lit up. I took movies for my father who is a train nut. Hopefully I will get some of those movies up on here when I come home. The place was very busy and for some reason German people don’t say “excuse me” when they need to get by. They just push their way through. I noticed the way they walk on sidewalks here in the city….anywhere they want. At home we of course have the right side of the road rule (yes they drive on the right here), maybe it’s our Elementary school upbringing that makes us do this. But in NYC you walk on the right. That was a bit unnerving to deal with. There were two people in wheelchairs and people just walked around them like it was nothing. They didn’t wait to let them through or anything. Anne and I got stuck in a corner in the Scandinavia section. She told me to just push people and I couldn’t do it. You do that in the States and forget it! Haha. We got through in about 2 hours or so. She said when it’s not so busy it can take longer.
Before we caught the train home I asked to stop in the St. Michael Church because it was nearby. She said it was one of the most famous in the city. Yet another beautiful church. It had an amazing organ and choir area. As I walked around I noticed three plaques in a corner. It turns out that Brahms was baptized there; Telemann served as music director there at some point and CPE Bach was also a director and is interred in the crypt below. I didn’t go see poor CPE (yes I know that rhymed), it was about 5 Euros to go to the crypt and we didn’t have time. Do my viola-playing friends see a pattern with this church? Haha.
We got home around 4 or so and had something to eat. Anne had to get some household chores done and I played with Henry a bit. Anne’s mother noticed he had two teeth coming in yesterday. He has been munching on his binky and fingers all week long. He’s a very strong baby. He grabbed onto Anne’s ironing board and I picked him up to get him away and he kept his grip and pulled the board with him about 2”. He was so tired today too. I sure hope they get to sleep through the night tonight. As for what’s in store for tomorrow, I’m not 100% sure. We may go to the zoo; (it’s 18 Euros a piece…that’s crazy. And I only have about 30 Euros left), or we may go to a garden/flower exhibit. It’s supposed to be nice tomorrow, near 80 and sunny. Today wasn’t too bad, it was cloudy and in the low 70s. Tolerable yet again.
Until tomorrow!!
I had a slow start to the day today. I was so tired from yesterday’s festivities. Poor Anne & Peter had a short night’s sleep yet again. Henry woke up pretty early from what she told me. The three of us had planned to go to the Miniature Wunderland Museum (get website) in the city, but Peter’s mom had too many kids today (she baby sits). So Peter stayed in with Henry and Anne and I went. When she and I arrived to the city we had to catch a bus from the Rathaus (city hall). We waited for the bus, and the sign said it was coming. I saw it behind another bus and we both assumed it would pull up once the tourist bus left—but no. It totally left. So we had to wait about 10 minutes. So we walked to the St. Petri church to pass the time. What a pretty church. I have a soft spot for Gothic architecture and this was just that inside. Wait until you see the pictures. We left and started to head back to the bus stop across the street and there was the dang bus. We had to run like the wind to catch it and we did just in time. One stop later we got off (believe me the stop wasn’t exactly in short walking distance), and we walked over to the museum.
The Wunderland museum is basically a large setting of HO model trains set up as different countries. They had the western US, Austria, Germany (of course), the city of Hamburg and even the airport, Scandinavia, Denmark, & Switzerland. There was so much detail! You can change the “mood” of the rooms (day or night) so you can see the city lights. They had cars driving up and down the roads, boats moving on their own in water, and the Kennedy Space Center with our now non-existent shuttle program taking off. I believe they have plans to have the planes take off on the airport runway. There were rock concerts with thousands of people placed in attendance, a carnival, a nude beach (yes, that’s right), and my favorite was the little welders in the shipyard. The torches actually lit up. I took movies for my father who is a train nut. Hopefully I will get some of those movies up on here when I come home. The place was very busy and for some reason German people don’t say “excuse me” when they need to get by. They just push their way through. I noticed the way they walk on sidewalks here in the city….anywhere they want. At home we of course have the right side of the road rule (yes they drive on the right here), maybe it’s our Elementary school upbringing that makes us do this. But in NYC you walk on the right. That was a bit unnerving to deal with. There were two people in wheelchairs and people just walked around them like it was nothing. They didn’t wait to let them through or anything. Anne and I got stuck in a corner in the Scandinavia section. She told me to just push people and I couldn’t do it. You do that in the States and forget it! Haha. We got through in about 2 hours or so. She said when it’s not so busy it can take longer.
Before we caught the train home I asked to stop in the St. Michael Church because it was nearby. She said it was one of the most famous in the city. Yet another beautiful church. It had an amazing organ and choir area. As I walked around I noticed three plaques in a corner. It turns out that Brahms was baptized there; Telemann served as music director there at some point and CPE Bach was also a director and is interred in the crypt below. I didn’t go see poor CPE (yes I know that rhymed), it was about 5 Euros to go to the crypt and we didn’t have time. Do my viola-playing friends see a pattern with this church? Haha.
We got home around 4 or so and had something to eat. Anne had to get some household chores done and I played with Henry a bit. Anne’s mother noticed he had two teeth coming in yesterday. He has been munching on his binky and fingers all week long. He’s a very strong baby. He grabbed onto Anne’s ironing board and I picked him up to get him away and he kept his grip and pulled the board with him about 2”. He was so tired today too. I sure hope they get to sleep through the night tonight. As for what’s in store for tomorrow, I’m not 100% sure. We may go to the zoo; (it’s 18 Euros a piece…that’s crazy. And I only have about 30 Euros left), or we may go to a garden/flower exhibit. It’s supposed to be nice tomorrow, near 80 and sunny. Today wasn’t too bad, it was cloudy and in the low 70s. Tolerable yet again.
Until tomorrow!!
Monday, August 1, 2011
Day Six: July 31, 2011
Today was christening day! What a gloomy start to the day. I awoke to the sound of a steady rain on trees with actual leaves I had forgotten what that sounded like. Even when it rains in Tucson, we seem to not know what that sound is. Last night I was extremely confused as to why my electrical outlets in my little apartment weren’t working, until I thought to check the breaker box in the hallway. It seemed that a fuse randomly blew. But I did not dare touch it until I got home this evening. I wanted to make sure what I was going to do was the right thing. And it was. I can now charge my things. The only outlet that worked this morning was thankfully the outlet in the bathroom. Thankfully I did not have to walk over to Anne & Peters in my dress clothes in the rain. Today was the kind of day where I would love to lounge around at home in sweats doing nothing. It was in the 60s, cloudy, and of course rainy. I miss these kind of days.
I had breakfast with Anne & Peter and afterwards headed over to the firehouse with Anne and her sister in law, Isabelle to help decorate. We finished that around 10:15-10:30 and went back home to change and get ready for the services that were at 11:30. Thankfully the rain had stopped for the afternoon and we were able to walk over to the church. It is only a 5-minute walk away, so it wasn’t too bad. Henry looked so adorable in his christening gown and bonnet. Much nicer than the other baby that was there. Maybe I’m bias, I don’t know. The Pastor of the church thankfully spoke some English. I told him I understood German, but my speaking ability isn’t up to par. So he was nice enough to have the audience sing the opening psalm in English instead of German. He announced to everyone that there was an American present and welcomed me, which was very nice. Thankfully, I had a pretty good understanding of his sermon. His German was very clear and he spoke on the slower side.
11:30 isn’t a great time to have a christening since babies like to nap around then. Poor Henry was tired and cried a bit, but then fell asleep. I was worried I would have to say some phrase by my self in German when it came time for the actual ceremony, but instead they had the Godparents stand and the Pastor said a phrase and told us to repeat it and that was it. Then we went up to the altar for the blessing. Henry was sound asleep and as soon as that water hit is head he started to cry. Poor baby. My job was to bring his candle to the windowsill after he was blessed. They personalize candles for weddings and christenings here. His Aunt Isabelle made the candle for today. I have pictures. It’s very sweet. After the ceremony we finally were able to go eat. I was starving when it was over.
It was a nice, small, get together of about 35 people. I was so happy to see Anne’s dad finally after so many years. I also saw her friend Janine whom I met in 1996 (she was an exchange student as well) and she’s also having a baby boy this year (October). It was great to catch up with her. It was nice that everyone spoke some English to me today (those that could). My understanding isn’t bad, but when I’m tired I tend to zone out the German. Haha. There was so much food! Chicken, Potato Pancakes, Rice with veggies, and salads galore. Plus, there were about 4 home made cakes (I don’t think they have boxed cake mix here), and other treats. I was so full.
Henry got so many gifts. Blocks, toys, books, a coin bank, and the best gift was from his grand parents. It was a 3 foot long wooden Arc with Noah, his wife Hannah, and animals (Elephants, Hippos, Giraffes, Donkeys, Lions, etc). All were hand painted and made of wood. Peter decided to place Henry in the Arc and he had a blast. Henry wore a little Tuxedo during the reception, it was so cute. We finally cleared out of there after 7pm. Peter took several trips and car loads back home and then back to the firehouse. After we tidied up a bit, Peter’s parents, and siblings came up for some wine and leftovers. They are a very nice family. I spent some time talking to Peter’s father at the reception this afternoon and his sister and I spoke a bit this evening about school. I was proud to be able to understand some of the conversations that were going on. They speak a bit fast for me when it’s late in the evening and I’m so tired. It was a very long day, but a great one at that. Henry did really well after keeping his mom and dad up most of the night before and waking them up at 4am.
We finally had those British bagels for breakfast. Not bad. They’re better warm than cold. I had a cold one this evening and it was a bit dry. Tomorrow we are heading to the city again to visit a Miniature Wonderland. It’s apparently a small scale model of places with trains and what not. Peter said that we get to visit America tomorrow. I’ve always wanted to go there! The weather looks better over the next 4 days or so. A bit warmer (low 70s) tomorrow, but cloudy. Then on Tuesday and Wednesday it’s supposed to be sunny and near 80. I’ll take that. It’s like a Tucson summer evening.
Until tomorrow!
I had breakfast with Anne & Peter and afterwards headed over to the firehouse with Anne and her sister in law, Isabelle to help decorate. We finished that around 10:15-10:30 and went back home to change and get ready for the services that were at 11:30. Thankfully the rain had stopped for the afternoon and we were able to walk over to the church. It is only a 5-minute walk away, so it wasn’t too bad. Henry looked so adorable in his christening gown and bonnet. Much nicer than the other baby that was there. Maybe I’m bias, I don’t know. The Pastor of the church thankfully spoke some English. I told him I understood German, but my speaking ability isn’t up to par. So he was nice enough to have the audience sing the opening psalm in English instead of German. He announced to everyone that there was an American present and welcomed me, which was very nice. Thankfully, I had a pretty good understanding of his sermon. His German was very clear and he spoke on the slower side.
11:30 isn’t a great time to have a christening since babies like to nap around then. Poor Henry was tired and cried a bit, but then fell asleep. I was worried I would have to say some phrase by my self in German when it came time for the actual ceremony, but instead they had the Godparents stand and the Pastor said a phrase and told us to repeat it and that was it. Then we went up to the altar for the blessing. Henry was sound asleep and as soon as that water hit is head he started to cry. Poor baby. My job was to bring his candle to the windowsill after he was blessed. They personalize candles for weddings and christenings here. His Aunt Isabelle made the candle for today. I have pictures. It’s very sweet. After the ceremony we finally were able to go eat. I was starving when it was over.
It was a nice, small, get together of about 35 people. I was so happy to see Anne’s dad finally after so many years. I also saw her friend Janine whom I met in 1996 (she was an exchange student as well) and she’s also having a baby boy this year (October). It was great to catch up with her. It was nice that everyone spoke some English to me today (those that could). My understanding isn’t bad, but when I’m tired I tend to zone out the German. Haha. There was so much food! Chicken, Potato Pancakes, Rice with veggies, and salads galore. Plus, there were about 4 home made cakes (I don’t think they have boxed cake mix here), and other treats. I was so full.
Henry got so many gifts. Blocks, toys, books, a coin bank, and the best gift was from his grand parents. It was a 3 foot long wooden Arc with Noah, his wife Hannah, and animals (Elephants, Hippos, Giraffes, Donkeys, Lions, etc). All were hand painted and made of wood. Peter decided to place Henry in the Arc and he had a blast. Henry wore a little Tuxedo during the reception, it was so cute. We finally cleared out of there after 7pm. Peter took several trips and car loads back home and then back to the firehouse. After we tidied up a bit, Peter’s parents, and siblings came up for some wine and leftovers. They are a very nice family. I spent some time talking to Peter’s father at the reception this afternoon and his sister and I spoke a bit this evening about school. I was proud to be able to understand some of the conversations that were going on. They speak a bit fast for me when it’s late in the evening and I’m so tired. It was a very long day, but a great one at that. Henry did really well after keeping his mom and dad up most of the night before and waking them up at 4am.
We finally had those British bagels for breakfast. Not bad. They’re better warm than cold. I had a cold one this evening and it was a bit dry. Tomorrow we are heading to the city again to visit a Miniature Wonderland. It’s apparently a small scale model of places with trains and what not. Peter said that we get to visit America tomorrow. I’ve always wanted to go there! The weather looks better over the next 4 days or so. A bit warmer (low 70s) tomorrow, but cloudy. Then on Tuesday and Wednesday it’s supposed to be sunny and near 80. I’ll take that. It’s like a Tucson summer evening.
Until tomorrow!
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Day Five: July 30, 2011
Today was rather busy. There was a lot that needed to get done before the christening that is tomorrow (Sunday). First I joined Anne, Peter, Henry, and Peter’s family for breakfast. For those that don’t know what a typical German breakfast would be here it is: bread (especially dark breads), cheese, butter, some cold cuts, Nutella, and maybe yogurt or cereal. Today they had croissants and various rolls, a plate of several different cheeses, Nutella, jam, butter, margarine, and a plate of cold cuts that had hams, salami, liverwurst and other things. They will have a similar thing in the evening and their big meal at lunchtime. Peter tried the Peanut Butter we bought the night before. It was his first time ever having it and he liked it. I had to explain that it’s much better with Jelly than alone.
After breakfast began a bunch of preparations. First we stopped at the Fire House where the christening reception will be. Peter is a volunteer fireman and has use of the house. As I said we had gone shopping last night, and we dropped off the goodies and checked the kitchen out for supplies. I helped Peter bring drinking glasses down from the firehouse attic and he showed Anne & I the inside of their fire trucks. The trucks here are neon orange with neon yellow stripes. I’ll get pictures at the reception. After that, we dropped Anne and sleeping Henry off at their apartment so she can feed him lunch and Peter and I went back out to get more supplies. They had to get some beer (he bought Grapefruit beer) and soda. We also stopped at a grocery store for a few more ingredients that Anne needed for some salads that she will be making for the party.
When we returned, I thought we would be in for the day. But it turned out that we were going to go to a local mall. So back out I went. First, we stopped at the firehouse to drop off what we had just bought. We got to the mall and it was a lot like a typical three level mall. We had lunch (I had some Italian food ..”penne with Ragu” ….no not that sauce….more of a meat sauce. It was pretty good). We walked around each level and I bought a few shirts. It was hard to shop here because they have sweaters on sale. Yes, I bought two, but really when will I used them again? December at the earliest? They are good for Tucson at least, light sweaters. We also stopped for ice cream. I asked the guy behind the counter if he spoke English (he looked Italian) and he said “yes, a little” and I placed my order of mint ice cream in a cone. He said “well, that wasn’t too bad.” Haha. At least we understood each other. One thing I think I mentioned the other day was how surprised I was that they allow dogs in malls and grocery stores. I finally saw a Pomeranian today; of course it was half the size of Linus and a ¼ size of a certain Pomeranian mix I know back in Tucson. ::ahem:: But there were dogs galore in the mall today. As well as babies. Wow! So many strollers out and about. It didn’t rain at all in the afternoon or evening. Just in the morning. But the day was breezy, cool and cloudy. Not so great for being out doors. It was about 60 around 7 or 8 pm.
Tomorrow (Sunday) is the big day; Henry is being baptized. I hope I don’t screw up the little line (in German) I have to say at the ceremony.
After breakfast began a bunch of preparations. First we stopped at the Fire House where the christening reception will be. Peter is a volunteer fireman and has use of the house. As I said we had gone shopping last night, and we dropped off the goodies and checked the kitchen out for supplies. I helped Peter bring drinking glasses down from the firehouse attic and he showed Anne & I the inside of their fire trucks. The trucks here are neon orange with neon yellow stripes. I’ll get pictures at the reception. After that, we dropped Anne and sleeping Henry off at their apartment so she can feed him lunch and Peter and I went back out to get more supplies. They had to get some beer (he bought Grapefruit beer) and soda. We also stopped at a grocery store for a few more ingredients that Anne needed for some salads that she will be making for the party.
When we returned, I thought we would be in for the day. But it turned out that we were going to go to a local mall. So back out I went. First, we stopped at the firehouse to drop off what we had just bought. We got to the mall and it was a lot like a typical three level mall. We had lunch (I had some Italian food ..”penne with Ragu” ….no not that sauce….more of a meat sauce. It was pretty good). We walked around each level and I bought a few shirts. It was hard to shop here because they have sweaters on sale. Yes, I bought two, but really when will I used them again? December at the earliest? They are good for Tucson at least, light sweaters. We also stopped for ice cream. I asked the guy behind the counter if he spoke English (he looked Italian) and he said “yes, a little” and I placed my order of mint ice cream in a cone. He said “well, that wasn’t too bad.” Haha. At least we understood each other. One thing I think I mentioned the other day was how surprised I was that they allow dogs in malls and grocery stores. I finally saw a Pomeranian today; of course it was half the size of Linus and a ¼ size of a certain Pomeranian mix I know back in Tucson. ::ahem:: But there were dogs galore in the mall today. As well as babies. Wow! So many strollers out and about. It didn’t rain at all in the afternoon or evening. Just in the morning. But the day was breezy, cool and cloudy. Not so great for being out doors. It was about 60 around 7 or 8 pm.
Tomorrow (Sunday) is the big day; Henry is being baptized. I hope I don’t screw up the little line (in German) I have to say at the ceremony.
Day Four: July 29, 2011
I had a lot more energy today than I did yesterday. I’m not jet lagged, but for some reason yesterday really did me in. It must’ve been the questionable 2.9 km that I ran. Can anyone convert that for me? I’m guessing it’s around 2 miles? Anyway I was so tired after the German Gym last night that Anne & Peter dropped me off at my apartment around 8:30 and all I did was sit on the sofa and unwind. As I was typing yesterday’s entry, I was falling asleep. I couldn’t keep my eyes open. And as a result, I went to bed around 11-11:30 last night…that’s early for me. Even Anne knew that was early for me. I woke up first at 5 am, then at 6, then finally at 8 (just before my alarm). I was pooped!
Today was rather enjoyable. It felt more like (a NY) October (or an AZ February) than it did July. It was 63 degrees, cloudy and breezy. But I survived with no more than a sweater…no jacket needed. I am in shock. I suppose I’m just enjoying the break from the humidity and 95-100 degree days that await me back in the sandbox (I mean Tucson…). I stopped to have breakfast with Anne and we dropped Henry off at his grandmother’s (she lives downstairs from Anne) and she and I were off to the city for the afternoon. First I had to drop off a copy of my “proof of Catholicism” paper at the church where the christening will be held (which was easy…I just handed them the paper and that was it), then we walked to the train station. It was much easier to get around today without poor Henry and his stroller.
We first stopped at the Hamburg Rathouse (City Hall) for about 10 minutes while we waited for our bus to come. It’s actually the background photo to this blog. What a beautiful hall! I don’t remember if we had gone inside when I was here in 97. When you’re a teenager you don’t care about such things. Haha. We caught the bus and were headed towards the harbor portion of the city. Apparently the busses run on Peroxide from what Anne told me. Why can’t we do that in the US? What ever happened to that Corn fuel? The bus was a Mercedes Benz…..all public transportation is Mercedes…even the taxis. They’re inexpensive here.
We reached the harbor area and it reminded me a lot of the Baltimore Inner Harbor. It’s being built up and Anne said a lot of apartments are being built to help revitalize the area. They are building a Symphony Hall that looks like a cube. It’s HUGE. (Google the Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg). Hamburg residents are apparently upset because it is taking much longer and of course more money than anticipated to build the hall. On the other side of the harbor was a small exhibit about the hall and there were small cones sticking outside that played different pieces. It was pretty neat. Speaking of music, when Henry was crying this afternoon I pulled up a Baby Beethoven video (Für Elise) on my iPhone and he LOVED it….he was captivated and had a huge smile on his face. That made me really happy!
After our walk around the harbor area, we met with Anne’s sister, Sonja. Wow, has she grown up! I haven’t seen her in about 10 years. She helped us find a place to have lunch and then had to return to work. We ate at a restaurant on a canal. It was pretty tasty. They really loved baked potatoes with sour cream here. Who knew? That and of course Schnitzel and Wurst! Hahah.
We headed back home and after dinner I went shopping with Anne & Peter to get supplies and food for Sunday’s christening. Peter’s mother has a membership to a store that seems similar to BJ’s or Costco, but at a smaller scale. It’s actually for restaurant owners or those that are self-employed. We then stopped at another store that carries Trader Joes goods but it wasn’t an actual Trader Joes. It looked like a grocery outlet but it really wasn’t. Anyway on our way through the store they picked up “American Cookies” (aka Chocolate Chip cookies….that made us laugh), then I found Peanut Butter. I was in shock because they don’t eat or sell Peanut Butter here. Anne tried it back in 1996 and hated it. I think it was a texture thing. But I told Peter that Peanut Butter and Nutella go together well but he doesn’t believe me. He also found “Bagels” (…from Great Britain—although there were stars and stripes on the package, it said it was from England. What do the Brits know about Bagels?!). I can’t wait to see how those taste.
After shopping the three of us watched Chuck and Larry. I hadn’t seen it and they were happy to discover it can be played in English. They added subtitles for themselves (in English). Another “gay role” by Dave Matthews. ::sigh:: I was told that we are having breakfast at Peter’s parents place in the morning, about 10 people (he’s got a big family). This should be fun. It’s great exposure before the christening. Anne said there would be about 40 people there on Sunday. It is supposed to rain all weekend, but most of the nasty weather will be on Saturday.
Until tomorrow!!
Today was rather enjoyable. It felt more like (a NY) October (or an AZ February) than it did July. It was 63 degrees, cloudy and breezy. But I survived with no more than a sweater…no jacket needed. I am in shock. I suppose I’m just enjoying the break from the humidity and 95-100 degree days that await me back in the sandbox (I mean Tucson…). I stopped to have breakfast with Anne and we dropped Henry off at his grandmother’s (she lives downstairs from Anne) and she and I were off to the city for the afternoon. First I had to drop off a copy of my “proof of Catholicism” paper at the church where the christening will be held (which was easy…I just handed them the paper and that was it), then we walked to the train station. It was much easier to get around today without poor Henry and his stroller.
We first stopped at the Hamburg Rathouse (City Hall) for about 10 minutes while we waited for our bus to come. It’s actually the background photo to this blog. What a beautiful hall! I don’t remember if we had gone inside when I was here in 97. When you’re a teenager you don’t care about such things. Haha. We caught the bus and were headed towards the harbor portion of the city. Apparently the busses run on Peroxide from what Anne told me. Why can’t we do that in the US? What ever happened to that Corn fuel? The bus was a Mercedes Benz…..all public transportation is Mercedes…even the taxis. They’re inexpensive here.
We reached the harbor area and it reminded me a lot of the Baltimore Inner Harbor. It’s being built up and Anne said a lot of apartments are being built to help revitalize the area. They are building a Symphony Hall that looks like a cube. It’s HUGE. (Google the Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg). Hamburg residents are apparently upset because it is taking much longer and of course more money than anticipated to build the hall. On the other side of the harbor was a small exhibit about the hall and there were small cones sticking outside that played different pieces. It was pretty neat. Speaking of music, when Henry was crying this afternoon I pulled up a Baby Beethoven video (Für Elise) on my iPhone and he LOVED it….he was captivated and had a huge smile on his face. That made me really happy!
After our walk around the harbor area, we met with Anne’s sister, Sonja. Wow, has she grown up! I haven’t seen her in about 10 years. She helped us find a place to have lunch and then had to return to work. We ate at a restaurant on a canal. It was pretty tasty. They really loved baked potatoes with sour cream here. Who knew? That and of course Schnitzel and Wurst! Hahah.
We headed back home and after dinner I went shopping with Anne & Peter to get supplies and food for Sunday’s christening. Peter’s mother has a membership to a store that seems similar to BJ’s or Costco, but at a smaller scale. It’s actually for restaurant owners or those that are self-employed. We then stopped at another store that carries Trader Joes goods but it wasn’t an actual Trader Joes. It looked like a grocery outlet but it really wasn’t. Anyway on our way through the store they picked up “American Cookies” (aka Chocolate Chip cookies….that made us laugh), then I found Peanut Butter. I was in shock because they don’t eat or sell Peanut Butter here. Anne tried it back in 1996 and hated it. I think it was a texture thing. But I told Peter that Peanut Butter and Nutella go together well but he doesn’t believe me. He also found “Bagels” (…from Great Britain—although there were stars and stripes on the package, it said it was from England. What do the Brits know about Bagels?!). I can’t wait to see how those taste.
After shopping the three of us watched Chuck and Larry. I hadn’t seen it and they were happy to discover it can be played in English. They added subtitles for themselves (in English). Another “gay role” by Dave Matthews. ::sigh:: I was told that we are having breakfast at Peter’s parents place in the morning, about 10 people (he’s got a big family). This should be fun. It’s great exposure before the christening. Anne said there would be about 40 people there on Sunday. It is supposed to rain all weekend, but most of the nasty weather will be on Saturday.
Until tomorrow!!
Friday, July 29, 2011
Day three: July 28, 2011
Today was a calm day at home (most of the time). I first woke up at 5:30 am, then forced myself back to sleep and woke again at 6:30 am (which is about 9:30 pm Tucson time). I fell asleep again and woke to my alarm at 8:30. I went to Anne’s apartment to have breakfast and was again greeted with a happy baby smile. Poor Henry is most likely starting to get his teeth. He was fussy as the day went on. After breakfast I helped Anne with some household chores and then Anne, Henry, and I took a walk around the area in which Anne lives. Henry got a good nape in. I took some pictures of the cute A-frame houses that are in the area. There are some beautiful flowers and backyards. It’s very picturesque. We walked to a shopping center that happened to have a Farmer’s Market going on. I told Anne I am tempted to try some Bratwurst. It smelled so good! Speaking of Bratwurst, there sure are a lot of wurst commercials on TV here. Hahaha.
We walked back to the apartment and she fed Henry lunch. I played with the baby for a bit, he threw up again (just a little), but thankfully not on me! Henry went down for another nap in the afternoon and I took care of some post cards and emails. After he woke up (around 4), we stopped at the Post Office so I can mail my post cards (some of you need to keep an eye on your mailbox). After that we came back and had something to eat. Then they brought me to their gym—a German gym. Haha. What a trip that was to compare it to what’s at home. You try running for 30 minutes not knowing how fast you’re going or how far you’re going because the treadmill read in kilometers per hour km/h. I’ll work on the conversion. The cool thing about that treadmill is that it had a fan built into it to keep you cool. Why don’t our treadmills have that?! I was so exhausted afterwards that I went to bed around 11pm.
We walked back to the apartment and she fed Henry lunch. I played with the baby for a bit, he threw up again (just a little), but thankfully not on me! Henry went down for another nap in the afternoon and I took care of some post cards and emails. After he woke up (around 4), we stopped at the Post Office so I can mail my post cards (some of you need to keep an eye on your mailbox). After that we came back and had something to eat. Then they brought me to their gym—a German gym. Haha. What a trip that was to compare it to what’s at home. You try running for 30 minutes not knowing how fast you’re going or how far you’re going because the treadmill read in kilometers per hour km/h. I’ll work on the conversion. The cool thing about that treadmill is that it had a fan built into it to keep you cool. Why don’t our treadmills have that?! I was so exhausted afterwards that I went to bed around 11pm.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Day Two: July 27, 2011
The babies in the class were so sweet. Henry has a friend named Lenny (notice the “non-German” names haha), Lenny is a month younger. He is so cute. Then there was an 11-week-old baby named Jennifer. She was quite the talker and had a full head of hair. Someone else came with a two-week-old baby that was soooo tiny. Adorable. Henry had fun with his friends he’s crawling all over the place and really, really, really wants to stand up. He pulls himself up and stands on his tippy toes in his playpen. He also places his feet under him and sticks his tush up in the air as if he’s ready to stand up and run. So cute.
After class was over we went back to Anne’s apartment and gave Henry lunch. Soon after we went to the city center of Hamburg by train. There is a train station not more than a 5-minute walk from Anne’s apartment and the ride in was about 30 minutes. But the hardest part is these stations aren’t very baby friendly. Strollers are not allowed on the escalators and some stations have NO elevators. One man was kind enough to help us carry the stroller (empty) up three levels of stairs to the platform. When we returned, Anne and I carried the stroller with a sleeping Henry inside it down those three levels of stairs.
It was another beautiful day. It must’ve been 75 or so. Too warm for sweaters for me! I thought I’d be cold! We walked by the lake in the middle of Hamburg and then we visited the Europa Passage Shopping Mall. Germany has sure built up since I was last here! This place was 5 level shopping mall with high-end shops, restaurants, and your typical mall stores. We had lunch (Chinese…very good!). Let me tell you it’s very strange to see an Asian speaking German. (Rini, I saw a couple Filipinos when we were outside and they were speaking German…..what? Yes.) Anyway I managed to order my own lunch and pay for it too. You don’t have to leave a tip, you can just round up your bill. Mine bill was 7.80 and so I paid 8.00. I felt bad leaving the waiter with 20 cents. But that’s just the way it is.
After lunch we did a bit of walking around and I did some shopping. We stopped at a bookstore and I purchased some items, and as I was getting my change I see a coin with the Lincoln Memorial on it. How the heck did I manage to get a penny while in Germany? Only me. I was very amused. After walking around some more, we stopped at a coffee shop and I went to order. I was smart enough to ask if the cashier spoke English and thankfully she did. I needed COLD water, I was so thirsty. You’d think a wetter climate would have me less thirsty.
The evening was rather uneventful. I called mom and dad, and then we watched a DVD of Henry that Peter made. It was very sweet. My Godson is just too adorable and he is extremely active.
And so ends the summary of Wednesday. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed living it. Until tomorrow!!
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Traveling day: July 25th
Wow, what a long day it’s been. And here it is Tuesday and it’s yet to reach midnight in Tucson. My day has been adventurous for sure. I tried to sleep at 9pm so I could get a nap in, and I slept for about 2 hours and then the cat woke me up. I think he was slightly confused as to why we were going to bed so early, but he went along with it. He woke me up around 11pm and tried so hard to get back to sleep but wound up tossing and turning until my alarm went off at 1:30 am.
The shuttle came and picked me up at 3:15, right on time and I had the van all to myself. I checked in my 43 pound suitcase and was the first one on line at the security area. Of course they don’t open until 4 am and so I had to wait about 15-20 minutes, which I was fine with. It’s as if the Tucson Airport is on a vacation timer and suddenly turns on at 4. I got through security in less than 5 minutes and had some breakfast and called dad.
The first flight was to Houston and was about 2 hours long in one mom’s favorite planes. A 65-70 seater regional jet. Ugh. My overstuffed backpack wouldn’t even fit under the seat, and I doubt it would fit in the miniature overheads so I had to deal with lack of legroom. The seats on those planes are also very narrow. I sat next to some Air Force kid (who was a real punk actually) who had a semi-black eye and when he slept his hands and arms would twitch…he hit me a few times. lol. He insisted I go to the red light district in Amsertdam. That’d be an awesome place to bring Henry! Start him off young! Hahaha.
The rinky dink plane landed in Houston at 9:30 local time and my flight to Newark was scheduled to start boarding at 10:10. I was freaking out. It was like Denver last Christmas all over again. We arrived in terminal B and I had to go E. Thankfully Houston has those awesome monorails (I felt like I was back in Epcot, BFF!). I got to Terminal E by 9:50 and then had to locate gate 18. Of course it was at the end of the dang wing. I had enough time to run to the bathroom and grab a Danish (of which the girl called it a Dan-ish instead of Dane-ish). Silly Texans!
I got to my seat and was just exhausted. This plane was about the same size plane that mom and I took to Hawaii and the flight was really nice. There were screens in the seat in front of us to listen to music or watch TV or track the flight. The TV selection was rather poor so I opted to listen to the classical stations they had piping into the plane when we boarded. They had an opera station and an instrumental one. I managed to doze off to Verdi and all that fun soprano stuff….actually not very different from my Romanticism class last semester. Haha. I slept through most of the 3 hour flight, which was great. While we were landing I started to talk to the lady sitting next to me and told her about what I’m doing with school and explained although I am from Long Island, I’m going to Germany by way of Tucson. She tells me she’s a choir director, but a volunteer one at her church and does handbells. Small world. She was en route to Copenhagen on a basically parallel flight to mine where she was arriving at 8 am and I will be arriving at 7:30. She was going on a vacation of Scandinavia. I’m so jealous. I’d love to see some of my family’s “roots.” She also asked where my Long Island accent was. She literally said, “surely you weren’t born and raised there.” Hahaha. See, I’m so not like those people on How the States Got Their Shapes.
When we arrived in Newark I was in shock at how beautiful the terminal was! I knew they had redone it and renamed it not too long ago, but I really was expecting it to resemble Penn Station. Haha. The bathrooms did to an extent. I had a two hour lay over and managed to talk to mom and grab a B&W cookie and some Red Mango. What a tease it was to be able to see the outline of NYC and not get to go there for another 5 months. But I had my share of typical NY/NJ attitudes from the employees there (not to me, but to other people). It was raining pretty steadily when we were leaving. I find it strange that the plane we took to Newark was bigger than the plane I am currently on. Yes, if you’re wondering what that means I am writing this out while flying over the Atlantic at 35,040 above sea level traveling at 600+ mph. I think we are at the half way point with 1850 miles to go (about 3.5 hrs left).
Dorothy, I’m sorry to report that your plug was not used on this flight. Our seats have standard plugs so I just used my regular charger. I even was able to charge my phone, which I thought was awesome. This plane also has the screens in the seats in front of you, but with a MUCH better entertainment selection. I will admit at first though that I sat in the wrong row at first. I apparently can’t tell the difference between 24 and 25. lol. Anyway, the screen is a touch screen and you have the option to watch about 40 movies from Avatar to Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, to sitcoms (there was one ep of Hawaii Five-0 which I watched before dinner…one of my favorite ones to boot). You can play games like Bejeweled on the TVs too. Their music selection isn’t so great, so that’s what I’m using my laptop for! J
While I ate dinner I watched the Obama Myth Busters Special. Dinner was okay. We had the option of beef ravioli or chicken. I had the chicken. It was grilled with some tomato sauce, peas, string beans and rice. We also got a side salad with Ranch dressing, a dinner roll, and two Milano cookies for desert. It’s been a smooth flight so far, not too much turbulence. Which is great!
Day one: July 26th
We landed a few minutes early at 7:25 am on Tuesday the 26th. About an hour before landing they suddenly turned on the cabin lights and pretty much woke everyone up (some people actually didn’t sleep at all during the 7.5 hour flight). They were giving us a light breakfast of a croissant with strawberry jam and butter, melon pieces (4 pieces total…not my favorite. I had one piece of Honeydew and one piece of Cantaloupe and called it a day) and coffee or tea. It was a surprise but, dang did they “force feed us.”
Once we passed through the clouds upon landing all I saw was green fields as far as the eye can see. I miss greenery! I was allowed into the country (thanks Mr. Passport man) and my luggage arrived safely. I then spent some time trying to find Anne at the airport. Silly me exited out to the wrong terminal. Nothing crazy I just had to walk over to her. Anne & Peter got a new car…it’s a beautiful Nissan SUV (not a version that we have in the States), it has a HUGE sunroof….basically the entire roof is glass. It rides really nicely too. At the moment I still don’t feel like I’m in Germany. They live just outside of the city center in a quiet, green part of Hamburg. I am set up on my guest apartment until the 9th (with no TV or internet…guess I really can study for those comps? Haha). It’s a cute little place in a quiet retirement community that will suffice for a week and a few days. I couldn’t live in such a small space forever. I will upload a walk through video on Facebook soon. Henry is soo cute; he smiles at me and keeps staring at me. Anne and I wonder if it’s because I speak another language. Haha. He even puked on me this afternoon. Thankfully not a lot, but I thought it was funny. I met Anne’s mother in law who lives downstairs from her, and she baby sits two little 3 year olds. Hanna and Lewis (real German names, right?), they were both little blonde haired blue eyed kids. So cute…they saw me again that afternoon and shouted “hallo!” J Anne’s mother stopped by to see Henry and of course me too. It was great to see her again after 14 long years. We are able to converse a lot better now than in 1997. She made us lunch which was very tasty. I told Anne it was similar to the dinner I had on the plane. Chicken, rice and veggies. And then they gave me a sample of some Woodruff flavored ice cream. Very different, but tasty.
Anne and I went to the grocery store to get some things and I was amazed at the size of the store. Not as large as a store back home, but maybe ¾ the size. City live in Hamburg is much different than the town where Anne grew up. They had a small little grocery store, this place we went to today was like Fry’s (or Wegmans) meets BJs, but you don’t need to be a member. My tummy has been bothering me from traveling and I was on the search for Ginger Ale…I found it in the beverage center at the grocery store…I couldn’t help but giggle at the Schweppes bottle saying it was “American Ginger Ale”. (I will upload food photos soon). After shopping I came back to my apartment to lie down and I managed to sleep for an hour or two. I then returned to Anne & Peter’s apartment and watched the news with her and the German version of “Hoarders.” I am proud of myself that I can understand what’s going on. Although when Anne and her mother or mother in law speak, it’s a bit fast for me at the moment. I’ll blame the jet lag. I was surprised to see that it gets dark here at 10pm and the sky still had light in it around 11pm. Peter connected me to their wifi in the apartment, so I am able to check my email and FB from there once or twice a day.
It was quite nice out yesterday. I was afraid I would be freezing my tuchus off, but due to the humidity that I feel here (it had rained all last weekend so I feel the moisture), that made it feel warmer. It’s in the mid-upper 50s in the mornings and low-mid 70s during the day. I fared well with jeans, sweater, and flip flops.
Whew! This is quite and entry. It’s about two days worth of information. After all I did see two sunrises…one over Arizona, and the other over the UK. This morning I am accompanying Anne to her Mommy & me class with Henry. I was happy to be greeted with a big baby smile this morning!
I hope you enjoyed my long update!
Monday, July 25, 2011
All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go....
 |
| Tucson "International" Airport |
Hello friends!
Today's the day! I'm currently sitting in the Tucson Int'l Airport at 4 am waiting to board my first flight (we will be boarding soon, actually) on my journey practically across the globe. I'm excited and nervous. I am also dreading the long day I have ahead of me. 17 hours from now, when I step into the Hamburg airport--for the first time in 14 years--it will be TOMORROW. (It will be 10pm in Tucson and 1am in NY).
I thought I'd give a brief history on how I know Anne (for those of you that have no clue). When I was in high school my German class had an exchange program with a Hauptschule (High School) in Neu Wulmstorf, Germany (a western suburb of Hamburg). In 1996 I begged my parents to host a student and they agreed. I was matched with Anne who is two years older than I. She and the other 20 students stayed for about 3 weeks and it was a tearful goodbye. The following year it was our turn to go to Germany and I again begged to go. My parents complied and in February of 1997 I was one of 25 students and one teacher to visit Germany. Not such a great time of year to go, it was rather gloomy...we saw the sun for less than 3 hours the entire month. But we had a wonderful time. We visited Berlin, Luneburg (sorry, the umlaut's missing!), Hamburg, Bremen, and Buxteheude. I took a side trip with Anne to visit her family in Bonn and I had the opportunity to visit Beethoven's birthplace. We went to some classes, reveled in the fact that 16 yr olds could drink there legally (I had maybe two sips of whatever...I wasn't much of a rebel as a teen), and we just enjoyed the experience. Since then, Anne has retuned to visit for summer vacations with my family. We took her to visit Grandma in Florida, we went to Washington DC the summer of 2001, and I even drove down to Baltimore to pick her up and bring her to Long Island for a weekend in 2007. I met up with Anne and her (then) new husband Peter in Los Angeles in March of 2010 for a few days during a layover they had from returning from their wedding/honeymoon in Hawaii. That was the last time we have seen one another. Over the course of 14 years we have kept in constant contact. She's called to surprise me for birthdays. It's been a wonderful friendship, I always cry when we have to part. :)
Last spring she kept trying to get a hold of me and I kept missing her calls. One day she finally caught up with me and she told me she was having a baby. I was so happy. Then she asked if I would be one of the Godmother's to this baby....and I cried. :) And she laughed at me. haha. I was so touched and honored. The Godmothers are myself, her sister Sonja and her husband's sister. Of course I had to be there for the christening! Henry just turned 7 months last week and Anne tells me he has started to crawl. I am so very excited to meet him!
And here we are today...in the Tucson Airport getting ready to say goodbye to the heat of the desert and hello to the "cool" 70 degree temps of northern Europe for two weeks.
I will be staying in several places these next few days. I will be at Anne & Peter's apartment for a night or two, then in an apartment in a retirement complex for a week's time, we will visit Peter's sister in Rostok (Eastern portion of Germany on the Baltic coast), and I will possibly spend an evening or two with Anne's parents in Neu Wulmstorf. Anne told me that there is no internet access in the apartment I will be staying in (apparently retired Germans don't surf Facebook like some retired Americans I know!). I will be bringing my laptop to Anne & Peter's apartment every morning to update the blog and check my email (unless I pick up some free wifi haha) while I am in that location. It's a great excuse for me to focus more on the material for my comps, that's for sure! Gosh.
My phone will accept calls should anyone wish to call me. Please be advised that Hamburg is 9 hours ahead of Tucson, and 6 hours ahead of the East Coast. So if you call me at 4am, I'm not answering! haha. NO TEXTS please!
I should get this computer put away so I can board my flight. Keep an eye on my Facebook status as it should update as I travel! My layovers are not very long today, so you may not see a post on here until "tomorrow."
Adios for now Tucson, see you in two weeks! To my Tucson gang, see you in less than a month when class start! Where has the summer gone?!
To my NY friends and family, keep an eye to the sky around 5:45-6pm and wave to me as I take off from Newark! I promise to wave back! :)
I sure hope the years (5th-12th grade) of German will come back to me. I was semi-fluent when I graduated high school, but now I have a better listening and reading comprehension than anything. But Frau Hershey taught us well and I am very thankful for that! Vielen Dank! :)
Bye for now! :) I leave you with the weather for Hamburg for the next week.
Monday, July 18, 2011
One week to go, and lots to get done!
Ugh, packing. When I was younger, I would start packing for a trip a week ahead of time. Now, I pack maybe 1-2 days before hand. It could be that I'm more "experienced" as a packer, or that I'm lazy. At this point I think it's difficult to begin packing since I am unsure of the weather beyond the day I arrive (which--by the way--has changed to rain). I know I can bank on the 65-75 degree highs and mid-50 degree lows (too bad I don't have my heavy winter PJ's here in Tucson. But that's good sleeping weather for sure). There's a lot that has to get done this week, so perhaps I should start gathering items and casually tossing them in my suitcase.
In the world of entertainment, I had thought of renting several movies from iTunes (the movies on the flights look super boring), but then I had an idea. I will bring several DVDs with me to watch on my laptop. I also have the entire first season of Hawaii Five-0 on iTunes to keep me busy. ;) I might pick up some (good) magazines or a book (maybe I'll make a trip to Bookmans this week), but I have enough to read while I study for my comprehensive exams. My BFF Dorothy was kind enough to lend me her laptop power cord for flights, so I will have a constant power supply on the Trans-Atlantic flights. We laugh because her cord has earned so many miles (I even took it from New York to Tucson to Hawaii in January) and every flight I have been on to date has not had the power ports at my seat. She's experience the same thing. The cord is like a "Flat Stanley" at this rate, we think it's time to start a travel log for it. Finally several years later, it will be used!
There is much to be done this week. Thankfully I have the next two days to myself to get things taken care of around the apartment. I am finally getting my hair cut on Friday. My last cut was in mid-May, I have not gone this long without a cut in YEARS. With the humidity we have been experiencing from the Monsoons here in Tucson, I have been so uncomfortable. My hair has reached my shoulders. I don't tend to cut much off, but it desperately needs a shaping and thinning out. I look like the Shaggy Dog! :) There are lots of lists and reminders on my cell phone so I don't forget anything.
Here we go! Next post will be on departure day! :)
Saturday, July 16, 2011
"I've lived in good climate, and it bores the hell out of me. I like weather rather than climate." - John Steinbeck
You know the date is getting close when you can see the weather for your departure day in the 10 day forecast! The weather in Tucson, Houston, Newark, and Hamburg looks pretty good. There is a chance of storms in Houston & Newark, but hopefully I will miss them. Lord knows I don't want to be stuck in Newark longer than I have to! Anyone ever been to that airport? Can I get bagels there?
The one thing that is making me giggle is the high temperature in Hamburg for the day I arrive....not even 70! That's winter weather here in Tucson! So I suppose I'll wear sweats and bring my hoodie on the plane since the low in Hamburg is 57 and I'm arriving at 7:30 am. I have a feeling I'm going to be made fun of! Time to break out the cashmere....in July?
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Travel Itinerary
Hi everyone! Thanks for keeping up with me. :) I thought I would at least post my travel itinerary for you so you can keep up with my globe trotting. My Facebook status will update automatically as I travel thanks to a handy gaget from Lufthansa called My Sky Status.
All times listed are LOCAL times:
All times listed are LOCAL times:
Monday July 25:
Continental 1163
Departs Tucson at 5:10 am
Arrives in Houston at 9:32 am
1 hour 13 minute lay over
Continental 106
Departs Houston at 10:45 am
Arrives in Newark at 3:25 pm
2 hour 15 minute lay over (ugh gross...Newark!)
Continental 74
Departs Newark (good riddance!) at 5:40 pm
Arrives in Hamburg, Germany on Tuesday 7/26 at 7:30 am
Total travel time for the day: 17 hours and 20 minutes (with lay overs)
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Tuesday August 9:
Lufthansa 3390
Departs Hamburg at 7:30 am
Arrives in London at 8:15 am
3 and a half hour lay over
Lufthansa 7621
Departs London at 11:40 am
Arrives in Houston at 3:50 pm
(a 10 hour flight!!!)
1 hour 45 minute lay over
Continental 1193
Departs Houston at 5:35 pm
Arrives in Tucson at 6 pm
Total travel time for the day: 19 hours 29 minutes with lay overs
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This should be an interesting adventure to say the least! The 10 hour flight has internet available so you can bet that I will be chatting with some of you from the airplane. :)
Test Post
This is a test post via my cell phone. I can blog via text message to keep you all in the loop! :)
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