First three days were busy...

Well, it all started with my ride to the airport getting stuck at the office. So I am glad I decided to get to the airport 3 hours early as that put me there 2 hours early. I was also happy that I needed the time to pack, which I left to the last minute! I was sure I forgot something…

The airport was almost desolate. I was shocked with less than 10 minted to check in and get to security. As I awaited my boarding, I am somewhat ashamed to admit I was look around the waiting area seeing who I would like or hate to get stuck next to for 8 hours? There was no single person who intrigued me enough to make me think “they would be a good travel companion” but I did see three people who needed two seats and thought, “please God, no”… Kind of reminded me of my last flight I took where I had twice my weight right next to me. If you had not heard, she was the one, when I declined my processed meal; she gleefully said she would have it… That was after her skinny as a rail husband gave her his meal as well.

Well we boarded on time and I played a game as people came toward me, stopped and went into a seat around me. Goodie I have two seats to myself, oops maybe not… This continued and soon I realize, I would be alone! Window seat and the one next all to my comfort. So I started to sprawl out and prepare to enjoy the flight.

The first leg of the flight was uneventful, sort off… They had movies on demand and I decided to choose “the boy in striped pajamas”. Now this is a movie I saw previews for but really had not idea the intensity of the movie. The ending was so unexpected! Do not want to spoil it for you. But it is an independent film worth a look!

I slept little on the plane even though I took my son’s advice and did take the prescription sleeping pill after the meal. I dozed for 2 hours and woke from the constant beeps when people pushed the button to call for help. Sometimes it was simple like not knowing how to turn on the light? I often wonder am I becoming less patient or if the disparity in the world of intelligence getting whole lot wider?

We arrived 30 minutes early to Amsterdam when I had originally only 50 minutes for the connecting flight… Well, now 80 minutes made it easier. My connecting flight was on the other side of the airport and it was a long way to hustle with little sleep… Felt like mile 65 of a 100-mile race.

I did get there without any hassle. We waited for a while when boarding started 20 minutes late. Well, I hate to call it boarding as we were put on a bus and carted across the runways to a plane in the middle of what seemed like nowhere in the darkness. We sat on the bus looking at the plane for another 10 minutes when we were told that the ice made walking to the plane difficult and to board slowly. So we did… It was like Texans driving in a snowstorm. Some people had no idea what to do on ice. Took another 20 minutes to put less than 30 people on the puddle jumper sized plane.

Then we sat, and sat, and sat. First deicing was taking a while when the pilot informed up we had lost our spot on the flight schedule and the control tower needed to find a place for us. Another 15 minutes before we moved. Then the most confusing thing happened… I really had never thought that taxiing on the runway could take 15 minutes or more, but it did! We just kept moving along at about 20 MPH, crossed 2 interstate highway and finally, there was this runway. I looked out the window and could not see the airport… Wow!

Once we got in the air it was fine, but when we got to Munich, we were told we need to circle, as we are late and have to wait for the chance to land… Another 10 minutes we were on the ground.

I had anticipated customs and all those other issues people tell me about, either I was an idiot or there was no such thing customs. I just walked the path to the baggage carousel and got the luggage and walked out. Jordan was there and thank god, as even he almost got lost. But we made it to the train.

Interesting, my first impression of Germany was much like North Dakota. Many farms and abandoned junk around them. What surprised me was the large amount of graffiti on the farms and so little in the towns? Seemed odd? Maybe they chose to leave it at the farms and have this great graffiti patrol cleaning the city?

We dropped my stuff off at Jordan’s place and went to Ulm. It is a quaint Village with the church like none I eve saw before. It is called the Munster, the second largest gothic church in Germany after the cathedral at Cologne. Construction started in 1377 but did not finish until 1890. Yes, 413 years to build! Been a Protestant place of worship since 1530… It had magnificent 15th century choir stalls with numerous carved figures. The tower is the tallest church tower in the world at 161.53m high and 768 steps. No I did not get in, but would have been cool to do that stair workout! It looked fascinating. We also took a walk along a Dona River which was a mixed of styles in development. We also came across redevelopment of a property downtown. The construction materials dated this no more than 100 years old with the steel beams, brick and such. I never found out why it was being removed.

We spent the entire day in Ulm and retuned (2 hour train ride) back to Munich. We went to the grocer and home. I was tired and made my bed on the floor and slept hard. I had taken a Klomazimpam to help sleep… Jordan woke me several times as I was snoring, which concerned me a little as I thought I might have a little sleep apnea again. This was an issue in the past when I was over 250 pounds. When I was in the 230s, it was never an issue.

We slept until 11 AM, which was funny, as I have not done that in a long time. But I guess it was 2 AM back home. We spent most of the day at the BMW museum and it was cool. After that we ate at a student pub called DieBierstube. This is a place where Jordan said is common. The beer it the first priority and then the food. I ate a rice/chicken dish, which was quite tasty. It was called Feuertopf. Must find the recipe! We left the restaurant and went downtown Munich. There was some type of protest? Cops everywhere. We did not stay long… We came home and went to bed as we are leaving very early for Stuttgart.

Up at 5 AM for some reason, this being 10 PM back home. Did some odds and ends, showered and headed for the train. The train to Stuttgart was just over 4 hours with the transfers and stuff. We were meeting a friend of Jordan’s who was going to hang with us for the day. We arrived at 11:00 AM and we went to a place and Jordan ordered me Doener? Like Gyro meat but dry and less tasty… Been here three days and we still do not have a great brat… I though Germany was famous for the brats? We met Christiana at about 1:30 and toured the town before we went to the BMW Museum. This is the second car museum in two days and I am a little sick of auto history, so tomorrow, we will stay away from auto related stuff! We left Stuttgart at 8 PM and did not get back to Jordan’s place until 12:30 AM. Really tired but wanted to get a post for the first three days while I have access. No runs but walked al least 4-5 miles each day. I can feel it.

Time to sign off. Carry on!