Wednesday, August 17, 2022
Sunday, June 19, 2016
I'm Going Home! Eventually
Tuesday, June 14, 2016
The first leg of my trip has me flying from Hannover to Frankfurt. My flight leaves at 6:40 a.m. Ugh... We left Barbara's at about 4:45. It was an easy trip to the airport. This airport is a piece of cake to navigate. From the time it took me to check my bag, say goodbye to Barbara, get through security and find my gate it took me a whole 8 minutes.
The flight to Frankfurt was uneventful. I had the entire row of 3 seats to myself. Sweet! I had almost 3 hours to kill in Frankfurt, so I got some tea and chocolate croissant and took my time. I eventually made my way to the gate and waited. And waited. We finally boarded the flight to San Francisco, then we waited some more. We took off 90 minutes late. I was on the aisle of the center section of 4 seats. The woman sitting next to me was traveling with a man who I assume was her husband. They were speaking Italian. I didn't talk to anyone the entire 11+ hour flight, except to answer questions from the flight attendants. I did watch some movies, so it wasn't boring. We made up about 30 minutes in the air, so the plane was only an hour late. But being late meant there wasn't a gate available. We had to wait another hour for that. Finally I get into the airport, only to find a new system at passport control. There were 2 lines, one for U.S. passport holders and one for everyone else. So why did I see other countries passports in my line? Right, to slow us down. Great! There were about 20 kiosks for everyone. Finally I got to one. It scanned my passport, took my picture, and I had to answer a bunch of questions. It gave me a print out. Then I had to stand in another line to have an immigration officer physically look at my passport and the printout I got at the kiosk with my photo. After both of those were stamped I could make my way to the luggage carousel. Perfect timing. The bags were beginning come out. It didn't take long for mine to appear. Yay! I got out to the arrivals hall and found Jim right away. Let's get out of there! My flight was supposed to land at 12:55 p.m. We left the parking garage at 4:00. And to top it off, parking cost $22! Now we had to deal with commute traffic. It took over an hour just to get to the Bay Bridge. It was after 8:00 p.m. When we arrived home. We only stopped once, for about 10 minutes. We picked up some In-N-Out to eat in the car on the way. I wanted to get home as soon as possible.
It was so nice to arrive home, and sleeping in my own bed was heavenly. Well, I slept for about 2 1/2 hours. Then I was wide awake the rest of the night. Jet lag always kicks my ass after I arrive home.
Home Sweet Home!
This Is It - My Last Day
Monday, June 13, 2016
In the morning Barbara took Sascha to the train station, then a little later we started making the rounds. We visited several friends of Barbara's. The first two friends were very welcoming and showed us their beautiful gardens. The last person was someone who had gone to Malta for 8 weeks to learn English. Barbara thought it would be nice for him to practice it with me. He was very nice, offering us coffee/tea and cookies. He was hesitant to speak, expressing that he thought he wasn't very good. On the contrary, he seemed to understand most of what I said and could reply appropriately. I wish I was that proficient in another language. We met so many people who could speak 2, 3, 4 and even more languages. The U.S. certainly lags in that department.
After we were done visiting with people it was time to think about dinner. We ended up going to a Spanish place. They had tapas, so I had to have some. Delicious! It was a nice way to end a wonderful 10 days with the family. I'm ready to go home now.
Cologne with Barbara and Sascha
Sunday, June 12, 2016
Barbara's neighbor was having a birthday party a noon. She asked for some help, so we went downstairs. After helping to cut veggies, put together platters of food, and set things up, it was time to go. Just as the party was getting started. Sascha was arriving from Berlin. Barbara left to retrieve Sascha from the train station. I stayed behind and took a little nap. I needed that!
After Sascha had some time to rest we went downtown and had a nice walk through a park area.
We then went to the Maschsee.
We took a boat trip around the lake.
Our boat was bigger!
It was a nice relaxing way to spend the day.
Cologne to Hannover
Saturday, June 11, 2016
After a nice visit in Cologne it was time to return to Hannover. I won't be seeing Danielle again on this trip. Is was so nice to spend time with her. I will be seeing Sascha again in Hannover. Danielle went to the train station with me and hung out with me until the train arrived. It was hard to say goodbye. Barbara was waiting for me when the train arrived in Hannover. We returned to her house and just relaxed and talked the rest of the day. I told her about where we talked about for the next family trip. To say she was excited is an understatement!
Friday, June 10, 2016
Cruising The Rhine
Friday, June 10, 2016
High river
Car ferry across the Rhine
I'm not sure why there was an American flag flying when we got off the boat. Maybe they were expecting us!
The teaser for the C&P museum
Cake shop
Today is my last day in Cologne. Danielle and I discussed different possibilities for the day, and we decided on a boat trip on the Rhine. We would have liked to go from Bonn to Koblenz, but it would take too long. We settled for going from Bonn to Linz. We got to the train station in Cologne and realized we had very little time to catch the train. My left knee is still bothering me from the sprain. I tried to walk briskly/jog after Danielle. Immediately I felt pain in my right calf. I'm assuming I pulled a muscle. All I know is I could barely walk. It hurt like hell! We did make it on time to take the train to Bonn, then went took a taxi to the boat. Or tried to. I guess the driver was trying to take a round about route, and then we got stuck in traffic. Great, out of the taxi to hobble further than I had hoped. Getting older can be a challenge some days!
It was a beautiful sunny day. Perfect weather. This is a scenic stretch of river. It's running very high right now, and there was some question about whether the boats would be running. Luckily for us, there wasn't a problem with that. We found a couple of chairs on the deck and settled in for the ride. There were interesting things to see on both sides. It was nice to have Danielle showing me points of interest and places where she has worked or has a personal connection to. She made a nice little lunch for us. Much better and healthier than the food available on board.
Linz is a very old and a very charming town. It's full of half timbered houses. We walked around to see the area. Apparently there is a year round Christmas market. We skipped that, as well as the crime and punishment museum.
Danielle suggested we get a little bit of cake or something to snack on for the boat trip back to Bonn. We went into this shop, where we encountered the friendliest and most helpful guy I've met on the trip. He literally ran up the stairs to retrieve a boat schedule to show us when the next boat leaves. He showed us the cake choices. None appealed to me. Danielle chose what she wanted. He ran back out and returned with a piece of ice cream pie. He declared it was for marketing purposes and was on the house. We had a bit of discussion about his future plans for iced tea, using fruit infused ice cubes. He was full of enthusiasm. It was a pleasure to witness.
It was a thoroughly delightful town and wonderful way to spend some time. I could see spending more time there.
For some reason the return boat was a different company. And definitely a different attitude. Danielle got on first and went to look for a good place for us to sit. She could move much faster than I could. I followed behind, carrying the containers with the cakes. A very stern man informed me that there was no eating or drinking inside. Okay then, I guess it was good we were going to sit outside. Danielle found us some good seats. We were enjoying the view. Danielle took her water bottle out to take some medicine. The previously mentioned man came up behind her and reprimanded her for drinking the water. She told him she needed it to take her medicine. He kept a very close eye on us after that. Oh, and people could eat and drink. It just had to be their food and drink. I much preferred the KD boat. It was much more relaxed.
We took the train back to Cologne and I bought my train ticket for tomorrow. I'm returning to Hannover. When we got back to the apartment, dinner was ready. But first, they had some ointment that might help my leg. Raymund is a very good cook. His sister was feeling well enough so we all ate together. She is very sweet, and after we said our goodbyes (she and Raymund are leaving early tomorrow) she returned with a little pin on button with the cathedral towers to remind me of my time here. Raymund has been very welcoming and kind since I arrived. After dinner he gave me two very good quality small kitchen knives. He said the tradition is that I have to pay him one cent for each one. I didn't have any pennies, so he got five cents for each one.
I may not have access to wifi after I leave here, so there may be a stretch of days when I can't post. I'll do my best. I'm going home Tuesday.
Cologne With Cousins!
Thursday, June 9, 2016
Sascha and I had breakfast on the deck, taking in the great view. It was a beautiful sunny morning. Danielle joined us a little later and we sat around talking. Today is the last for us to all be together. Then it came time for Sascha to prepare for her journey to Berlin later in the day. In the U.S. we have the show "The Voice." In Germany, in addition to The Voice they have The Voice Kids. The children range in age from 8 years old to 14 years old. Sascha will be working this weekend helping to select the children who will have the opportunity to go the the blind auditions segment of the show. She will come to Hannover from Berlin.
Danielle and I walked around some different parts of the city. We discussed what we will do tomorrow, then looked into how we can make it happen.
We returned to the apartment to help with preparations for the dinner Raymund was making. Marc joined us after he got off of work. I met Raymund's sister, who also lives in the apartment. She didn't have dinner with us because she had a migraine. Raymund prepared squid ink pasta and grilled octopus for the first course. It was good. The second course was sea bass and salad. For dessert we had a choice of apple tart or chocolate cake. Danielle and Raymund went for the healthier option of the tart. Marc and I opted for the chocolate cake. Everything was tasty. We came up with a plan to go to Hawaii. Maybe it will actually happen some day.
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