Week of Minimal Sleep

My last week in Norway was filled with long hours of work or late hours of social festivities. There was a bit to finish or follow-up on this week work-wise. One of my bedtimes was postponed by an 11pm - 12:15am meeting at the factory. Yes, there is some 24/7 hour work that is being done and it required a teleconference with folks back in Cali. It was fruitful, and tiring. The other nights involved a girls dinner at a coworker's house that went until just past sundown (11pm) and catching up with a coworker whom just arrived in the Oslo airport hotel until 11pm. That morning my alarm went off at 4:35am to get to the terminal for the first (6:55am) of the string of flights home. I arrived safetly at home in the early afternoon yesterday and have had my first full night of sleep in 4 days.

The garden is officially going bonkers. It's quite amazing how much things grow in 3 1/2 weeks. The sunflowers were about 3 ft when I left and grew an additional 3-5 feet while I was gone. Yep, we have an 8 ft sunflower stalk... and it's not even blooming yet! The lettuces, broccoli, and cilantro have gone to flower (maybe Jamie wasn't eating enough salad?) and the insects/bees are loving it. I look forward to doing some gardening today... taking out weeds, regaining control of some plants (the sunflowers have leapt forward and blocking the grapes, and plant some new flowers in time for my Mom's arrival on Tuesday.

Thanks for following me this trip. I'll let you know when the next one starts. In the meantime, enjoy the pictures from Prague last weekend!

From Norway II (Springtime!)

P r a G u E

Prague, Czech Republic.
I would not know where to point on a world map if someone asked where it was.
I could guess it was a gothic/dark-type destination
I figured it was off limits for a while (in history)
Aside from a credit and a debit card, that's about all I came here with. Today my education was advanced during my day of urban exploration...

Prague:
- Has more jewelry shops that can feasibly stay in business
- Does not have a leash law - dogs follow owners at their own will whether in a park or on the cobblestone sidewalks, no matter if its a doxen or a wolf. SO unlike LA.
- Easy to find a ex/change counter, very difficult to find an ATM
- Souvenir shops are like the currency, for every 1 US souvenir shop, Prague has 20
- The architecture (for a non-architecture person) makes one want to walk slower or re-walk the streets
- The glass/crystal shops are just as numerous as the jewelry shops
- The Czech cuisine most resembles Ireland, although that is an ignorant assumption for one whom hasn't been to Ireland... meat, potatoes and cabbage.
- It's VERY photographic city

Today was a lot of walking, a little bit of tasting, some shopping, and mostly absorbing. The bullets sum up my main observations. I saw the frequented sites... castle grounds (not interior), Charles bridge, Old Town, Wenscala Square, and along the river. Today I happened upon a hippy/international fair. I had baklava from Kirghistan, a garbanzo/tomato/cucumber/mint salad from Afghanistan, and a taste of wine from Georgia. There were also Greenpeace, dreadlocks, and refugee-sensitive countries in attendance.

Breakfast was a lovely buffet at the hotel. Lunch was a banana, pear, and nutella ice cream cone, which sounds better than it tasted. Dinner was excellent and at a pub/bar from 1499. The food was not from then, just the structure. It is the oldest food/pub establishment in Prague. I shared an (indoor) picnic table with a couple from Holland (him)/Italy (her) and they comprised by settling in France (near Nice) for the last 20 years. We share the table, we shared conversation, and we shared our first experience with Becherovka... a liquor that is best described as a cross between tequila, gingerbread, and chai. I'll try to get some at duty free tomorrow for those that want a taste. The waiter mentioned the ingredients are secret, and apparently he is completely accurate. Sheesh

After dinner it was dusk, not quite dark yet. I wanted to take some night snapshots of the castle, so I "wasted" time at a waterfront cafe with a glass of wine and an acoustic guitarist that I suspect was American. There has been a ridiculous... I mean surprisingly number of Americans around Prague the past 24 hours. I hear the accent everywhere and have spoken to a few about it. It is certainly unexpected. While at this riverside venue, fireworks started exploding on the other side of the nearby bridge. The guitarist was put-off to say the least, he couldn't compete with the bangs, however it was neat timing on my part. It was a 10 minute show. The guitarist did some "Sweet Home Alabama, Born to be Wild, and some Santana". Quite good overall. My glass was empty, he was done, and the sky was dark enough for my exit to be timely in order to get some attempts at a night shot of the castle. Many shots later I mosied on back to the hotel. It was 10:30pm at this point and aside from there still being plenty of activity on the streets, many of the tourist stores were still open for business. I concentrated on my hotel room and here I am. It's bed time, and it's been a pleasure sharing with you.

Tomorrow is a lazy morning with a mid-day flight to Oslo. Not interesting, but certainly restful!

Social Late Nights = Blog Neglect

Late nights and social plans has been the theme this week with it getting progressively worse... or I mean later nights. It started out Sunday with an hour late plane returning to Oslo resulting in a midnight arrival at the Kongsberg hotel. From lack of sleep in Bodo (maybe from the lack of darkness?), I attempted bed at 8pm on Monday night, unsuccessfully. A couple hours later I finally dozed.

Tuesday night was Chef Sas at my coworker Camilla's house. I cooked for her last time and she appreciated it. This time the menu was stuffed mushrooms, roasted garlic bulb on bread, sweet potato fries, and portugese tomato soup. It was delicious and refreshing after a dieat of bread & cheese, or food from restaurants. Camilla had prepared a raspberry mousse with raspberries from last year's harvest at her parent's place. Awesome. Once at the hotel, my current eye candy non-fiction book kept me up. It was magically turning page by thrilling page through the story (Ship of Gold) and so I was entranced and unable to fall into slumber until 11, or was it midnight?

Wednesday the 5 course meal was worked off. After plugging away on the computer all day, another coworker, Margaret, took me for a trail run up the mountain and along a ridge. I was breathless for the first 15-20 minutes but was able to adjust for the rest of it. She had a serious skill of dodging the roots and rocks, earning her the name Twinkle Toes, or even Mountain Warrior. It was a great work-out and view from the top. We rested on her balcony afterwards for a glass of gassy water. Not my usual post workout refreshment, but it more or less did the trick. Upon returning to the hotel, calling Jamie, and more book shinanigans, sleep didn't happen until around midnight.

Thursday was the grand finale. It was the local company's summerfest, or company summer party. My friend (expat coworker) and I were fortunate enough to be invited. I had brought a cheap cowboy hat on this trip (CU alumni giveaway) as a prop to use when walking around the office & factory the first day... "I've got my lasso and I'm here to corral y'all together. Now don't cha worry, I left the whip at home..." However cowgirl Sas didn't quite make her appearance as the opportunity just wasn't right. So, the cowboy hat sat in the office. It turned out the company summer part was themed Cowboys, so the prop was the perfect accessory for the party. What a coincidence, I've only worn this hat 1 other time. Actually, about half of the guests had cowboy (or Australian) hats on and a couple even had chaps on!

Moving on... the party started at 5pm and there were some team building activities (stacking hay bales as high as possible, shooting cowbells with bee-bee guns, building a bridge with oversized lincoln logs, how many people can you fit on a 1x1m platform -11 for my team). The games were great fun. A catered, barbeque-styled buffet followed next, lakeside. A hired group of ladies line danced and had a teaching session, then the country band warmed up and led us all in the line dancing. Bales of hay lined the gravel dance floor and the music (all american country) continued. It started to feel like a 8th grade dance. People standing around talking with drinks, while some of the guys went up to girls to ask them to dance. It was not something that I was used to, but it certainly was fun. I wish more US companies did such festivities.

The party was over at 11:30pm (bus arrived for transport then) and so everyone boarded. I got off in town with a dozen other folks (1/2 being managers) and we went out for a night cap. A mojito was handed to me, by a coworker whom had conversed with me earlier on how bartenders hate making mojitos because they are so much effort. It was just like him to order them, he is a good button-pusher. I did appreciate it though... there was no dessert at the party, this was a sweet minty way to finish the night. The hotel bed greeted me at 2am. The latest night yet.

Even with the late social nights, the days were busy and productive. I am working hard since I only have 1 more week to make an impact and influence the supplier. Only 1 more week!

I'm in a sweet hotel in Prague right now and my eyes are propped open with sheer enjoyment on keeping up the blog. For dinner I had a potato soup served in a very proper bread bowl, ginger ale, and a large ramikin of rhubarb pear crumble topped with honey sour cream. It's something I may try to replicate at home. Any guinea pigs? The total number on the bill was a little less than what it'd be in Norway (216), except here I get to divide it by 20 for the conversion, instead of 5. It ended up being the equivalent of $10. Wow, cheap!

Tomorrow is expected to be a soggy day of walking. I'm going to rest up well tonight! Enjoy.

Panoramic Bodø

Yesterday was a beautiful day. The weather forecast for this weekend showed an icon with a sun, a cloud, and rain drops. It was determined that either the forecasters are lazy, the weather changes frequently, or the entrusted site doesn’t monitor this part of Norway. I came prepared with sunglasses, sweaters, and a rain coat. I certainly used all of them, although the rain coat came in more handy for wind blockage or warmth than for repelling rain.

After updating the blog Saturday morning, I headed downstairs and asked the receptionist if there were any markets open today. She pointed in the direction of a farmer’s market and off I was. The market consisted of half a dozen stands: breads, honey, cheeses, and tortillas with sweet flavored cream cheeses? That last was an odd one, but that’s what it tasted like. There was a saxophone playing over a sound system, and an all-women percussion team marched up a few streets. They were supporting some event, although it was unclear to me what. I purchased a sesame loaf and a semi-hard cow’s cheese and continued on my way.

I went in a few stores… blomster (florist) where they had a neat stick display (see pictures) and in a chain store of furniture and house décor. They had some lampshades on sale ($3/piece) that are perfect for a lamp I purchased from a flea market last time I was here. The shades in the US were $15/ea and I’ve been holding off on buying them because it’s silly to pay that much. At this Norwegian sale price, it was a steal. I got 6.

At this point, town was checked off the list. It was either head South to where there might be a flat seaside stroll, or head North to the bordering hills for a view. I chose North and WOW. After dropping off the lampshades in the hotel room and grabbing a map from the tourist office, I journeyed up a main road, past a Hurtigruten ship (Jamie & I had taken Polar Lys Hurtigruten ship Southbound through this town... however the stop was from 1am-3am so we didn't disembark the ship, the Northbound ship docks from 12pm-3pm), through a residential area, and at the dead-end onto a non-marked weeded trail. Without the map in hand, one would think the trail was only used by teenagers to escape at lunchtime. The nameless trail started steeply uphill and sometimes had questionable footing from dirt on cement. Or maybe it was that my nice sandals had no grip. Either way, I took it slow and still managed a light sweat. Once at the top, the view was teasing through the trees. I was stoked to get on the ridge and hike along it West towards the sea. I arrived at a radio tower and had a 280 degree view. I could see the colorful town to the South below, that peak resembling Half Dome, some saw-tooth ranges, up the entry of a fjord, and the islands along the Northern coastline. At the next hill the 360 panorama was complete with views West of mountainous islands in a distance, known as the Lofoten Islands. All the mountains in view at snow capped peaks. It was quite scenic.

Out of my backpack came the loaf of bread, cheese, peanuts, and water. It was a fantastic picnic. I hung out as long as possible. When the breeze started to pick up, I headed back for the shelter of the radio tower building. I sat on a protected bench, de-layered (it was warm out of the wind!), and called Jamie for a long chat. There was no wind break because there were few trees. The largest trees in town are no taller than a house, and once up on the hills forget about it. The trees were a maximum of 15 feet and sometimes only brush. The treeline in Norway is around 3,000 ft (compared to around 10,500 ft in Cali).

A solid two hours had passed, Jamie & I had caught up (Moxie doesn’t like the phone) and so I headed down. It was a faster return walk to the hotel, likely because I knew where I was going this time. I took a good rest in the hotel for a bit before cleaning up and finding nourishment at a Thai restaurant. I got the last available table (there were only 3 tables occupied, and the rest were reserved). Despite there being only 1 vegetarian item on the menu, the food was great. I was hoping for a few more veggie options, it being a Thai restaurant and all, however it’s a Thai restaurant in Norway. It is relatively difficult to be a vegetarian in this country (especially if one didn’t eat seafood), and nearly impossible to be a vegan. Norwegians like their eggs (hard or soft boiled), and their cheese. I skipped dessert and returned to the hotel for some knitting and TV entertainment.

It was just my luck, the movie The Departed was coming up on a TV channel next. It is tough to find English-speaking shows, let alone a free movie, so I was quite happy. It would keep me awake to midnight, at another chance to the see the midnight sun. At midnight, I took a trip to the top floor of the hotel (the bar was much less crowded than the previous night), and no-go. The sky was more cloudy than the previous night. It was still plenty light, just no sun in view. Aw shucks.

I finished up the movie, read a book, and had difficulty getting to sleep. The caffeine from the Jasmin tea at the restaurant stuck with me longer than was welcomed. After a couple hours, slumber finally had its way and I awoke at 9:30am. After a hotel breakfast, packing up my stuff, and checking out at noon, here I am. I’m going to have a relaxing day, and take a “day-off” from both working and from playing tourist. It’s a typical Sunday; the stores, restaurants, and tour centers are closed. There is nothing to do but entertain oneself. I have the internet, knitting, and a good book so I’m in good order to conduct a Sunday Norwegian style (minus the family time), until my flight this evening.

From Norway II (Springtime!)

48 hours of Light

The past two days of work were all-day meetings as two coworkers were in town. It’s a type of program evaluation. The days are long and lead into the night as everyone goes out for dinner and drinks. At the end of the 2nd day, everyone split up and I, towards the Oslo the airport. There was plenty of time, so it was a relaxing drive (in the rain) to OSL.

At the airport I returned the rental car. Yes, I’ll be picking a rental car back up on Sunday. Next week I will again drop it off on Friday, and pick it up on Sunday. You’d think it’d be cheaper to rent it for a whole month. However, the Avis lady did the calculations at the counter and confirmed it’d be $55 cheaper (+ cost of weekend airport parking) to turn it in on Friday and pick up another car on Sunday evening, and ditto for the following weekend. That’s fine with me, one less thing to worry about on my weeeknds. After a security check of my backpack, I was off to the domestic wing.

The name of my destination literally means “Live Die”, Bodø. Yes, it is quite the black ‘n white name, which fits well with a town that has 24 hr darkness for a month in winter and 24 hr light for a month in the summer. That is the purpose behind my weekend destination… midnight sun. Earlier in the day, I had looked at a map of the town in relation to the airport. It certainly looked like you could walk out of the airport and into town. Great, no bus nor taxi required. However, my flight was getting in at 10:30pm, so I wasn’t sure of the safety factor of walking that late. Wait a minute, … it will be light outside. I should be fine!

The flight was an easy 1h 15m. We were up above the rainy clouds in no time and headed North. The clouds began to scatter as we followed the coastline and I could see snow, glaciers, peaks, green valleys, and fjords. The plane began its decent and came extremely close to some rock cliffs resembling Half Dome (Yosemite) and other rocky peaks. It is certainly a flight path that would rock my nerves if it was foggy. Unfortunately my camera was buried, so I took mental snapshots. We made a hard turn and there was the ocean. The mountainous islands were quite a sight with a colored sky behind them. Very cool.

Upon landing, sure enough the town center was a 1 km (0.6 mile) walk, and it was plenty light out. It may as well have been late afternoon on a cloudy day. The town center is right on a harbor, and there was plenty of activity. I dropped my bags in the hotel room and went back out to grab a glass of vino. There was a guitarist playing in a white tent in a parking lot with some picnic tables hosting some jolly fun folks. I grabbed a glass of red and listened to the music (50% American songs, 50% Norwegian) and watched the action. It was now 11:30pm and there were people eating dinner (all restaurants were open including Subway, Burger King, Peppe’s Pizza, etc.), people had just finished shopping, and there were boats returning to the harbor. It was a surprising level of activity outside of the bars.

At 11:45pm I walked along the harbor for a midnight picture. Unfortunately the sun was still not out so I didn’t get to see the midnight sun, just the midnight light. It was the equivalent of a cloudy summer day at 7-8pm. I was exhausted and my eyes tired (even a little bloodshot). I returned to the hotel a different way, where there was even more activity through an outdoor mall. Once in the room I closed the black-out curtains and had no problems going to sleep for a long, restful time.
The hotel breakfast buffet was open from 7-11am. I can’t remember any other hotel that has had the breakfast open until 11. Might as well consider it lunch! Now that I’ve got a head start on digesting, it’s time to go do some exploring to see what else the town has to offer. My expectations are low!

From Norway II (Springtime!)

Bland Middle of the Week

Grocery stores here are quite small compared to the grocery warehouses of Cali. I went looking for a jug of apple juice (only come in tall waxy cardboard boxes here) and a jar of peanut butter. I love my PB with my afternoon fruit. The apple juice selection was larger than anticipated and the PB selection not so much. Two choices: organic natural crunchy peanut butter or organic natural smooth peanut butter. The former is 20 cents more than the latter. I went for crunchy. Afterall, what is 20 cents when the jar is $7?

On Monday night I dined at my favorite restaurant, Skragata. The owner (monsieur) greeted and immediately recognized me. With a hug he welcomed me to an outdoor patio table. No order was necessary before there was a glass of red wine in front of me. Is it bad that a Norwegian restaurant owner recognizes me, but there is not one place in my hometown where even a server would recognize me? Monsieur survived the winter and had gotten a new French chef whom was excellent (he took me into the kitchen to meet her at the end of the meal). With the appetizer bread came a shaped dollop of butter that had a small pool of balsamic vinaigrette. What a sweet topping for the bread. The main vegetarian course was varied slightly (for the better) than last time. The dessert was a passion fruit soufflé pancake. My thought was that it has GOT to be interesting. It didn’t fail. It resembled a fruity crème brulee stuffed crepe with a scoop of mango sorbet atop a sugar cookie crisp. A delicious finish.

The work week is going well. I have come up with a few break-through ideas and am in the process of introducing them to the different project stakeholders. When onsite at suppliers, there is certainly a personality, process, and patience that one needs, in order to change behaviors, expectations, and accept the new/unusual ideas. It does not come easy and takes open minds on all sides. Sometimes it’s easy to find these open minds, and more times than not, there are challenges in first bringing the audience to be open-minded. This is where the creativity and the real challenge come into play. I’m working hard as my time to reach these goals is very limited. 3 ½ weeks is not much to make a big dent. Work hard, play hard, oh and eat well!

Springtime All Over Again

The Columbine are up, cherry blossoms decorative, apple blooms dotting the trunks, Astilbe are errect at attention, Bleeding Hearts... well, bleeding, zinnas peeled open, and the lilacs are living large and in-charge. It's springtime all over again. Norway seems to be a few weeks behind the CA foliage schedule, yet it is actually warmer here. Both nights I've eaten out here, I was borderline sweating sitting ouside, in a sleeveless shirt at 6:15pm. Granted, the sun is up as high as it would be at 3pm, but still. It was a temperature I was not expecting. So much for my packed scarf, gloves, and hat. I guess they will stay packed.

The sun is certainly something else. It's quite tough going to sleep when the sun is still up. My eyes slow down, my head doesn't quite function clearly, and yet my body is confused at why it needs to start relaxing. The sun, by the way, is still up... it's 10:27pm. It rests in 5 mintues, and will rise at 3:59am.

Today was a grinding day over the computer at work and I'm beat. Yesterday I posted the pictures from my weekend in Bruge. Enjoy them!

From Norway II (Springtime!)

Belguim Beer, Biking & Beach

Well, I found an "internet cafe" called Snooker Palace. The place is no internet cafe as you think of it. It can best be described as a back room to a dive bar that happends to have computers, or better yet... the dirty attic of a smoker's house. It's really that bad.

Yesterday I made it to Brugge, Belguim via Brussels. It was literally planes, trains, and automobiles (almost in that order). I wasn't good for much last night other than a search for an hotel with availability, a crepe, and glass of vino on the center square.

Today's plans were to check out town/shops of Brugge and do some chocolate tastings. I didn't get to the former, and the latter turned into buying Belguim chocolates 15 minutes after the store was supposed to close (6:15pm)... let alone tasting.

The morning started bright & early at 5am, thanks to a friendly gnat around the headboard. Oh, and the diesel trucks having a parking contest in the square in front of the hotel. Sleep was hopeless so I started in on my book for a couple hours. I was timely for the hotel breakfast of bread, butter & tea and out the door to investigate the results of the diesel trucks... they had turned into stores... a market of a sort. Most of it was disappointing. The majority of the products resembled shirts, socks, pantyhose, skirts, etc. that stores couldn't sell over the past 5 years. The section I was doubling back for was the food. I bought some bread at the most popular bakery table, Belguim hard cheese from the cheese display, and 2 pastries (why decide between 2 when there is no one else to weigh in on the decision? get both!).

A quick trip to the hotel to pack up my backpack and I was on my way for batteries and sunblock. The weather is amazing, but I'll go into that on another post. On the way there, I passed a bike rental shop over-running w/ people. So I went and rented a bike for 4 hours (current time- 9:30am). I wasn't sure if I could see it all by foot anyways, so a bike would at least help me get a layout of the city. I bought batteries and used the SPF 50 tester from a pharmacy shop and was on my way!

Or, so I thought. After a few turns here and there, I realized Brugge is much bigger than originally anticipated and I had no idea how to get out. There is no way the roads here are parallel. I stopped and asked an older fellow who "looked the local Brugge part"... or at least walked w/ confidence. He was excited to hear the English and asked where I'm from in the US. He lived in Chicago for the middle 40 years of his life (he was born in 1939). He knew where I should go, but instead of explaining it, he said to follow him. So I sat on my bike and walked it along next to him while we chatted. We detoured to a fancy rich family's house and then down to the circular moat bordering the Southeast side of the city. At this point I could've rode off and go on my way, but the conversation was interesting so I kept paddling my sandal along the path. At an intersection, he invited me for a drink before my ride... and thought... why not? So across the street we went to a pub on a busy corner and grabbed an outdoor table. The waiter came quickly, and my new friend asked what kind of beer I'd like. Hmmm, for those that know... this is not a question for me 'cause I don't like beer. That being said, I can't tell that to the Belguim guy who has offered to buy me one. I also don't want to leave here never having tried one. So, I asked if there is a fruity/sweet option. There was (Kriek) and I really enjoyed it. Think beer equivalent of a wine cooler. Less alcohol content and all. Half-way through the glasses I broke out the pastries and we finished them. The conversation covered everything from US destinations (he lived in NY & CO), his job as a TWA pilot, to his father's Nazi imprisonment (Belguim army POWs let go after 3 months due to Nazi's confidence), to being back in Brugge where he was born. Interesting guy and it was a good way to start the day... although it was around 11am when we finished.

I rode my bike. I stopped in Damme. I rode my bike more. I stopped in Silius. I rode my bike more and slowed down near Kokke, and followed the salty breeze to the beach where I ate what was left of my picnic lunch (bread & cheese). Then I got completely lost in Kokke (even after asking 3 people) for about 30-40 minutes. Finally I found my way and returned to Brugge. It was an epic ride through the most beautiful flat terrain I've ever biked. Miles of double tree grove lined canals (double tree groves on both sides of the canals) connecting awesome cobblestone, quaint towns. The beach was as wide or wider than the LA beaches... same air & water temps too. I purchased some trinkets in the towns. My challenge tomorrow will be getting them all to fit in my 1 backpack with my clothes. Ryanair, I might be layering on the clothes tomorrow. They are super strict on their carry-on qualifications, hence discount airline.

All sweated out, I returned the bike at 5:30... a whopping 8 hours after I rented it for 4. The guy thanked me and took the bike. I told him I need to pay him more money. He shook his head. I insisted I need to pay him for another 4 hours and he stood firm. Okay, then... I'll go buy myself another beer! Cheers!

All I could think about was ice water, cold shower, ice cream, and (gulp) cold fruity beer. So that's what I did... in that order. Dinner (crazy goat cheese medallion salad) happened after all of that.

My legs are empty, my wallet is tired... I think it's about time to check in and finish the day how I started. Drinking a fruity book. Goodnight!

Public Pat-Down

Well, I’ve gone Norge, again.
Like last time, this is a 3 ½ week venture. Unlike last time, there is a low probability of it turning into 10 weeks, due to a particular July 4th holiday weekend I’d like to participate in, and the July shut-down. The latter being a local factory closure for 2 (or is it 3?) weeks. Regardless, Norges usually tack on a week here or there such that there is zero work done for the entire month of July. How’s THAT for a holiday… instead of taking the July 4th holiday, let’s just start taking the July holiday.

I am no European traveler. For any moderately long trip, I don’t wear the boots, I skip the tight jeans (let alone skirts), don’t over accessorize myself with gold/platinum/silver/copper, and I don’t overstate black. These habits are not intended to stand apart from these Euro travelers, but instead were shaped by a separate set of principles: the US regulations (namely the TSA security processes), comfort, and the general acceptance of sweatpants. As usual, I was no challenge for the US TSA, my bags were carried through and I was clean as a plastic whistle going through the detector. The 3 rings, small post earrings, a leather-banded watch, and the metal chip in my passport were no threat to the plane. In Munich, it was a different story. Not only did the knitting needles in my bag aggravate the detector, the human buzzer went off too. I took 1 small step to the side (between the walk-through metal detectors), and awaited the female inspector to finish inspecting another traveler 2 feet from me. Within a minute she was onto me. She patted my arms, pits, my chest, my back, sides, lifted my shirt to run her hand around the elastic hip band of my pants, and then went South. No temporary walls, no separator glass, no decency, no nothing. It was just a good ‘ole public pat-down. Fortunately, she didn’t find any lumps so I’m good for another year.

The flights were easy and fine. I was able to do my normal transition between knitting, magazining, and catching up on movies that were neglected a couple months ago. Somehow my vegetarian meal preference never gets translated to the airline; however there is always a fish or decent veggie option available on the menu. I eat all of the food put in front of me in the biz class. At the layovers, I dart for the lounges and continue eating. The Munich lounge is one of the best (in my amateur eyes), namely because it employs the German culture whole-heartedly. There are classy black picnic benches, each adorned with salty, doughy pretzels hanging on the pretzel rack centerpieces. The atrium above has a beer label, properly framed with a mural of the black forest (from what I gather). More than half the occupants are drinking beer, the rest are eating wieners, and you can tell a newbie from the worn business traveler. Upon arriving on the landing, the newbie’s eyes do a slow scan of the room, the smile climbs across the lips, and suddenly the newbies find a hop in their step that leads them straight to the foamy amber beverages and Haribo gummies.

Due to a late-night arrival and the lovely airport hotel, I spent the night in the airport hotel.
At 10:10 pm the sun was just setting on the horizon.
At 11:15 pm (bedtime) the residual light in the sky was still coming through the curtains.
At 04:55 am I awoke wide-eyed in a fully-lit room (yes, through the curtains) and scrambled to find my watch in trepidation that I missed my 6am alarm. Nope. False alarm. Time to start my first day.