407 – 21 Days till Vacation!

Sorry for the delay in my last chapter of my trip to Europe, but it’ll be worth it on Monday.

Mom update: Mom’s doing so very much better since I forced the rehab facility to check her for gout. Since being on the medicine for it, she’s been able to get up and walk (using a walker so far) and walks quite far. The people there are quite sure she’ll be out before Thanksgiving.

We’re down to 3 weeks till vacation begins. We leave for Florida on the 21st, and the cruise leaves on the 22nd. We’re going with another couple from town, and it should be fun as this cruise goes 3 places we’ve never been to before: Cartagena, Columbia; Colon, Panama; and Puerto Limon, Costa Rica.

And now, something funny from my friend Mike H:

When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were. When they were growing up; what with walking twenty-five miles to school every morning.... Uphill... Barefoot... BOTH ways. yadda, yadda, yadda

And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way in hell I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on my kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it!  

But now that I'm over the ripe old age of forty, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today.  You've got it so easy!  I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a damn Utopia!   And I hate to say it, but you kids today, you don't know how good you've got it!

1) I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have the Internet.  If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the damn library and look it up ourselves, in the card catalog!!  

2) There was no email!!  We had to actually write somebody a letter - with a pen!  Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox, and it would take like a week to get there!  Stamps were 10 cents! 

3) Child Protective Services didn't care if our parents beat us.  As a matter of fact, the parents of all my friends also had permission to kick our ass! Nowhere was safe!

4) There were no MP3's or Napsters or iTunes!  If you wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the record store and shoplift it yourself!

5) Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio, and the DJ would usually talk over the beginning and @#*% it all up!  There were no CD players!  We had tape decks in our car.  We'd play our favorite tape and "eject" it when finished, and then the tape would come undone rendering it useless.  Cause, hey, that's how we rolled, Baby!  Dig?

6) We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting!  If you were on the phone and somebody else called, they got a busy signal, that's it!

7) There weren't any freakin' cell phones either. If you left the house, you just didn't make a damn call or receive one. You actually had to be out of touch with your "friends". OH MY GOSH !!!  Think of the horror... not being in touch with someone 24/7!!!  And then there's TEXTING.  Yeah, right. Please!  You kids have no idea how annoying you are.

8) And we didn't have fancy Caller ID either! When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was!  It could be your school, your parents, your boss, your bookie, your drug dealer, the collection agent... you just didn't know!!! You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister!

9) We didn't have any fancy PlayStation or Xbox video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics!  We had the Atari 2600!  With games like 'Space Invaders' and 'Asteroids'.  Your screen guy was a little square!  You actually had to use your imagination!!!  And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen... Forever!  And you could never win. The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you
died!  Just like LIFE!

10) You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on! You were screwed when it came to channel surfing!  You had to get off your ass and walk over to the TV to change the channel!!!  NO REMOTES!!!  Oh, no, what's the world coming to?!?!

11) There was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons on Saturday Morning.  Do you hear what I'm saying? We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons, you spoiled little rat-bastards!

12) And we didn't have microwaves.  If we wanted to heat something up, we had to use the stove!  Imagine that!     

13) And our parents told us to stay outside and play... all day long.  Oh, no, no electronics to soothe and comfort.  And if you came back inside... you were doing chores!   And car seats - oh, please!  Mom threw you in the back seat and you hung on.
If you were lucky, you got the "safety arm" across the chest at the last moment if she had to stop suddenly, and if your head hit the dashboard, well that was your fault for calling "shot gun" in the first place!    See!  That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids today have got it too easy. You're spoiled rotten!  You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes
back in 1970   or any time before!

Have a wonderful weekend all!

406 - My First Trip to Europe XXI

Stuttgart, Germany:

Thursday in the Stuttgart office was quite nice, and everyone was wonderful to me. I met a new friend, Klaus Young, who helped show me around and I worked through the morning.

Around noon, Klaus, Steve and his boss (don’t remember his name) and I went to lunch and had a wonderful meal! The hospitality of these people was just amazing.

Steve came around to see me around 5pm, and said lets head out, and asked me if I wanted to go out to dinner with him, which I jumped at!

He met me at a commuter train station about a block from my hotel, and we headed downtown to an absolutely gorgeous area, and sat down at an outside restaurant. At right is Steve and I enjoying a nice, German Alt bier.

The menu was, of course, in German, so Steve translated for me and I ended up saying “I’ll just have what you have”. He asked if I liked white asparagus, and I said I’d never tried it but I really liked the green version.

The meals we got were called Schweinshaxe, and it was outstanding, as was the white asparagus.

At left is a picture of the meals, (and Steve).

We ate and talked and generally had a wonderful time. Steve was a wonderful host, and the combination of food and beer was just perfect.

 

I had hardly realized, we were eating a few hundred yards of the Governors Summer Home (see next picture).

 

Now that’s a time lapse picture so you see some people walking by that look like ghosts if you look closely. What a gorgeous place though.

We sat for a while, talking after dinner, and just people watching.. and I was beginning to reflect on my time in Europe, and all the wonderful friends I had made, and great times I had had.

As we got back to the train station, I noticed a gendarme with a dog, and asked Steve about it. He didn’t have a clue, and asked me to ask him myself.

So…. I go up to this nice gendarme, and ask if he speaks English, to which he says yes, and ask him about his dog.

The dog is a Bouvet, and is an incredibly brave dog that’s being used more and more in law enforcement in Europe.

We spoke for a while before I boarded my train to my hotel, but not before me thanking him profusely for being so nice.

I got off the train the block from my hotel, and surprisingly, even on a very dark street, I felt very safe.

More on Friday….

405 - My First Trip to Europe XX

Germany:

It’s now Thursday, and in work, I’m told they’re renting me a car to drive to Stuttgart, Germany. I’m nervous of course, because I don’t speak German, and I hope I’ll be able to follow the directions to the office there.

About an hour later, while waiting for the car to be dropped off, I’m told there’s a salesman from Stuttgart there and he’ll be going back with me, and I let out a happy sigh.

The guy’s name is Steve Valentine, and he’s a young guy up where I am getting some training. He’s actually from Florida so he speaks English as well as I do (so to speak).

We head to the car and he insists I drive, to get my first taste of “driving at the limit” on the autobahn. He explains the speed signs near cities, and shows me what the signs look  like (including the “No Restrictions” sign at right).

With Uebach-Pallenberg in the rear view mirror, the sign appears and Steve looks at me as if to say… “Go for it”. My foot hits the floor and in our brand new Volkswagon Polo, smoothly accelerates past 90, over 100, topping out at around 123 miles per hour. The funny thing is, the autobahn is built so very well, you hardly know you’re going faster than 70. I can truthfully say it’s probably the finest built road on Earth. No potholes, no broken pavement.. perfect. Even banked corners. Steve explains that the far left lane is ONLY for passing. If you stay there, you’ll be arrested.

Blasting down the road, I see a slower car ahead, and absolutely nobody in my rear view mirror, I turn on my signal to get into the left lane to pass. 20 seconds later, I’m moving right again with an extremely fast Mercedes on my tail flashing it’s lights to move over! I’m like a kid now.. loving every minute of this.

Sadly though, after around 350 Kilometers, we arrive in Stuttgart.

More on that, and pictures on Wednesday!

404 - My First Trip to Europe XIX

Germany/Italy:

Right away, I notice my taxi driver could easily be a New York City cab driver. Zigging in  and out of traffic until reaching the famed Autobahn.

Then, the fun began.

His foot hits the floor, and the car leaps forward as we easily jump to over 100MPH, then, as soon as we hit open road, the needle creeps upwards to well over 140MPH. I look down at my right hand, and it’s white knuckled on the armrest as we sail past smaller, lesser cars on the greatest paved surface on Earth. Corners are banked. Instead of going down then back up in valleys, they build a bridge across it. Even the asphalt is pristine with no bumps, holes, or imperfections that I can see (at >140MPH).

Now, I enjoy high speed, but I like to be in control of the vehicle going that fast, and while my nerves eventually calmed down, it was time to exit to the airport. The cab was prepaid (and tipped) but I handed my driver about a $10 tip and he was very appreciative, and I headed indoors to look for Alitalia Airlines.

The flight was great, as it was a good sized jet, but there couldn’t have been more than a dozen people on it, so I got more or less personalized service. We flew over the Alps, and I saw the pristine snow capping them from above.

Before long, we landed and I was met by Antonio, the manager at the field office I was going to. I have to be honest and say I didn’t get to see much of Milan (or Milano as they call it) because we drove straight to work, and didn’t take the scenic route.

At lunch, Antonio took me to a small restaurant nearby where I ordered my requisite pizza, and tried to take it all in. Sadly, the pizza was nowhere near as good as I was hoping it would be (maybe my expectations were too high?). Back to work it was and by 6pm, I was back on a flight to Germany.

The ride from the airport to the hotel wasn’t as good this time as the driver spoke very little English, but it was ok, I was writing stuff in a small journal I brought with me to remember when I got home.

Monday, I get to drive the famed Autobahn!

Have a wonderful weekend all!

403 - My First Trip to Europe XVIII

Germany:

Tuesday night, after work, I decide I need to find a Laundromat to wash some clothes, so I take a short walk around the town square right near the hotel and I see what we would consider a dry cleaner very close. I bring my clothing in and ask how much to wash and fold. The lady speaks just about no English at all, but I’m determined either I’ll speak enough German, or she’ll speak enough English to get my clothes washed. It worked, and she points to a calendar and points to Wednesday evening. Job done.

Next, I walk across the street to see something interesting and find a bakery. A German Bakery with the most decadent things on the plant. Blechkuchen (cake), Kasekuchen (cheesecake), Apfelkuchen (Apple cake), and my favorite, Apple Strudel. I wipe my tongue prints off of the front window, and notice on the door what time they open in the morning (very early). My plan is hatched.

Wednesday morning, I get up extra early, go to the bakery not caring if anyone speaks English at all, point to the Appel Strudel, open my hands, palm towards each other about 8 inches apart, and the lady behind the counter knows exactly what I want. I hold out my German Marks, she takes some and I leave with warm apple strudel. I bring it back to my hotel, get a cup of quite honestly the best coffee on earth, and unwrap my prize. The smell is intoxicating of fresh apples, butter and cinnamon. At this point, there’s maybe 10 other people in the dining room with me, and all of a sudden, all eyes are on ME! The owner comes out to give someone something, and they point at me and I can  just tell they’re going “I’ll have what he’s having”. The owner (Charles) comes over chuckling to himself asking me “Are you trying to get me in trouble”? I explain, “Hey, if you get this every morning, even charging for it, you could make a fortune!” We get a good laugh as he sits down and we chat about the differences in breakfast in the US and Germany.

Next, I was picked up at my hotel by a cab to be taken to the Frankfurt Airport. The cab driver was driving a gorgeous Mercedes cab (I later found almost all cabs in Germany were Mercedes or BMW’s). I asked if he spoke English (he did) and if I could ride up front with him, and he said sure. What transpired next…. will take more time than I have now, so it’ll be Friday! *S*

Have a great Wednesday all…!

402 – Finally Found Time to Relax…

I’ll get back to my Europe story on Wednesday…

My weeks, and weekends have been so busy lately, that I haven’t had time to just sit back and relax in a long time.

Between my mom (who’s doing pretty good and actually making progress now) to my mom in law (just had pacemaker surgery), my wife and I have been going opposite directions. Neither of us have had a chance to rest.

Friday night, my daughter had a Pampered Chef Party, and my wife and my friend Dave’s wife attended among others, so Dave and I went out for dinner at a little Thai restaurant named “Somewhere in Bankok”. I had been to this restaurant before, and had a dish that was basically chicken fried rice. This time, I got a bit more adventuresome, and saw on a special list they had “Mango Chicken Curry”. While discussing it, the lady at the next table (you sit real close to others in this place) said it was one of her favorites.. and I was sold. We had bought/brought with us a nice bottle of wine as this was a “BYOB” type restaurant, and I opened it and we chatted a bit before our meals arrived.

When I got my Mango Chicken Curry, I was surprised to see it was in a white curry sauce, with huge pieces of mango in it. The first bite of the chicken and mango were…. surprising. I had to take another bite, then another before claiming this was one of the top 5 meals I’ve ever tasted in my life. It was magic. I gave a piece to Dave to try, and he said the same thing. Outstanding.

This was the start, to my very nice and relaxing weekend.

Saturday, I went to see my mom, then came home and had a nice lunch, and a few hours later my friend John B came over with 2 PC’s that needed working on. We chatted while working on them, eventually having dinner too. It was a nice visit even working on his PC’s.

Sunday was seeing mom again, then taking it easy the rest of the day.

How was your weekend?

401 - My First Trip to Europe XVII

Germany:

After watching Mario and Luigi handle barrels of beer, it was off to work. I was pulled into an office and told I had to fly out to Milan, Italy on Wednesday, to upgrade their office there, and back to Germany the same night. I was a bit bummed that I’d have little time to see any sights on my first visit to Italy, but I did what was requested. I was told I’d have a cab waiting at my hotel for me at 6:00am, to take me to the Frankfurt Airport.

After working a full day, Rich asked me if I wanted to go out to dinner the next town over, and I accepted and we went to a nice, authentic German food restaurant in Aachen.

Arriving at our seats, we found it was the owner that would be waiting on us. He spoke pretty good English, and suggested a plate he would create of various German specialties, which we wholeheartedly agreed upon. The plate that came to our table was enormous, and showcased all the best food that Germany offers, with heavy emphasis on the different brats and knacks as well as the best, home made sauerkraut I’ve ever had. (I think I have a picture of Rich and I eating at this restaurant, but I had no time to scan recently, so hopefully Monday I’ll have it)

After a wonderful dinner, holding our bellies, we headed back to our hotels, me, wondering what my Wednesday would have to offer in Milan, Italy. I also knew, that before the end of the week, I’d have to go to Stuttgart, Germany too.. but that was yet to come.

More on Monday…

Have a wonderful weekend all…!

400 - My First Trip to Europe XVI

Mom update:  Mom’s doing a lot better since I forced the rehab place to check for gout! Now that she’s on the meds, her ankle feels a lot better and she’s able to put weight on it and do some physical therapy!

Germany:

Tuesday morning, I go down for breakfast only once again to find the same stuff: cold cuts, cheese, fresh rolls, jam. No eggs, pancakes, or even a toaster to be found (this is typical of quite a bit of Europe I find). I vow to fix this… and head outside.

I’m waiting for my ride to the office and I’m standing outside of the hotel (remember the photo from before?)  and up pulls a beer delivery truck. (note that when I was there, there was a small tree, about 6 inches diameter, on the sidewalk at the forefront of this picture)
Out jump 2 short German guys dressed in farmer jeans looking like Mario and Luigi from Donkey Kong. One stands near the tree, the other unloads full kegs from the back. (for this sake, we’ll call Luigi the one unloading kegs)
Luigi waves to Mario and says “ready”, and Mario yells “Ready” and Luigi rolls a full barrel of beer down the sidewalk to Mario, where it slams into the tree and Mario stops it, tips it up on end and rolls it to the side of the building. This goes on for about 4 more kegs before Luigi comes down and opens a trap door right in the front corner of the building that leads to the basement (if you ‘embiggen’ the picture you can barely see it). Luigi just jumps down there, yells to Mario “Ok?” and with that, Mario drops a keg down this hole. I move closer to get a better look, and notice there’s a mattress at the bottom of the hole to cushion the fall of this heavy keg. Basically, it drops, bounces up about a foot where Luigi grabs it and muscles it to where it needs to be. By now, I’m biting my lip from laughing as I just figured out WHY German beer is so foamy! *LOL*

More Friday…

I do want to share with you, one link my friend Karen sent to me of old pictures of America. Captured America in Color - 1939-1943.

Have a wonderful Hump-Day!

399 – Busy Thursday/Friday

Sorry, no Europe update today.. it’s been an extremely busy Thursday night (when I normally write this).

Mom is doing well, she’s having a bit of a problem putting any weight on one of her legs, so they’ve x-rayed it and are looking into it. Other than that, she’s keeping up well.

My mother in law however, is in the hospital today to have a pacemaker with defibrillator installed. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

Last night, my daughter and I went out to get a few things at the store, then to visit my mom, then home to wash some of mom’s clothes.. and I dropped into bed early last night.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, and there may be no post Monday as it’s a holiday!

398 - My First Trip to Europe XV

Brussels:

Before going to sleep Sunday night, I did get a picture of the mural over my bed as seen at right.

Now come on… that’s just not me *chuckling*. The room, and bathroom were immense too.

Monday morning, Rich and I had a nice breakfast at the hotel before venturing out to check out more of Brussels.

Again, I had to remind myself that I was in a foreign country, and that the buildings were so much older here than in the US. It was around this point, I started realizing just how young our home country is.

Everything was so opulent, so old, and had so much history to it.. every building seemed to speak to you. My mind went back to World War II, where much of Europe was bombed and so many beautiful buildings were destroyed, and yet some, like this one at left was spared.

Rich and I found and visited The National Botanic Garden of Belgium. While the sights were outstanding, the pictures I have of it don’t do it justice, so I’m not even going to bother posting them.

Later, Rich and I stopped and had a nice lunch in a Brussels restaurant, and then afterwards we sat at the bar and contemplated the past 3 days. (that’s me contemplating at right)

After lunch, we packed up our car and headed back to Germany after having an outstanding weekend.

More on Friday… but for now, have a wonderful Hump-Day all!

397 - My First Trip to Europe XIV

Mom Update: She’s doing well, and hopefully they’re going to start her Physical Therapy again today!

This weekend was a busy one:
Friday night, I went out to dinner with a great friend, John B, and we had an outstanding time!
Saturday, I had my brother and 2 friends over to watch some UCONN Football and tailgate right in my house. It was a great time.
Sunday, I spent some time with a friend who’s in town from Florida. We had a fantastic time, and I’ll be sad to see him head back to Florida this weekend.

Brussels:
After leaving our friend the Gendarme, we once again explored the area, amazed at the small, narrow streets (not for vehicular traffic) and the wonderful stores, pubs and restaurants that lined them.

We finally found the most amazing tourist attraction in Brussels, the Manneken Pis statue (at right, carved in 1619). It’s not easy to find as it’s not very large, but even before going to Brussels, I had heard of it. I like this, from Wikipedia: “On occasion, the statue is hooked up to a keg of beer. Cups will be filled up with the beer flowing from the statue and given out to people passing by.” Right.

We then found a nice looking pub on one of the main streets, and Rich and I stepped in for a cold beer. It seems most of the home made beers are from amber to very dark, which is ok with me and Rich likes them dark as mud! *chuckling*
After having one or two, we had a nice, quiet dinner and headed back to the hotel as we were getting tired from the day (turned out it was after 11pm by the time we got back to the hotel).

Standing in my room, it was hard not to chuckle at rooms so opulent as the wall behind my bed had what appeared to be an elaborate mural hand painted upon it (hopefully I’ll have a picture of it for Wednesday).

Well, have a wonderful Monday all….!

396 - My First Trip to Europe XIII

Mom Update: One step forward….. two steps back. Wednesday morning she awoke with a left hand 3 times its normal size. Seems a blood clot made it’s way there, so now she’s on Coumadin. Also, her false teeth don’t fit so well now that she’s lost so much weight, and while sleeping, her bottoms fell out and rolled onto the floor. The nurse must have accidentally stepped on them, because now they’re in two pieces. No PT either until the hand is better, earliest is Monday.

Brussels:
Checking in at the Hotel Metropole (I hope you checked out their website), I said to Rich “We’re going to test the ‘money is no object’ statement with this stay!”. I’ll probably never in my life stay at such an opulent place.

After settling in, we got on our walking shoes, and explored the little side streets of Brussels. Bistros, small shops, restaurants and pubs lined the small, almost back-alley sized streets.

As you can see at right, they’re not really streets as much as walkways with many tables outside for sitting, relaxing and enjoying the day as well as people-watching.

I poked my head into a small shop, looking for something to carry stuff in as I walked, and found a nice medium blue canvas backpack (very light) with a small leather bottom for $6 US. The name on it is “USA Crew”! At this time, they were getting used to the Euro, and even though the money wasn’t in circulation yet, the prices had Belgian Francs and Euros side by side. I still have the backpack.. and it’s been all over the world with me. I use it every cruise, and every vacation I go on. *S*

Walking more, we see some incredible sights, like the one at right.  Fresh seafood presented for all to see. Continuing on, we found our self in the Grand Place (pronounced Grand Ploss). The buildings here are from the 10th century! Please check out the link for it, as my photos won’t do it justice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the Spring, they have a flower show in the center of the square, and it’s breathtaking (we saw pictures while there).

While walking around, who should we see but our friend the Gendarme!! He asks us how our hotel is, and I ask him when he gets off work so I could buy him a beer or something, but he politely refuses and instead gives us a wonderful tour of the Grand Place, explaining every building in detail. I truly wish I had asked for his name, or email address so I could tell him even today what a wonderful ambassador he is for Brussels.

More on Monday all… have a great weekend!