Showing posts with label Germany. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Germany. Show all posts
Last Day
Jason, my colleague, told me encouragingly this morning: "Last day, eh?". I told him: "I've had a 'last day' here before...".
I guess I feel I will be stranded here again.
I guess I feel I will be stranded here again.
Counting chickens
I should have learned by now... the trip isn't over until the plane has taken off.
I will be staying one more week in lovely Bavaria. Thankfully, Carolyn is still heading home tomorrow.
We saw daylight today! It was so wonderful. We got to work a half-day (only 6 hours!), so we managed to have time to walk around Hallbergmoos. They have a street here called Bürgermeister-Funk Straße. Isn't that awesome?
Tomorrow I'll be taking Carolyn to the airport for her morning flight, and then heading into Munich city for some sight-seeing. Not sure what I'm going to see yet... I will probably just walk around, trying to enjoy my day of freedom (from work, not my wife).
I'm supposed to be flying home on Friday. We'll see.
I will be staying one more week in lovely Bavaria. Thankfully, Carolyn is still heading home tomorrow.
We saw daylight today! It was so wonderful. We got to work a half-day (only 6 hours!), so we managed to have time to walk around Hallbergmoos. They have a street here called Bürgermeister-Funk Straße. Isn't that awesome?
Tomorrow I'll be taking Carolyn to the airport for her morning flight, and then heading into Munich city for some sight-seeing. Not sure what I'm going to see yet... I will probably just walk around, trying to enjoy my day of freedom (from work, not my wife).
I'm supposed to be flying home on Friday. We'll see.
Grüße aus München
So I'm in Munich right now (in the bathroom so I don't wake Carolyn). When I started this week I did not expect to end it on the other side of the ocean, but I suppose that's life.
Carolyn and I were notified at work around 3 or 4pm on Wednesday that we needed to catch a flight to Munich... at 8pm... that evening. I wasn't 100% sure that my passport was valid, so I rushed home right away. Passport was valid, so I began the packing process, but it's been some years since my work travel days, so we didn't hit the road until nearly 6pm. Thankfully the task to get to the airport was left to our new VP of Engineering, with the CEO as first mate.
Through some kind of magic (I couldn't say which - my eyes were tightly closed) we made it to Pearson in less than an hour, with plenty of time to grab Tim Horton's for dinner. We also learned that pregnancy has it's perks for travel, as we were allowed to pre-board and settle in nicely, before all the plebes.
I won't go into details about the trip, suffice it to say that the doctor drilling a hole into my thumbnail this evening to relieve some pressure after slamming it in a car door this morning just might be the highlight of the trip.
To the office tomorrow, hopefully with positive results.
Carolyn and I were notified at work around 3 or 4pm on Wednesday that we needed to catch a flight to Munich... at 8pm... that evening. I wasn't 100% sure that my passport was valid, so I rushed home right away. Passport was valid, so I began the packing process, but it's been some years since my work travel days, so we didn't hit the road until nearly 6pm. Thankfully the task to get to the airport was left to our new VP of Engineering, with the CEO as first mate.
Through some kind of magic (I couldn't say which - my eyes were tightly closed) we made it to Pearson in less than an hour, with plenty of time to grab Tim Horton's for dinner. We also learned that pregnancy has it's perks for travel, as we were allowed to pre-board and settle in nicely, before all the plebes.
I won't go into details about the trip, suffice it to say that the doctor drilling a hole into my thumbnail this evening to relieve some pressure after slamming it in a car door this morning just might be the highlight of the trip.
To the office tomorrow, hopefully with positive results.
Heidelberg (with photos)
By popular demand, I will post some photos. Tonight may be the last night I have internet access (well, free and unlimited internet access anyway), so I figured I should finish my Heidelberg story at least.
Ah yes, I was driving around Heidelberg, trying to coax the GPS to give me proper directions to Karlsruhe. Well, as luck would have it, I stumbled upon a giant blue and white 'P' and decided to give "ol' Heidi" a second chance.
I was now at the river-level of Heidelberg, where the peasant-folk live, but as my preferred mode of transportation is my two feet, I was happy. U-turns are really easy when you're walking.
I figured I need to go up. So that's what I did.
It turns out this is the road to somebody's house.
In my meandering I eventually saw a sign. Now I don't know much German, but I can put two and two together.
So up and up I went, and first went to an outlook on the south(ish) side of the castle (partly because I wasn't sure which way the castle was). The view was lovely, and especially after coming from freezing temperatures and deep snow, it was refreshing as well.
Here is a (cropped) view of the platz where I parked my car. Funky trees.
And here is die schloß, under renovation of course, as many of Europe's finest buildings are.
So I walked over there and bought a ticket to go inside (truthfully, the washrooms were inside the castle, so I had no choice). I didn't want to wait for the tour so I just showed myself around. Here is a gargoyle that I liked.
And here is another view of the city. I don't think it's quite as nice as the original view.
Also, here is a cat that was outside the castle. (It's not a George travelogue if there's not a cat photo.)
Finally, here is a (poor) photo from the platz where I parked my car. You can see the castle in the background, and the funky trees.
So that's about it. I left Heidelberg for Karlsruhe in the afternoon and I made it there in one piece. I survived the week and now I'm traveling the countryside as my ancestors once did, hunting for goats. I already visited one city today (but I won't say which one!) If you're lucky, I will get internet and post some photos. Tomorrow I head to Bonn to visit with a couple that Carolyn and I met in Berlin in '06. The adventure has begun.
Chus!
Ah yes, I was driving around Heidelberg, trying to coax the GPS to give me proper directions to Karlsruhe. Well, as luck would have it, I stumbled upon a giant blue and white 'P' and decided to give "ol' Heidi" a second chance.
I was now at the river-level of Heidelberg, where the peasant-folk live, but as my preferred mode of transportation is my two feet, I was happy. U-turns are really easy when you're walking.
I figured I need to go up. So that's what I did.
It turns out this is the road to somebody's house.
In my meandering I eventually saw a sign. Now I don't know much German, but I can put two and two together.
So up and up I went, and first went to an outlook on the south(ish) side of the castle (partly because I wasn't sure which way the castle was). The view was lovely, and especially after coming from freezing temperatures and deep snow, it was refreshing as well.
Here is a (cropped) view of the platz where I parked my car. Funky trees.
And here is die schloß, under renovation of course, as many of Europe's finest buildings are.
So I walked over there and bought a ticket to go inside (truthfully, the washrooms were inside the castle, so I had no choice). I didn't want to wait for the tour so I just showed myself around. Here is a gargoyle that I liked.
And here is another view of the city. I don't think it's quite as nice as the original view.
Also, here is a cat that was outside the castle. (It's not a George travelogue if there's not a cat photo.)
Finally, here is a (poor) photo from the platz where I parked my car. You can see the castle in the background, and the funky trees.
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So that's about it. I left Heidelberg for Karlsruhe in the afternoon and I made it there in one piece. I survived the week and now I'm traveling the countryside as my ancestors once did, hunting for goats. I already visited one city today (but I won't say which one!) If you're lucky, I will get internet and post some photos. Tomorrow I head to Bonn to visit with a couple that Carolyn and I met in Berlin in '06. The adventure has begun.
Chus!
In 400 metres, keep going straight...
So said my helpful GPS system to me on the way home this evening. I still can't figure out whether that is supposed to be helpful, reassuring, or impertinent. In any case, I'm going to assume that motto for my integration trip: "keep going... and when you get there, keep going some more".
But this isn't the story about my work... it's the story about a little boy from a small country called Canada, who struggled against all odds to get a blog so that he could tell his story.
Where did we leave off? Ah yes, lost and bewildered in Heidelberg. So I plugged "Heidelberg schloß" into my trusted electronic companion and put my fate into her cold, digital hands (and pretentious British accent... no way I'll be ordering the Globe & Mail from her!).
After the seven or eight prerequisite wrong turns ("Oh, did I say turn right? I meant left. Please make a U-turn when it is legal to do so.") I found myself winding up the switch-back road to the castle. I got stuck for several minutes behind a large tourist bus attempting to do the same thing; after a failed attempt at a 19-point turn at the elbow, it decided that perhaps the tourists didn't want to see the castle that day and that the candy store was open. You like candy, don't you?
Somehow, some way, I took a wrong turn. I don't know how this is possible, but I did it. I parked (probably illegally), took some photos of the vista, and made my way back down so that I could head - defeated - to Karlsruhe.
But, is that what happened? Stay tuned until next time George has enough time and energy tomake up tell his stories.
But this isn't the story about my work... it's the story about a little boy from a small country called Canada, who struggled against all odds to get a blog so that he could tell his story.
Where did we leave off? Ah yes, lost and bewildered in Heidelberg. So I plugged "Heidelberg schloß" into my trusted electronic companion and put my fate into her cold, digital hands (and pretentious British accent... no way I'll be ordering the Globe & Mail from her!).
After the seven or eight prerequisite wrong turns ("Oh, did I say turn right? I meant left. Please make a U-turn when it is legal to do so.") I found myself winding up the switch-back road to the castle. I got stuck for several minutes behind a large tourist bus attempting to do the same thing; after a failed attempt at a 19-point turn at the elbow, it decided that perhaps the tourists didn't want to see the castle that day and that the candy store was open. You like candy, don't you?
Somehow, some way, I took a wrong turn. I don't know how this is possible, but I did it. I parked (probably illegally), took some photos of the vista, and made my way back down so that I could head - defeated - to Karlsruhe.
But, is that what happened? Stay tuned until next time George has enough time and energy to
Day 1-2: The departure and arrival
So for those of you who don't appreciate the delicate prose of my grand travel epics, please click here to get the synopsis or "Coles Notes" version. For the rest of you, it's too late to turn back now...
In usual Vnoucek fashion, I finished packing for the trip about 5 minutes before my shuttle (well, can you really call a Mercedes a 'shuttle'?) arrived to take me to the airport. I think the only thing I forgot to take is a travel alarm clock.
I'd have to say the journey from doorstep to plane seat was wonderfully pleasant and uneventful. I arrived at the airport in plenty of time to line up in the inevitably long check-in queue... but not 30 seconds after I lined up did the Air Canada assistant direct me to the queue in the other aisle... so off I went to discover I was now first in line for the executive class check-in. :) Four minutes later I passed through security like a ghost, and then I was free... the airport was my oyster. So of course I proceed to do some work. But it was stress-less and soon I was on the plane.
The flight was like any other flight, except that the plane, source and destination, crew, passengers, and weather conditions were probably different... but we did fly through the air, and the movies weren't very good. Surprisingly the food was edible and almost enjoyable (I got some beef noodle dish). And the wine certainly helped Mr. Sandman find my seat. Aside from some turbulence, the flight too was a non-event. We landed safe-and-sound in Frankfurt shortly after 7am CET.
Customs, check. Baggage, check. Rental car, check. GPS, thank goodness! I ended up getting something called a Zafira, which is like a short station-wagon, or an elongated hatch-back. It took be 5 minutes to find the parking break, and another 10 to figure out the GPS, but by 8:15 I was on the road, headed towards Karlsruhe.
It probably hit me about 5 minutes into the drive that I was definitely in Germany. I was probably driving around 140km/h in the right-hand lane, and I was continuously being passed by cars (mostly Mercedes and BMW) going probably an extra 100km/h faster than me. It was crazy. But it seems to work. The slow cars go in the right, the faster ones move to the left to pass, and then go back. Everyone knows the system. I wish it were like this back in Canada.
I should mention that the weather was absolutely lovely. Clear skies, and I'd guess it was between 0 and 5 degrees Celsius. Seeing as I was making good time, I decided to stop in Heidelberg on the way. This is when the GPS became both my best friend and enemy at the same time... like that clown friend that everyone has that is eager to help but then forgets to show up... but you can't not ask for help because every now and then he comes through. This was my GPS. Often it would lead me on the right track, but it would not be fast enough, or tell me ahead of time, so I can't tell you how many times it told me: "at the next possible place, make a legal U-turn". Arg.
I finally found (quite by accident) a tourist information booth, so I parked (after about 10 minutes of driving through the city trying to get back to it, and I think at least once driving on the wrong side of the street) and discovered that of course the building was geschlossen. Boo.
But here was what greeted me on the other side of the street.
Kinda funky. Don't ask me what it is. I was quite ready just to head to Karlsruhe, but I forced myself to buy a drink (banana-kiwi) and ask how to get to the Heidelberg Schloß. Thankfully almost everyone here speaks English, because my knowledge of German phrasebook ends at the "kein Deutsche" section. They kindly told me which train to take, but I realized that taking the train would involve more embarrassing interactions so I opted to try the GPS again.
[Editors note: This post is taking much longer to write than originally expected. Stay tuned for the remainder of this story, and find out more about how George's first day on-site played out.]
The synopsys
I made it to Germany alive. Tomorrow will be the real test.
In usual Vnoucek fashion, I finished packing for the trip about 5 minutes before my shuttle (well, can you really call a Mercedes a 'shuttle'?) arrived to take me to the airport. I think the only thing I forgot to take is a travel alarm clock.
I'd have to say the journey from doorstep to plane seat was wonderfully pleasant and uneventful. I arrived at the airport in plenty of time to line up in the inevitably long check-in queue... but not 30 seconds after I lined up did the Air Canada assistant direct me to the queue in the other aisle... so off I went to discover I was now first in line for the executive class check-in. :) Four minutes later I passed through security like a ghost, and then I was free... the airport was my oyster. So of course I proceed to do some work. But it was stress-less and soon I was on the plane.
The flight was like any other flight, except that the plane, source and destination, crew, passengers, and weather conditions were probably different... but we did fly through the air, and the movies weren't very good. Surprisingly the food was edible and almost enjoyable (I got some beef noodle dish). And the wine certainly helped Mr. Sandman find my seat. Aside from some turbulence, the flight too was a non-event. We landed safe-and-sound in Frankfurt shortly after 7am CET.
Customs, check. Baggage, check. Rental car, check. GPS, thank goodness! I ended up getting something called a Zafira, which is like a short station-wagon, or an elongated hatch-back. It took be 5 minutes to find the parking break, and another 10 to figure out the GPS, but by 8:15 I was on the road, headed towards Karlsruhe.
It probably hit me about 5 minutes into the drive that I was definitely in Germany. I was probably driving around 140km/h in the right-hand lane, and I was continuously being passed by cars (mostly Mercedes and BMW) going probably an extra 100km/h faster than me. It was crazy. But it seems to work. The slow cars go in the right, the faster ones move to the left to pass, and then go back. Everyone knows the system. I wish it were like this back in Canada.
I should mention that the weather was absolutely lovely. Clear skies, and I'd guess it was between 0 and 5 degrees Celsius. Seeing as I was making good time, I decided to stop in Heidelberg on the way. This is when the GPS became both my best friend and enemy at the same time... like that clown friend that everyone has that is eager to help but then forgets to show up... but you can't not ask for help because every now and then he comes through. This was my GPS. Often it would lead me on the right track, but it would not be fast enough, or tell me ahead of time, so I can't tell you how many times it told me: "at the next possible place, make a legal U-turn". Arg.
I finally found (quite by accident) a tourist information booth, so I parked (after about 10 minutes of driving through the city trying to get back to it, and I think at least once driving on the wrong side of the street) and discovered that of course the building was geschlossen. Boo.
But here was what greeted me on the other side of the street.
Kinda funky. Don't ask me what it is. I was quite ready just to head to Karlsruhe, but I forced myself to buy a drink (banana-kiwi) and ask how to get to the Heidelberg Schloß. Thankfully almost everyone here speaks English, because my knowledge of German phrasebook ends at the "kein Deutsche" section. They kindly told me which train to take, but I realized that taking the train would involve more embarrassing interactions so I opted to try the GPS again.
[Editors note: This post is taking much longer to write than originally expected. Stay tuned for the remainder of this story, and find out more about how George's first day on-site played out.]
The synopsys
I made it to Germany alive. Tomorrow will be the real test.
Auf Wiedersehen!
Well, I was planning on being more productive with my blogging this year, but it looks like I'm on an anemic one-post-per-month pace. I have good reason though (as all of us lazy bloggers always do). I've been busy working on a project for work that has my flying to Germany this afternoon. I'm working specificaly in the city of Karlsruhe for about one week, integrating the software we've written at my company with the hardware at our customer's site. It's my first integration trip so I am still naively optimisticly, but I'm sure that will fade quickly ("what do you mean I have to send the commands in German?!?")
After my work week, I've taken the next week as vacation (I had several days accrued from last year). I'm planning on visiting some friends that Carolyn and I serendipitously met in Berlin in 2006. They're living in Bonn so I'll be heading up there, and then I'll be touring Cologne and probably Koblenz. Many thanks to my mom who spent hours researching potential sites of interest, train schedules, etc., since I have had no time to do so myself. I have a big stack of printouts that I'll be reading on the plane. :)
As has been my practice when travelling (especially alone), I'll probably post more than usual. I'm lugging my precious D70 with me (how could I not?) so I won't miss a photographic opportunity. The weather is quite a bit warmer where I'm going (5°C as opposed to -10°C... and getting warmer!), albeit a bit rainy, but I'm not going to let that stand in my way of seeing the sights... but if I do, I'll at least take some pictures from my hotel/hostel window :P
My escort to the airport is picking me up in about 4 hours (with a fresh French Vanilla cappuccino for me!), so I'd better get packing. Wish me luck, and I'll keep you posted on any tales of interest.
After my work week, I've taken the next week as vacation (I had several days accrued from last year). I'm planning on visiting some friends that Carolyn and I serendipitously met in Berlin in 2006. They're living in Bonn so I'll be heading up there, and then I'll be touring Cologne and probably Koblenz. Many thanks to my mom who spent hours researching potential sites of interest, train schedules, etc., since I have had no time to do so myself. I have a big stack of printouts that I'll be reading on the plane. :)
As has been my practice when travelling (especially alone), I'll probably post more than usual. I'm lugging my precious D70 with me (how could I not?) so I won't miss a photographic opportunity. The weather is quite a bit warmer where I'm going (5°C as opposed to -10°C... and getting warmer!), albeit a bit rainy, but I'm not going to let that stand in my way of seeing the sights... but if I do, I'll at least take some pictures from my hotel/hostel window :P
My escort to the airport is picking me up in about 4 hours (with a fresh French Vanilla cappuccino for me!), so I'd better get packing. Wish me luck, and I'll keep you posted on any tales of interest.
