PARTING THOUGHTS

We woke to rain on our departure morning. As we went down into the station to take the subway out to the airport, Don handed off his umbrella to a woman without one.

I thought is was really neat to be able to see the slip stream over the plane's wing as we took off.






























So, I finally have a passport with a stamp in it and I'm looking forward to more stamps! Germany was beautiful and amazing. The people were kind and helpful and generous. Spending 15 days in constant company with Don was a great experience. When we returned home, I found that I wanted to - and did - eat my lunches at work outside around the ponds with the ducks and geese. Don and I found ourselves calling each other a little more often just to check in and say hi and connect. Over time, these behaviors reverted to what would be considered 'normal life' for us, but that 'reconnect' was wonderful and beneficial and strengthened us as a couple.


I have a few LISTS that I made over the course of our trip:


The Good Travel Equipment List

1. Most important is having a great traveling companion.












2. Good resources, like an excellent guidebook, help you see the good stuff. My travel journal was probably a little heavy and I will use something a little lighter next time.










3. Good shoes are a must for the many, many miles of walking.












4. Traveling light - just one convertible backpack/bag and one day bag a piece - made getting around really easy and quick.











5. A camera is a must, of course. I think we learned some things about taking pictures on this trip - what to photograph and how best to do it. We had two batteries, so that one could be charging while we were out with the other. And we had a couple of memory cards so that we could click away without worrying about running out of space.








The Things That Are Different In Germany List
1. Toilets
2. Pets in public - they can go just about anywhere, it looks like
3. Old churches in every town and city
4. Great drivers
5. Doors all seem to open and lock with a key - which was inconvenient with only one key. If one of you wanted to stay in the room and take a nap, say - or shower - while the other person stepped out, you either had to leave the door unlocked, be locked in with no way to get out, or be locked out and wait for the person inside to unlock the door. Weird. Two keys would eliminate any problem. We left the keys in the doors after locking them so that a. we didn't lose them and, b. we could unlock the door quickly if there was a fire or something....


5. Computer keyboards are configured differently, which is a pain when you are in a real hurry.
6. Breakfast staples are meat and cheese and soft boiled eggs.



The Things We Saw a Lot Of List
1. Old churches
2. Stairs!
3. Meats, cheese and bread
4. Strawberry stands
5. Flower boxes and pretty gardens, no matter how small the space
6. No litter

7. In sharp contrast to how clean every place was, was the ever present graffiti.











8. Cranes and construction
9. People walking in early evening
10. Birdsong - didn't see it, but heard it everywhere
11. Stacked wood
12. Solar panels
13. Beer
14. Bicycles
15. Small cars


The Things I Missed From Home List (Other than Family, Friends and the Dog!)
1. A washcloth - they just don't use them in Germany
2. A couch or recliner to sit in
3. Doing my own laundry - silly, I know!


The Things I Miss From Germany List
1. Bells - I loved hearing the bells ringing all day
2. Pedestrian zones
3. Flower boxes and gardens
4. Big trucks staying in the right lane and slower traffic staying to the right
5. Public transit


Here's hoping we get away again before too long!

LESSONS 2 AND 3

First off, we all know about the difference in electric currents in Europe and we were well prepared. However, when you have a travel hair dryer with dual current abilities, you need to be sure to TURN THE SCREW TO THE CORRECT CURRENT before using. Down one hair dryer after first use.















Next was actually the first lesson we learned. Don had read up on cell phone usage and we just bought a new sim card for Don's phone to use in country. It was our first day in Germany, we were very tired and Don hadn't had a lot of time to hone his German speaking skills yet. Plus, he was trying to discuss something technical with his German and the salesman's English and that wasn't necessarily the best combination. The guy talked to us about a card that they could activate right in the store, but we bought a lower cost card that we needed to activate with a phone call, which the guy said was the best deal. What a learning experience. The sim card cost 5 Euro. By the time we had finally got it activated - from the hotel - it was 74 Euro, since the hotel calls totaled 69. Then we used all the minutes we had on that flat tire. So Don called to load it with more minutes and we weren't allowed to do that because we didn't have a German bank account! So it was about $110 for 15 minutes of calls. We just used our regular calling plan for then on, as we only used the phone to call ahead for rooms. Still, it might have been less expensive in the long run to add the international option to our existing phone plan.

So the lesson: if you buy a new sim card, let them activate it for you- it might be a little more expensive to begin with, but you won't have the headache of dealing with it and the minutes will be cheaper.


(This is my phone with the cute fob from India.)