Archive: May 2008   |   View all recent posts

Berlin, Day 3 ~ the luggage is found!
WHAT: Travel   |   WHEN: May 18, 2008

All in all, day 3 was a pretty slow one. No real camera play time today with meetings and presentations all day, but... [insert drum roll or parting clouds music here]... THE LUGGAGE HAS BEEN DELIVERED! The front desk called at 12:45 in the morning to let me know the good news. I'm completely stoked to have my own stuff back; it's kinda like getting your security blanket back. No, I don't have a blue blanky I still cling to - it's just a metaphor. In a sense, it was just a little sad to get it back. I think a small part of me was bummed to see that part of the adventure come to an end. It was kind of like I was in an episode of Man vs. Wild... except I was still eating well... and I had a sweet hotel room with all the comforts of home... and I could go shopping for whatever I needed... okay, maybe more like Man vs. Slight Inconvenience.

Anyway, for lunch we went to this 7 story mall near the hotel, and the top two floors were packed with anything and everything you could possibly ever want related to food. Seriously, it made Central Market/HEB/Whole Foods look like mom and pop convenience stores. I picked out all the ingredients for my pasta sauce and they cooked it up right there in front of me.


Here's what the seating area looked like... in the "food court".


Take that, Liberty Bell. No cracks... and made entirely of chocolate.


I met these guys on the way back from lunch. I'm trying to look very European with the glasses.


Just a typical street corner near the hotel.


More images to come tomorrow when I head over to see The Wall and the more historic east side of the city.


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Berlin, Day 2 ~ I smell something...
WHAT: Travel   |   WHEN: May 16, 2008

... and I think it's my clothes. I turned a few things inside out and gave them a cologne dusting today. Wow, I feel a little disheveled. No luggage yet, which also means no hair product and day 4 without shaving... I am indistinguishable from the natives, except I'm carrying around a big camera and the only German I can speak is gesundheit. Other than that, I'm a chameleon.

I finally broke down and bought a pair of pants, a shirt, and a few - ahem - unmentionables because I couldn't take it anymore. Oh yeah, and I made a pit stop at a local drug store to pick up some love for the hair. I had a meeting to go to tonight, and I couldn't attend looking and feeling like I just crawled out of the dumpster.

And one last thing to top it off. It rained a little here earlier today and I learned that both of the rubber soles on my shoes apparently have cracks in them. I love 2 day old, wet socks. Good times.

Things could be much worse, though. I did get a chance to wander around the neighborhood by the hotel for a little bit with my camera. I'm really looking forward to going to the east side of berlin on Sunday and Monday - that's were most of the older, more historic buildings and sites are. In the meantime, here's a few of the images I clicked today.

I didn't go to sleep until about 4:45 this morning, and the sun was already coming up. When I woke up two hours later, here's the view I had in front of me.


Looking down at the street from my hotel room.


Just a door down the hallway from my room.


Looking p at the hotel from the street.


Cool reflection in a store window.



The next couple images are from the Kayser Wilhem Gedachniskirche (memory church) built in 1895 and bombed during World War II, now a war disaster symbol, the church was never rebuilt, and part of the main steeple was left standing. The new part was built in 1965.





This was inside the newer part. The blue is from thousands of tiny stained glass blocks in the wall.



Here's the church at night... obviously.


Ahh... birthplace of the Mini.






Check out this crazy heavy duty ping pong table with the metal net just sitting outside in the corner of a small courtyard I stumbled upon.



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... Day 2 Continued
WHAT: Travel   |   WHEN: May 16, 2008
A few more from today.










All kinds of little street cafes & restaurants



... and of course I'd be remiss not to include a little bit of Smart car action. I wouldn't wanna own one (I think the Yugo might have been safer), but I'd like to test drive one.



3





Botched in Berlin
WHAT: Travel   |   WHEN: May 15, 2008

The good news is I made it to Berlin. 10 hours later than I was supposed to and about 24 hours of travel time from door to door, but hey, I'm here. The bad news is I'm gonna get really comfy in the clothes I wore over here because they're the only one's I've got. Yup, no luggage. I'm not alone, though... about 6 of the people I'm traveling with are also making best friends with the clothes on their backs.

I know what you're probably thinking... "Eww, gross. They've worn those clothes for the lost 24 hours and they're gonna wear them again for the next two days (that's the estimated arrival time on our luggage since they can't seem to find it at the moment)??" That's what I thought at first, too, but you know that rumor that some Europeans don't, ahem, smell so fresh all the time? Well, when in Rome... or Berlin, in this case.

Actually I don't think that's true about Europeans anyway, or at least not hear in Germany. I think it's a stereotype gone bad, but I'll see over the next couple days. And actually, a couple of us are going shopping tomorrow after breakfast, which now that I do the math is 4 hours from now. Farfegnugen!

Anyway, it was dark on the way to the hotel, so not much to see yet, but here's a few images a snagged along the way.

This one cracks me up. "Passengers with antlers - go this way."


No, I wasn't taking a picture of the flower power pants. I just liked the long perspectives in this walkway area. Promise.


Here's my hotel room. Kinda swanky, but would it have killed them to spend a couple bucks on a little color? I kinda feel like they're gonna come in while I'm sleeping and put a straight jacket on me.





Hey, check this out, though. I can get outta bed in the morning, literally step over the night stand, and I'm in the shower. Nobody ever accused the Germans of being inefficient.


Walking down the hallway to my room.


And finally, I clicked these as I was walkin' through the trendy hotel restaurant/bar.




9





Berlin - Take II... and Bad design
WHAT: Travel   |   WHEN: May 14, 2008
Well, the bratwurst has been delayed. We sat on the first plane for 2 hours. We're no longer on the first plane. Plane number two is arriving soon and we'll try it again at 9:30pm... 4 hours later than the original departure. A bunch of us are grabbing a little dinner right now. Mmm... airport quesadillas.

Nice passport photo, Chachi.


Another example of terrible design. Who puts the remote for your in-flight entertainment system in the arm rest? Never mind the fact that it's the most uncomfortable thing to rest your elbow on for a 10 hour flight, but everytime I put my elbow down either the volume turns all the way up or the channel changes. Genius.

I'd try using the other armrest occasionally, but the lady beside me seems to have already staked claim on both armrests on each side of her. Look like we're gonna be havin' a little game of elbonics for the next several hours.


TO be continued....


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