Munich

My flight to Munich was scheduled to arrive late evening and when it ended up being late, I decided to skip trying to sort out the metro and decided instead to take a taxi, whatever the cost. My taxi driver was extremely talkative, complaining about American politics, German politics, the Olympics, Chinese politics and then full circle back to American politics. Finally we arrived at my hotel. I fell into bed and was soon fast asleep.

I woke up bright and early and walked through the Viktualienmarkt and Marienplatz just as it was starting to wake up. My first stop was the Residenz, a palace of one of the ruling families of Bavaria. The palace was a maze!! I don't know how people navigated through the palace without maps! I had problems and I had a map and arrows telling me where to go! I stopped in the Treasury and admired the jewels. Next stop was Glyptothek, a museum of Greek and Roman statues. Not having a lot of time, I decided to skip several museums in favor of taking a tram out to Schloss Nymphenburg, originally a summer palace. It reminded me a lot of Versailles. There was a museum of carriages which I enjoyed, imagining myself descending from a carriage, on my way to a grand ball. I ended up back at Marienplatz, which was full of people and activity. I took the elevator in the New Town Hall for a look down at the square. I stopped at St. Peter's Church before heading to the Beer & Oktoberfest Museum. It was starting to rain so I stopped in to the Hofbrauhaus, the famous beer hall, for a beer (hey I'm in Munich) and applestrudel. May not be the best combination, but I enjoyed it. The rain had lightened up a bit by the time I was done so I headed for the metro and out to the BMW Museum. I got there just before it was closed. Rick had said the museum would be open until 8, and it was on Saturday and Sunday, but on Friday it closed at 6. It was my own fault, normally I check the times (which Rick does say to do) but I hadn't this time. Because it was about to close, I didn't go to the museum but instead looked around the gift shop, a couple of the exhibitions (which were open later) and the show room floor. I sat in one of the models, which was nice! My next car may need to be a BMW! I wandered over to the Olympic Park and peeked in the Swimming Pool but Michael Phelps wasn't there! Do you mean he has something better to do than swim practice in Munich? (Just kidding - I HEART Michael Phelps!) It was pretty cool to wander around, especially considering the Olympics were still going on.

One of reasons I choose Munich as a weekend getaway was its proximity to Neuschwanstein, a fairy tale castle rumored to be the inspiration for Walt Disney. I got up early to catch a train which ended up being over 30 minutes late but finally we arrived in Füssen where you catch the bus to take you to the castle. The bus pulled up and a swarm of people pushed towards the opening. I was caught in the flow and ended up on the first bus. Of course after all that pushing and shoving, three more busses pulled up behind the first one. I collected my tickets and wandered up to Hohenschwangau Castle, King Ludgwig’s home growing up (Ludwig built Neuschwanstein). The interior of Hohenschwangau was decorated in a medieval style which I really liked. The tour ended and I started down the hill from Hohenschwangau over to the bus stop for Neuschwanstein. I arrived just as the bus did and didn’t think I would make it on as it was full, but I was once again shoved on as four people got on behind me. The bus let us off at the top of a hill and I walked up to Marienbrücke (Mary’s Bridge) and gazed down at Neuschwanstein. The view was incredible! I didn’t stay too long on the bridge as it was really windy and had started raining by then. During my walk down to the castle it started pouring. But finally it was time for my tour and I went inside the castle. Ludwig died before the castle was finished and the tour went through the rooms that were finished when he died. Ludwig actually had a grotto outside of his bedroom, a real grotto! With the tour finished, I made my way down the hill and back to the train station.

Sunday I visited Dachau. I'm not really going to say a lot about this because it is hard to put into words. I will say it was really hard to walk through the camp, harder than I thought it would be. But I'm glad I did it as it is a part of history and I think visiting places such as Dachau honors the memory of the survivors and those who didn't survive. And part of the reason I travel is to learn, and what better way to learn than observing the past.


Back in Munich I realized I hadn't taken any feet pictures. I had meant to take one on Marienbrücke (Mary's Bridge) but with it so windy and rainy I had forgotten! Instead I took my feet picture in Marienplatz before picking up my luggage from the hotel and heading for the airport.

I had been meaning to write a diatribe about the cost of water at airports in Germany (after security) as at both the Cologne and Berlin airports it was €3 for a little bottle of water. But at the Munich airport, water was only €1.45 which did much to lessen my annoyance.

Romans & Castles

What to do this weekend? A few of my co-workers suggested Trier, the oldest city in Germany and Saturday morning I set off. My first stop in Trier was Porta Nigra, originally a Roman gate but later a church. The city musuem was next, which I must say, is the most random collection of things. But on the top floor was a collection of clothes which was fun to see. Next I went to the amphitheater before continuing on to the Basilica. The Basilica is the largest Roman age building still intact outside of Rome. It was built by Constantine who left to go found Constantinople (later Istanbul, and you can imagine what song was stuck in my head for the rest of the day). Next, I walked over to the Imperial Baths, another of Constantine's projects. There was a festival going on so I wandered through looking at the booths and admiring the ruins. Karl Marx was born in Trier, so I went and saw the house where he was born, which is now a museum. From there I went to the cathedral, the oldest church in Germany. It was built over the palace of Constantine's mother, Helena. It also holds what is purported to be the Holy Robe of Christ, but it was not on view. After that, I wandered through the market, people-watching and window shopping before heading home.

Rick recommended Burg Eltz (his favorite castle in Europe!) so Sunday morning I set out for the castle. It is a bit out of the way, but Rick described the walk as a pleasant, scenic jaunt. I got off the train at Moselkern, a little village, and began walking after spotting the first sign. Rick described the trail, saying you would basically follow the river to the castle, so after awhile when the road veered away from the river and I hadn't seen any signs I began to get a bit nervous. But in short order, the road curved back towards the river and then I saw a sign. The path kept going and going and going and my feet were beginning to say stupid Rick, stupid castle, stupid path when I happened to glance up from the path (which was uneven and rocky) and saw the castle peeking through the trees. It was beautiful! It was never taken by military force, and no wonder - no army would bother to come all the way out there! But really, the family were quite the diplomats and always on the "right" side. I hung out in the courtyard until finally an English language tour was called (the only way to see the castle is by tour and I have been on non-English tours and I much prefer English tours!). When the tour was over, I looked around a bit more before making the trek back. The way back was a lot easier then the way there, probably because I knew the way. Halfway back I saw a little cave up a hill a bit. If Stacy had been with me, I'll bet she would have climbed in there! So of course I had to climb up and take a picture and while I was doing that a family came along and the kids were really interested in the fact I had climbed up there and so as soon as I came down they scrambled up. Sorry parents, I didn't mean to be a bad influence! Finally I reached the train station and before long the train came to take me home.

As a side note, I met up with Mandi for dinner last week. You can see a picture of us on her website.

Erdbeeren und Himbeeren

I knew there was a small fruit & vegetable stand near my apartment but I wasn't sure exactly where it was. Matthias had taken me there on my first day. The strawberries I had gotten from the grocery store weren't as good as the strawberries I had gotten from this stand so I really wanted to find it. On my way home from work I decided to walk try and find it. Fortunately I remembered the right road and found it without too much difficulty. In fact it isn't too far! The strawberries & raspberries were delicious! The strawberry season is almost over so I am going to enjoy them as much as I can.

Erdbeeren: Strawberries

Himbeeren: Raspberries

Berlin

My weekend in Berlin started off with a bit of a hiccup. I left work and caught the train into town to catch the bus to the airport. Everything was going along swimmingly when a stop and a half way from the train station (where I could catch the bus) the train stopped. There is probably another train in the station ahead of us and we are just waiting until it pulls out I thought to myself. A few minutes turn into 10. An announcement (in German) is made and everyone groans so I take this is not good news. The conductor makes his way through the train and finally the train starts moving, backwards. It makes it back to the previous station and everyone leaves the train, me included. Not sure what to do next, I head outside and start walking towards the next station (fortunately I had an idea of where I was). I get to the next station just as the train I had gotten off pulls into the station. It leaves a few minutes later and I decide to wait a few minutes to see if another train will come along (I’m anxiously watching the clock at this point as my cushion to get to the airport is melting away). Another train did come along and I catch not the bus I wanted to, but the one immediately after (they come approximately every 30 minutes). Whew!!

With that excitement over, the flight to Berlin is nothing. We land and I had already decided to take a taxi even before the escapade with the public transportation which just fortified my decision. The hotel is something else. According to Rick, it once housed the Nazi Chamber of Culture. The bathroom smells like I don’t know what but I’m only here for 2 days and as long as I keep the bathroom door closed it is fine.

I wake up early and head to the Reichstag (Parliament). Even at 8 a.m. in the morning the line was long, but it was even longer when I came out. This turned out to be one of my favorite things - I really enjoyed the cupola at the top of the building. From there I walked over to the Brandenburg Gate and after admiring it, I walked along Unter den Linden, stopping at the Neue Wache (where the tomb of the unknown soldier and the tomb of the unknown concentration camp victim are buried) before continuing on to the German History Musuem. The museum covered a lot!! I then walked over to Museum Island. The Pergamon Museum's line was way too long so I went to the Egyptain Musuem to visit Nefertiti and then visited the Berlin Cathedral and climbed the dome. From there I had lunch in a little cafe before continuing on with my exploration of Berlin. Next stop was the German Cathedral before continuing on the Museum of Wall and a visit to Checkpoint Charlie. I never knew why it was called Checkpoint Charlie - it was the third checkpoint (c = charlie). The museum was very moving with tales of escape attempts. The Jewish Museum was next. It is a very interestingly designed museum, and very haunting at times with stories of Jewish persecution.

I finished up the day at KaDeWe (or Kaufhaus des Westens), a huge department store before walking back to my hotel. It reminded me a lot of Harrods. I checked my map and decided my hotel wasn't too far. Turned out to be a case of it looking closer on the map than it was in real life!

Sunday I woke up a little stiff and decided to take it easy. I checked out of the hotel (leaving my luggage there) and made my way to the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. It was not open but I looked around and took a few pictures. Next I went to the Berlin Wall Documentation Center. The street is lined with another remaining section of the wall and from the center across the street you can look down at the "death strip" between the wall and the border. I ended up back at the Brandenburg Gate and visited the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. Next I toured around the city on one of the hop-on, hop-off tours, stopping at Potsdammer Platz and walking through one of the art museums in the Kulturforum. I finished up the bus tour and got on a train back to my hotel. In Germany, as opposed to other places, there really isn't a ticket checking mechanism. It's on the honor system and if you get caught there is a penalty. So far I hadn't ever had my ticket checked. Not anymore! I, like Mandi, had expected these ticket inspections to be carried out by a potentially scary police officer, but no, it was a regular person in street clothes. He paused for a second looking at my ticket, which to me seemed like an eternity before thanking me and turning to the next person.

I got my luggage from the hotel and headed to the bus stop to catch the train to the airport. I just caught the bus and as I was heading to the back to find a seat, I haphazardly stuck my ticket in my purse thinking I was already checked today, surely I won't be checked again. That was an incorrect thought. She ended up looking a little more official than the last one and asked to see our tickets. I started rummaging through my purse and my pockets. She passed me by and looked at everyone else's before coming back to me. I was still rummaging, thinking oh crap when finally I found it! I triumphantly handed her my ticket and she smiled and thanked me.

Note to self: ALWAYS put your ticket in a safe place!

And that was my trip to Berlin.

Wo sind Sie?

We have a German phrase of the day! I share an office with two other people and Beate came into the office asking "Wo sind Sie (where are they)?" before realizing she was talking to me and switched to English. She told me I can answer "Ich weiß nicht" or I don't know. Not too much later someone else came looking for Thomas and asked something similar to Wo sind sie and while I understood what he was asking, I answered in English that I didn't know. I am not thinking in German.

I've been here about 2 and a half weeks so far and what I miss at the moment, as it changes based on the day and my mood, is Target - one stop shopping with scads of choices! Yes, I would be a suburbanite. Oh how I miss you! And what else I miss right now? The medicine cabinet at work. I had a huge headache and had forgotten ibuprofen at my apartment and there is no medicine cabinet (or at least that I have seen) in the kitchen at the office here. How easy it was to walk into the kitchen at work and get a packet of ibuprofen! I am enjoying my time here, even without Target! :)

Weekend Fun

So the weekend started on Friday with me trying to figure out the washing machine. I ended up putting my clothes in and pushing buttons, which seemed to work. I wasn't as sure about the dryer and kept running downstairs to check (the washer and the dryer are in the basement so two flights down). Finally I got tired of running up and down the stairs and just stayed downstairs doing some hamstring curls and grapevines to pass the time.

Saturday I took the train up to Cologne. Stepping out of the train station into the shadow of the cathedral, I am once again in awe of this magnificent building. I wasn't sure until I got there whether or not I was going to climb to the top of the tower. Looking up and up and up I made my decision. I would climb the tower, and my incentive, a stop at the ice cream shop on my way home of course! :) 509 steps later I was at the top! Coming down I looked around the cathedral before visiting the Roman museum, and Museum Ludwig. I enjoyed the Roman museum, but not so much the Museum Ludwig - a little too much modern art for me. I did a little shopping, mainly of the window variety before heading back towards the train station. I passed by the cathedral again which was hopping with activity. A mass amount of tourists, along with statue people, musicians, artists and protestors filled the square in front of the cathedral. I people watched for awhile before catching the train back to Bonn.

Sunday I ventured to Sieburg to visit the St. Michael's Benedictine Abbey. The abbey was founded in 1o64 or so. You could climb up the tower so of course I did. The view was great from the top. I'm not sure how many steps - around 170+. I counted on the way up but forgot and was counting on the way down when I missed a step and slipped down a couple. Fortunately I wasn't too far up from a landing and I landed on my feet, if a bit hard. I forgot the count after that!

Bonn is a bit like Seattle in that during the week the weather seems to be great and get to the weekend and the sun has a tendency to disappear. Well, not disappear exactly, but there is more rain here on the weekends. But the rain doesn't last too long.

And let me just say switching between a German and an English keyboard is not as easy as you think! I am currently typing on my laptop which is an English keyboard but at work I use a German keyboard where the z and y are in opposite places (there are several other keys that are different as well). The y is becoming second nature on the German keyboard except now when I'm using an English keyboard.

PS

I'm trying out a new photo website (I know I've tried several!). Anyway, check out the link on the right to my Bonn pictures on Picasa.

I Heart Detours

Why yes it would be opposite day! So Friday on my way home from work I had my first experience with the detour and finally found my way home. Saturday morning I ventured toward the subway stop only to find the detour was still in place. A detour with trainers (sneakers) on is much better! That and knowing where you are going helps too. Sunday my goal was to find a better way around the detour. I figured out a better way to get to work and a better way to get home from work. Monday morning the detour was still in place so I took my newly discovered way to work. I assumed it would be the same on my way home. No, by then the detour was down but I didn’t realize this until after I had gone around avoiding the detour.

Sunday I also visited the German museum. This was a fantastic museum and it was basically all in German. Imagine if it was in English!

Grocery bags in Germany are 10 cents each. I think it is a great way to promote recycling of bags. I haven’t been doing my part as yet because plastic bags are so useful! So I guess I have been recycling them by using them for other purposes.

I'm not a huge coffee drinker, I usually have one or two a week. But lately, I have been drinking quite a bit during the week. And that trend has continued here in Bonn. After lunch we normally have a coffee and the barista knows my drink after only a couple of times (latte with vanilla). What's great about this is, I rarely have to order and my drink is normally ready by the time I get to the counter. The downside (if there is one), is on the off chance I didn't want a vanilla latte. Today I would have had my chance as my normal barista hadn't seen me but I am still in a vanilla latte mood.

The First Week

Wow! Was it really a week ago today I left Seattle? Time flies no matter what you are doing! I've had some problems with internet access but found an internet cafe in Bonn so here I am. And let me just say it is hot!!

Planes, Trains, & Automobiles
Okay, this was one long travel day. I didn’t sleep too well and finally fell asleep right before my alarm went off (typical). And it turned out I overpacked as my luggage was over the weight limit. It was actually under the SAS weight limit but as my first flight was on United it was subject to their limit. Oh well. The flight to Washington DC was fairly smooth until we were in the descent when it started getting a little bumpy. And then one minute we were about to land and the next we were on our way back. The landing was going to be tight so they decided to pull up and try again. It was fine the second time. The flight to Copenhagen was fine and then came security. I am not used to carrying my laptop with me and so went through security without taking it out. They were nice about it and had me go through again. Oops! I was completely out on the flight to Frankfurt. I had been waiting for my luggage awhile when I realized there were no other bags coming out from Copenhagen. My heart started to sink. After I had been so careful in packing everything into one bag, did they lose it? I made my way over to the luggage inquiry where they assured me my suitcase was in the airport, it had just been put on the wrong cart and therefore was coming out on a different carousel. When it still hadn’t shown up after waiting awhile I went back and asked for an ETA – about 10 more minutes. Finally my bag came out on the carousel. Whew!!

This was my first experience with SAS and my second or third with United and I must say, I really prefer Continental or British. Not that there is anything wrong with SAS or United, I think the quality is better with Continental or BA. And lately I haven’t been super happy with BA but in general I’d rather fly with them.

And now on to my next mode of transport – the train. I bought a ticket for the next train which was leaving in 10 minutes, not realizing how far I would have to walk. It was close, but probably not as close as I thought it was. I think I ended up with a couple of minutes to spare, but it felt like less.

Matthias met me at the train station and drove me to my apartment. The apartment is small but it will do just fine.

I unpacked a bit and then I broke my own cardinal rule and slept. I woke up a little later on and after futzing around a bit more I headed back to sleep.

Tuesday
Matthias picked me up and we drove to the office. He showed me where I would catch the metro. The office is actually within walking distance, if it isn’t raining. It’s a little far if it is raining! I got set up at work and made progress on my visa (I have a meeting with at the town hall on Thursday to finalize). I decided to walk home and it isn’t a bad walk, especially when on a call (the call only lasted a few minutes due to the fire drill back home but it distracted me while I was waiting for the train to pass).

On another note, I tried to get cash out today from a Deutsche Bank ATM machine and got a message that it could not accept my card. What? I have done this how many times and now it decides it doesn’t like my card? I ended up trying another bank and guess what – the not Deutche Bank worked just fine. I would prefer the Deutsche Bank work as they won’t charge me (as they belong to the same family as Bank of America) but I am just happy my ATM card works!

I’m not much of a cook, I’m trying to cook more (hence the cooking class) but I’m not there yet. And I’m not going to start trying with a hot plate in my hotel room. So for dinner I’ll probably revert back to cereal or yogurt. At least it is simple and easy!

I’m full of random thoughts tonight – do you think watching CSI dubbed in German will help me improve my German? :)

Wednesday
Don’t worry, the daily updates will probably stop soon, but for now they’ll continue. Granted, as of today the only person who has read these updates is me as I have had no access to the internet. If nothing else, this weekend I should be able to find an internet café.

I awoke to sun! It’s amazing what sun can do for you! I decided to walk to work and enjoy the sunshine. It’s not too bad of a walk. After lunch I ventured into downtown Bonn and picked up my biometric pictures (for my visa) and stopped by Deutsche Bank where my ATM card worked! Go figure.

After work I had grand plans to venture over near the river and go for a run but when I got to my apartment I realized my iPod was just about out of juice. So no river for me as it is a bit of a jaunt to get there. Instead I explored a little bit around where my apartment is located and found a path that goes along the train tracks.

My television does not have the Disney Channel but never fear, I have figured out when The Suite Life of Zach & Cody is on (dubbed in German of course). And I finally noticed here it is called Hotel Zach & Cody. Guess The Suite Life doesn't translate so well. I’m justifying this to myself as helping me to learn German! :) And I can understand a little but I haven’t really tried speaking.

Thursday
I am now official. Matthias was nice enough to come with me and help me navigate my way through the paperwork and officials and I am now legal with a big sticker in my passport to prove it!

German word of the day: großartig which means great or really great

Friday
It was really warm today, 90+ degrees. Yeah, not really a big fan of anything over 90. I started walking home, noticing the first place where I can cross the train tracks was closed. I didn’t think too much about it and continued on. I’ve learned that whenever you have a chance to cross the train tracks – do it! You never know when you’ll get another chance! Next crossing, same thing, as well as the next crossing. And then I noticed the barrier and the fact that it was actually closed for construction. Not sure what do to I stood there for a couple of minutes. A woman on a bike came up expecting to cross and had the same dilemma I did. She asked another pedestrian if there was another way (I’m assuming, they were speaking in German) and they pointed her straight ahead. I decided to follow and finally there was a detour sign. I’m not sure when a detour is actually fun, but let me tell you it is not fun when you are on foot and in 90+ degrees and not sure where you are! Finally I came to a street I knew! I had been avoiding the ice cream shop near my apartment but being tired, hot and having cranky feet I decided ice cream was just thing. It wasn’t just ice cream, but gelato! Yum! Or I should say lecker! (see the word of the day) Meine eis ist lecker! I have a feeling that isn’t quite correct but oh well.

I should also mention I tried cooking - sausages, and they turned out fine so maybe I will try to be a little more adventurous in the "kitchen".

German word of the day: lecker which means delicious (or as Beate said yummy)

Saturday
I woke up to what I thought was the sound of thunder followed closely by what sounded like rain so I turned back over and went back to sleep. I got up finally and started towards town. They were still working so I took the detour which was easier this time considering I had been on it before, but still not fun. I walked around Bonn, visited a few museums and then walked home on the path that went by the river. It was really hot by this time, but it seemed a little cooler by the river. It started raining the closer I got to my hotel. I was going to meet up with Mandi, her boyfriend and several people from her program for dinner. I was just going to leave the hotel when it started absolutely pouring. No problem I thought. Or keine problem I should say. It was similar to rain in Houston where it would be torrential for a bit and then stop. While it didn't stop, it did slow down and so I started out. Let's just say I was a bit wet by the time I got to the train. I got a little lost but finally found the restaurant. Dinner was fun!

The hotel

My room

The "kitchen"

Enjoying my gelato after navigating the detour!

Auf Wiedersehen

I am now all packed (I hope!). Really though, as long as I have my passport, credit cards, cell phone and camera I should be fine. Oh and my iPod! And as a treat to myself I have spent the last hour or so buying all sorts of things from iTunes. I managed to fit everything into 3 bags, including lots of books. It is only 6 weeks after all and most likely I have way over packed. Being done with my packing means I have several hours tonight to brood over all the what ifs. If I haven't mentioned it before, I don't do well with change. But fortunately Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy are on TV and distracting me. And soon I'll be off to bed as wake up tomorrow is quite early to catch a 7 a.m. flight. Next time you hear from me I'll be in Bonn!

31 Things Update

Really, not much progress has been made on my list but I thought I would update one last time before I fly off to Germany.

7. Back up my pictures on CDs. If I'm really ambitious catalogue and organize! I started and backed up my pictures on my laptop. What I really need to do is backup my pictures on my old desktop.

24. Take a cooking class. DONE! I attended "Perfect Poultry & Meat" where we made Orange-Peppercorn Chicken Satay skewers (I cut up chicken and put it on the skewers), Moroccan Pomegranate-braised Lamb, and Thai Basil Beef. The instructor talked to us about the dishes and cooking meat in general before sending us off to our stations to start preparing the dishes and then we brought back the beginnings to her and she finished the preparation. The Moroccan dish smelled the best with all sorts of spices. My favorite of the evening was probably the Thai Basil Beef. I'm excited to try it myself sometime.

26. Finish up my 2005 photobook. Started on this one and have all my 2005 pictures uploaded to the website where I will make my book.

Sprechen Sie English?

A week from today I will be on a plane to Germany for 6 weeks. And it is just now starting to sink in I'm going to be in Germany for 6 weeks!!! Yikes!! I've been working a lot lately so I haven't really thought about the fact I'm going to be in Germany for 6 weeks! 6 whole weeks - yes, I'm panicking just a bit. I don't really know the language, and really don't know exactly what I'll be doing either, I don't even know where I'm going to be living (I do have a place to live though), a lot of unknowns... And for someone like me who likes everything planned out, it is hard not to know the details.

And randomly, Mandi is also going to be in Bonn at the same time I am! Mandi and I have a history (well it only happened one other time so not really a history) of meeting in random places. She was coming back from Uganda through London while I was working in London so we met up at the airport.

Funny story - I was "running" at the park (which in my case means very slowly, and intermittently with walking) when a guy on a bike passed me and told me "you go girl! you can do it, you're almost done!" Now, don't get me wrong, I really appreciated the cheer and the encouragement, but I thought to myself, how pathetic must I look for some random guy to cheer me on at the park?

5 Mile Lake Triathlon

What? June 28th already? Where has the time gone? I have spent way too much time at work and not enough time training. Even though these are short distance ("sprint") they are just long enough to need some preparation time. I don't recommend trying to cram weeks of training into a couple of days (which is what I attempted to do). I debated even doing the race but I felt I could finish and that I didn't have a good excuse not to so Saturday morning I woke up early and made my way down to 5 Mile Lake park.

My first bit of nerves came when I noticed how many people were wearing wetsuits. Was the water really going to be that cold? I went down to the water's edge and tested the temperature - it was cold, but not freezing. Soon it was time to head to the start. Once again I was a pink swim cap. The countdown started and then we were off! This was probably the hardest swim I've had. I never found a rhythm and felt out of breath. I ended up being the last person of my group out of the water. I've always said I wouldn't care if I was the last person to cross the finish line because it would mean I finished and I started to think I might actually get to test this theory today!

The bike portion was two loops through the surrounding neighborhoods. It was a nice rolling course, with one long, nasty uphill. I kept shifting down until I was on the last gear. It is a slight possibility that I could have gone faster walking my bike up this hill! :) I kept making little goals for myself - make it to the light pole, make it to the mailbox, make it to the street sign. I was so busy trying to make it to the next goal that it took me a minute or two to realize it had flattened out and I had reached the top! With the first loop done, I headed around again. I continued being passed, in fact I think some people must have passed me twice! The long, nasty hill was still there the second time around and I quickly dropped down to the lowest gear and fought my way up to the top.

Heading out to the run course I saw someone heading out for their second time around on the bike course which meant I wasn't going to be last across the finish line! Whew! I might have the lowest time, but I wouldn't be last. No need to test that theory! The whole no training thing started to catch up to me during the run. But it is amazing what a well-timed "you go girlfriend!" cheer and a water stop can do for you. All the encouraging cheers I received were great and really helped, but this one stuck out in my mind as I had started feeling self-doubty (like how I just made up that word?). One foot after the other and I was finally back at the park. A loop through the park and there was the finish line! Hooray!!

I was thinking I would finish in about 2 hours, plus or minus 10 minutes. I finished in 2 hours and 4 minutes, so my estimate was just about right. I actually improved my swim time, my bike pace stayed the same and lost a bit of time on my run pace. But I felt good about it overall, especially considering the lack of training!

31 Things Update

1. Travel to a country I've never been to before. I've now been to Sweden - granted it was only for a few hours, and most of it was spent in a car, but I'm counting it! :)

2. Make it back to Houston a couple of times. I was in Houston over the weekend.

3. Improve my triathlon time. My overall time improved as well as my swim, run & transition times. I still need to work on my bike time.

5. Take at least one picture a week (I would say more frequently, but knowing me one picture a week could be pushing it some weeks!). Fortunately I've been traveling or at events so I've been basically able to accomplish this! But the question is can I keep it up?

13. Attend a theatrical event (musical, play, ballet, etc.) Talk about two birds with one stone, while I was in Houston I watched Sweeny Todd (the musical). It was really good - I was impressed at how the actors not only sang but played musical instruments as well.

14. Eat at several restaurants I've been meaning to - Greenlake Bar & Grill, Z Tejas, Boka and Salish to name a few. It helped that it was my birthday plus a few friends birthdays so I've now eaten at La Isla and Z Tejas.

24. Take a cooking class. I should have been able to mark this one off as I was signed up for a class but a deadline at work meant I wasn't able to attend. I am signed up for another class so here's hoping I will be able to make it!

Mosaic

I saw this on Mandi's blog and it looked like fun!

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.

b. Using only the first page, pick an image.

c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.


And here are the questions:
1. What is your first name? Emily

2. What is your favorite food? Pad Thai

3. What high school did you go to? Hazen

4. What is your favorite color? Green

5. Who is your celebrity crush? Clive Owen

6. Favorite drink? Cappuccino

7. Dream vacation? Greece

8. Favorite dessert? Gelato!

9. What you want to be when you grow up? Happy

10. What do you love most in life? Possibilities

11. One Word to describe you. Determined

12. Your flickr name. This one didn't return anything so I used my name again.

One Long Layover

I'm sitting at Heathrow airport at the beginning of what will be quite a long layover. I was originally scheduled to fly home via LAX but when I had the opportunity to get a direct flight to Seattle I jumped on it! Unfortunately that also meant a very long layover but I am more willing to endure a layover (especially since my dad used his frequent flyer miles and we are in business class and can use the lounge!) than deal with LAX. Not to mention I am only arriving home about an hour or so later. So here I am. And I figured since I do have scads of time I would write up a quick synopsis (or not so quick - they seem to get longer and longer) of my trip as I doubt I will have time in the next few weeks based on the flurry of activity my blackberry has received the last few days. I'm not sure when I will have pictures. I probably should also mention I'm exhausted, so forgive me if I start rambling and my sentences become incoherent.

Day 0/1
This was mostly a blur as our flight didn't leave Seattle until 10 p.m. and the connecting flight to Paris was also delayed so we didn't get to our hotel until around midnight. Waiting in Seattle to take off, the TV in the lounge was turned to the Dancing with the Stars finale so I was able to watch at least the first part! Landing in CDG I said "Bonsoir" to the passport control officer and he looked at me with an astonished look on his face and asked if I spoke French. Little did he know that is about the extent of my French (along with hello, goodbye, please & thank you, and 1 - 10 and a few other phrases) and I had to tell him that no, I did not speak French. The hotel room was nice, if on the small side, but the bathroom seemed decent.

Day 2
We didn't fully close the curtains and so I awoke with the sun, which was around 5 a.m. or so. I tried to go back to sleep and was somewhat successful. Dad (Tom) was not and he got up and walked around the neighborhood, bringing back croissants for breakfast! I love French bread, pastries, etc. We took the train out to Vernon and caught the bus to Giverny to look at Claude Monet's house & gardens. Monet is probably my favorite painter (Renoir is a close second) and the gardens were amazing - his paintings in real life! Back in Paris we visited the Eiffel Tower before having dinner at a pizzeria where I had what else but margherita pizza! When we finished dinner it was dark and close to 11 p.m. so I headed back to the Eiffel Tower to see it at night and to see the twinkle lights which happen on the hour. I love the Eiffel Tower, especially with the twinkling lights!

Day 3
Today was museum day!! We started at the D'Orsay, followed by the Cluny, Notre Dame (not really a museum), we got in line for Sainte Chappelle but the line was extremely long and not moving and my dad is not the most patient so we went to the Conciergerie (where prisoners awaiting the guillotine were held). Next up was the Lourve and the Orangerie. Between the Louvre and the Orangerie we were approached twice within the space of 10 minutes with someone trying to sell us a "gold" ring. I had read about this scam before we went and so told my dad to keep walking. The gist of the scam is they "find" a gold ring and ask if it is yours. When you say no they either try to sell it to you or ask for money. I wouldn't be surprised if there was an accomplice in the background waiting in case you do pull out your wallet. Dinner was again at the pizzeria and on our way back to the hotel I realized it was already a couple days into our vacation and I hadn't had any dessert! We passed by a bakery and I got an eclair - yum!

Day 4
We had breakfast at the hotel before heading off to Versailles. It is an amazing palace!! And this time the hall of mirrors was open - it was fantastic! After touring the palace we wandered through the gardens waiting for the fountains to begin. We were sitting on a bench and a few minutes before the fountains were going to start we got up and walked toward the main fountain - good thing too as behind the bench we were sitting on was another fountain and we probably would have gotten soaked if we had stayed. We oohed and ahhed over the fountain before continuing on to the Grand Trianon (a smaller palace) where the King could retreat from palace life when it got to be too hectic. A bride & groom were there having their wedding photos made. Next was the Queen's Hamlet, a little village where Marie Antoinette could escape from reality. There were several more brides & grooms having their pictures made in the hamlet. We walked back to the palace, having lunch on the grass. It had started drizzling by this time. We walked back to the train station and caught a train back to Paris. We got off at the Abbesses metro stop and started up the stairs. The stairs went on forever! Finally we emerged and made our way over to Sacre Couer where we climbed more stairs up to the church, 200-ish or so. Walking through Montmarte, I found a gelato place so of course I had to stop for a gelato. It started pouring not too longer after this so we found cover to wait out the rain. When it looked like it had stopped we made a run for it, but halfway down the stairs it was raining again. A little tired of stairs at this moment, we decided to keep going to the metro station. I counted the stairs on the way down and came up with about 150 (give or take 10 - I got to a point and wasn't sure if I was on 80 or 90). We emerged from the metro at the Arc de Triomphe and it had stopped raining! We started up the stairs and when we got to the top it was raining again. We quickly took a few pictures and headed back downstairs.

Stair count: 150 up from the metro, 200 to Sacre Couer, 283 to the top of the Arc de Triomphe!

Day 5
Last day in Paris! We stopped by a bakery on the way to the train station. We arrived in Reims (capital of champagne) and stopped in the cathedral before walking over to Martel to tour their champagne caves. However, they were not having another English tour until a lot later in the day so we walked to the next champagne house, Taittinger. At the end of the tour, we got a sample of champagne and I noticed the model of a ship - it turns out it was the Sovereign of the Seas, which was the ship I took in March on my cruise! What a small world! We walked back to town, stopping at the Museum of the Surrender, where the Germans officially surrendered in WW2.

Stair count: 107 up from the champagne caves

Day 6
We woke up on the early side and made our way to the airport to catch our flight to Hamburg. Hans (my dad's cousin - my dad's grandfather was Hans's grandmother's brother) picked us up from the airport. My dad's grandfather, Emil (my great-grandfather), was who I was named for! No one knows for certain why Emil left for America, but there are three popular theories - 1) he was avoiding being conscripted into the army, 2) he was avoiding the police (for what I'm not sure), and 3) he had thought British Columbia was beautiful and wanted to live there. I have my doubts about 3) as he ended up in Moxee (outside of Yakima, WA) which in no way, shape, or form resembles British Columbia. The other story Emil is known for is he asked his sister to find him a bride and send her to America. The ticket he sent was not a one-way ticket though! But it worked out. Marietta (Hans's wife) made us lunch and then Hans left for a school reunion. Marietta dropped us off in town while she went to an appointment and after doing a bit of shopping we walked back. Three of Marietta's children (Elisabeth, Beate & Olav) and three of her grandchildren (Lucia, Laurence & Solvie - Elisabeth's children) came over in the evening and entertained us. Sorry if I misspelled anyone's name!!

Day 7
Marietta showed us around Hamburg the next day. We saw St. Nikolai (a church bombed in WW2 and now a memorial with an elevator inside the ruined spire), the Chamber of Commerce, the Town hall, St. Michel and the beginnings of the new Concert Hall. Beate joined us in the afternoon and we took a boat trip around the harbor. We met Olav and his girlfriend for dinner. The restaurant was on the river and we were quite entertained by the parade of ships coming in and going out. Olav, Beate and my dad are all involved in shipping. Obviously I'm getting tired as the descriptions seem to be getting shorter.

Day 8
We took the train into Hamburg and enjoyed a boat ride around the Alster (two lakes in Hamburg). The weather was beautiful so driving home from the train station Marietta put the top down on her convertible. Hans was there when we got home and after lunch we (Hans, Tom & I) were off to the town of Luebeck before boarding an overnight ferry to Sweden. The ferry ride was really neat, and we got to go on the bridge of the ship! Yes, shorter and shorter as I sense the end - not only in the written form, but also literally as the clock keeps ticking towards my flight!

Day 9
We arrived in Sweden at 7:30 a.m. (or as I like to call it #1 on my 31 Things list!) and off we went, up to Helsingborg where we took another ferry to Denmark where we visited Kronborg Castle (supposedly where Hamlet took place) and then Fredericksborg Castle. We drove back over to Sweden via the massive Oresund Bridge to catch a ferry back to Germany. The ship was late so we ended up sitting in the car for a long time! Finally we were underway. We arrived in Rostock (where my dad's family is from) around midnight.

Day 10
We drove out to Pappendorf to see the summer house of Emil's sister (which makes her my great great aunt, I think). It had been expropriated by the Russians at the end of WW2 and returned to Hans's family after the end of the Cold War. Olav is in the process of renovating the house. Right now it is a bit of a mess but you could see the old, faded beauty as well as the beauty it will be once the renovation is complete. We then toured Rostock and enjoyed some gelato before driving back to Hamburg. Marietta made us a lovely dinner (pizza!! how perfect since I hadn't had pizza since we left France!) and Elisabeth came over as well.

Day 11
aka today! We woke up at 4 a.m. and Hans drove us to the airport to catch the first flight in our journey today. Which brings us to now. I know I'm leaving a ton out but as I'm fading fast I figured I'd end this and start walking around to wake myself up!!

Au revoir

Where in the world am I going now? I'm sure to no one's big surprise I'm off across the pond again. This time it is Paris and Hamburg with my dad. We've been talking about visiting relatives in Hamburg for years now and finally decided to do it this year. First stop will be Paris - while Paris has now moved down to about #4 or #5 on my favorite city list (depending on if it is day or night), it is my dad's favorite city. We are going to try and make it out to Giverny (Monet's house) which I am very excited about as it is spring-ish and the flowers should be blooming. I'm also excited about cappuccinos and crepes! :-)

Magic

Friday
It wasn't that long ago I decided to embark on this somewhat crazy endeavor and before I knew it, I was preparing to board a red-eye down to Orlando. My brother has never been to a Disney park (amazing, right? Especially considering he is related to me - a certifiable Disney nut!) so he ended up coming down with me. We ended up sitting at the gate for probably about an hour or so as the plane had an electrical issue. Fortunately for me, I was dozing most of this time and didn't notice too much. We landed, grabbed breakfast at Chick-fil-a (yum!!), and got on the Magical Express. I was ready to drop our stuff off at the hotel and hit the parks but John needed a nap so a nap it was. And then we were off to Animal Kingdom! We fastpassed Kilimanjaro Safaris and headed to Restaurantasaurus for lunch. Honestly, I think one of the reasons I like Restaurantasaurus is the name!! After lunch we did Dinosaur, Expedition Everest, and the Kilimanjaro Safaris. With it being so hot, I wasn't sure how many animals we would see but there were still a number of them out and about. We headed for the exit and got on a bus for Hollywood Studios.

We arrived at Hollywood Studios just in time for the High School Musical 2 Pep Rally!! I was probably one of the few adults singing in the audience who wasn't a parent, but who cares - I love High School Musical! After the pep rally we wandered over to Star Tours, Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular and finished up the day at Rockin' Rollercoaster. You will notice I did not mention the Tower of Terror. And that would be because I am still way too chicken to try that ride. I should have put that on my 31 Things to do Before I Turn 32 list! Then I would have gone on the ride! Ha! I don't like rides that drop you straight down, but I have promised Michelle I will try it at least once in my lifetime. But apparently not this trip.

Next stop was the Magic Kingdom for the Pirate & Princess party! There were so many people (young and old alike) dressed up. I looked for a tiara so I could at least be somewhat princess-y but didn't find one, or at least didn't find one I liked. We did Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, Space Mountain, met Minnie & Daisy, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Indy Speedway. We finished up the night watching the Magic, Music & Mayhem fireworks. We were able to walk back to our hotel. The hotel was nice, but the location was fantastic!!

Saturday
Staying at the Contemporary, we were able to walk upstairs and catch the monorail over to Epcot. Our first stop was to get a fastpass for Soarin'. I have never been on Soarin' as the first time the line was horrendous (and no fastpasses) and the second time we had just gotten in line when we were told the ride had broken down. So I was really hoping third time was the charm. We grabbed breakfast and then took a ride in a clamobile to find Nemo. We watched the Circle of Life (an environmental fable) and then it was time to use our fastpass for Soarin'. I'm very happy to say we were able to go on the ride! It is a very cool ride! Next stop was Test Track before touring the "world". We headed back to the hotel, John to take a nap and me to check in for my race. Ever since I saw you could run through Cinderella's castle, I have wanted to do the Danskin at Disneyworld. And with me being in Germany in August, I won't be able to do the Seattle Danskin which is how I ended up in Orlando this weekend. I listened to the course talk and it was here I got my first bit of worry. And you know me, I need something to worry about! Because they have to open the park, if you haven't gotten on the run course by a certain time they will put you on a shorter course, but you would still run through the castle. Okay this wasn't too bad, I would still get to run through the castle. It would be a little sad if I wasn't able to do the whole race, but at least they let you finish! I checked in and headed over to the transition area to pick up my rental bike and rack it. I was hoping they would have the buoys out in the water but they didn't. But if I had seen them, it would have been something else for me to worry about so maybe it was good they hadn't placed them yet.

After checking in and racking my bike, I picked up John at the hotel and we headed over to Magic Kingdom. As we were passing the bus stop, a bus for Hollywood Studios pulled up. John had wanted to see the Lights, Motors, Action stunt show but we had missed it yesterday. The bus pulling up at the moment we were walking by was very fortuitous and we hopped on and headed to Hollywood. Walking over to Lights, Motor, Action show we ran across Kim Possible & Ron Stoppable so of course I had to stop and get my picture taken with them. After the stunt show we headed back to the Magic Kingdom. We fastpassed one of my favorite rides, the Jungle Cruise, and then rode Big Thunder, Haunted Mansion and Mickey's Philharmagic before heading back to use our fastpass. No Teacups as John told me since I didn't ride Tower of Terror he wasn't going to ride the Teacups. I suppose that is fair. We called it a night then as I needed to get some sleep. After all, I had a race to run in the morning!

Sunday
My alarm was set for 4 a.m. but I didn't really sleep all that well. I kept thinking I was going to oversleep. Finally I just got out of bed and got ready. Heading down the hallway, I heard noises coming from different rooms - more triathletes getting ready. I ran into another woman walking over to the race. We walked over together, commiserating in our nervousness. Although I do have to say my level of nervousness has decreased with each race I've done. Not to mention this race was shorter (1/4 mile swim, 9 mile bike, 2 mile run). I found my bike and set up my transition area. After standing around and doing a few stretches I left the transition area and headed to the beach. Minnie Mouse came down to send us on our way. The race was supposed to start at 6 a.m. but as it was still dark, it didn't start until closer to 6:30 but finally the first wave was off! This year I was once again a pink swim cap. Finally it was my wave's turn to enter into the water. Sally Edwards came and cheered us on and gave us our mantra - this year we were "magic". I didn't realize how much I looked forward to this part until I got my word and I felt a little more relaxed and ready to go. 3, 2, 1 and we were off! I usually hang back because I am a slower swimmer but this time I had all these people around me and I was trying to pass them. I guess my swimming is improving! Out of the water, I ripped off my goggles, swim cap and nose plug and got my helmet and I was off on my bike. The bike I rented was really nice! The bike ride itself was not too bad - it was very, very flat. There was one very vocal, cheery woman behind me, shouting encouragement to other racers and thanks to the volunteers. That's what I really like about this race - everyone is generally very friendly and always encouraging. I finished up the bike course and started out on the run course - through the Magic Kingdom! We entered in near Adventureland continue on through Frontierland, Fantasyland, Toon Town, Tomorrowland, back up to Fantasyland and through Cinderella's castle (my favorite part!!!), down Main Street and out of the park over to the finish line. Hooray!! I had wondered if it would get too hot during the race, but it ended up being overcast until right around when the last runner crossed the finish line and then the sun came out as if on cue! So it wasn't super hot, which was really nice.

My times: My goal was to finish the race in under 1 hour and 40 minutes. I finished the race in 1 hour 25 minutes and 49 seconds! I improved my swim pace and my triathlon run pace (it was slightly down from my 10K run pace in March). I lost some time on my bike pace. And my transition times improved a lot! Of course, it wasn't pouring down rain and the transition area was a lot smaller. :-)

I turned my bike in and headed back to the hotel to take a shower and start the day over. After checking out of the hotel we still had time before our flight so we headed to, where else, but the Magic Kingdom. After lunch we headed over to Splash Mountain to get a fastpass but we saw the line was only 20 minutes long so we decided just to wait. And approximately 20 minutes later we were climbing into our log raft. It wasn't that far into the ride before I was completely drenched! And we hadn't even gotten to the drop yet. Needless to say I was soaked by the time I got off that ride. I was contemplating buying new clothes but ended up waiting to see if I dried off in the sun. Oh yeah, have I mentioned yet how extremely hot it had gotten? Since we hadn't used our fastpass for Splash Mountain we got one for Peter Pan's Flight. Waiting for the fastpass time to roll around we did Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, Stitch's Great Escape, and Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor. Last, but not least, we rode Peter Pan, did a bit of shopping and then headed back to the hotel to catch the shuttle. And just like that our visit was over!

Officially Official

The opportunity for me work in our German offices has been a possibility that has been floating around for several years now. And this is the year it is finally happening! It has now been announced that I will be going over mid to late July through August to help on several projects. I'm excited about this opportunity. To say I'm just a bit terrified would be an huge understatement. But it will be a great experience for me. Now I just need to learn German!

Why Was 6 Afraid of 7?

Because 7, 8, 9!!! Such a corny joke, but I love it!! Maybe because I'm a number person. Or maybe because I am very easily amused. I'm thinking it's the latter. The orange you glad joke is still going strong at work (examples include orange you glad the meeting was cancelled? and orange you glad I found that workpaper?) and I am still cracking up each time I hear it. Yes, I am very easily amused!

So anyway, the reason I am laughing at the 7, 8, 9 joke is my race number this weekend is 789 - so how cool is that? I'm flying out tonight to Orlando. I'm really excited to see Mickey (of course!). I am definitely making up for the fact I had never visited Disneyworld until last year (this being my third visit in about a year and a half).

As Mickey would say - See ya real soon!