Monthly Archives: November 2024

Friday, November 22

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Adjusting to the time here, are we? Ummmmm … I woke Dan at 8:58 because I think maybe he’d have slept even longer, and I woke up only 30 minutes or so before that. So I guess the answer is that we are slowly adjusting. Having no sun makes it more of a challenge, along with the very short days.

We sat around a bit, and ate some of the persimmon bread Dan made. Greg sent me a video via WhatsApp … it was snowing in Kaiserslautern! No snow here when I looked out the window. Yet.

But then Dan said, “It’s snowing,” and, sure enough, the white stuff was coming down. Not enough to stick, but still, it was pretty.

We finally headed out, looking for the coffee place we went to last time we visited here. Either we’ve forgotten where it is or it no longer exists! Eventually we wound up at a chain bakery spot we’ve been at before. It was fine.

Shortly after that we decided to take the tram to the train station, because we’d been told we might want to see the new area behind it. The train station isn’t exactly lovely.

Trouble was, we couldn’t locate that new area. I guess we are blind! So we walked a very small amount and eventually took the tram back to the Altstadt so we could find lunch. We wound up in a place I had initially made fun of: Frittenwerk. It actually wasn’t bad if you feel like having a thing full of fries, covered in a sauce, with falafels and various other things (or, in Dan’s case, chicken schwarma — and there were other choices as well). And it wasn’t too costly either. But of course I can’t say we ate a truly healthful meal. (Not a great image of my food since I only thought to take a quick pic after I was nearly done!)

At that point we headed back home so we could rest up and get ready for our next adventure: our first concert of the trip!

Taking the tram, we went to Mannheim. Prior to the concert we met up with Greg and Jan, who had come directly from work, and went to dinner. We even did dessert … partly because we didn’t want to get to the venue so early we’d have to stand outside in the cold!

The venue … and quite a line. Actually, two lines, going in from each side.

Finally, it was time … and hello VOCES8! Being a huge fan, I was delighted when Greg had written to say he could get tickets for this concert. It was fabulous. Truly. I didn’t purchase a program, so I’m not sure who the two new faces were: I know Molly Noon has left the group, but Blake Morgan was also missing. I don’t think he’s left, but of course I don’t really know. There was no mention of who was singing (they usually do a song that introduces everyone), so I guess I’ll never know who those two “subs” were. But they all sounded super!

Thursday In Heidelberg

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Well, I might have thought I was over jet lag, but my sleeplessness and then, when finally asleep, not waking until 8:00 and only then because Dan’s alarm went off say differently. Ah well! Jet lag is just something one deals with on these trips.

After getting up and showering, and then Dan doing the same, we walked to a small bakery spot and bought some pastries/breads and coffees. (Note to self: one pastry or bread option would be enough and don’t go for the sweet stuff!) We brought those back to the house and enjoyed them there, and then I started to feel the issue I get with too much sugar so I took a 20 minute snooze to recover.

Then it was time to head out … and up. We took the Philosphenweg to the old bridge. It’s a fairly substantial climb, and it’s just lovely.

By the time we got in to the Altstadt it was lunch time and while our intention was to have a smaller meal it didn’t quite work out that way. But it was tasty!

Then back to the house we went. I began this post, and then it was nap time.A SHORT nap, but it was definitely necessary

After a bit of time Dan and I went back to the Altstadt and met up with Melli — someone we had only met online. What a FUN time we had during our short visit. I’m so glad she thought to connect with Dan and set up the meeting! (But darn, I didn’t even get a photo … how crazy is that?!)

From there it was back “home” and dinner, conversation, and fun times with Greg and Jan.

Tomorrow we go to hear a favorite group of mine. Stay tuned!

Our First Full Day

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After sleeping longer than I had planned I got up and enjoyed doing some puzzles (yes, Carolyn, I’ve so far not managed to skip them even though I said I might!). We had coffee and croissants, and Greg and Jan had things to do, so we got ready to walk back to the Altstadt just to wander.

We then went back to a place we’ve eaten at and enjoyed before. I had some tasty duck and Dan had a veggie dish. It was more food than I could handle, but that seems to be fairly typical for me. But both of our meals were delicious.

From there we went back to the house. We both napped a short time — I’m sort of the Queen of Naps, so I’m always happy to snooze for about 30 minutes, and I guess that might make Dan the King of Naps although he is less likely to do this when at home. So maybe he’s not quite as royal as I am. Hmm.

Dinner was a lovely pumpkin soup Greg made. We certainly needed no more than that after our large lunch. Then Greg and Jan headed off to Mannheim for a concert and we walked back to the Altstadt and just enjoyed a stroll in the 36° or so weather. And no, I wasn’t cold: it’s so nice to have appropriate warm clothes and finally be here when we don’t worry about being too warm! After so many summer trips being here this time of year is really delightful.

Now we are back at the house, and I’m hoping we manage to hit the hay at a normal time for where we are. I think we have had very little jet lag this trip, really. I’m happy with that!

The Rest of the Day

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This’ll be quick since I wrote a lot and then managed to lose it. But after we arrived in Heidelberg we took brief naps and then walked to the Altstadt where Greg and Jan treated me to a birthday treat. It was lovely!

We then walked back to the house and enjoyed each other’s company, had a lovely dinner, and managed to stay up rather late.

Now we see if we can sleep. I’d write more, but … well … someone here is hitting the hay and the lights need to go off!

We’ve Arrived!

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Our flight to Frankfurt was pretty uneventful. There was the occasional turbulence but nothing awful. Well, the landing was rough but I believe that was due to the weather (we had to circle for 20 minutes before we were cleared to land).

We both managed to sleep on the plane. I sure think the expense of Polaris is worth it.

I am feeling pretty good at the moment. It’s currently 12:31 PM here and it feels like it’s around 4ish in the afternoon. Not bad.

Passport control was a breeze: I wasn’t even asked a single question. Dan was briefly quizzed, but it seemed like the guy wasn’t even paying attention to his answers! Then off to get luggage and when it was finally coming down the ramp our bags were nearly first. Easy peasy.

We headed out of the luggage area to find Greg and Jan waiting for us. So that was easy as well. We then headed from Frankfurt to their place in Heidelberg. (SO thankful that they picked us up … thanks, you two!)

Kind of boring, right? No catastrophes, no lost luggage, no long lines. But don’t worry, I know that on every trip there is something that will cause a bit of stress. I’m ready. Or as ready as one can be, anyway.

We are now settled in at Greg and Jan’s: and one of us is napping. I’ll probably do the same in a moment.

And now we wait

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Waking very early at our hotel, we opted to give the “free breakfast” a go. Um. Maybe not. But the place was so inexpensive I won’t complain. Then it was free shuttle time and we arrived at the airport nice and early — an hour earlier than we had planned, in fact (and even that original plan would have gotten us here mega-early!). I’m always an early bird, but this was even odd for me. Not a problem for a person who always worries about time!

We checked our bags (and the woman at the desk was really sweet and quite funny) — pretty much no line — and then headed to security. Again, barely a line. Nice!

Next up was the Polaris lounge.

And their sweet little restaurant area. Even at the early hour I was hoping for lunch, as I want to move my brain to the time we will encounter after the flight, but nope, only breakfast served. Such is life. I did, though, have champagne to celebrate our trip and my “big day” tomorrow. (Yes, another birthday poem will be posted … I’ve already set it up for my other site, the pattyo.)

And more sitting. And relaxing.

And getting locked out of Venmo. ACK!

Yes. Locked out. Turns out I did too much too quickly and they deemed it suspicious and decided to suspend my account until I share my photo ID and change my password. Then it takes up to seven days to get me back in. How annoying is that?

But still, that’s not a huge issue, since I won’t use it in Europe anyway. But I had one more payment to make and now I am unable to do it. Rats!

Soon we’ll head out to fill our water bottles (I’m determined to not use the plastic water bottles in the airplane — or elsewhere for that matter) and search out a few things (if available at a reasonable price).

Stay tuned for more … but I can’t be sure it will be today. Only time will tell.

So here we go!

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Today after church I played my final La Bohème, and after getting home and changing into travel clothes my sister drove us to our hotel near SFO (Thank you, Carolyn!). We don’t always spend the night up here when on a trip, but it just worked out well to do so this time. After going to dinner, Carolyn headed home and we got settled in for the night.

I’m pretty weary and tomorrow will be a very long day, but I thought I’d at least fill readers in on the final luggage decision:

It’s roller cases this time. It just was the best way to go for this winter trip. We have our Cabin Max bags for our under the seat bags (not that they will go under this first flight’s seats since we are in Polaris). My purse can be stashed inside that bag when necessary. The roller you see in the photo that is in between our two Gregory roller bags is one that we won’t need to bring back with us. It has a few treats and surprises for people we’ll be seeing soon. So after that it’s just the two Gregory roller cases (they DO qualify for carryon and will be used that way on the flight back from Europe) and two Cabin Max bags you see there, plus Dan’s small PacSafe and my (not pictured) purse. Since we have to check that middle suitcase on our flight there we will go ahead and check the other two larger bags and enjoy a rather light load on the flight. I’m not usually in favor of checked luggage, but it just made sense to dump ‘em all off this time.

It’s funny, isn’t it? All this time I’ve been excited about my new Osprey backpack and now it’s just sitting in my closet. But I think we’ve learned something: winter means heavier clothes and means we really don’t want all that weight on our backs!

Shouldering On

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I’m currently waiting for Dan to determine what will work for him when it comes to luggage. If it’s difficult for me to manage carry on only with a winter trip, it’s even hard for him: men’s clothes are just larger! And heavier. So he is attempting to make the pack work, but if not we will both move to wheeled luggage and check the doggone things.

There are advantages to checked luggage, I know. I just hate the thought that they could be lost and we’d have to cope. I’m not good at coping! But the handy thing is not having something on your back that makes you a wide and heavy load. Especially when one has an injury.

Yes. I’m talkin’ bout me.

A while ago (more than a month at this point), I realized my left shoulder was hurting. Badly. I can’t put my arm behind my back. I can’t raise it in certain directions either. I have to use my right hand for things that normally were left hand tasks. (Heck, I went to wave at someone and forgot to use my right hand. I moaned in pain.) When I had to be “wanded” at the John Wayne airport I put my arms out as instructed but I nearly cried due to the pain. When the injury first happened I looked up my symptoms. Dr. Patty (hey, that’s me!) determined it was a rotator cuff injury. Several friends who’ve had this said it takes a LONG time to get over it. Sigh.

I can still wear my pack, but Dan will have to help getting it on and off for me. So I suppose I can look at whatever choice we finally make as a win-win. Either I don’t have to worry about getting help with my pack (and further injuring myself), or I don’t have to worry about lost luggage.

Which is worse? A horribly painful shoulder that requires assistance in order to do things, or lost luggage with nearly all your trip belongings? Hmmm. I realize the latter is not even guaranteed to happen, but I’d still go for the packs if it works out.

Stay tuned. We’ll know by Sunday morning.

Packing, Unpacking, Repacking, Pondering

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Packing for a winter trip is a bit challenging since we want to do carry on only. I hope I can make it work! Below are images of what I have packed at this point: I think I might need to pull some things out! For United we are fine: they don’t weigh carryon luggage and our packs are the correct size. One leg, though, is on Lufthansa. They only allow for 8 kg in the bigger bag, and their small one is pretty darn small! So far my pack is a bit over 9 kg. Perhaps a sweater and a bit more will end up staying home. We shall see.

This first shot is all the “stuff” … toiletries, prescriptions, exciting things like shoes and socks and pjs … so what to remove? Probably silly to bring two tubes of toothpaste: it’s not like we can’t buy that on our trip. (But I do prefer this particular toothpaste so there’s that.) I could substitute a shorter pair of socks for one pair of the knee socks. I’ll have to think on that. The little pouch on the right, under the bright red bag that holds cables and such, is an incredibly lightweight daypack, in case you’re wondering.

For clothes I have, I’m sure, too much. I’m wearing the Darn Tough socks pictured, merino wool brown pants, brown merino wool turtleneck, oatmeal cashmere turtleneck, cranberry wool “shacket”, and wool scarf on to the plane, so those aren’t an issue. My Bog waterproof ankle boots aren’t picture because they aren’t here yet! I was planning on different booties, but the ones I have aren’t waterproof and I think it would be foolish to wear them. The Bogs will arrive tomorrow.

In my luggage I have the cranberry v-neck cashmere sweater, the grey wool v-neck, a striped cashmere (grey, brown, oatmeal, dark grey), and two merino wool turtlenecks (greenish black and off white) that can be work under the cashmere. I have two pair of pants that are packed: one merino wool in a goldish brown color, and a pair of black merino wool pants. (Yes, tons of merino!)

If I’m to dump I suppose I could move to only one packed pair of pants and drop the cranberry cashmere. It’s not easy to say goodbye, but maybe …?

Finally, the few things I couldn’t fit in the photo above: the bag contains my down jacket, the purple is a rain jacket and it can fit over the down jacket. Also pictured is my merino wool jumper and Christmas red merino turtleneck (c’mon, I DO need to dress for Christmas, yes?!), and my wool cloche.

So that’s it. And now it’s ponder time. Think you have an opinion about what I should drop? Feel free to share. I might not listen, though!

If you are curious about brands: you are seeing Woolx (jumper, pants, shacket), Unbound Merino (pants), Uniqlo (turtlenecks), Darn Tough (socks), Eddie Bauer (rain jacket), Marmot (down jacket which you can’t even see), REI (grey wool v-neck), Macy’s (that’s all the cashmere), and … wait for it … wool hat and scarf from Amazon. (I try to avoid Amazon when possible). My nicer shoes (we ARE attending concerts, after all) are Dansko. (But that does bring me to the “could I just wear the Bogs with my dress and get away with it? I might see how they look with tights on. It’s usually not my style but nixing a pair of shoes would sure save space and weight!) Still, they aren’t anywhere close to dressy:



Oh … and then there’s my “personal item” bag. It has all the other “stuff” … wallet, passport, necessary tickets (most are on the phone), iPhone, iPad and keyboard, camera and all that is needed with that, sunglasses (do I really even need them? I wonder!), chapstick, nail file … well, you know, typical purse stuff plus camera gear. I’m going light with the camera: only one lens and one extra battery. It’ll do.

So that’s that. And I’ve packed the backpack and, as I said, it works, but not for Lufthansa IF they get picky and weigh things.

Meanwhile … life does continue here … I have the final opera dress tonight for Bohème, three students tomorrow, two on Saturday, and opera performances Saturday night and Sunday afternoon.

Guess how difficult I’m finding it to focus on work right now?!