We Made It

We arrived at Charles De Gaulle airport about a half an hour late so our lay-over was about an hour and went very quickly. The airport itself was not impressive and had vast areas of empty concrete-like spaces that didn’t seem to serve any purpose. We had to keep walking what seemed like a great maze that finally ended at a huge white double door that looked like a dead-end; it wasn’t. Heidi decided we could organize things much more efficiently and attractively. There was no art anywhere and the trash containers were just large, clear plastic bags suspended from rings at the tops of pipes so all the garbage was clearly visible. There were fire extinguishers every few feet which wasn’t really comforting. It was tacky and cold to say the least. We went outside and rode a bus to the gate. When we came in it was four miles from where we landed to our arrival gate and just as far to the departure gate. The flight left on time and was good.

We took a cab to our hotel, a Holiday Inn (Heidi’s preference the Swiss Hotel was full when she booked) which we found to be very comfortable. There were nice, nice down feather comforters on good beds. After a restful four hour nap we went with Heidi’s colleague Jan from Belgium to an Argentinean-German restaurant in Düsseldorf (our hotel was next-door in Neuss) for dinner. Heidi and I had kind of a stroganoff on really good fried potatoes made with bacon and onion. Jan had a lamb dish that was excellent.

Monday morning after Heidi went off to work I walked about six blocks to a tram stop so I could go into Düsseldorf. The train ride was 23 minutes to the Hauptbahnhof or main train station in Düsseldorf. After walking around there and going to the information center and the post office where I learned the door thing, I took the underground just two stops to the Alt Stadt (old town). Here was a quaint old shop, restaurant, and museum region that bordered the Rhine River. After a lunch at a quaint German restaurant of sausage, salt potatoes that turned out to be boiled potatoes with parsley which prompted the waiter to finally say, “They’re gut, you try.” when I couldn’t understand what he meant by salt potatoes, and a mushy cabbage vegetable dish that was very good, I was off to see the ceramics museum. It was closed! Bummer - because what I saw through the window was amazing.

So, now plan B. I knew there was a modern architectural area not too far away, so I started walking. It was a beautiful walk along the River Rhine under an archway of oddly-shaped leafless trees. I love to see people riding bikes and walking dogs and there were plenty. One old couple had lifted their dog onto the waist high wall so he could see the river too. After walking what seemed miles and miles I came to the Rhine Tower which was built in 1979 and is over 234 meters high. I went up and had a gorgeous, though overcast, 360 degree view of Düsseldorf. Luckily my camera’s battery didn’t die until after I had some good shots.

I retraced my steps to the Alt Stadt and after stopping at two places to ask if there was an Internet café nearby, I found a young woman who gave me good directions. It was two Euros for an hour which was way less expensive than the nine Euros for two hours back at the hotel. I replied to an email from Taylor and then chatted with Holly a little since it was just after eight at Shoreland where I found her online in her office. Then back to the underground from the old town to the Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof where I got the tram to Neuss. That night we had dinner at a Greek restaurant of all things where the lamb was delicious. I wonder how the family is going to like the idea of lamb when I get home?

Fun Flight

This blogging business is work, like writing an essay in school, but it's fun. It's like my little stat-keeping at the girls’ basketball games. It helps me to understand and process what's going on. Now that I figured out I can write in Word and upload to Traveltwigue whenever I have Internet access it is much more convenient and less net time. “Too soon old and too late smart” applies more and more each day. But, as long as there is some sort of learning curve I guess it’s O.K. Students always looked at me as if I were from Mars when I tried to convince them that learning is one of the greatest pleasures in life.

I’ve learned quite a bit in just three days in another country. Rule #1 - when you enter a big building on a main intersection be sure to notice where you went in so it doesn’t take you two blocks after you’ve left to realize the train station isn’t just ahead because you came out a different door and are walking down a different street in a totally different direction. Heidi wasn’t impressed with Rule # 1. She just said, “No-o-o, duh!” She’s younger - that’s where the “too soon old” comes in. That was is Düsseldorf on Monday.

Rewind to Sunday. Heidi arrived at the Atlanta airport at 3:30 just like she said she would. I accompanied her to the Business Elite Lounge (you have to pick your traveling companions) and we had champagne! The lounge was gorgeous, like something out of a movie. You could have anything you wanted to drink and the food looked fabulous. I had had lunch, plus I was too excited to even taste anything which Andy's never going to believe.

Our plane was on time and they were boarding when we got to the gate. At least we didn’t have to do the O. J. Simpson dash through the airport as Heidi and Steve are sometimes known to do. She got right on and I waited in line with the rest of the common people. Actually, the seats were nice and roomy and my partner, a romance language professor and dean at the University of Missouri in St. Louis Dr. Debbie Baldini and I got lucky and didn’t have anyone sitting in the middle seat. I had the window and she had the aisle; it was perfect.

We chatted non-stop until after dinner when we both tried to sleep. She did; I didn’t. We talked books, religion (very interesting), and family among other things. Her husband was an engineer at Boeing for 25 years and now works for a smaller company with less travel. She was going to France to scout the accommodations for an upcoming student trip to Europe. She was a little nervous flying so I stopped with the “going down” jokes. She told me about their hearing impaired daughter and how, after she, her husband, son, and mother had all learned signing and had communicated with the little one that way until she started school, they had to make a decision on whether she would continue with signing or go with lip reading and attend a regular school. She’s a teen-ager now and doing very well in a regular high school. I guess we never can truly appreciate our own blessings until we hear of the challenges of others.

Soon it was morning and they brought coffee and breakfast snacks. It took us longer to taxi to the gate after we landed than it did to have our snacks! Once we reached the gate, though, it didn't take long to unload and say our good-byes. Our bags came in and we were off to the next gate for the flight to Düsseldorf.

Atlanta Lay-Over

Hour five at the Atlanta airport and it’s all been good. Lots of time on the laptop, although, it appears Google Blogger is overloaded and I can’t get into my account. I did upload Firefox finally; I been meaning to do that. So, I’m writing in Word and hoping I can figure out how to get the posts into my blog.

I had a really great conversation with two service persons going back to Iraq, Eva Chapp and Travis Butler. Eva’s from Michigan and the mother of three teen age girls. Travis is from Alabama and had 10 and 11 year-old boys. These are their last tours of duty. They were both in complete agreement on the things we discussed. They said the Iraqi people are good, kind, trustworthy, and suffering. Both soldiers work in the detention center and Eva also works in PR and with the Iraqi leaders in Baghdad. Eva is Travis’ commanding officer. Women are well respected in Iraq. One of their heads of state is a woman.

Both agreed that the coalition should not pull out of Iraq yet as the work that has been done would be undone if we pull out too soon. The Iraqi people are just beginning to learn the truth about Saddam Hussein and to trust America and her allies. These two soldiers trust our government even with all the politics and also trust their higher command. They said that many of the Iraqi people who are detained in the detention center don’t want to leave because the conditions there, no matter how bad according to our standards, are way better than what they would have to go back to. There were dozens and dozens of soldiers in the airport waiting to go back.

They didn’t know where the government-chartered plane was taking them and good thing because if they would have known and told me, then they would have had to kill me. They said they would be told moments before they landed where they were and then from there each group would be transported to their own companies. They were both upbeat and encouraged by what the U.S. is doing in Iraq. They felt safe where they were going and thought progress was being made. I felt even prouder to be an American after talking to the two of them.

And I'm Off

I began waking up around three; had the clock set for four. Alyssa and I were out the door at 5:01 right on schedule. Holly and Andy both got up to say good-bye which was really nice since Saturday is the only sleep-in day. I’m sure they were both sound asleep again before we were out of the driveway, but it was nice.

There was only a little snow and the roads were good, so I was glad I chose not to worry about it. Alyssa knows right where to go and she dropped me off with a hug in front of Delta. Easy check in and my bag is going straight through to Düsseldorf – yea! But, the line through security was the longest I ever seen it, all the way to the beginning of the concourse. A man from Beaver Dam and I were talking when a frazzled lady asked us if this was the security line. When she saw that it was, she was more than a little distressed. Then out of the blue she said to me, “Well, at least you have a cute hairdo and don’t look all stressed like me!” All three of us had to laugh and I thanked her. I hope she made her connection. Beaver Dam and his parents Harry and Donna Shute knew my Uncle George’s dry goods store in Horicon. Mr. Shute worked at John Deere my uncle’s favorite tractor company, “ Nothing runs like a Deere!” I can still hear his booming voice when they’d visit and the Case name would come up. The younger Mr. Shute now from California remembered the polished large, round fancy grate in the middle of Schneider’s. He said there was a screen under it and old Mr. Schneider used to have coins in there. He said he even saw silver dollars. I guess that made an impression on a little kid. I remembered the x-ray machine we looked through to see our foot skeletons. We always got a new pair of shoes when we each had our time at Uncle George and Aunt Margaret’s. With six kids in our family new shoes were a great treat. Especially for me, since I was the kid that wore holes through the soles in two weeks and then had to stuff them with cardboard until they were outgrown. I’m still hard on shoes, but now I have more of them, and they rotate and so it takes longer to wear them out. And, yes, I need all those shoes.

We were a little late taking off because of all the de-icing, but we still made good time and I was headed to the trains at Hartsfield in Atlanta by 11:45. My seat mate Nancy (my new good friend from north of Sheboygan) had to make an 11:07 connection. She and at least half of the plane had to make connections, so the crew asked that those people be allowed to de-plane first. That was a small thing, but all the people leaving kept saying, “thank you, thank you,” as they hurried down the aisle.

Nancy is a retired teacher from the twin cities now living in a house she built on Lake Michigan ten miles north of Sheboygan in Cleveland. We really had a nice visit and the time just flew. We exchanged names and numbers and plan to get in touch when we both return from our trips.

Traveltwigue Begins

This is scary. My first blog. I'm leaving tomorrow morning for Germany and Italy, and thought this might be a good way for my family to keep track of me, hence the title of this blog - Traveltwigue. My cutesy DNA is beyond exorcism, so I try to be accepting and not wince too often. My friend Dixie just called and when I told her what I was doing and the name of my blog she said, "How cute!" but in a nice way. So, now I am encouraged to continue. I'm always easily motivated by kindness. I'm probably not travelled enough to present a full-fledged travelogue, but a traveltwigue I can handle.



I made a detailed list two weeks ago, and planned to be all packed by last Friday so I could chill and not stir myself into a sickening frenzy. Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday passed. On Wednesday I emailed my daughter and told her I didn't know why I couldn't pack. She wrote back that I should light some candles, put on some music, have a glass of wine, and then just do it. It all sounded good, even the wine part. Since it was only 8:30 a.m. I nixed the wine, forgot all about the candles and music because I was so excited to be packing. My 24" suitcase weighed in at 33 lbs. (a first) and has two inches of spare room on the top. I am good to go. All that's left to worry about is the three inches of snow we are to get overnight. But, that is out of my hands and so I'm still good to go.



My travel companion is my daughter Heidi who is traveling to Nuess and Nuremburg in Germany and then to Milan, Italy for work. As long as I pay travel expenses and food, I can stay with her in her hotel rooms. How lucky am I? The last weekend on our own clock we are taking the train to Venice.

So, tomorrow morning my 7:30 flight takes me to Atlanta where Heidi and Steve live. She will meet me at the airport and at 5:30 p.m. we will board the same flight to Dusseldorf, Germany via Paris. Heidi will be in the front of the plane in one of those nice cozy first-class cocoon thingies, and I will be somewhere in the wayback with my knees to my chin loving every single, exciting minute of the flight. I can never sleep on a plane; I'm always afraid I'll miss something. The horizon line between night and dawn or dusk and night ( I honestly never knew for sure which) was tummy-turningly beautiful when I saw it from the cabin with the pilots on my first flight to Germany way before 9/11 when things like that were still possible. Everyone else was sleeping.