Well, we made it to Europe. Specifically, we made it to Germany. All I can really say is that it is a significant change from the Pacific Islands and Latin America.
First off, There is no ocean here in Bavaria, and there are green fields and mountains instead. Flying in, I was reminded (the same as I noticed the last time I was here twenty-eight years ago) that everything here is so neat and tidy. Other than the autobahn roadways, all the roads wind along the mowed verges through the countryside, and between tidy little villages. It is beautiful to fly over, and remains so as one trades wings for wheels and drives these meticulously maintained roads.
And it is just so completely, totally, green.
Weird.
I was here almost thirty years ago for a climbing trip, and it really hasn’t changed. I was really excited to see the Bavarian and Austrian Alps again, so we headed up and did some hiking.
The view from our hike to the top of some mountain that I don’t know the name of. So neat and tidy and green down there.
We are visiting friends in Augsburg for a bit before we fly out to Ireland. Augsburg is a beautiful city, just the right distance (about an hour) north and west of Munich. It is still in the heart of Bavaria, but trips into the busy city of Munich remain optional. We have made a few trips into the city to fight traffic, turn the wrong way down one-way streets, and get yelled at by angry elderly German ladies on bicycles. More on those trips later.
First, a few pictures of our arrival into Europe via the Helsinki Airport, and some walks we did around Augsburg on our first day here:
It was weird to watch the in-flight map… we were pretty close to flying right over the North Pole (we were well North of Greenland).
Helsinki Airport is the cleanest, most organized, and best well-designed airport experience ever. Flying in with FinnAir was a treat: it was great service, and they actually serve vegetables in both of their not-too-terrible in-flight meals on the way over from Seattle (and even free beer and wine with the meal).
They have outside spaces to relax and eat (and smoke, which a lot of europeans still seem to do). It was really nice to get some fresh air in between all these long flights.
The permanent Christmas Duty-Free shop was weird. Of course, Tam had to go check it out.
And, just in case your camel needs a smoke after a long international flight…
Here are a couple of shots from around Augsburg. It is such a nice city. I always love that there is history here that goes back a bit further than a couple-hundred years. It reminds me how young the West coast of the US is. Walking streets and alleys, looking at structures that are over a thousand years old somehow brings about a more romantic sense of travel.
And here are a couple of nerds in the street.
There is a lot of history here, which I won’t go into right now, but it is definitely a very Bavarian city.
Quite lovely.
More Germany to come…
