Welcome Back (to me)

Hello again. I am back on the west side of the Atlantic Ocean. Part of me is sad about this, part of me is ready to get back to my f*cked-up normal life. I have to admit blogging is much easier when I have a six-hour time advantage. πŸ™‚

By the time I walked all the way to baggage claim, cleared customs (LOVE Global Entry!), waited for my bag, waited for a Lyft, and got back to the ITP Estate it was about 5:30pm. Given that I had woken up in Germany my body’s internal clock was at 11:30pm, so it wasn’t a shock that I decided to skip trying to rush to my first German class of the session.

I slept intermittently during the early evening and through the night, it will be interesting to see how I feel later today.

One Night In Frankfurt
In 2014 Frankfurt was the first Germany city in which I ever stepped foot. In fact, it was also the first time I had ever been out of North America. I was such a noob, that I hadn’t even booked a hotel room by the time I stepped off the train in Frankfurt’s central train station. I walked three blocks and found a Comfort hotel.

I was surprised why there weren’t many hotel options this time around. I found out that I had arrived the day after an Iron Man triathlon was held in Frankfurt.

I walked around Frankfurt refreshing my memories from 2014, but failed to find the bar in which I sat for awhile back then. Pity. I found another one, however. Γ°ΕΈΛœβ€š In the center of the city I sat at a bar talking with two guys in from Australia (not triathletes), and was served by a Latvian bartender who used to live in California when he was pursuing his dream to play hockey, and a waitress who had moved to Germany from Ukraine. It’s a small world after all…

I was up and out of the hotel super early on Tuesday morning because the room was warm (no A/C), the WiFi was dreadful, I had no hunger for breakfast, and I wasn’t sure how long it would take me to commute to the airport via the train.

The flight was fine, except for the 6’5″ man in front of me who was either trying to break his seat or set a new World’s Record for airline seat reclining. His long legs allowed him to put his unshoed feet against the bulkhead and lean back as far as he possibly could. Ugh.

ITP Flickr Pics
“Frankfurt, Germany (edited)” (Frankfurt am Main, Germany)
Frankfurt, Germany (edited)
A fairly mundane shot of Frankfurt taken with my iPhone. I have “better” shots taken with my Nikon 1 V1, but have not had the time to import and edit them.

“My Last Dinner Of This Germany Trip” (Frankfurt am Main, Germany)
My Last Dinner Of This Germany Trip
If you ever need to know how to gain weight on vacation, simply consult me. This was my last dinner for this trip to Germany, beef with dumplings and sauerkraut. Yes, there is also a stein of beer. Not pictured was the dessert of ice cream, strawberries, and cream consumed with a cup of coffee. Did I mention that this meal was eaten shortly after I sat in a bar and had three large beers?

Catch-up Day
Today will be a day of doing some chores — laundry, auto emissions, and perhaps lawn mowing — before making my way to World of Beer (that’s still on, correct?). Tomorrow will mark the end of my devil-may-care attitude toward drinking and eating too much. Pity.

Make it a happy Wednesday.

Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]

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13 Responses to Welcome Back (to me)

  1. Stacy says:

    Oh gosh that meat looks good. Was it as good as it looks? I want meat now. All I have is tomato soup. *shakes fist at you*

    Yes, still on for WOB tonight.

  2. I was just informed that my 2015 car does not need an emissions test. Huh, I thought this was the first year I would need it in order to renew my license plate.

  3. Steve says:

    Nope, it’s 3 years.

    I’m sure an amazing meal. So easy to pack on pounds when on vacation. Once you get back to your normal exercise routine, it will all be better.

    Met the new park reps last night at out before meeting meeting. Seem nice and trying to please. Nothing new at the meeting except the report from Grandfather Mountain Games (this past weekend) which was a very good crowd- which generally pleases us.

    Head still spinning a little. Ready for this to be done.

    -FP

    • Yeah, I double-checked to Georgia Clean Air website to ensure. I should have done that prior to driving to the place. πŸ˜‰

      Sitting at Waschsalon, will be headed home afterward to do chores there. Looks as if I will have to test out the ITP Estate’s A/C today.

  4. Barb says:

    Pretzels as big as your head tonight!!!! Yippie!!!!

    Since I had to tag the minivan, I did my tag last month. 2013, my 2nd year of emissions on the Subaru. Luckily TJ did the minivan tag in April, so no emissions were needed on it. Need to get the oil changed on the Subaru, so I do go to the dealership, or elsewhere? all my free maintenance is long over.

    Watched the movie Lion last night, a very good movie, but a little deeper than I actually wanted. Guess we will have to pick a superhero movie next.

    • At LEAF Lisa described Lion to me — not my genre. Tomorrow’s blog Wil contain a description of what I watched on the flight home.

      With no emission test I need to fetch my paperwork while at work tomorrow (left it locked there while on vacation) and renew my tag.

  5. Steve says:

    Of course I have no dealer option except Chamblee, but I would recommend finding a place that does all around work- the Tires Plus guys in Newnan handle both the Mazda and Debbie’s truck and have served us well. You’ll pay premium prices for dealer oil changes and whatnot, besides getting the pitch from the sales team while there.

    • Barb says:

      oh, I know all about the dealer prices. But- they were sending me coupons, and there is a Jason’s Deli next door, which works well for a lunch time oil change appt. I need to call & ask for a discount.

    • Barb says:

      they gave me $15 off……… I can live with that. Jason’s Deli on Monday 7/24.

  6. bob says:

    Welcome back Paulie, sounds like you had a good trip.

    Steve, hope your spinning head stops soon. If you drink a lot will it stop spinning? πŸ™‚

    I have had a different experience getting oil changes at the dealer, I love it. They keep records of all my maintenance which will be nice when I go to sell. They are not pushy with new car sales or maintenance up sales and the price is good. My free oil changes expired a long time ago but every now and then they still throw me a free change.

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