Yesterday afternoon we had our first opportunity to see the Moai statues and we were not disappointed. It is estimated that these enormous statues were constructed from 1400 (we have read and heard this date to be as early as 1000 and as late as 1400 AD) to 1600 AD. They first became a major tourist attraction due to the work of the American anthropologist, William Molloy. Previously these gigantic art masterpieces had been knocked over and were horizontal. Thanks to the efforts of Molloy (and lots of machinery and strong backs) these goliaths were uprighted beginning in about 1960 and soon after a tourist attraction was born. The first commercial flight to the island occurred in 1967
Our first look at the Moai statues of Rapa Nui on yesterday’s afternoon excursion.
Today we were given the opportunity to see the Moai accented by the sunrise providing what we were told would be a majestic experience. One of us took advantage of this opportunity (me) and the other (Patrice) chose to sleep. Patrice definitely made the better decision. It was quite cold this morning and very cloudy. Although what I saw was very lovely all I kept thinking was how nice it would be to be in a cozy warm bed.
One of the giant statues highlighted by our guide’s spotlight.Silhouette view. I think if it hadn’t been so cloudy this truly would have been spectacular. Isn’t this a great shot with the moon in the background?Do I look like I thought a 6:00 am departure was a good idea?
After the morning excursion, I returned to the hotel to join Patrice for breakfast and a brief rest. Then it was back on the road to seek out some more sights worth viewing.
Who looks like they got more sleep. Be kind!
This afternoon we had a great time going to the quarry where apparently all the Moai were carved. There are close to 900 of these incredible statues on the island and about 400 of them are at this one location. Here are some pictures of my favorites
The white patches are Lichen. This is a combination of algae and fungi that eats away at the sculptures and risks turning the statues into rectanular blocks (in 100 years). Getting tired of looking at Moai. Last one, I promise.Was Patrice trying to tell me something with a smile while sitting next to this sign?
Tomorrow is our last morning on the island. We head back to the mainland in the afternoon and then the next day we will fly to the Atacama desert.
Patrice and I had a nice dinner last night at “Bocanariz”, a good but not great restaurant close to the hotel. Our server didn’t speak a word of English until it came time to bring us the check when he announced “The tip is not included”. After dinner we wandered the streets and found a variety of shops, restaurants, and street vendors. The most interesting sight was a group of young street dancers (more appropriately called gymnasts) who were showing off their talents in the middle of the street. You would think once they saw cars they would vacate but that wasn’t the case. Watch this video.
Street performers stop traffic Santiago, Chile.
Today we left the hotel at 6:00 AM to catch our flight to Easter Island, also know as Isla Pascua (in Spanish), and Rapa Nui (in Rapa Nui). From Santiago the flight is 5 hours and 20 minutes. That’s why most travelers (including Chileans) have not visited this tiny UNESCO World Heritage Site (designated as such on March 22, 1996). It is also why, when I suggested it to Patrice she said “You want to go where?” Wait until she sees the Moai sculptures. She will change her tune (I hope).
On the plane to Rapa Nui I watched a movie and read part of my book. Then I had a conversation with my new BFF, Charly. See below.
Charly (aka Carlos) is a school teacher who lives on Rapa Nui. For some reason he wound up seated between Patrice and me. So he had the worst of both worlds. He had to endure Patrice climbing over him to get to the bathroom (although I have to admit I like those adventures when I am seated next to her) and on his other side he had me bending his ear.
Charly explained the route the plane needed to take in order to land on the island. I immediately asked the flight attendant if it was too late to return to the mainland. The landing was indeed an adventure. I witnessed the entire event out the window. It looked much scarier than it felt. I saw that tiny island that we needed to approach at a steep angle and I was not happy. In retrospect if Charly hadn’t mentioned anything I probably would have been playing backgammon on my phone and not noticed a thing. Oops did I say playing backgammon? I meant I would have been too busy reading medical journals to notice the landing.
Shortly before landing we were told that Patrice and I were randomly selected to be tested for covid. We will get the results in 24 hours, so if we test positive we might not be able to return to the USA for a while.
While on the island we are staying at the Explora Hotel-Rapa Nui. After a brief tour of the layout of the hotel we had lunch and it was amazing. I had the catch of the day which was fantastic. For dessert I had crepes that were beyond words (so look at the picture). I won’t bore you with Patrice’s meal because it wasn’t as memorable (and because I forgot to take pictures).
A local fish called Toremo. As you can tell I was too hungry to wait to take a picture.Crepes Suzette. Let me just say my mouth is watering from just looking at the picture.
We had our first Moai sighting while at lunch. See below.
Butter shaped to resemble a Moai sculpture.
After lunch it was off to see some real Moai. More about that tomorrow.
We left Los Angeles at 1:10 pm flying to Miami then on to Santiago arriving shortly after 8 AM local time which translates to 3 AM back home. Arrival at the Santiago airport (SCL) went quite smoothly. The immigration area had a tremendous number of people but things went very smoothly. I think the rapidity of turnover had to do with their excellent system. See below.
Numerous agents, each identified with large numbers. You can see the sign (between the 14 and 15) that informs you of the next available agent. If you don’t go to your assigned agent fast enough this woman shoots you. Lucky for some of the passengers she was more interested in using her phone rather than doing her job.It was our turn and number 22 was available. Annie Oakley sent us to 14 and I was not about to argue thinking we might have been interrupting a game of “Mortal Kombat” on her phone.
Outside immigration we were greeted by our guide, Mauricio, and driver, Pablo. They escorted us to the car and then it was off to the hotel where I was looking forward to a nice nap. We arrived at the hotel at about 8 AM, and our room was not ready. So instead of a nap, we went on a city tour. Mauricio and Pablo were terrific. We drove and walked all over the city. Mauricio was very kind and attentive, realizing that this old body was sleep deprived. He also had lots of fun facts about Chile and more specifically Santiago. We went to a lovely Neptune fountain (see below). Mauricio told us about the fountain but all I remember is that young people come here at night for romantic interludes
Here were are in front of the fountain as I try to convince Patrice to come back after dinner.
Mauricio also pointed out a bar where Bill Clinton had his driver pull over so he could relieve himself. Apparently, it was such a monumental event they renamed the bar. See below.
Mauricio said that La Pica is slang for a place that is little known but very good.
After touring for about 4 hours we returned to our hotel (Singular Hotel: Merced 294, Santiago, Región Metropolitana). The staff, as has been our experience on all our recent trips, was wonderful.
While we waited to register a bellman handed us some treats. They won me over with chocolate.
The room is very nicely sized with a beautiful bathroom. We won’t be here long since we leave at 6 AM to head to Rapa Nui (Easter Island) so not much time to enjoy the accommodations.
Tonight it will be all about getting rested, cleaned up, and of course dinner. See you tomorrow at Easter Island.
Patrice and I are leaving for our vacation in Chile. I should be excited, happy, and full of anticipation but no, I am on the verge of tears. Is it because our airport transport person is a terrible driver and I want to strangle her? In reality, she is a wonderful driver and a gorgeous young lady. She is the reason I’m close to tears. You’ve probably already guessed that our driver is our daughter, Erica. Unfortunately in two days, she will be returning to Madrid. I just need to be grateful that she is healthy and enjoying her life in Spain. Easy to say, hard to do.
Robert, Patrice, and Erica at LAX, smiling now but just seconds before tears come streaming down my face.
You might be asking “Why Chile?” Good question. The answer is a bit complicated. In August 2017 we traveled to Nashville to see the solar eclipse on the 21st. We saw about 97% but clouds prevented us from seeing the totality. So in December 2020, we planned to go to Chile to see this glorious event on the 14th. Unfortunately, Covid 19 closed down the world and one more time we were denied this pleasure. The company told us the hotels would not refund our deposits which was not an insignificant amount of money. So they kept in contact with us and now we are on our way. The tour company comes very highly recommended. They have set us up with lots of fun activities but unfortunately, they failed miserably in their attempt to get the eclipse rescheduled.
This is just a travel day and we haven’t even left Los Angeles yet. I’m hopeful that you enjoy following us on our journey. I do have one small request. My financial advisor told me that if I had one million followers on my blog I could write off all my trips as a legitimate tax deduction. I currently have about 250 followers. So if each of you could call, email, or text 4,000 of your friends and relatives I should be all set. Do you think you could get this done by Monday? Erica just had a great idea. No need to bother your friends and family. If you have their contact information just sign them up for a blog subscription. I am sure that will be very grateful. Heck, think of it as a holiday present to them. It shouldn’t take you more than about 100 hours to get 4,000 people signed up. Get to it, we need to board our plane otherwise I would offer to help.
Yes, this trip has finally come to an end. Patrice and I were definitely ready to go home (which we safely did last night) and we both think this was one of our best trips ever. Thank you to all the people who helped make it such a success. Also many thanks to all the people who left comments on the blog. I really enjoy hearing from you and staying connected to our friends and family. Here are a series of photos that I found interesting but didn’t get a chance to send them during the trip. They are in no particular order.
Your restauarant server wants to make sure that you know that Europe is no different than the USA. See this copy of one of our dinner checks.
The most common clothing attire I saw on the trip was the NY Yankee baseball cap. I guess they didn’t hear that the Astros eliminated the Yankees from the playoffs 4-0. See below, one of many.
And if you want to buy a Yankee cap they are easy to find.
In Milan, the Galleria had lots of high-end stores. See below.
After all your shopping at the Milan Galleria, you can stop for some fine dining at this location.
We saw a few of these strange devices on the streets of Bologna. No one used them and I am not sure what they are used for.
We saw this boat with an odd name in Venice. Acqua is the Italian word for water. I think you can figure out the rest.
Chocolate Lentils? That is my idea of fiber. See below.
When you gotta go, this is the place to go if you are in the Marco Polo airport in Venice. While you are at it please pick up after yourself. See below.
In Madrid, we saw signs of the USA and Canada. First, we saw little hot dogs from Nebraska. I didn’t realize Nebraska was a hot dog Mecca. See below.
I know you can see Tim Horton’s all over Canada but it looks like they are also attacking Madrid.
Looking to connect with George Washington? Try Budapest. See below.
Budapest had this very unique piece of art in a park (see below). It is also an ecological tool since it encourages people to put their plastic bottle caps inside. See the hole on the right side.
How about a taste of NYC while you are in Budapest? See below.
Did you know that Moses was a techie? See below,
In German the word for jewelry is Schmuck. I know a lot of guys who would say anyone who spends a lot of money on jewelry can be described with the same word. See below.
If you are homesick for Venice Beach in Los Angeles, just get on a tram in Vienna.
But lastly, this is my favorite memory of the trip.
When I left you yesterday we were on our way to the opera. Patrice bought tickets to see Il Trovatore by Giuseppe Verdi. For those of you who are not opera buffs, I’ll tell you a little about the story. It takes place in Zaragosa, Spain in the 1500s. Question: If it takes place in Spain why are they singing in Italian and supplying libretto interpretations in German and English? The story starts with a Count sentencing a gypsy woman (already not politically correct) to be burned at the stake for being a witch. While she is being burned she yells out to her daughter to avenge her death. The daughter then proceeds to kidnap one of the Count’s sons. She plans to throw the son into the flames but in her excited state throws her own son into the fire. Yes, you are reading this correctly, it is not a typo. And this is just Act I. The story gets worse but I’ll spare you those details. There was one reassuring thing that happened to me. While exiting the theater Patrice said to me, “I don’t think I am an opera person”. THANK GOD!
This morning we again started the day with wonderful service and a delicious breakfast at the Hotel de Rome (Behrenstraße 37, 10117 Berlin). Patrice had read about KaDeWe. This is a megastore with every imaginable commodity. It is more like a mall than a store. They have lots of very high-end merchandise.
From the Ubahn (subway station) it just looked like a big office building, nothing all that special. See below.
As you enter you can tell this will not just be an ordinary store. Look below to see who greeted us.
The first booth we saw upon entering was Louis Vitton and they had a line of people wanting to get in. See below.
Next door was the Rolex watch store where a security guard would only allow one customer in at a time. See the prices of these watches to know why. Here is one for €37,350.
Maybe this is more your style for only €17,600
Possibly you would prefer a bargain. Try this one for only €13,750.
Personally, I would be embarrassed to wear one of these watches. I couldn’t even imagine sitting with a salesperson looking at these things. It just reaffirms my notion that some people just have too much money. If you’re one of those people, please just ignore the previous sentence.
KaDeWe also has some fun stuff. Check out these donuts.
Seeing all this food made us hungry so we went to Käfer Dachgarten (Platz der Republik 1 Reichstagsgebäude, 11011 Berlin) for “High Tea”. The surroundings were great and we really enjoyed this relaxing time and snack. The restaurant offers a prix fixe meal with your only choice being the dessert. If you look at the pictures below you will see the “food” is tiny but the dessert (on the top tier of the tray) is rather sizeable.
I ordered the “White Coffee Edition” See below.
Patrice ordered the “Honey Mousse Edition”. See below
In order to enter this restaurant we had to show identification and go through security because the restaurant is part of the Reichstag (parliament) which is the home of the German Bundestag (the lower house of the German parliament). Just outside the restaurant, there is a dome that was not open when we toured this area earlier in the week with Daniel. We were a little early for our restaurant reservation so we tried to tour the dome prior to tea. I wanted to find out the duration of the audio guide so I asked the young man who was collecting them. To my surprise, he didn’t speak English (all the other young people we have met here speak excellent English). I was undaunted, I pulled out Google translate and showed him my question in German. I then turned on the microphone and he spoke his answer. I looked at Google translate which told me he said “F-¢k I need Sunday”. I think and hope there was an error involved. We decided to come back after High Tea. On our return I was very pleased that we got to visit this structure. The city views were fantastic and the audio guide reinforced the information we have previously been told. Check out this view of the Brandenburg gate.
Well, it is time for us to pack and check in for our flight tomorrow. My last post for the trip will be tomorrow and I am planning to send a bunch of photos that have caught my interest. Thank you so much for your comments. It has made this very special trip even more wonderful.
Our trip has almost come to an end. Some of you might be disappointed to know that you won’t be receiving daily emails about my blog posts. Others are probably saying, “Finally I can go to my email without fear”. Last night after a busy day, we looked for a relaxing place to have dinner. We decided to go to PeterPaul (Torstraße 99, 10119 Berlin). Upon arrival, I said, “Rice, party of two” and we were immediately taken to a table. We soon became aware this would not be a quiet relaxing dinner. The place was packed with customers (on a Wednesday night?) and it was loud. Patrice and I enjoyed the art on the walls and inquired about them. The person we asked was the owner, David PeterPaul. He told us the artwork was all made by his grandfather. He then brought us a book with all of his grandfather’s paintings. David was 9 when his grandfather died and he told us they were very close. It made me feel a little sentimental because of my close feelings for my 4 grandsons. Dinner was spectacular.
They gave us corn soup “on the house”. It was a very small cup but very delicious. See below
I had the chicken, sorry I started to eat before I remembered to take a picture (see below).
Patrice ordered something that we were told had sausage. I didn’t like it very much. I later read it was pig stomach. I am glad I didn’t know that prior to eating it. See below.
We also shared Curry Wurst. This is typically a snack you can buy from small shops in various neighborhoods. We were told this was an upscale version. See below.
Of course, we couldn’t pass on dessert. Our server, Schteffie, recommended Schtocolate with Schterries (aka chocolate with cherries). See below.
This morning we got ready to see what else Berlin had to offer. Our travel agent, Gwen, and her local representative, Dana, gave us a free driver today for a couple of hours to make up for the last-minute tour change due to Daniel getting Covid. Gwen and Dana have been very responsive to our needs. It is a great feeling to know someone is watching over you when you are so far from home.
Our driver was again Marcus who has been great. He first drove us to the site of John F. Kennedy’s famous “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech. I looked around and stared at the balcony from which JFK spoke. The final words of the speech started to resonate in my brain and I began to tear up. Luckily I took a picture of the balcony and not of myself. See below.
If you are interested in listening to the historic 9-minute speech please go to this Wikipedia link. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ich_bin_ein_Berliner. The Wikipedia post also discusses the myth that instead of Kennedy proclaiming in German, “I am a Berliner” he supposedly said, “I am a jelly donut”. If he had said that I am sure JFK would have been the first to make fun of himself.
After this short stop, Marcus took us to the Jewish Museum. This was interesting but unfortunately, I don’t think we devoted enough time to it. Of course, there were some very heart-wrenching exhibits but there were some more upbeat ones as well. One of my favorites was the drawings of some famous Jews of the past.
They had Albert Einstein. See below.
The hilarious Marx brothers were Jewish. See below.
And of course this very popular Jew.
Marcus then took us back to the hotel so we could rest up for our afternoon tour with Jörg. The afternoon mostly consisted of visiting the Neues and Pergamon Museums which included seeing amazing antiquities. My pictures won’t do it justice. But I will try.
First, Babylon, which was brought to Germany in the 1930s.
Next Babylon with a King and Queen superimposed on the great city.
I can’t write any more now because Patrice bought us tickets to the opera and it is time to go. I need to get dressed and find my book.
Yesterday I left you with a bit of a teaser. I wrote that Daniel had arranged a very special experience for us. I had mentioned to Gwen at Exeter Travel (GWEN@EXETERINTERNATIONAL.COM or DIRECT LINE 813-251-8509) that I work with firefighters and would be interested in visiting a fire station if possible. Isn’t this how travel plans work? You tell your agent what you want to do. They make a wonderful plan for you months in advance. Then halfway through your trip, you ask them if you can do something else. Well, Gwen and Daniel hit a home run with this one. When Daniel discussed the plans for today he mentioned that there was a fire station in one of the areas we would be visiting and we can try to see if they would be open to talking to us.
As we approached the fire station on Oderberger Strasse we saw a fire engine leaving the area which did not bode well for our visit. There was a makeshift barricade in front of the station door. No problem for Daniel; he just lifted one end and told us to come in and replaced the barricade (this is definitely my kind of guy). Daniel rang the buzzer and talked to an individual. Soon my new best friend forever, Michael, was at the door. Michael showed us around and, with Daniel interpreting, he explained about their work (over 90% of calls are medical), their station (the oldest in all of Germany), their equipment (there were 2 trucks in the station and one was out on a call), and their fitness program (sounding very similar to what we do in our office for a variety of fire departments). Michael had me try on a turn-out jacket (see below).
Do I look like a geek? No? If you don’t think so, look at the next picture.Robert doing his impression of Michael Dukakis. See below.Per Wikipedia: Many commentators blamed Dukakis’ loss on the embarrassing photograph of him in a tank taken on September 13, 1988
Michael (the firefighter, not the politician) insisted I get in the driver’s seat of one of the trucks. He joined me and all of a sudden he started to speak English to me. He pointed out a variety of items on the dashboard including a telephone. I asked if I could call my son in California and he gave me a tilted head look and then I quickly told him that I had been kidding, I really just wanted to call my daughter in California or my daughter in Spain (I don’t think my new BFF thought that was too funny). We ended the visit when Michael brought me a shirt from the office. I told him I would wear it with pride.
This was a blast. Michael made me feel like royalty.
Some people like to see museums. Some like to see natural wonders. I think those sights are great but I most enjoy interacting with people. On a vacation, nothing can be better than making a connection with a local. And yesterday I made a connection and it felt very good.
Patrice and me with my BFF, Berlin Firefighter, Michael Selig.
Later last night, we had a great dinner at Lutter & Wegner am Gendarmenmarkt (Charlottenstraße 56, 10117 Berlin). Google and Apple Maps have been great at helping me navigate throughout this trip but I had a little difficulty finding the restaurant. I thought the person who made the reservation for us had written Lufter instead of Lutter so neither app was much help. So keep that in mind if you want to find someplace it is best to know what you are looking for. For my foodies please look below.
Breaded chicken with salad was terrific.Pike with crayfish risotto. I thought we were in Berlin, not New Orleans?
That was all yesterday. Today we got some awful news. Daniel, the Wunderführer (Google says that means miracle guide but using “führer” in my blog makes me nervous) tested positive for Covid. That was horrible news for him and us. But he put us in the trustworthy hands of Jörg. With the help of Marcus, our driver, Jörg took us to Potsdam where we toured the town (lovely place) and visited the Cecilienhof Palace where Truman, Churchill, and Stalin met in July-August 1945 to discuss what should be done with Germany at the end of the war. We also toured the palace of Frederick the Great. After that, we went to a more sobering place, the site of the Wannsee Conference, which is more commonly known as the meeting to decide “The Final Solution of the Jewish Problem”, (i.e. extermination of all the Jews in Europe). It was very upsetting to think of these animals having this meeting and even more depressing when we learned that after the war some of them either served limited prison time or none at all.
When I feel sad, it must be time to eat. We are off. See you
After arrival yesterday we didn’t have much time to rest because we had to meet our Berlin guide, Daniel. The guides on this trip have all been incredible and Daniel might be on the top of the heap. He is fluent in German, English, Spanish, Portuguese, and French. I asked for the tour to be done in Portuguese to add some variety to the trip but Patrice insisted on English. Daniel knows everything. He keeps insisting he doesn’t but he does. This man talked to us about everything. At one point we were talking about Dirk Nowiski (“He played for the Dallas Mavericks”) and next, we asked about the ages of Puccini and Verdi he said, “I think Verdi was about a generation older”. I looked it up and yes indeed Verdi was born in 1813 and Puccini in 1858 (okay maybe that is a trace more than a generation but clearly a lot better than I could do (“Uh, I think they were born sometime between 1500 and 1900, but I am not sure”). Anyway, how many people do you know who can talk about Dirk Nowitski AND Giuseppe Verdi? Point proven? The man knows everything. And, he is incredibly nice, as all of our guides have been,
Yesterday afternoon was a very sobering experience and nothing I feel comfortable making jokes about. The millions of people who died during WWII at the hands of the Nazis is not something I would ever try to make light of. There are a variety of memorials around the city in honor of the Jews who died under Hitler’s direction. We also saw a modest but very lovely memorial in honor of the Sinti and Romani people who died at the hands of the Nazis. We were also told that gays were also the targets of these murderers.
Sinti and Romani memorial.
We learned a lot about life in East Berlin (where our hotel is located) under Russian rule prior to the removal of the wall. We visited the Brandenburg Gate which I am embarrassed to tell you I learned was in the East sector of Berlin (I always thought it was in the West).
The Brandenburg Gate in the previous East Berlin sector.
I also learned (not sure how I could have not realized this before) that the wall was not just a relatively linear structure near the famous Checkpoint Charlie but rather completely circled the city of West Berlin. How could I be so dumb? Of course it had to encircle the city otherwise what would be the point? We learned that during the era of the Berlin wall (1961-1989) about 500,000 Germans fled the East. We finished our tour at Checkpoint Charlie. This was a huge disappointment. It was sort of a carnival atmosphere with all sorts of cheesy souvenir stands and a re-creation of Checkpoint Charlie (the original was removed on June 22, 1990). I found the area rather disturbing when you think of the many people who died trying to escape East Berlin.
Today we again toured a number of places where parts of the wall still stand. One area (“the Painted Wall”) has a large portion of the wall that has been painted by a variety of artists. There is some very beautiful artwork along this portion of the wall including this painting re-creating the photograph of the kiss between Russian leader Leonid Brezhnev and East German leader Erich Honecker on October 7, 1979.
The painting entitled “My God, Help Me to Survive this Deadly Love” by Dmitri Vrubel.
Here is the original photo upon which the painting is based.
Leonid Brezhnev kissing Erich Honecker October 7, 1979.
Personally, I like this version better.
The Real Kiss.
At the suggestion of our daughter, Erica, we ate a Döner Kebab. We were told this is an authentic Turkish cuisine that was first made in Germany (did I really say that?). It was as good as it looks or maybe even better (see below).
Döner Kebab
After a lovely day of touring, we returned to our hotel to rest. Before I got into bed I saw this on the nightstand and said to myself, “Yes, you are in Germany”.
All my cables were neatly coiled with fasteners.
Anyone who knows me, knows there is no way I did this. I don’t even own fasteners.
I have one more adventure I want to share but it has to wait until tomorrow. It is too special to just be an add-on at the end of the blog so I will leave it until tomorrow. Thank you so much to Daniel for making it happen.
We are off to dinner but I need to get back to the hotel soon. I need to find something to stump Daniel. He couldn’t know everything! Could he?
We needed to get up early today because Erica had a 7:00 AM flight to Madrid and we were scheduled to leave at 9:15 AM for Berlin. The hotel staff offered to prepare some food for Erica to take with her since she was leaving the hotel at 5:00 AM. Patrice opted to sleep and she asked me to bring her something from the buffet. Luckily the buffet started at 6:30 AM (not 7 AM as I had previously been told). When I entered at 6:33 AM the entire dining room was empty. I ordered some eggs and grabbed some fruit from the buffet and of course, a Sacher Torte. Twenty minutes later (and after being asked no fewer than 5 times if there was anything else I would like) I headed back to the room with some nourishment for my bride (and the dining room was still empty).
At 7:00 AM we reluctantly left the hotel (we loved the Sacher Hotel and its staff) and headed for the airport. Harry was our driver and he had returned from the airport after taking Erica at 5 AM. Harry apparently agrees with our guide Peter that red lights are just a suggestion (just kidding he was a great driver) and got us safely to the Vienna airport.
Checking in for the flight and airport security went well and we then relaxed until told to board. Interestingly the Austrians/Germans are worse than the Spaniards when it comes to lining up before a flight. Look at this line long before any boarding announcements were made.
Only a small portion of the people lined up for the flight long before any announcement regarding boarding.
Take off was smooth and I got one last view of the Danube.
Our last view of the Danube from our flight from Vienna.
Shortly into the flight, there was a fair amount of turbulence. I was sweating, shaking, and my heart was racing, but I knew my job was to comfort my wife. So I looked over and saw Patrice and the female passenger next to her.
Patrice and the woman next to her were obviously not perturbed by the turbulence.
Okay, okay, I’m a big baby. I admit it.
The flight smoothed out and I started to read my book when suddenly a cup of water was shoved into my hand. What happened to “Would you like something to drink sir?” No in Dueschtland it’s “Here, drink!” Next, they came around with chocolates and I got two because Patrice was still sleeping (please don’t tell her). I was starting to wash down the chocolate with some water when the flight attendant came by and said “Cup!” I didn’t dare say I wasn’t finished (see above about me being a baby).
I thought I saw an old friend shortly before we landed in Berlin. I thought I was seeing the Danube but only one minor problem, the Danube doesn’t flow anywhere near Berlin. I was looking at the Spree River.
Spree River outside of Berlin.
We were met at the airport by Marcus (“I spell Marcus with a C most Germans spell it with a K, my son is Oscar with a C, not a K like most Germans”). Marcus will be our driver while we are in Berlin. He is very knowledgeable, speaks excellent English, and had a spot for both of us to charge our phones. Marcus pointed out all sorts of interesting sights on our way from the airport to the hotel. He even looked at the road occasionally. Just kidding, he is an excellent driver.
By the way, I have given up. For years I have been correcting people about the pronunciation of my surname. People frequently say “Rice”, but we pronounce it Reiss which rhymes with Peace. When people protested about my pronunciation I tell them to go argue with my grandfather. They try to explain to me that in German it’s pronounced RICE similar to Weiss. I tell them if the Germans won the war we would pronounce it as Rice but they didn’t. In reality, if the Germans had won the war I wouldn’t be here so end of story. Well, they have finally won. I’ve given up. For the remainder of this trip, I will pronounce it as Rice. You ask why, well the reason is simple. Every time we enter a hotel or restaurant and tell them we have a reservation for Reiss (as in Peace) they say “So sorry I don’t see a reservation under that name”. Then I say Rice and immediately they say “Ah yes, here we are”. Last night at dinner in Vienna I didn’t hesitate and said, “We have a reservation for Rice” and the hostess smiled and immediately said, “Come with me please”. Erica asked, “How would the you of 2 weeks ago reacted to seeing a video of that interaction?” She is right, but for now, I have given up. Next week I can return to my family’s pronunciation.
Enough for now. We are off to meet our Berlin guide, Daniel for a 4-hour walking tour. Then we will have dinner: “Rice party of 2”
Robert Reiss Travel Blog and Other Ramblings 