June 23, 2017

Once again, it’s time to jump on a plane to the old country.

This year I’m flying Sun Country airlines (which Mr. Cynic started referring to as “Sun Catastrophe Airlines” the minute he discovered the name). It is a newer and smaller company trying to be “hip,” with “humorous” taped messages for things like preflight.  It also follows the new trend of charging for everything.  That said: the flight crew was great, and they have the European style seats with a little extra room for bags. I’d fly them again – making sure to grab a sandwich at the airport.

The obligatory "mountains from plane

window" with a few water/cleaning

fluid stains.

I’m a little disappointed in the PDX flight prep folks today. When Z booked my flights for this trip, she indulged me in the rare window seat (so I thought…she told me when I got to Keszthely that was the leg she couldn’t request seats for.  Thanks for the great seat, Sun Catastrophe folks!). Sadly, the cleaning water was so dirty I’m looking through a window with a monster fingerprint. Either that or it’s an “edgy detail” from Air Catastrophe. Either way, taking photos on this beautiful day is impossible. It’s kind of a shame – it’s beautiful today.

The problem with these long flights is that you can’t set up the computer rig to write music – not enough room. I’m always itchy to get started after a long year of concerting/parading/festivaling and the like, but I’ll have to wait for Palinkaland to get started. I’d probably write crap on a plane anyway.

The real problem, of course, is that you spend a year corrupting the leaders of tomorrow today, you are in a hurry to jump back into having a life with a happy wife again. Not that being sarcastic to high school students is bad, mind you. But I married her – not them. Aww heck, it’s just a 20-hour trip. That’s nothing.

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My favorite of the new “hip” announcements: “The captain has turned on the seat belt sign. Federal regulations require that you return to your seat.” And then, with venom in her little synthetic voice, “So do it, please.” Sounds like they would have preferred “damn it!” in place of the “please,” but knew they probably couldn’t get away with it.

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Another of those wonderful examples of Hungarian being a made-up language. Nyar is a poplar, as in the tree. Nyár is summer. Now come on, this isn’t fair!

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The next leg is on Condor Air, the budget division of Lufthansa. Our crew is based in Germany on this flight, and have good “Klaus” accents. Very friendly, though.

Like everything else in the new discount air travel business, all you used to get for free you now pay for. Premium movies – 8 euro. Premium meals – 14 euro. You get the idea. I don’t care that much, as I would rather read than watch a movie on a midget screen with awful sound.

In this brave new world, dinner is a choice of pasta and…well that’s it. It comes with spicy tomato sauce and cheese. Along with it you get an American roll and cheese.  You also get two pieces of the thin German “sports” bread and butter. The veg is creamy coleslaw. For desert – chocolate pudding. 5,000,000 calories, top. The “premium” meals have an actual protein, a fruit cup, and the bread and accompaniments. Probably not that much healthier, but probably less of a gut bomb. 4 months of dieting blown in one “meal.”

One of the great challenges of international air travel is sleeping in the little seat they give you. You envy the little kids their tiny bodies that can stretch out flat. Adults must get more creative. Do you use the table in front of you and double yourself over? Try to use the dread “sleep doughnut” and injure your neck for weeks? Are you one of the types that finds new and creative ways to use your chair? No kidding, I saw someone sitting upside down once, snoring away.

Of course this swell blanket provided by

Condor made for a swell sleeping

environment!

This last method was my choice for this trip. Not the upside-down thing – okay, I admit to doing that when I younger – but the “creative sitting” model. My choice for this trip involved scrunching down on my left side while simultaneously hooking my legs around the outside of the seat in the isle. I didn’t hear crashing trays or anything, and I actually got about 3 to 4 hours of reasonably good sleep. Could be a new winner!

Breakfast on Condor is a continental plate of cantaloupe and pineapple, with a tired looking piece of ham and more cheese – they must own stock or something – and a roll with butter and jam. As this came with an acceptable cup of coffee, I was not forced to kill anyone (kidding, just kidding. Or am I?).

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My last leg is on Lufthansa – assuming I can find it. I’m here 3 hours before my inter-EU flight, which means that info will be posted for at least an hour. After running no less than 12.4 miles (yes, I’m sure, Frankfurt is a big airport) to get to the gate on my boarding pass, and having had bad experiences with this before, I asked the nice ladies at the counter if this was the right gate.

You all know where this is going, right?

“No, this is gate 56. You need gate 8. It’s way back that way about 12 miles.”

Sigh.

So, I trudged back, bought a pretzel (Hey, I’m in Germany) and found the gate. Where I promptly curled up in the empty lounge on a bench and took a nap.

Most of you know by now that Hungarian is not my first language. But I’ve been around it enough now to know it when I hear it. Strangely, one of those things all that music experience has done for me is making easier to identify Italian than that wacky space-alien language. So upon waking and hearing lots of Italian and not so much Hungarian, I groggily perceived a problem. I know, nothing gets by me.

A check in at the ticket gate quickly rectified the problem. “You need to be at gate 56.” At least he was nice enough to call and double check.

June 27 & 28, 2013

We had a bit we did back in college – I won’t claim credit for it, I think it came from Charles Dowd.  When things were a little off kilter, we would talk about this being on “The Oregon Plan.”  What is The Oregon Plan, you ask?  The punch line was “There isn’t one.”  I have long ago applied The Oregon Plan to these little excursions to the east.

The original plan for this summer had me researching places to go and things to see in and around Venice, Italy.  My short list for all such research for such excursions being two questions: “Who wrote music nearby?” and “Where can I get a good and unique beer here?”  This is all you really need to know about any location, my friends.  The rest, as they say, is just scenery.  I knew Venice had the Gabrielis and St. Mark’s (about which more later), so I could pass on the beer – always a little sketchy in Italy anyway.

Hey look!  They have Starbucks in Germany!

City Hall in Heilbronn.  You miss this if you never come
out of the stores!

Then Peter developed some serious medical issues that required a change of plans and the scuttling of the Venice trip for this year.  My new research assignment was to find places to visit near and around Peter and Vera’s German Apartment.  My short list for this was simple: Heidelberg for the bier and Stuttgart for the Mozart.  Being well acquainted with the Oregon Plan, of course it was no surprise to me when our one day of German sightseeing (due to our plane mishaps – see previous post) would involve going to Heilbronn to go shopping.  My skeptical “How many shoe stores are there?” was greeted with howls of laughter from Peter.

Heilbronn reminds me a lot of Amberg.  There are some very pretty buildings there, but an authentic postcard of the place really should be of a bunch of stores, as no one really goes there to do anything but shop.  Our shopping excursion begins at C&A for more fest clothes.  I then took a quick trip around town to look at pretty buildings while the ladies shopped for shoes.

Nordsee - would there were one near me!

My guilty pleasure in Germany is the Fish ‘n’ Chips at Nordsee, and I’m always happy when we can find one in our adventures.  Just our luck, there was one right outside the garage where we parked!  (I know – I am a vegetarian, but my Doctor is on me all the time to eat more fish for health reasons.  We compromise on about a couple servings a month.)

I admit to being greatly excited about our mystery visit this evening.  Z told me we were going to visit Michael Jordan.  “The basketball player?” I asked.  Turns out M.J. is 70+ years old, is fluent in Croatian, Hungarian and German (but not English), and is broader than he is tall.  Oh – and he’s Anglo.  Let me explain.  When Kyra was younger, she got frustrated when she kept being introduced to all these strange people with long names she couldn’t remember.  So Z would assign them names based upon their occupations or avocations. Many of the names stuck over the years.  All this is by way of explaining that M.J used to play for the Yugoslavian National Basketball Team.  Hence…

June 28,



Downtown Öhringen -
Pretty, isn't it?

The church in Öhringen.

This morning we took Peter to a medical visit, and then I was treated to a visit to, as Z put it, “another old town.”  Behind the wheel of the mighty Opel, I followed directions and drove out through the German countryside, past beautiful fields and half-timbered farm buildings, through to a new town for me – and into a parking lot.  Of a shopping mall.  To be fair, it was an older shopping mall.  And it only had two shoe stores, so there was that.  We “enjoyed” a couple of hours here and then had lunch from the counter at the Rewe.  Mine was a wrap of tomato, mozzarella, lettuce and “tomato pesto” (any resemblance to store-bought marinara was clearly coincidental) – it was, well, let’s leave it at that.  It was.

Z and I actually do take these
trips together - although the photos
sometimes make it appear otherwise!

After lunch I was directed to a lot in downtown Öhringen.  This visit easily made my trip (so far!).  It would be easy to see this place as a model for a theme park.  There are lots of old half-timbered buildings, dating back to the 1500’s, weird narrow pathways between buildings, a huge beautiful church, and on.  You have seen pictures of these kinds of places before – you know what I am talking about.  But after several years of visiting new versions of this stuff, I still get excited about exploring a new one – or visiting an old friend, for that matter.  I spent an enjoyable afternoon running around taking in the sights (even through the quick thunderstorm), while the ladies went shopping.

*****

This being Germany, of course many good biers were quaffed…

Altenmünster, brewed by Allgaüer Brauhaus A.G., Postfach 1109, D-87401 Kempten.  According to the label, it’s 4.9%.  Pale yellow in color with a creamy white head and a nice green aroma of Hallertauer hops – a classic German Pilsner.  I found it lightly hoppy in flavor with a hint of malt poking through, all well in balance.  It was a tasy pils, well worth a repeat – and so I did!  And it comes in one of those cool, old-style flip-top bottles!!

Halleröder by Hasseröder Brauerei Gmbh, 38855 Wernigerode.  According to the label, it is 4.9%  According to the publicity department, the label describes this as “The Beer of Soccer.”  Nice pils color, although the head disappears a little quickly for my liking (it could have been the glass – unlikely, Vera washed her glasses by hand).  Abundant Hallertauer hops in the nose and in the flavor, but not overpowering the malt.  It would make a refreshing summer beer.  Alas, according to the bottle cap I’m “leider kein gewinn” (not a winner), but I still get to drink the beer, so I’m good.

Budweiser Budvar, brewed by Budweiser Budvar NC, Karoliny Světlé 4, České Budéjovice, Czech Republic.  The label says it’s 5%, so who am I to quibble.  This is the original Budweiser, kids, accept no substitute – Budweiser meaning originally “Beer from Budéjovice” (Bidweis to the Germans).  Anheuser-Bush has an ongoing trademark dispute going with the two breweries in this little Czech burg using the name.  Best I can tell, AB is losing.  A few years ago, as a result of this legal wrangling, this beer became available in the states.  You can find in the beer isle near you, labeled as “Czechvar.”  Czech pilsners are bigger than their German cousins, and this one is no exception.  A lot of saaz hops in the nose and flavor, well balanced with the malt.  A very enjoyable beer – you should go find one, you’ll like it!

Unterländer Volksfestbeir by Haller Löwenbrau, brewed by Löwenbrauerei Hall Fr. Ethard GmbH & Co. KG, Schwabisch Hall.  The bottle says 5.4%.  I say wow!  Let me start by saying once again that this is not that Löwenbrau, this “Lion Beer” is brewed by a microbrewery in Schwabisch Hall.  It is crisp, refreshing – I.E. everything you expect in a good German Pils.  And this is one.  Very well in balance and quite tasty – a very good pils.  One you could easily see drinking at a fest from mugs the size of your head.  Hey – Mt. Angel O-fest board?

Binding Adler, brewed by the Binding Brauerei AG 60598 Frankfurt am Main.  The bottle says 6%, and after drinking a couple with few calories consumed before, I ain’t arguing.  It is a beautiful golden yellow beer with pillows of white head floating on top.  It is more malty than the traditional German Pils, and there appear to be more than just Hallertauer hops in here.  Very complex flavor, and is easily the best beer of the summer so far.  The hops hang around in your mouth after you swallow.  This is a particularly tasty beer.  I am told that it is a seasonal, and pretty rare.  So if you find one, bring me a six, ok?

7/12/2öö8, Lenti and Hevís

In the persuit of newer and greater swiming experiences, we traveled to Lenti, on the Slovenian boarder yesterday. An early start found us finally on our way around 9:3ö (hey, I have a grandaughter, that's pretty early).

A car journey through Hungary is always an adventure. For example, as we crossed the border into Hungary from Austria several days ago, we passed through the community of Chernelházadamonya. The name was bigger than the town. Hungary is full of bergs with colorful names. Consider these: Ukk, Bűk, Und, Pápa, Kup, Ják, Old, Matty, and of course the unforgettable Nyugotszenterzsébet. I usually amuse myself on longer car journeies by practicing my phonetic reading - to the amusement and or annoyance of the Hungarians in the car. Therefore the community of Cécé is pronounced by them as "Seh - Seh." Of course anyone can see that it is really "Kee - Kee." The above mentioned "Ukk" is really pronounced "Ook." You thought it was Ukk, too, didn't you?

Lenti is located in one of the oldest regions of Hungary. Vera told us that the communities are so old that they voted recently to keep the community names that have existed since the 12öö's for historical reasons. New communities in the region will often append a "Zala-" in the front of their name so they can be part of the group. This also explains many of the longer names on this side of the country.

The swimming emporeum is pretty cool. Two indoor swimming pools and five outdoor pools await our swimming pleasure. A kiddie pool (Jaden says to me, "I like kitties." I think I am creating a monster...), an intermediate pool, a lap pool, and a "fun" pool, with the little chanel with the current, the big slide (they cost money here), and all the other bells and whistles. The remaining pools are all health pools. The water park, it seems, is located in a "Hungarian vortex," where "scentific studies" have shown that "magnetic forces" are in a "special alignment" that provides many "health benefits." They have a little path that you can wander that takes you to all the hot spots to get the most bang for your buck. Or something.

As usual, Jaden jumped right in, with the adults taking turns watching her, soaking up some rays or suds, enjoying the eye candy, or reading. Jaden swam for 6 hours and was asleep in the car within five minutes of leaving the parking lot.

Dinner was in Hevís at a wine cellar up on the hill. It is eveidently on a site where several old Roman ruins were discovered. The building is beautiful, the food fabulous, the wine devine, and the mosquitoes think enough to carry you away. We made a hasty retreat.

7/02/08 Round Two!

And so the adventure continues again…

This trip we are scheduled to travel to Munich (you can hear the little bubbles calling my name, can’t you?), where Kyra will pick us up and take us to her home in Vilseck. From there Peter (Z’s father, if you are a bit behind), will pick us up and, with me at the wheel (can you say “autobahn?”) travel to Keszthely. We’ll hang out there for a couple of weeks with the family and see some stuff, maybe catch a play in Hungarian at the castle, possibly run up to Budapest and very likely Kecskemet, and then back to Kyra’s for some quality time in the land of beer and polkas (and so I am told culture and food and stuff like that).

Of course you notice that there are a lot of “possiblies” and “maybes” in the above list. If you have been following along so far, you know that the plan kind of exists in a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants way. So here is the wish list:

*I hope to see the castle in Keszthely this trip
*I would love to see the big ruin on the hill north of Keszthely
*I want to lay on the beach by what my granddaughter is now referring to as the “ocean” (Lake Balaton) and catch some sun and some z’s
*I would love to stop on one of the trips through and live out a lifelong dream of reading a paper and having a kaffee mit schlag in a little café in Vienna
*One word, Hofbrauhaus
*Oh yeah, and Kulmbach
*Oh and all those Klosters
*And the source of all that is good, Pilsn Czechoslovakia (you know, the place that “pilsner” comes from…)

I know that I will eat great, so I am really looking forward to that (my mother-in-law is one of the greatest cooks on the planet). I hear that some side trips to Neuschwandstein and stuff like that are being talked about, and that would be awesome. And I know that I am going to spend some quality time with Kyra and my favorite granddaughter, Jaden (OK, she is my only granddaughter, don’t wreck the moment). I also hear that there is a party planned where I will get to meet the wives and families of Greg’s unit, and that is going to be really cool.

But mostly, I’m going to relax and go with the flow. Like usual. No really.

Let round two begin…