Left it is, even the traffic! I had to have this sticker!!!
St. Thomas was interesting, despite all the devastation hurricane Irma left in 2017, 7 years ago! At least half of the restaurants and stores are closed, many under construction, everything looking improvised and hotchypotchy. We feel sorry for the local community, so we buy souvenirs, drinks, etc.
We took a gondola up to paradise point, a great lookout onto this beautiful island
While being on a boat through the mangrove forests, near the gold of Mexico, we encountered a group of dolphins. They followed us for a while, riding the waves our boat created. I’m not sure who had more fun, the dolphins or us
We spent 9 hours with a tour guide at the Everglades. It was so interesting to learn about the ecosystem, the challenges, the changes, non-native species, etc. our tour guide Gabe was very knowledgeable and presented facts without judging or accusations.
We stopped at a few nature hikes, visitor centers and museums along the way before we had a late lunch and another boat ride, this time at the golf of Mexico
Florida is flat like n ironing board. Rivers are as wide as you can see, more lake than anything, because the water doesn’t flow. It’s just sitting there, knee deep and not going anywhere. Weird in its own way, beautiful in another way. There is water everywhere and with the water there are bugs everywhere. Flying, crawling, hopping, jumping, etc. And because of all those bugs, many species of birds, frogs, turtles, snakes, lizards and fish are attracted because there is plenty of food for all of them. And then there are alligators who happen to like all those bug eating animals. Wonderful!
The variety of plants, trees, flowers is also amazing! And the way they grow, standing in mud and rotting leaves, the perfect symbiosis with all the animals who need them for food, shelter, protection
Spending a few weeks in Europe make you realize what a wasteful society we are here in the US. Is it a picnic in the park, gatherings with friends, a potluck get-together – we use plastic cutlery, paper plates, plastic cups. Buying a bucket of coffee at Starbucks will leave you with a bucket size paper cup, or doubled paper cup with a plastic lid of course.
We are in Miami for a few days before our next adventure. Our hotel is nice, clean, modern. The rooms are spacious, everything you need is provided. Breakfast is included and it’s ok. Scrambled eggs, waffles and that kind of stuff you expect there to be.
And everything is served with plastic cutlery, paper plates and paper bowls and cups. At the end of breakfast time, towards 10am, it looks like that:
I’m not afraid of flying. It’s not my favorite form of transportation, the check in and out, the hustle and bustles, all those people, etc. I just don’t enjoy it. The tight space inside the air plane, economy meaning child size seating and no legroom, nothing really appeals to me. And then the overhead space for carryon luggage: I stick to the rule to have one carryon. Sometimes it is a backpack, a basket, or a small rolling carryon suitcase. And that’s it. But I hate it when people show up with a carryon, a big shopper, and 3 huge paper bags from the @%# outlet stores where they needed to spent the last money they had left from vacation. And that’s when the overhead compartments get too small. And that’s when the stewardess gets involved, shifting things from A to B, then taking smaller bags / backpacks out to accommodate the outlet bags + suitcase + shopper combo. And that smaller backpack is usually mine, so I’m asked to put my bag underneath the seat in front of me, meaning I will not have any legroom for the entire flight as a punishment for somebody else overpacking. I’m not a complainer, but with a situation like that, I do complain, which is swept away in the hectic of boarding a plane and getting everybody and everything stuffed inside. They make me be the bad person, the complainer, although I was the one following the rules, but getting punished for it. So here you go, I’m not afraid of flying, I just don’t like it.
Being afraid and having fear is a different story. Being afraid is more a general emotion, usually without a specific reason. You’re afraid of flying in general, because it might get bumpy. Having fear is more specific. Having fear for your life is connected to an incident. And that happened on my flight over from Europe to the US.
Halfway over the Atlantic, 3 hours away from the closest airport, a passenger decided to ignore the non-smoking sign and went to the bathroom, smoking inside. The sprinkler alarm went on, flooding the whole bathroom. And it didn’t stop. The bathroom was filled with water, over spilled into the cabin, etc. the stewardesses and stewards kept running back and forth, trying to take control. They even used those coffee pots they usually offer tea and coffee with to scoop up water, so here you go: don’t drink coffee or tea on an airplane! You never know what they used it before they made coffee for you….. This whole incident took ~45min before it was under control.
15 or 20 minutes later the pilot interrupted the entertainment program and gave a 5 min speech. I didn’t understand a single word, since it was in Spanish, but I paid attention because he sounded very serious, his voice trembling, almost as if he had cried. This was different, more serious than any pilot speech I ever heard. Everybody on the plane was listening, nobody said a word, people looked shocked. And I had fear. I didn’t know what it was about, I had no idea that it was connected to the smoker in the bathroom, I just was in a “shit, why did I never learn Spanish” state of mind. All different scenarios galloping through my brain, for example the murder/suicide in 2015, where a copilot locked the pilot out of the cabin and crashed the airplane into a hillside in southern France. All 150 people died. I had the flashback and thought that this will end up in a similar way, that our pilot is doing the same. Whom should I write a message now? How much time do we have? Why? That can’t be it! It took several minutes, that seemed like an hour or so, until another person tried to explain what had happened in broken English. Part of it I experienced first hand, sitting on the aisle seat 3 rows behind the restroom. The second part I tried to understand. Apparently the sprinkler system didn’t stop, therefore we were very close to an emergency landing 3 hours away from the next airport. Not a fun idea. The person smoking will be found and hit with a $2000 fine, on top of a criminal investigation, because their action risked the lives of a few hundred people.
But that flight wasn’t bad the entire time. I hadn’t realized that Air Europe was a cheap budget airline, not providing any food or drinks, not even on international flights. So I ended up very hungry and thirsty. On the airlines’ website I saw an option to preorder food, so I just gave it a try. Unfortunately the order didn’t go through, so I tried it again: a rice bowl and a water. Again, didn’t go through. Darn! The surprise came 5 minutes later in form of a tray, topped with a rice chicken mix, gazpacho, dessert, and a glass of water. Very impressive! And very tasty!!! I had just finished every bit of it, when the steward came back and told me that he accidentally gave me the tray that was meant to be given to another person, embarrassing! And I had thought this was my rice bowl with some water! Little did I know. Another stewardess came, telling me the same thing, trying to make me be more embarrassed! And then another steward stopped by and did the same thing: the classic guilt trip! So what should I do? Give it back??? How? My seat neighbor had a good laugh, I felt embarrassed but well fed. The steward came back and asked for my order confirmation (that I didn’t have), he came back another time to check how I actually had ordered and so on. At that point I joined my neighbor laughing. Just wait and I’ll give it back…..
It’s a very easy recipe: a beautiful area (Altmühltal) + great company (my brother Jürgen) + a cute little convertible = a daytrip filled with fun, great talks, memories, connections! Very, VERY special!!!
We saw interesting buildings, for example a church built of willows. It was planted in 2009 and is growing since. We were lucky to watch a wedding ceremony there, just in time before the next rain shower!
We also saw a few interesting animals, some a few days old, others a few million years old:
Enjoying this beautiful day and exchanging stories from the time way back when we were little, which icecream we preferred, which games we played, etc. It’s always so much fun to spend time with Jürgen! And of course we had a stop at a cute little beergarden (the 13th apostle).
And then there was soccer and the German dream of another European championship. But it ended in a disappointing loss at the quarterfinals, which was – of course – questionable. What should have been called a penalty kick was not acknowledged, what should have been a win ended up with a loss, just a minute before overtime ended. Darn! What a disappointment!!! We were so close and the German summer dream ended prematurely…
Ok, the Spanish team wasn’t bad, they were mostly lucky. Lucky and skillful, but I just liked the Germans play, not giving up until the very end, with leg cramps and everything. But it is what it is – the German are going home….. well, they are already home because Germany is the host country. So the Germans are just staying where they are already!
Germany in July: rubber boots would be a good idea. Or at least a rainproof jacket, insulated, an umbrella and don’t forget a scarf! Outdoor venues are closed, it is freezing f🥶ing cold! Yikes. I’m wearing underwear, socks, long pants, T-Shirt, Sweatshirt, layers and layers, and I’m still cold. I have an extra wool blanket on my bed and I’m cold, despite wearing a nightshirt!
Paso Robles, California on the other hand is dealing with a heat wave right now. 47 degrees Celsius (=116 F), that’s when the air flimmers and everything comes to a standstill. PG&E (Pacific Gas & Electric) are switching off the power, air conditions won’t work, your barbecue steaks in the freezer will defrost and there won’t be any ice cubes for your drinks. Americans like to drink everything with ice cubes. I mean, they have a little taste of something in their glasses filled with ice cubes and when they’re finished, half the glass of ice cubes will be thrown in the sink. Hard to understand when you grow up in Europe…
When I moved to the US 26 year ago, I always thought that everything will be the same, except the language, and since I learned English at school, I thought I’m prepared for the challenge. Little did I know! The language I learned turned out to be the medieval cousin of the American language spoken in the US. Not only do Americans have a chewing gum in their mouth when they speak vs English people, who have a hot potato in their mouth, they also use different words and you have to be careful to stick with the proper vocabulary. So don’t buy rubbers for your children’s first day of school equipment when they are just in 3rd or 4th grade. That’s more appropriate for 10th grade, when they really need a rubber / eraser / condom 😳. And calling a doctors office to ask for a date with a gynecologist isn’t such a fun idea either, because a date is something very different than an appointment, one less professional and more romantic than the other. And there are so many more examples of “sitting in the clanger” which means to “put one’s foot in one’s mouth”. But luckily I got a big portion of humor and I hope all the people around me got the same, otherwise they’d just turn around and laugh, roll their eyes, be shocked or otherwise not be my friends anymore.
In college, where I teach fashion design, it is a bit challenging in its own way. Officially there are lots of possibilities to make mistakes and the list is long on what you can say or ask. For example I cannot ask a student where he/she/them is from. That is a micro-aggression, indicating that – because they look different or speak with an accent – I assume that they are not as good as their American classmates. I look different myself and my German accent is recognized as soon as I open my mouth. So I kinda sit in the same boat, but I’m not allowed to ask my students where they’re from?!? And in Fashion Design I’m supposed to say chest, high point, rear and bottocks instead of breast and butt. Sometimes I catch my students with this frozen expression of a shocked deer in the headlights because I say the name of a body part in an inappropriate way and I think: c’mon people, get rid of that prudish political correctness and start having fun again! 😳😳😳
