My last week in Europe

I'm back in the United States now, although my return trip last Thursday kind of turned into a darker version of the movie Planes, Trains and Automobiles. I left Munich by train at about 6:30 AM on my way to the Frankfurt airport, but we were an hour late in arriving because someone had jumped on that stretch of tracks, apparently to commit suicide, during the night and the police were still finishing up the investigation. Oddly enough this also happened to me when I was in Austria six years ago, so either it's not an entirely uncommon way for Europeans to end their lives, or I'm just really unlucky.

Anyway, I still got to the airport almost an hour before my flight left, only to be told that there was no way they could let me on -- that for security reasons you must check-in earlier than that. No amount of pleading would sway the ticket officer, who coolly gestured to the growing line of other passengers who were on the same train and had already been sent to re-book. After standing in that mass of unhappy humanity, I was finally able to get booked from Frankfurt to Paris to Atlanta to Minneapolis, a total of about 20 hours either on planes or in airports. Oh, and for the nine-hour stretch from Paris to Atlanta I got one of those coveted middle seats. Oh, and I had to go through security at three different airports and try to explain in three different languages that no, I can't take my shoes off because it's impossible for me to stand or walk without them.

So, the trip back home was not exactly sweetness and light, but fortunately I had two weeks worth of smile-inducing pictures and memories to help me through it.

My second week in Europe had started with a leisurely evening trip to a festival in Kaiserslautern (Germany) with the Hansen clan. I have a new respect for Brett and Cyndy after seeing how much prep work it requires to take a one-year-old and a three-year-old out for just a few hours. The festival was kind of like the Benton County Fair, only with more bratwurst stands and more booths offering beer steins as the unattainable prizes in the rigged games. I ate pretty well (brat, beer, Bavarian pretzel and chocolate covered banana -- didn't realize 'til now that there was such a "B" theme to the menu), but the highlight had to have been watching Maddy (the three-year-old) enjoy a pony ride.

The next day I went on base (Ramstein) with Brett and got to see all kinds of big dudes in camo salute him and call him "Sir," which was funny for me. Then we drove about an hour to Trier, the oldest city in Germany. It was an ancient Roman outpost and still has some pretty well-preserved ruins, most notably the Porta Nigra ("Black Gate"). We saw that, the oldest church in Germany and some crumbling Roman baths at the end of a city park. If you want a small taste of Rome, but you're stuck in western Germany, I'd definitely recommend Trier.

After saying goodbye to the Hansens the next morning, I took a short train ride to Paris for the weekend. Here's where the "sports" part of this (long) post comes in. I arrived just in time for Benny-Berthet Day at the French Open tennis tournament. This is the warm-up day after the qualifying matches but before the actual tournament starts. For 19 Euro (a little less than $25), I got admission to storied Roland Garros stadium and was able to walk freely from court to court (I got to 15 before I stopped counting) and watch the pros hit balls and play practice sets against each other. Most of the big names (Nadal, Federer, Murray, Roddick, etc.), had already finished by the time I got there (about 2 in the afternoon), but it was still a trip getting to see the pros up close. After wandering around for a bit I settled at the Center Court (I believe it's Chatrier something) and watched two practice sets. The first was a tight, exciting match-up between France's Gilles Simon (I think he was pretty highly-ranked) and Luxemborg's Gilles Muller. The second was a disappointingly sloppy walk-through between Ecuador's Nicolas Lapentti and Robby Ginepri of the USA. Bottom line: Americans are awful on clay, so don't go to Roland Garros to watch them. Still, I left about 7:30 that night feeling liked I'd definitely gotten my money's worth. Then I watched the sunset on the Eiffel Tower from the Trocodero gardens, which is pretty good as far as free attractions go.

I spent my second day in Paris with Luciana Sudre, the sister of my old college roommate, Gustavo, acting as my guide. She's lived in Paris for a while and took me to some of her favorite spots, like the university - Sorbonne - and the Pantheon, where we visited the tombs of writers like Voltaire, Hugo and Rousseau (and also escaped from the sun, which was surprisingly ready to burn the back of my neck). Then we hit Notre Dame, the opera house, the Luxembourg gardens and the Tuileries gardens before the day was out. If that sounds like a busy day, it was. Luciana doesn't mess around.

After that I spent most of Monday taking various trains from Paris to Munich (note to self: next time try to make a reservation on the high-speed train out of Paris more than 15 minutes before it leaves). Munich, like Paris, I had already been to on my earlier trip through Europe, so I tried to discover some new things. I went to the Augustiner Beerhall instead of the Hofbrauhaus. I went north of the city to the BMW museum and the old Olympic park rather than visiting Dachau. And I spent more time walking down side streets and discovering little cafes near my hotel rather than hanging out in Marienplatz (the main square). I found that Munich still had plenty to offer the second time around.

So that's about it. I'm back home in MN now, and planning to drive back to Olathe on Tuesday. Once I get there, I'll try and post some of the choicest photos from the trip. Cheers, ciao, auf weidersehen, au revoir.