Day 1 (2013/09/26-2013/09/27)
Woke up with a sore throat. A bad omen for a long travel stint. I hadn’t packed the night before, so it was all done day-of, which surprisingly didn’t result in me not packing important items (that I can think of yet). Maybe I’m getting used to this, or maybe I’m just being more reserved in what I consider necessary.
Managed to get to the airport 2 hours early and thanks to my GlobalEntry card, was able to bypass the security line affording me enough time to sit at Rogue and enjoy some nourishing lunch before catching my 10 hour flight from Portland to Amsterdam. Sadly, I was unable to sleep on the flight, but did catch up on the last 10 episodes of Adventure Time, re-watched Cloud Atlas, and played Shadowrun Returns on my N7. SR had just enough personality to make me realize why I fell in love with the dark, gritty cyberpunk world all those years ago. I wish I had more consciousness to appreciate it. Sadly, I only got an hour or two of sleep which I feel made my oncoming illness worse.
I saw a coworker at the beginning of the flight, and although we sat nowhere near each other for any flights, had the same itinerary all the way to Munich. I met up with him for the Brussels portion of the trip to grab a quick lunch. We discussed happenings at work, some of the finer points of living in Oregon, and ultimately the commonalities of the plans we make whilst in Munich. As a cherry on top, while I was shambling in torpor at the baggage claim, my coworker’s expatriated father was kind enough to give me a lift to my accommodations.
While travelling we stepped out for smoke breaks. Something I haven’t been used to since living in Montana, and something that I find different (and sometimes annoying/inconvenient) about Europe. It was there he remarked upon the default state of things in Europe that he missed about living on the continent, which was so vividly expressed in the drabness of the September day. Grey cloudy skies, fog, and a slight chill in the air.
My accommodations are nice enough, a 1 bedroom AirBNB listing for me and my companion, and perhaps a third that might pass out there from time to time after a day of Oktoberfest. The bed is comfortable and warm, there is fast-enough internet access (12mbit DSL), and due to being centrally located and private serves as a great base of operations and recovery center for the adventures of the oncoming week.
During the car ride from the airport into the city, I was struck by how much rural area there was between the new airport and the city. We travelled for what seemed like 20km through what would be verdant fields were it not for the overcast day. The roads were well paved and the traffic (even at 6 PM) was not heavy enough to slow us down. Upon entering the city (which just sort of started, there was no sense in a field-to-city transition) I noticed that the density was not what I was used to from other European cities. The streets were large with cars parked at either side and there was quite a bit more room between doors at street-level. The denseness like the inner portions of Paris were nowhere to be seen here.
Tomorrow (today as of this writing) I have a few goals for myself.
- Prepaid SIM card for communications and sanity
- A dearly needed breakfast, as I skipped dinner the previous evening 3.Expect the arrival of my housemate for the week (in the evening) 4.Perhaps all gather at the Hofbräuhaus for a well deserved liter.
I hope to accomplish at least the second goal.