Intrepid Adventurer?

No, and  I guess I realized that about 45 years ago.  Google defines it as fearless, with fortitude and endurance. The moment of truth came when we went camping with a baby Richard at the KOA by Algonquin Park.  I spent the whole time getting things ready for him, cleaning up after feeding, bathing in a fashion which took much more time than those activities did at home.  That was no vacation.  So I decided that if I didn't have the obligations of the house and taking care of food, it would be a vacation even if I just went to the motel down the road.

However, I am not comfortable with the waiter hovering over me all the time and the maid doing turn down service.  So there must be a comfortable medium.

Tova asked yesterday if I listened to music or stories and I had to admit, neither.  I like quiet......peace and quiet.  Is it the years of being a teacher where a classroom sometimes felt like herding cats, or being a parent where interacting with kids was quite vocal at times?  I don't know, but I love quiet on the bicycle, in the garden, in the car, on a walk.  Don't get me wrong -- I love all those things with others too, but I need my quiet time to be at peace.

How does that work with travel where schedules and connections sometimes necessitate running through a train station or airport?  I try to leave myself extra time.  Ian dropped me at Pearson about 5 hours before my flight on May 11.  I had lots of time to go to the counter, drop the bags, get through security and relax in the lounge.  Thank you business class!  You have already read about the train difficulties in Germany and Switzerland, but with the extra time and flexibility of not booking in advance, I made it through with a minimum of panic. 

When I checked in on line last evening, there was a caution that security at Arlanda was extremely slow and one should allow extra time.  Well, I was leaving myself about 3.5 hours, but nothing prepared me for the lines at all the security checks.  Business class allowed me to use the Fast Track -- the guy who cut into that line in front of me in order to make his plane in ten minutes, told me that he had waited for more than 2 hours in the queue.  Horrendous!

Sitting here in the Business Class lounge, I know I am not nearly as adventurous or fearless as I had imagined myself.  It is not a thrill to make that connection, it is panic.  Perhaps it is my age, or perhaps I have always been that way.  I admire Hannah and Jennie who stride out into the unknown.  In any case, travel this way allows me to visit and be with the people who are important to me.  And I see lots of enlightening and unique things along the way, plus, there is calm in my being.   

Timing is everything

 From my recent posts about trains, I must conclude that timing is everything.  Well, if not everything, then at least very important.

On Saturday we planned to go to Furuvik -- the local amusement park/zoo.  Best way to get there is via train.  Getting ready took a bit longer than expected and we got to the train about 1 minute too late.  An hour to kill before the next one.  We wandered through the center of town, saw the lovely tulips, chased a butterfly, and picked up train treats plus a loaf of my favourite bread -- sourdough rye with sunflower seeds from Epi.  They only bake them on Fridays, so this was on the 30% off, day old pile.  What great timing.

I have managed to make it school on time with the girls every morning that I have taken them.  One day it was a bit rushed as we had been finishing Rowan's slippers, but it was fine.

This morning I finished my sweep through the gardens to pull out weeds.  The ground elder is particularly invasive from the side hedge into the flowers and the raspberries, but I got it all done and tossed in for the hens just before a moderate downpour.  Jennie and I had planted the vegetable beds last evening (it stays light till way past 9) and they had received a preliminary watering from Mother Nature overnight.  Great timing! And I cycled over to the grocery store for some stuff to take home without getting wet.

Jenn is one of those people who plans and therefore gets lots done for herself and for the family.  This afternoon I can help by picking up the girls from school and walking them over to violin class.  We have it timed!

The Double Birthday

 This day became a life-changing one for me 45 years ago when Richard was born, and 9 years ago, his older daughter was born on the same day, so May 19 is a very big deal for all of us.  And this year, it is the first time that I am celebrating with him and Tova Elise.  It is a privilege to be here and participate in the birthday traditions they have established. 

I walked the girls to school this morning, and just as they entered the gate, two of their very good friends jumped out from behind a bush and began to sing the Swedish birthday song.  How lovely! 

I made the cake yesterday and it could use some tweaking, so I guess I will need to make another when they come to visit in a month.  Everyone should try and improve.

We played a new memory board game and did a 200 piece puzzle.  The young ladies are delightfully competitive and encouraging.  Rowan gave Tova some eye makeup for her birthday.  They are both growing up so fast.  

Their house which had the basement totally flooded last summer is almost done -- better then before with a new bathroom and reworked space downstairs.  The garden we worked on last September is doing well -- even the weeds.  The rhubarb is as big as ever -- yesterday Tova and I both hid behind it during 'hide and seek'!  The four remaining hens seem happy with the buckets of weeds I throw into their enclosure.

Life is good!

The Train saga continues

I have spent a wonderful 4 days with my friend Rhonda and her husband Robert, who tolerates (bemusedly, I am sure) our laughing, playing in the garden and shopping.  They recently moved into a house in a village just west of the Rhine River.  The house took many months to renovate and there are still a number of items that need to be finished, but it is a very welcoming, open and light space.  There is decking on two levels looking over the garden and both have been very busy creating a huge garden for fruits and vegetables (Robert) and flowers, both in the ground and pots (Rhonda).  Robert is well versed in fertilizers and plant helpers of all kinds, so the garden is amazingly lush and productive after just one year.  It is their retirement project -- well, along with organizing the golf club where they both play.  It was such a treat to visit and be welcomed into their new space.

Flying to Stockholm is not easy from anywhere it seems.  The Basel/Mulhouse airport which is about 10 minutes from Rhonda and Robert's does not have direct flights and connecting in Berlin or London or wherever was of no interest to me.  But there were direct flights out of Zurich -- 12:40.  Great, there was a train from Basel direct to the airport  at 8:37 and I could catch a train at 7:26 from Habsheim to Basel  to arrive at 7:50, giving me lots of time to head over to the other side of the station where the long distance trans connected, pick up a coffee to have with my pastry and pick out a great seat.  The train was arriving at the airport at 10:04 -- lots of time to check in, get some lunch and check out the chocolate shops.  

Everything was going well until about 9:15.  I got a text that my phone account had run out of money and needed to be topped up.  It is a Norwegian SIM and when I try to pay it, there is a two step verification involving sending a code to my Canadian SIM.  Luckily, I have figured out to turn on that SIM to get the code and then turn it off again to eliminate roaming charges.  So it would be no problem to top up my account once I reached Zurich Airport. I can handle that.

Then there was an announcement -- the train was going no further than Zurich main train station due to some police action between the city and the airport.  Yikes.  There were some suggestions about how to navigate around it, but I don't know my way around well enough, so I went to the information station and was told that Tram 10 goes to the airport.  Well, it does, but it stops every 100 m (or so it seemed) and we did not get to the airport till 11 am.  Now it was dashing to check in and drop off the luggage, then head through security and up to the gates.  It was now 11:50 and we were boarding starting   12:15.  Needed a bathroom stop.  Tried to connect to the airport wifi but there was something wrong with my boarding pass QR code.  Eventually, the nice lady at information got me a code for the wifi, I connected to MyCall in Norway, got the security code for making a payment, and topped up the phone so I could contact Jennie when I got to Sweden.  Grabbed a sandwich.  At the gate, I told the checkin people about the problem with the boarding pass (I was going to need to scan it to get on the airplane) and they immediately noticed the problem and printed a new one.  12:10.  12:20 we boarded and thankfully there was an empty seat beside me at the back.  

SJ (the Swedish train system) now does las minute tickets and there were some cheap ones, the first of which left at 15:52.  I got my suitcase at 15:40, dashed up to the central station and asked if I could still make that train.  I was directed to a ticket machine which, thankfully, was fairly easy to navigate and I did make the 15:52 which should get me to Gavle about 15:56, barring some other disaster.  

This trip is certainly testing my train resolve.  Pictures will have to wait as this is on the train wifi.

Travel: the good and the bad

 Travel has always been a delight for me.  I never travelled for work, so planning a trip was always a vacation and I am all for those.

This trip was booked last September on the good hope that everything would be open and life somewhat back to what we called normal 2 years ago.  As the airlines were offering incredible deals, I treated myself to business class for the Toronto to and from Europe segments.  Going from France to Sweden is an economical 1 suitcase flight from Zurich to Stockholm direct where the suitcase was half the cost of the flight.  

So the air travel on Wednesday evening and yesterday morning was so gracious.  I spent a few hours in the premium lounge in Toronto before boarding at the front of the line.  Champagne was served before takeoff.  The meal was Arctic Char with a duck breast appetizer and Opera cake for dessert.  The seat was comfortable and I even managed to sleep for an hour.

Layover in Keflavik was only an hour, so not even worth going to the lounge there and again boarding at the front.  They served a lovely breakfast and I managed to watch a second movie.  I arrived in Frankfurt having been pampered.

Well, the summer of 2019, I had a series of train trips from Switzerland to Germany and every one was on time and easy transfers.  My cousin remarked this was unusual for German trains.  I scoffed.  Now, I apologize to him.  The 13:52 I had wanted to take was cancelled.  I got a ticket for the 14:52 which had 2 transfers -- a manageable 12 minutes between trains.  When the 14:52 arrived 10 minutes late, there were so many people to get on the train, that they said some had to get off before they could leave.  They encouraged the people going straight south to Switzerland to do so.  I went back up to the ticket people, who changed my routing to head straight for Freiburg where I would then have a 30 min. layover before getting on the train to Mullheim.  Well, that train started about 20 min. late and then there were delay issues with other trains, so I did not make the connection.  Time to go to the ticket people and get another train.  And that one finally came -- again about 20 minutes late.  I messaged Rhonda who was picking me up, so many times with changes, I'm surprised that there she was finally at just before 20:00, in the rain in a construction zone.  Negotiating 2 large suitcases is never a joy, but dragging them up and down stairs and running along platforms to try and catch a train makes it worse. 

 

I know I am in favour of public transport, and want to take surface rather than more flights, but yesterday's misadventures may have shaken my resolve somewhat.  However, it will be a train to Zurich on Tuesday morning and then another train to Gavle on Tuesday afternoon.  No prebooking!  I will get there when I get there.