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After all the flights back and forth to Europe and several domestic trips, I finally had enough Frequent Flyer Miles to get a free trip to Europe. Back in late Summer, I decided that I would use them for the high-priced travel over Christmas. And, since David's parents had impressed upon me to visit them the Christmas after David returned home, it seemed a logical choice.
One day, when things were really quiet at the office, I called the Delta Awards number and began my travel planning. I knew I wanted to see Europe decked out for the holiday season and that stops in Copenhagen and Kempten were on the agenda. What I really wanted to do and what actually happened were two, totally different events.
For starters, I wanted to experience the holiday from my prospective in two different cultures during one trip. I knew that the areas I would be visiting were somewhat more secular than at home, thus the celebrations would probably reflect that difference.
December 17-20, 2003
Copenhagen, Denmark
My flight to Copenhagen was mostly uneventful except for the stopover in Paris. It was my first flight to the Charles de Gaulle airport, and I plan that it be my last.
Arriving on Delta (an Air France partner), we landed some distance from the actual terminal. A covered, mobile staircase led us from the jumbo jet to waiting shuttle buses that would take us to a less than hospitable entrance to Halle "C" of the airport. Not that the shuttle was a pain, it was cold and raining and we were parked over a mile from the actual terminal building way out on the "back forty".
Once inside the terminal, the signage was somewhat discrete and generally not really informative for the first-time visitor to the airport. I had almost an hour to get from my arrival "gate" to my departure gate, which was three Halles away. At one point, the trip was down a very narrow corridor with glass on one side looking out toward the parking areas and a wall on the other.
Passing this area, I was in the wide-open spaces of the TGV terminal enroute to my last destination Halle. Even though this area was pretty much open to the elements (below), the temperature was comfortable, but a bit cool for someone without a heavy jacket. You see, I was not bringing a real winter jacket because I had made arrangements to borrow one at each of my stops, thus saving valuable space. I was carrying almost an extra suitcase filled with many of the items that David was unable to pack and carry himself. There is still more here waiting on a return visit one way or the other.
Arriving at the terminal gate, all I had to do now was wait for my flights departure call. When that came, it was onboard and off to Copenhagen.
Visti and I had pre-arranged a meeting place near a pair of passengers that had been waiting a very LONG time for someone. Actually, they had been there so long, they had turned to bronze. Knowing that Visti had a dentist appointment just 30 minutes before my scheduled arrival, and knowing that transoceanic flights are frequently ahead of schedule, I was not surprised when Visti was not at the baggage claim to meet me.
In most airports outside the United States, baggage carts are everywhere and FREE. So, I loaded my suitcases onto one and headed out of the terminal area and to my appointed spot to wait, near the ticketing counters. Visti arrived about 45 minutes after I arrived and we were off to his parents house where I would be staying.
I had only seen their new house in pictures, so this would be the first time to actually visit them since moving in. The drive from the airport took about 30 minutes. One thing I was aware of, but did not realize the impact of, was that sunset, and I mean DARK at that time of year is about 3:30pm. The sun would sink like a rock and sunrise, well it's more like a cork popping up out of the water and happened at 8:30am. Turns out, I was there for the shortest day of the year, and the longest night.
By 7:30p, some four hours after sunset, everybody was psychologically ready for bed even thought it was several hours before the nightly news programs hit the TV. The early movies at the local cinemas had hardly begun and everybody, including me, were bored silly.
I did get to visit Visti's new apartment a couple of times. He's really done a great job on updating a 100 year old flat into something very modern. To help with the expenses, he's rented out one bedroom to an old high school friend. Apartments are not cheap, especially larger ones with parking areas. Visti purchased this apartment, much as we purchase condo's in high-rise buildings in the States.
During my brief stay in Copenhagen, I was able to see the Viking Museum and tour a very old church not far away. Inside, a youth choir was practicing some Christmas music for an upcoming service. The music filled the high, vaulted, marble ceilings of the cathedral. It was the first time I had heard the sound of such a large facility of this type filled with live music.
On Thursday, Visti and I traveled across the worlds longest suspension bridge from Copenhagen to Malmö, Sweden. It wasn't until I reached Kempten several days later, that I found out that Malmö was in the Top Ten places for Americans to visit over the Christmas Holidays, and I was there.
I had a 10:00am flight from Copenhagen to Paris and then to Munich, so my short visit to Copenhagen was over. I did not get to see too much of the holiday festivities, but was able to take in a few of the sights along the way. Visti, his girlfriend, his brothers, their girlfriends and his parents were leaving the next morning for Olso, Norway for a week of skiing. If the days were short in Copenhagen, they were REALLY short that much further north, something on the order of 4.5 to 5 hours of good daylight. Forces you to make the most of a skiing vacation that far north for sure.
December 20, 2003
Kempten, Germany
It seems like I had just been at the Munich airport so recently. It has started to become almost as familiar as Little Rock, Atlanta, Las Vegas or Orlando. I was expecting to see David and Thomas, but instead found Thomas and Marco, a friend of both David and Thomas. Seems that David was still not feeling all that well. He had been back to the doctor recently, but not related to his flu from the Summer or broken finger from basketball.
Also expecting to take the train back to Kempten, Marco was a bit surprised to find that I had one very large suitcase and a smaller one, plus backpack. And he had one of the typical smaller cars that Europeans drive. We managed to get everything in, even though I shared the back seat with the big suitcase, giving Thomas more room in front for his much large height than mine. I was very comfortable however.
About 30 minutes into the drive to Kempten, Marco applied his brakes a bit hard for the wet roadway and slid into the rear end of the car in front that was stopped at a stop light. Minor damage to both cars, but Marco's did suffer some broken plastic parts around the headlight and bumper. He was very quiet for the next 30 minutes or so as we drove on toward the Alps and Kempten.
I was in Kempten for a full 6 days. I had hoped to be able to get out and see some sights that I had not seen before. Most of my previous trips were very short, 3 days at the most. They did not leave much time to travel. I really wanted to go to Munich and do some shopping since I had an empty suitcase for the return trip. I also wanted to go back to the Alps and perhaps ride a ski lift up so I could see what it was like in the winter time. None of these things happened. It was cold, near freezing, and raining most of the time.
I have fully decided that the next time I go to Germany, I'm going a few days early and visit several of the areas that I had hoped to have seen. Then, after I've gone and done all I wanted to do, I would head to Kempten for a short visit before returning to Munich and home.
On Saturday, Thomas had a city league basketball game about 30 miles from Kempten. His team was in the finals for the championship. They were from a large geographical area and ranged from 16 to 30-something in age. The game closely resembled our basketball, but did have several distinct differences. They played 20 minute halves, like our colleges, but their jersey numbers were more like the NBA in as much as they could choose any number from 0 to 99. Our high school and college players numbers use only the numbers 0-5 so they fouls can be signaled with just one hand (five fingers). Another difference was the "lane". It was marked in "International" dimensions. In other words, the lane was not a triangle, but a trapazoid with a larger base than that at the free throw line.
We did go to a Christmas program on Sunday evening at a Catholic church (more like a cathedral than what we call churches in this country). The program was very good, but extremely hard to follow as it was in German -- imagine that? On occasion, I could pick up the Christmas Story by the actor portrayal and words that transcended the language barrier I had.
After the service, we went to visit some friend a couple of block from the church. There we had tea and cookies and looked at their shop which sold waterfall decorations for desktops, counters and floor mounted units. More on this below.
Peter drove me to meet Thomas, where we went downtown by ourselves on Christmas Eve to do some last minute shopping. There we ran into several of Thomas' friends. As I strongly suspected, most of Thomas' friends seem to be very nice and, of course, all speak fluent English. Kempten is about 64,000 folks, but the downtown is very compact. About five blocks long and three blocks wide, the whole area is closed to vehicle traffic during business hours. Most stores started closing around noon time, but the larger, Mart-type, were still going strong until about 6:00pm. After shopping, we WALKED back home. It's about a 30 minute walk and we enjoyed the quiet time to just talk and enjoy each others' company. I only wish that David and I would have had such a great relationship during his stay with me.
On this outing, Thomas made a last-minute purchase of items with which to make his gift for David. Marco had made a Japanese lantern out of bamboo stalks, paper and string. A candle is placed inside for light. David had remarked some time ago that he wanted to build one of those, so Thomas took the project on -- ON CHRISTMAS EVE.
Supper was delayed time and time again, while Thomas and I feverishly worked to complete the project. But, there was one item missing -- the candle. Thomas had forgotten to purchase one. Finally, it was done and carried up to the living room. It was covered with a towel since wrapping it would have been very difficult.
Christmas gifts are much different in Germany, as you can imagine from the lantern. For instance, Thomas got his dad a "waterfall". You know, the rock displays that sit in a bowl and a small pump runs water down them. To his surprise, when he went to pick up his waterfall, earlier in the day, his dad had purchased one he had seen a couple of days before for his wife.
I received a calendar with Thomas and David's pictures on each month. These were taken on their trip out West. And a package of chocolates and some cookies. The rest of the gifts exchanged were very much the same. Nothing like the gift giving we do here. Wal-Mart, if in Kempten, would go broke over the holidays. I did see a lot of things purchased in the stores we went in, but not nearly the quantity or price of those here.
Of course Christmas Day, everything was closed. However, that evening, we did venture out to a friend of Peter's house. He had set up 20 or 30 Nativity Scenes all over his house, most in one room. The detail was awesome and several pieces were over 100 years old. He even had a couple of figures that were over $4,500 each, and they stood almost a foot tall. Also, they had a very traditional Christmas Tree with real candles. The small candles (about 20 total) were carefully counter-balanced by a weight that caused the branch to stand out straight from the body of the tree. This allowed the candle to be safely burned without setting the tree on fire.
As with many countries, the decorations were not put up until Christmas Eve, so the trees were really fresh. David's parents put their up the day before (23rd), but they use electric lights. They typically leave the decorations up till after the first of the year.
The day after Christmas is called Boxing Day, and is also a holiday. I knew this, but did not realize it was a day when stores were closed. So Friday was the only shopping day after Christmas as most stores were also closed on Saturday and Sunday. Boy, our economy would collapse with such a tradition.