Before Milla, the equation was simple:
2 adults : 2 trolleys.
With Milla, the equation has taken an unexpected dynamic:
2 adults (1 mom, 1 packing mule) & 1 baby : 3 trolleys, 1 bugaboo (a super-trolley), 1 car seat, 1 diaper bag, 2x time and 4x back-ache.
Makes you think of these silly 1980s movies where an american familly (with kids) goes on a holiday to France with too much luggage & expectations, and chaos breaks out in the middle of nowhere with unfriendly frenchmen and difficult food. I think the movie was with Chevy Chase or National Lampoon. Americanization stage I. Just that our destination was not France in summer, but Germany in winter. Brrrrr.
The trip schedule was just as ambitious: NYC -> Munich -> Hamburg/Bistensee -> London -> Munich -> NYC. Europe in 12 days. Americanization stage II. Did I mention we had 5 pieces of luggage with us, and the barking dog and a goldfish in a glass bowl?
Actually the trip turned out to be VERY nice (except for the back-ache towards the end).
- We spent 2 days in Munich where we saw Mehran and Milan and many friends (in the order of appearance: Nadine, Till, Lili, Marlou, Ursula, CD, Mehran, Milan, Ully, Roman, and a bunch of my colleagues from Pepper/Computershare). Munich was nice but rainy, unfortunately. Nothing like the torrid south-of-France summer in that 1980s movie, with the moskitos... The picture below must be from Walt Disney.
- Next we flew to Hamburg, where we had an excellent Spaghetti al Pesto at Sandra & Bernie's place with their kids Jakob, Paul & Mats (Milla's future pool of candidates...), and on we went to have mulled wine & sausage at the Hamburger Rathaus-Weihnachtsmarkt with Christina and Nicola. Very nice, though quite cold. But fit for purpose with mulled wine.
- On we drove in our rented familly-optimized SUV (Volkswagen something, a significant upgrade after Maike's former Z3 and my former Boxster S) to Bistensee, where we spent a couple of very relaxing days over Christmas with Maike's parents (Margret & Evert). No, no details on the food & drinks menu, although they were very good. Milla got many, many presents there (and I really mean PLENTY) not just from the grand-parents, but also from their friends and neighbours. She really had a good time there and was spoilt over and above her dreams from her maternal grand-parents. Actually, I bet she is already a honorary citizen of the commune of Bistensee-Ahlefeld, and honorary life-long member and mascot of the Bistensee Jazz Club, we just haven't been informed yet.
- And the trip continued to... London! Did you know Heathrow is the worst airport in the world? No? At the risk of getting a life-long ban from the BAA, I repeat: Heathrow is the worst airport in the world. I mean among serious airports, I am not talking of that airfield in Quy Nhon two years ago... actually that resort in Quy Nhon was really nice now that I think of it... but back to London Heathrow. The employees are rude and incompetent and not helpful at all, and it was the only place during the trip where they gave us a hard time with the baby food and the car seat and everything, and where you need to walk miles and miles with your luggage and ah... my back ache... five generations of misery and damnation upon you, BAA!
- The stay in London with my mom (Homa) was also very nice though a bit short, and Milla was yet more spoilt (shorter time but concentrated) and got the admiration of all the London friends and relatives (my Mom, Khaleh Jaleh, Amir, Nader, Elli, Feri, Farhad, Sohrab). And yet more presents for her... I don't think she will become anything honorary in London after my rant against the BAA, but Bistensee-Ahlefeld and the jazz club are already an achievement at barely 5 months of age.
- After London, we flew back to Munich (very gut airport!) for a couple of days of relaxation, and to spend New Year's Eve with friends. Nadine and Till had kindly given us the key to their brand new appartment so we were set up in a very comfortable place in the Franzosenviertel in Haidhausen (so called French Quarter of Munich). We saw a few more friends over those couple of days, Christian & Meike, Ully & Roman, Ursula & CD, Leyla & Kami & Azar & Behram, and we spent NYE at Newsha & Soheyl's place with their lovely daughters Ava & Hana, and with several more friends.
And finally we flew back to NYC on January 2, with good old Lufthansa, where we were even upgraded to Business Class, what a luxury and comfort after the tour... thank you for the vitamine B, you-know-who!
(after reading the post, Maike says no more coffee and wine for me this week...)
Makes you think of these silly 1980s movies where an american familly (with kids) goes on a holiday to France with too much luggage & expectations, and chaos breaks out in the middle of nowhere with unfriendly frenchmen and difficult food. I think the movie was with Chevy Chase or National Lampoon. Americanization stage I. Just that our destination was not France in summer, but Germany in winter. Brrrrr.
The trip schedule was just as ambitious: NYC -> Munich -> Hamburg/Bistensee -> London -> Munich -> NYC. Europe in 12 days. Americanization stage II. Did I mention we had 5 pieces of luggage with us, and the barking dog and a goldfish in a glass bowl?
Actually the trip turned out to be VERY nice (except for the back-ache towards the end).
- We spent 2 days in Munich where we saw Mehran and Milan and many friends (in the order of appearance: Nadine, Till, Lili, Marlou, Ursula, CD, Mehran, Milan, Ully, Roman, and a bunch of my colleagues from Pepper/Computershare). Munich was nice but rainy, unfortunately. Nothing like the torrid south-of-France summer in that 1980s movie, with the moskitos... The picture below must be from Walt Disney.
- Next we flew to Hamburg, where we had an excellent Spaghetti al Pesto at Sandra & Bernie's place with their kids Jakob, Paul & Mats (Milla's future pool of candidates...), and on we went to have mulled wine & sausage at the Hamburger Rathaus-Weihnachtsmarkt with Christina and Nicola. Very nice, though quite cold. But fit for purpose with mulled wine.
- On we drove in our rented familly-optimized SUV (Volkswagen something, a significant upgrade after Maike's former Z3 and my former Boxster S) to Bistensee, where we spent a couple of very relaxing days over Christmas with Maike's parents (Margret & Evert). No, no details on the food & drinks menu, although they were very good. Milla got many, many presents there (and I really mean PLENTY) not just from the grand-parents, but also from their friends and neighbours. She really had a good time there and was spoilt over and above her dreams from her maternal grand-parents. Actually, I bet she is already a honorary citizen of the commune of Bistensee-Ahlefeld, and honorary life-long member and mascot of the Bistensee Jazz Club, we just haven't been informed yet.
- And the trip continued to... London! Did you know Heathrow is the worst airport in the world? No? At the risk of getting a life-long ban from the BAA, I repeat: Heathrow is the worst airport in the world. I mean among serious airports, I am not talking of that airfield in Quy Nhon two years ago... actually that resort in Quy Nhon was really nice now that I think of it... but back to London Heathrow. The employees are rude and incompetent and not helpful at all, and it was the only place during the trip where they gave us a hard time with the baby food and the car seat and everything, and where you need to walk miles and miles with your luggage and ah... my back ache... five generations of misery and damnation upon you, BAA!
- The stay in London with my mom (Homa) was also very nice though a bit short, and Milla was yet more spoilt (shorter time but concentrated) and got the admiration of all the London friends and relatives (my Mom, Khaleh Jaleh, Amir, Nader, Elli, Feri, Farhad, Sohrab). And yet more presents for her... I don't think she will become anything honorary in London after my rant against the BAA, but Bistensee-Ahlefeld and the jazz club are already an achievement at barely 5 months of age.
- After London, we flew back to Munich (very gut airport!) for a couple of days of relaxation, and to spend New Year's Eve with friends. Nadine and Till had kindly given us the key to their brand new appartment so we were set up in a very comfortable place in the Franzosenviertel in Haidhausen (so called French Quarter of Munich). We saw a few more friends over those couple of days, Christian & Meike, Ully & Roman, Ursula & CD, Leyla & Kami & Azar & Behram, and we spent NYE at Newsha & Soheyl's place with their lovely daughters Ava & Hana, and with several more friends.
And finally we flew back to NYC on January 2, with good old Lufthansa, where we were even upgraded to Business Class, what a luxury and comfort after the tour... thank you for the vitamine B, you-know-who!
(after reading the post, Maike says no more coffee and wine for me this week...)
No comments:
Post a Comment