Flight to Germany

The flight from Dallas-Fort Worth, USA (DFW) to Frankfurt, Germany (FRA) was great!

I flew with Lufthansa for the first time and was quite pleased with the service and accommodations. The plane was an Airbus A330 - a pretty large plane. The flight attendants were all smiles, kindness, and, thankfully, spoke both Deutsch and English.

The flight was direct (I didn't want to spend my precious time away from work on lay-overs) and scheduled to be 10 hours long but we had a tail wind and landed almost an hour ahead of schedule. I reserved a window seat with only one seat adjacent to it before an aisle.

All beverages and several, alcoholic or not, were offered free of charge. I tried some German red and white wines. Water was frequently passed out, too, which I really appreciated.

Two meals were served. The dinner option I chose was a curried lamb and rice (sorry, forgot to remove the foil lid in the photo), and the breakfast was egg frittata with veggies. You can also see in the picture my notebooks: one is my day-to-day-keep-my-life-in-order notebook, and the other is my Germany travel journal which will morph into a sort of memento from the trip, stuffed with journal entries, tickets, and other tidbits.

Dinner

I had hoped to sleep 6-8 hours, but ended up being wide awake - just my luck - for all but a few hours. For those few hours I got pretty terrible sleep as the seat in front of me was fully reclined, leaving me unable to rest by folding forward, which is my preferred method on a plane. And by preferred I mean basically the only way I can manage to sleep on a plane, so I've learned.

The leg room was typical for a plane, but given the length of the trip, my knee began to bother me. Nothing painful, but very achy and restless. Needless to say, I started to worry about the marathon. I did some stretching in the aisle but wasn't sure how much it would help. I just tried to not think about the up-coming race.

I had good fortune in the game of "am I going to get a cool seat buddy or not" roulette. My seat buddy's name is Michael; he is German, speaks English (thank goodness), and lives in Freising, which is just north of Munich in Bavaria. (The oldest brewery in the world, Weihenstephan, is in that town. Unfortunately my itinerary doesn't allow for a visit. Also, I'm not much into beer, so I wasn't too bothered.) Anyway, Michael was in Dallas for work. It turns out that we are employed by companies in related industries - small world (kind of). We enjoyed chatting and got to know one another. We talked some, did our own thing some. It was a perfect blend of interaction. And he didn't mind my practicing basic German travel phrases with him. I'm sure I sounded like a 5-year-old, but he was good-natured about it. He's a friendly fellow I'm glad to have met.

Finally we began our decent into Frankfurt! Here are a couple obligatory photos of the view from the plane. Looks like a cute little town outside of Frankfurt, surrounded by crop fields - they reminded me of the Midwest and home in Indiana!

A Small Town Outside of the Frankfurt

Lots of Farm Land

When we landed there was something going on such that we had to disembark via ladder and take a bus into the airport terminal. I managed to leave my neck rest pillow thing on the plane. I swear I fastened it to my backpack. It must have unsnapped while I was exiting. Ah, well. It was still $20 well spent for all the use I got from it over the years.

Once to the terminal I said goodbye to Michael (he had another flight to catch to Munich), and then I managed my way to the baggage claim. It was a bit of a hike - the Frankfurt Airport is huge. Once there I gathered my bag, and reached out to Judith who would be meeting me. (She's a German friend who lives in Frankfurt; we met during our Study Abroad stays in Australia.)

"Welcome" in German

Judith wasn't expecting the flight to land so early and was in transit when I got through Customs (which was super easy and my first time using my renewed US Passport - yay!). I had some time to kill so I used the ATM to get Euros (my first time using/having Euros), and bought some bottled water since I couldn't find a water fountain.

Judith spied me and we had a nice little reunion full of smiles and hugs. Before we made our way to a cafe to wait for our other friend, Inge, she told me about the bottle recycling program where I could return bottles to merchants for a refund. The bottle pictured below fetched me E0.25! I know of some similar programs in the US, but it's usually only available in certain states and doesn't refund nearly as much. It may be silly, but I was happy for this new experience. Yay for being green! 

The First Bottle I Returned for a Refund

Judith and I enjoyed catching up with one another over hot beverages while we waited for Inge's flight to arrive. True to form, Inge cried a tiny bit during our reunion. I love her bold emotions. It was so wonderful to see these two lovely ladies! We had much to catch up on and just a few days to do it!

I left DFW at 4 PM on Thursday, 21 September 2017, flew for 9 hours, and landed at FRA at 9 AM on Friday, 22 September 2017. With having worked a half day before flying out and only getting 3 hours of less-than-quality sleep, I knew the day ahead would be long. But I would be visiting with two of my favorite people in the world and seeing a new country and continent for the first time. Onward to Frankfurt!

Germany Update

Hallo! It has been a non-stop weekend visiting with Inge & Judith, seeing Frankfurt and Berlin, preparing for the marathon, and actually running it. I have lots of photos and stories to share, but for now, please enjoy these favorites so far - more of a blog post coming tomorrow!

Romer Platz (Frankfurt City Center)

Frankfurt Skyline at Sunset

My First German Pretzel

At the BMW Berlin Marathon Expo

Just Before the Start of the BMW Berlin Marathon

Pretzel Picture Along the Course

After Finishing the BMW Berlin Marathon (chip time: 4:56)

With My BMW Berlin Marathon Medal in Front of the Reichstag

Auf Wiedersehen!

I’m finally on the plane! Yay!

Thanks for all of the well wishes, for my Heidi care-givers, and to Linda for this gem:

My German Heritage

In putting together these blog posts about my up-coming trip to Germany, I realized I haven't really even tried to learn much about how I am of German descent. I just always knew it as truth based on what I'd been told and my mother's maiden name being clearly German. So, I asked my momma if she had any concrete information and was pleased to learn that she did!

My maternal grandfather's side of the family gives me my German blood. Some family members shared with her, and she with me, enough information for me to build the following path in my family tree.

Mary & Henry Baugher were my great-great-great-grandparents.

They lived in the German state of Bavaria (for which Munich is the capital). I have details that they were from "the Rein Region", but haven't yet been able to discover where exactly that is. My best guesses as to where their home might have been are the following.

• Rain, Swabia, the red pin that is the farthest north
• Rein-Tal (Rain Valley), the red pin that is farthest south

"Rein", "rhine", and "rain" all seem to be related spellings of "rain" in English. The Rhine is a river that flows through Europe.

Joseph Baugher was born on 16 November 1861 in Ohio. He died on 16 June 1916 in Indiana. He was my great-great-grandfather.

Russell Baugher was born on 6 July 1884 in Lawrence, Indiana. He died in 1977 in Elwood, Indiana. He was my great-grandfather.

I knew Elmer & Imogene Baugher, my maternal grandparents, and I miss them both dearly.

It's really very neat to discover some of one's family heritage. I am looking forward to visiting the state, region, and country where my distant relatives once lived.

Special thanks to my mom, my Uncle Dave, and my Cousin Kerry for gathering and sharing the information about our German heritage!

I used Family Echo to build the family tree graphic. It is a free online tool and very easy to use.

Germany Itinerary by Map

The following is a map of Germany with pins where I'll be visiting.

Frankfurt is the farthest west. Berlin is the farthest north. Munich is the farthest north of the 2 pins in the southern region of the country. Fussen is south of Munich.

Germany Itinerary

I'll be flying in and out of Frankfurt and making a circuit loop of the country through Berlin, Munich, and Fussen. The following are some highlights of the trip that I have planned.

• Frankfurt
• Meet with Judith & Inge, friends met during my Study Abroad in Australia back in 2008
• Explore the city with Judith as our guide

• Berlin
• Berlin Marathon - wish me luck!
• Checkpoint Charlie
• Berlin Wall Memorial
• Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe
• Judisches Museum
• Bradenburg Gate
• Reichstag Building
• Maybe pop over to nearby Potsdam
• Glienicker Bridge
• Sanssouci Palace

• Munich
• Meet with Mathias, a colleague at Mouser Electronics' Munich office
• Mouser Electronics German Office
• Dachau
• Deutsches Museum
• Marienplatz
• Hofbrauhaus
• Oktoberfest
• Maybe pop over to nearby Freising

• Fussen
• Schloss Neuschwanstein
• Schloss Hohenschwangau
• Mary's Bridge
• Alpine toboggan sledding

Berlin Marathon

The Berlin Marathon is just week away, on Sunday, 24 September 2017! This post contains some helpful information and an update on my readiness.

• Training
• Training went really well and was injury free (yay!). However, my IT Band was (seemingly out of nowhere) giving me some grief on a light run Wednesday evening, but I’m trying not to freak myself out. I’m getting new shoes to break in with my taper run this weekend and will up my stretching; hopefully these things will set me straight again.
• UPDATE: new shoes did the job! It's crazy how their cushioning breaks down and can lead to discomfort and injury.

• Race Goal Based on my training performance (I managed 20 miles in 4 hours) I expect to finish the 26.2 miles in approximately 5.25 hours. I’m happy just to finish alive within the 6.25-hour time limit but am aiming for as close to 5.25 hours as I can.

• Time Difference Berlin is 7 hours ahead of us. The race officially starts around 9 AM (Berlin time), but I won’t actually start until my wave crosses the starting line around 10 AM (Berlin time). No hard feelings if you don’t wake up at 3 AM Sunday morning (Mansfield time) to follow the race, haha! You can just read the notifications of my race’s progress when you wake up. = ) If all goes according to plan, then I should be finishing up around 3:15 PM (Berlin time) / 8:15 AM (Mansfield time).

• Thank You Thanks for all of the support! It’s really encouraging to know that people back home will be thinking of me and cheering me on next weekend!

2017 Trip: Germany

Aside from a jaunt in the Western Caribbean for a cruise, it's been 9 years since my last trip abroad (Australia). Ironically enough, I have an ex-boyfriend to thank for giving me the nudge I needed to correct this aspect of my life. After the break-up I realized that it was high time I did something big and special for myself: I decided to travel to Europe (for the first time).

I've heard that a benefit of traveling to Europe is the close proximity of myriad countries, and that one can visit several in a short span of time. I took a different approach in determining where I went: I decided that instead of seeing many countries briefly, I would visit one country in-depth. Quality over quantity.

The next question was which country. I chose Germany. Many people have asked me what led me to land on Germany, so here is my reasoning:

• I have German ancestry.
• My mother's maiden name is Baugher (pronounced Bahk-er). I've done some research and found that Baugher is an English spelling of the German surname Bacher. You may be familiar with the famous German composer by the name of Bach. His name means stream or brook. I surmise that Bacher may have similar meaning.
• As for my lineage, I don't really know much. I don't know when the family immigrated to the US or who in my family tree may still reside in Germany.
• I have friends in and near Germany to visit. Two I met during my Study Abroad in Australia; the other I met more recently through work.
• I've read a lot of WWI & WWII historical fiction.
• I used to not have any desire to read stories in wartime settings. Turns out that, while I still don't really care for reading about the fighting itself, I actually quite appreciate the stories about the people affected by war, what it was like, the spy networks, sacrifice for others, and the power hope.
• The following are some of my favorite WWI & WWII historical fiction novels. I've listed them in by audience and then by favorite.
• Adult
• The Nightingale by Kristen Hannah - a story of two sisters living in Nazi-occupied France; Kristen Hannah is amazing at painting 3-dimensional characters, particularly women (sisters and best friends)
• The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult - a story of a woman who faces a moral struggle when asked to help a former SS Officer commit suicide; a story woven around justice and forgiveness; true to form, Picoult enables the reader to see both sides of the request with clarity while acknowledging that they are opposites, making for a very intense reaction
• China Dolls by Lisa See - the story of 3 Asian women from different backgrounds who become close friends after traveling to San Francisco, California in search of stardom; their world is rocked when the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor and one of them goes missing at the betrayal of one of the others; See is skilled at giving life to female protagonist characters and their relationships, particularly with other women (best friends)
• All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr - a story of a little French girl who has lost her vision and is struggling to survive WWII and crosses paths with a German boy solider who is also struggling to survive the war
• At the Water's Edge by Sara Gruen - a story about a woman who doesn't give herself enough credit and learns a character-defining secret about her husband; set in Scotland in 1942; same author as Water for Elephants
• The Book Thief by Markus Zusak - a story of an orphan girl in Germany whose accordian-playing foster father teaches her how to read; she quickly discovers that she is a bibliophile during WWII and resorts to theft to feed her hunger for books and the words they contain; she reads to others in bomb shelters to calm them, and she reads to a Jewish man her foster parents are hiding in their basement
• Children (I reread Number the Stars and fully recollect the story and how it affected me, so I've listed it first. Of course, Diary of a Young Girl is a world-wide classic.)
• Number the Stars by Lois Lowry - a story of a little Danish girl who discovers the courage to help her family rescue Jews, her best friend among them; a children's book that I'll never forget reading in elementary school by a renowned children's book author
• Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank - the diary of Dutch girl surviving the war by hiding with her family and another in the secret annex of an office building

Once I decided on Germany I began researching what to do and when to go. I stumbled across the Berlin Marathon and found that the registration window was currently open. I figured what the hell, registered for the lottery. A month or so later I had a random charge against my checking account and discovered it was my registration payment: I got in, and I was going to Germany in September 2017!

Blog Update

It's been years since I posted to my blog, but I've returned because I have a trip coming up and folks have expressed interest in hearing about it. I considered starting a new, travel-specific blog but figured it would be fine just to keep everything in one place. So, expect some revival here! = )