FRAN2005-03

IDEAS Homes for Vacation & Long-Term Rentals

Made With

After getting into bed at 5:30 AM and woke up at 7:30 like it was a normal day. It was too early to do anything so I just lied around until Marcia got up for breakfast at 8:30. After she left I decided I had to try out this "free breakfast thing," so I got dressed and went down for a sit down meal. They were willing to cook two eggs over easy with toast and ham but 15 minutes later she returned with an open face sandwich of ham and eggs. It was good but difficult to eat by hand or knife and fork. I then tried the scrambled eggs with bacon, sausages and a slice of thick baloney and then finished with a bowl of mixed cereals and bread pudding with hot cherries. That and prune juice and a cappuccino made a good breakfast.

I left the hotel and walked with my new umbrella and rubbers since it was still sprinkling. I went back to the Vodafone store near Marienplatz and waited almost 45 minutes due to 4 people ahead of me. Since I had put the chip in the screen was so bollixed up you could barley read the words which would be bad enough if they were in English, but it was all in German. I asked him if he could fix it (I thought the phone was broke and ready for the trash) and, lo and behold, he changed the language to English and the screen became normal. I then added �25 to top up the phone. I now know what our German phone number is [

+49-1520-350-2562]. On the way back to the Kempinski, I passed the Munich Opera House and the statue in front.

When I got back Marcia was waiting for me so we could go pick up the car. We caught a taxi to the BMW European Delivery pickup center on Lilienthalallee. We had to wait an hour while they processed our passports for the registration and insurance. You get a voucher to get a free brunch. Marcia chose this "wrap" sandwich while I took a couple of strudels to take back to the hotel. They have a very nice lounge which we shared with several other Americans there for the same reason.

Then came the moment where they take you out to see your new car for the first time. Marcia picked a silver one this time and though it looks a little odder, its a pretty nice looking car. As you can see the special license plates expire this year on October 13th. It took a little work to get the satellite to synch with the BMW's GPS system but we were finally able to use it to drive back to the Kempinski Hotel.

I was so exhausted when we got back I knew I need something I rarely do - take a nap. Marcia inquired about taking a tour through Dachau but found they only have them on Saturdays. She then decided to go shopping while I slept. At my request the hotel operator woke me up at 5:30 and by 6 I was running down Ludwigstrasse again with my computer bag in my hand (which really wore me out). After running up to and back from Victory Gate (a copy of Trajan's Triumphal Arch in Roma), I made it back to the SF Coffee Co for an cappuccino and uploaded the website and also downloaded three hours of Rush Limbaugh that I can transfer to my PoGo MP3 player on a chip. I hoped I had enough left on that one hour card to finish the upload but then it suddenly stopped with 5 seconds remaining. I don't know how much made it but it was too late to go through purchasing another 1 hour card.

My friend and colleague from Munich, Dr. Thomas Neuhann told me he would call me this evening on our new cell phone so we could get together, so I decided to head back. When I got back I found Marcia in the lobby waiting for me with a glass of vino. She had the phone and Tom had not yet called so I went up and changed. While in the room I discovered I forgot to pack (or I can't find) the little Zio device that will transfer the Rush shows on the computer to the chip. The fact that I had forgotten something with the weeks of planning ahead really bummed me out along with the jet lag.

At 9 PM, Tom called and told us to drive to his house which is only two miles away on Herzogstrasse. The new GPS is graphically better but with the same female voice. She took us right there and Tom met us to lead up the 4 flight of stairs to his unit. We got to me his lovely wife of 33 years, Tony. We shared some fabulous red wines from Germany and Sardinia. Tom had not realized that we had not eaten dinner yet so his daughter Theresa (who is a senior in medical school) ordered us some pizza from the place down the street, Luna Rosa. It was pretty good (crust tasted like a good pretzel), but even better was the congenial conversation we had until one in the morning covering many topics, some of which were about cataract surgery and traveling. Tom is seriously committed to the claim that he invented capsulorrhexis before Calvin Fercho of Fargo, ND. I am going to look into this more. If he was first, he deserves the credit. We look forward to seeing them in Lisbon in September.

We got back to the hotel and Marcia started rearranging bags for our "first trip on wheels" and she still persists in going to Dachau. I decided to write the Diario with a cappuccino, getting to bed at 5:00 AM again because I wasn't sleepy. Tried to upload site with direct line in hotel business office (free) and wasted an hour and got no where. Very frustrating.