Italy, Munich, Bitburg and home...

The long hiatus on this blog was due to internet and computer issues. It was kind of a nice break, but back on the saddle into documenting some of the happenings on this trip.

Italy

Italy is a respite in time.  They resist many external changes and tend to stay very, very much in their own nationalistic traditions.  Heck, some

mountain shops still accept Lira's... imagine that while the currency is not longer honored by any bank, the Italians retain their own currency as a sign of pride and resistance.
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Newsflash:  Italy's election yesterday:  they just went WAY farther right than Brexit or Trump... yikes!  they (and most of Europe) are really, really fed up with all the refugee

immigrants and cultural clashes on so many levels. I like what one of my friends said: 'if we want immigration to work, we need integration (not immigration) focus'   https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/ap-explains-populist-surge-leaves-hung-parliament-in-italy/2018/03/05/eb95a7ca-208e-11e8-946c-9420060cb7bd_story.html  
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The northern Italian Alps, Dolomites, Sud-Tirol, whatever you call them - are Gorgeous.  Non-Stop Grand Tetons.  The AirBnB I stayed in felt like it was surrounded by heaven-seeking peaks.  Every single window had it's own special composure of a specific peak/mountain range.  And when you walk through Merano (or any of the hundreds of little towns in the Alps) you always overshadowed, watched over by these gorgeous angels.

The little town of Merano sits about 50 kilometers northwest of Bolzano. Both are deep in the northern Italian Dolomites. Merano… wiki here… was the summer home of Queen Katherine II and is a picture perfect little Alpine village that is somewhat stuck in the past, oh! So Italian with some Germanic

tendencies. It’s part of ‘SudTirol’ or southern Tyrolean. Until WWII it was part of Austria but was annexed to Italy by the politicians as part of the WWII treaty. The nice thing is that the people never really noticed this. So you still have an uber-strong germanic presence which the Italians don’t mind. As a matter of fact the rest of Italy delights in being able to go to a foreign country (Austria) without leaving italy.

Merano has a goergeous river that runs through the middle of the city that hasn’t changed for 1000’s of years. It is still focused on being people friendly. There are only two bridges for cars. Both sides of the river are lined with wide open pedestrian zones dotted with charming cafes, pastry shops, bakeries and touristy shops. Countless olc wrought iron benches line the river sides. It is usually filled with people walking, kids playing, and various social activities. In the middle of the city is a brand new Thermal bath complex with a modern hotel. Super enjoyable!  

Munich

Munich continues to be Germany’s most popular city for techies, beer & soccer, gateway to the Alps, and the capital of Bavaria. It is a thriving megapolis of …. people… wiki here…. I’ve been coming to Munich every year since 1992 and it has just grown more hectic each year. Subways, buses and trams are crowded all

day, tourists continually flock to the MarienPlatz GlockenSpiel Kathedral and it continues to evolve as Berlin’s counterpart in the south. The weather in Munich is SO much nicer than northerly (and way colder) Berlin. The ‘sound of music’ alps are a stones throw from Munich.

Munich was also the first large western city that demonstrated successfully one can eliminate ALL cars from the central district and create a more thriving people-oriented commercial districts where the merchants also thrive. Initially the main pedestrian zone was a huge failure, but its continual persistence paid off a decade after it started and now merchants have higher per square meter revenues from pedestrians than from the previous car zones. And it’s more peaceful & comfortable, less pollution and noise…

My airBnB in Munich was the best of the whole trip – by far. Easy to get to – 200 feet from the Tram stop, an extremely hospitable host who disappeared right after I got there on a weekend trip. Hi-speed wifi (although my laptop was down the entire time).

Trier

This is the oldest city in Germany. It was founded as the northern most outpost of the Roman empire. The gateway to the main old town is the ‘Porta Nigra’

which are the tall remnants of a roman Colosseum. It is also the birthplace of Karl Marx. They are celebrating his 200^th anniversay this May.

Trier is a charming little town situated along the Mosel River which is an important and popular wine growing area in Germany. It is close to Luxembourg, and …. wiki here….

My parents live in Bitburg – a little town 45 km north of Trier, so I am very familiar with Trier over the years having toured it countless times with my folks. I do enjoy the quaintness of its compact size.

Bitburg

This is very my father settled 45 years ago upon his return to his homeland. I’ve been visiting him regularly alongside my adjunct-professor gig in Austria since 1992. He passed on in 2012. My step-mom is wonderful 92 years young lady who I’ve grown close to over the years and enjoy visiting. The main purpose of this entire Euro18 trip is to come spend time with her – she believes she’s on her last legs.

After WWII the American AirForce picked Bitburg to one of its main European hubs. There are two military airports here. One (Spangdau) is still in full operation. I hear at least five fighters take off and land each day… doing something in Poland with NATO I am told. Years ago, fighters took off from here for daily sorties and other havoc & death creations in Iraq and other ‘rich’ targets ole Rummy imagined. Politics aside, I wouldn’t be coming here if it wasn’t my parents home. Bitburg is a tiny little town high up the ‘Eifel’ plateau. Just to the north of here the famous Battle of the Bulge was fought and there’s a certain chakra around here that goes back eons.

Bitburg is home to Germany’s largest brewery: ‘bitte ein bit’ is the sound bite for Bitburger Pils, and if ever watched a soccer game you’ve seen their ads.

I enjoy shopping the stores here and know my way around every nook & cranny and usually load up on my last European goodies. I stock up on toiletries and other ‘negative chemical free’ products that the germans are the best in the world in with their ‘precautionary principle’.

the remains

I still have two more cities to go before the flight home. One is Bad Breisig where a good friend lives, whom I met at the Sieben Linden ecovillage several years ago. And then I return to Barcelona for a couple days before my flight. I learned a long time ago to always be right next to the airport a day before a discounted international flight is scheduled. When Murphy shows up on that flight – it can create the worse havoc I’ve ever experienced traveling – and it’s quite nice to enjoy a restful day before a long flight anyway.

Personal note

In one week I will be back home. What a whirlwind of a trip! The last two weeks have been delighted by Dolomite peaks, urban beauty & beastiness, trains & buses & trams, rooms in AirBnBs and a lot of walking in old cities’ pedestrian zones. But these two weeks have also been marred by no internet access, virus on my laptop (ubuntu!), and one big experience back in time.

By some measures this could be the definition of a few weeks well lived. By other measure (and by me) it’s a definitive big ‘why’? I’m getting a bit leary about travel – have been fortunate to have done a lot of it in my life and when I was younger it had a certain novelty and excitement about it. But the drudgery of

late and canceled planes have been replaced by the drudgery of security and the ever suspiciousness of our police state. We have truly evolved over the last two decades into a constant surveillance and ‘guilty until proven innocent’ state of affairs. It’s bad enough in our own backyards where we are accustomed to it and accept it without complaint or notice and travel more and more each year... we are willing lambs to the sacrifice...  

onwards through Deutschland...

from Cologne to Stuttgart to Munich to Merano... german train city… ahhh the pleasures of efficiency and prompted.  i like to take my time at train stations and

enjoy the myriad of people and cultures rushing around... it's grand central station (NYC style) at each major stop.

Yesterday's ride from Cologne to Stuttgart was uneventful... the same ole pushy crowds railing for the first empty (non-reserved) seats and then proceeding to eat all variety of foods and drinks bought at the train station.  I treated myself to a 'bratwurst & broetchen'  a german staple from my childhood 

that used to have me drooling before the plane took off at SFO.  Now it's just a disgusting taste-bud memory exercise that I find a bit disgusting after the initial aromatherapy is done. 

It snowed in Stuttgart last night only about 2" but it was cold and wet and busy... easily found my friend's house and very welcoming reception and delicious dinner and conversation.

Had a wonderful cafe and kuchen (cake) today with weisswurst and a bit of fresh air and relaxation... tomorrow onwards to Munich with a 3 hour transfer stop to enjoy the Altstadt (Old town) and then the incredible gorgeous train ride through half of austria (the Alps section) and the norther Italian dolomites.  I've been on

the train dozens of times of the last two decades+  and consider it to be one of the best train rides in the world...

1 suitcase = 2.61 people

(please see note at bottom)

Checking in with Air Ryan yesterday I noted how many people were max'ing out on their carry-on luggage. If you paid for checking a bag, it's likely to have cost you over 2.5x as much as your seat ticket.  
It's quite the game - maybe the comedy series 2 and a half men would be appropriate here?  nah.... 
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Of all the games played in the travel industry minimizing people to faceless, add-on commodities to help make a Wall street earnings call - this is one of the worse:
The game of carry-on bags. It must be 35x20x20cm and if you paid extra (only $7.50)for a carry-on cabin bag it must be 55x40x20cm.  And they can't weigh more than 10kg (22lbs).  It's unclear if that's together or just for the cabin bag.  But wait!  There's an important part missing: your coat.  Several years ago, we (frequent travelers) figured out how to route around these increasingly crazy regs:  stuff your coat pockets with the heavy stuff as needed.  Of course that means you need a sturdy coat with lotsa pockets.  My outdoor parka fits nicely.  On my last trip it weighed over 30 lbs stuffed with heavy 2Euro coins, 16 oranges, batteries, power supply, swiss knife, etc.  What a pain to carry it around.  But you only need to get it past the gate admitting flight attendant, then you're free to stuff it back into your luggage. At the end of everything - it's still the same weight on the plane, right?  So why the hassle?  As usual, follow the money.
In 2017 USA airlines racked up $4.2 billion in extra baggage fees alone.  The number outside of ticket sales was $28 billion.  I think you get the picture... the airlines have a new business model:  what can we get away with outside of selling seats from point A to B. They call it 'ancillary sales'  i call it 'nickel & diming customers to death'. 
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A friend suggested we can pretend to be pregnant.  Not clear if males qualify.  I can see a whole new market here:  a kangaroo style belly

pouch bag that one can wear comfortably loaded with all kinds of heavy goodies.  There's an added advantage here - you may even qualify for early boarding, and get people to give up their seats on buses and trains (a big maybe!).  
Of course all this applies to discount airlines only - mostly, and not on Tuesdays.   With my millions of airmiles I've accumulated a few lifetime gold/platinum/tritriklium cards that entitle me to untold riches: like three free checked bags weighing no less than 32kg each - which means I have to do a lot of shopping to fill them all, and I end up with countless new suitcases on each trip. 
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Back to the 2.61 ratio.  For my return trip from Euroland to Spain to Stateland, I decided I would buy RyanAir's check luggage add-on feature.  And what a feature it is!  I paid $18 for the actual flight about 2 months ago.  I then added priority boarding which includes a seat assignment and extra cabin bag.  But if i go over 10kg (22lbs) oopps... there's that pesky $100 charge.  Guess what one checked luggage bag cost?  $47.00   That's 2.61x more than what I paid for a seat for my body.  Heck, couldn't we just agree that a luggage bag is a person, and can I have a seat (@ $18) for it?  We've figured out how to make a bodyless corporation into a human being, why not the same for a luggage bag?  

We all know how to convert that into inches right?  2.54 cm = 1 inch.  You divide by two and add 1/2 of that, or was it multiply by 1/2 and add 2 ?? 

And then of course we know what size that approximates:  a breadbox.  Try again... if your bag doesn't fit into the preformed metal bread box located at the airlines' departure gate - your screwed.  Really screwed.  They'll tag your bag, scan your ID/boarding pass which is directly linked to your credit card and send you a wonderful surprise when you're back at home from the airport:  a $100++ fee for that 'last minute' bag. 
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Let's face it, all of these are counterproductive.  The only reason - and I do mean the ONLY reason - for it is competitiveness.
A decade ago I saw a documentary about 'the future or life, thriving...' or something like that about a german exploring the reason why so many people are stressed out, depressed, and generally unhappy with their lives - it all boiled down to competition.  the only reason why most organizations did what they did was because in order to survive they had to compete.  There was no possible way for all organizations to call a cease fire and relax, enjoy making their product and/or service and allow their employees to retain some human'ness dignity.
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Now if it was 2.16 (instead of 2.61) then I would be in total uber-admiration of the airlines because it would give them equal billing with mother nature herself.  2.16 is the golden ratio: aka Fibonacci series.  It's the ratio that governs the planet & moon orbits, our body's ratios, petals of a rose, etc.  And if the airlines ever adapted to this, well then they would really be a 'force of nature'.  stay tuned... 


Note: I welcome any comments you may have on this... (I'm thinking about submitting it as a publishable article in some magazine/newspaper op ed)

German Karnival

Cologne:  I'm so glad I missed this!  German Fasching Fest - or their equivalent Mardi-Gras:  it's said to the second largest after Rio... it was yesterday - yeah!  Nothing like sharing space with crowded, drunken germans looking at a float parade - ha!

But their parade floats do make some audacious political statements:

last year:

this year:

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Walking through Koln today was wonderful... not too many people and easy directions all the way to the big Cathedral.  It is poignant to look at the WWII pictures of 70 years ago and the utter bombing destruction around the Cathedral... quite a miracle that there were no errant bombs and the two domes

were still standing after everything around it was leveled... even sadder that 70 years later we continue to the same thing:  witness Alepo... etc.   But i digress.

Once again tho, finding my way back from the train station once again eluded me... round and round i walked with limpy leggy asking people who had no clue where a street a couple blocks from them was.  

It is nice to be back in Germany...  i was here every year since 1992 doing business and teaching in Austria and a short gig with TU Munich.  The last three years' hiatus was good to reset my ground-hog day repetitiveness.  I don't miss the air travel at all... but it's a heck of a price to pay for a few weeks of enjoyment.  At least in Barcelona yesterday the airport security was so, so much more benign and efficient than our TSA.  i still don't understand the craziness of how we can allow a 90% failure rate by OIG at our airports... we truly are apathetic and nothing has changed in 4 years (first discovered?) and the press is fast asleep at the wheel... or maybe we just assume its (as some idiot? says)  'fake news?  we wish... 

Ok... back on a more upbeat blog here, since I'm not doing airports for another 2+ weeks.  It was so cool to see the first ICE bullet train pull in today. I

remember watching the speedometer go up over 280 last time I was on one... and on Saturday I get to watch it again... wheeeee.  If you've ever been on one, you know about the first time you pass another high speed train going in the opposite direction within a couple meters of each other... it's almost like a sonic boom!

transit from Spain to Deutschland

If transitions weren't such an everyday part of life, how would be cope?  One thing I've learned in this journey is that nothing stays the same... change (along with dukkha - suffering) always happens... i think the saying it 'shit happens' :-)
And so it is on this Chapter 3 of 24:  from sunny, warm, passionate Spain to Teutonic Land Germany.  Last nite it felt like coming home - hey! it is my homeland... yet so far removed from my uber-consciousness.
The Barcelona T2 airport was a real pain of mis-directions... at least this

time I got the special non-EU stamp that almost caused me to miss my flight 3 years ago in Santiago coming off the Camino.  If nothing else, we are all 'trainable' :-)

Arriving in Cologne to sleet and snow on the ground was oh, so welcome from the sunny Cali and Barca environs.  and then the uber modern and so german efficient, quiet, clean, fast train system was a god-send!  Ahhh  german efficiency!

But finding the AirBnB last nite was anything but easy... bad directions all around... my tablet with off-line navigation saved my butt... after asking 6 people where 'D street' was and no one knew...  and then there was no answer from the doorbell and no key where it was supposed to be... ahhh  dukkha again and again... i finally convinced a merchant across the street o give me a key... turns out the AirBnB host changed his mind at the last minute, sent me an email mi-flight and totally ignored my email to him about my travel time schedule... but here I am... and that was yesterday.

It's sunny and bright in Koeln on the Rhine... and my german nativeness

is about to come out - ha! beware? :-)  but i like my american buddhism more... so I'll be chillin' and gettin' lost in a wonderful way...

Btw:  i have always, always bought all my cosmetics and most of my seeds from Europe over the years for two BIG reasons:  All EU countries practice the 'precautionary principle' (The Precautionary Principle is a strategy to cope with possible risks where scientific understanding is yet incomplete, such as the risks of nano technology, genetically modified organisms and systemic insecticides.)
with all commerce and they are still all mostly anti-GMO.  I am really a bit more neutral on GMO than most people in NorCal... some of the GMOs are fine and indeed a blessing for starving kids in 3rd world countries... and some GMOs are downright dangerous Frankenfood instigators.  Europeans tend to follow their precautionary principle and therefore stay away from all GMOs.   The precautionary principle focuses on negative (bio-cumulative) chemicals NADA - none can be used.    When I sat on an advisory panel for Cal's  OTSC a while back i was amazied how Dow Chemical and Proctor Gamble and others bragged about how proud they were NOT TO FOLLOW the precautionary principles... yuk!

As many of you know, I'm a big proponent of Cradle to Cradle having interned with Dr. Michael Braungart at EPEA in Hamburg back in 2005.  
So it's nice to be back and relish in the safety of water, air pollution, chemicals, etc and where the government proactively protects humans first rather than ... well what USA does (may the best rat win? :-) 

Europe transit systems... Barcelona day 2

Amazing bus and subway systems here.  with 4.7 (1.6 in city limits)  million people in total -  it's got ~10 subway lines stretching 100's of miles in all directions.  i purchased a 10 euro ticket for 10 'any distance' trips (1 euro per ride) and promptly took 3 train rides to the ends of the line and walked around a bit... a great way to rest my leg between discoveries.  Now imagine that ever happening in the USA, heck the Bay Area with ~10 million people has ~5 train lines and they cost ~$15 from one end to the other end and are notoriously unreliable.  But here i go again... i thought i learned that on the Camino - stop judging! 

I like putting European cities into perspective with USA cities. For some reason, we don't reflect on our cities' heritage as much as Europe does.  For instance looking at wiki's entry for Sacramento - the Maidu and Miwuk were there 'perhaps thousands of years ago' and then they jump to 1808 with the Spanish... ahhhh come-on we can do better than that!  I know for a fact we've carbon dated exact time periods of native American villages that go back thousands of years! 
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Barcelona is Europe's 6th most populous city.  4th most powerful in Europe by GDP alone. It can trace its roots back to 5,000 BC.  It was founded as a Roman military outpost in 15 BC and came under King Aaragon (i saw ancient ruins from this today by the cathedral) and became the capital of Catalonia - hey! we're all finding out about this now - as they seek independence from Spanish rule in Madrid.  Haven't heard or seen a bleep about this since here. 

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Given this background, today I'll be going back to the main cathedral square and enjoy it's liveliness and historical greatness.  I hear its bells each 30 minutes from where I am staying - about 1km from the da Rambla.  Being that close to the Rambla is really a blessing. It is the vital heartbeat center of Barco.  Three years ago, I saw an amazing MardiGras parade here. Now, I enjoy walking it several times a day up to the Catalanya square. 

Barcelona 2018

Ola from Barcelona... this is a more detailed overview & my personal experiences on Euro18 trip:  8 cities in 24 days.

With the realization about 5 years ago that my overseas trips were causing my eco-footprint to triple, I decided to stop annual airline travels.  so  in - walking my talk - this is the first time I've been on an airplane in 3 years - since the Camino of 2015.  And here I am in Barcelona EXACTLY 3 years later.  A Camino friend reminded me that we met in Pamplona on the Camino on February 22, 2018.  I will be meeting with him in five days in Cologne.

The Norwegian airline flight from Oakland to BCN was non-eventful and actually painless... 9.4 hours instead of 12... but OH my leg... pulled the hamstring from sitting and it was painful walking around.  much better this morning... 30+ minutes with minimal limp... taking it easy today.
this was also my first flight outside of the 'Alliance' airlines - so no spoiled rotten traveler stuff for me for the first time in 30+ years...
So the first downer was to forget my smartphone and all it's updated systems for traveling AND more importantly the utter conevience of a pocket size with infinite info... but I'm quickly getting over that!   The first big upside was my son driving me to the airport and a wonderful conversation on the way.  thanks buddy!
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Barcelona is one of the most beautiful and people friendly cities in the world. (much less being home to the storied 3-headed front line of the Bacelona Fusball team!)  The old cobblestone narrow streets, 1000s of years young and colorful people strolling along everywhere - amazingly designed & function for humans rather than cars.