First Week in Deutschland

As my first week in Germany comes to a close I have but one thing to say.  I can’t wait for next week or perhaps It can only get better.  Okay, maybe more than one thing to say.  Plans lead to disappointment so don’t make them.  Just hope they fall in your lap.  Nah, let’s not be so harsh.  We’ll say, if you are going to make plans don’t wait until the last minute.  But doesn’t that conflict with the previous theory?

First things first.  Normally when I stay in Europe I like staying at a hotel with a bar on site or at least a restaurant on the premises.  I am staying at the Sonnehof in Oberursel.  Never heard of it?  I’m not surprised.  It’s a nice little hotel if you are 80 years old and want a little peace and quiet.  But wait!  There’s more! 

Because I am staying in Germany for a month, they have put me in the “extended stay” section of this retirement home.  I’m living out back in an apartment type thing with a stove to cook my own stuff in the closet.  Here’s my closet…Where I cook my food and store my beer.

Originally I was supposed to be going to Frankfurt this weekend to visit some rock clubs with a colleague.  This plan fell through.  So, on Thursday, I decided to see about a trip to Prague.  I assumed I’d be able to get there so I reserved a nice hotel on the river for about $80 per night.  Then I went to get a train ticket…

I’m thinking there is a market for doing this better.  If I went with the Bahn (the German train service) and buy my tickets they have a thing where I can print out my tickets.  However, if I use their service, the trip will take 7 hours and 4 hours of that is on a bus. 

They also have a thing called “City Night Line” which basically means I could leave Frankfurt at midnight and arrive in Prague at 10 AM (sleeping in my little sleeper car on the train).  Which, in hindsight sounds like kind of a cool thing to do.  Instead of a hotel room, sleep in a train.  That would end up being 20 hours on a train though and I would still have to get back to work at 8 Monday morning.

There is another service called Rail Europe which had some slightly better options, but they must mail you your tickets.  I don’t know why.  I didn’t ask.  I can’t wait on the mail.  Good old last minute plans and all.

I decided to take a 1 hour flight on Czech Airlines.  Travelocity, that good old D/FW based company was showing a round trip ticket for $492.  That’s not bad for a last minute booking so I booked it.  When I put my credit card information in and hit the submit button, the site came back and said something along the lines of “Oops.  We’re sorry.  Something has happened with this booking.  Please go back and redo your selections”.  I don’t know about the rest of you, but when I’m booking a flight, I don’t like the word “Oops”.

Anyway, long story slightly shorter.  I stayed in the retirement home this weekend watching videos on Netflix.  I’ve almost made it through all of “Dead Like Me”.  Actually, I finished the entire series (not all in one weekend) and am about halfway through the movie.  So far, I don’t like the movie very much.