Heading North .... Where art thou, Mother ?

It's been 4 years since George died.  I'm managing well (irony?), but I miss him SO MUCH !

Today is one of those days I could stay in bed all day with a good book.  But it looks as if I have to get my Zzzzs in the train ;-(

I make sure to only eat a light breakfast (either they have funny mirrors in Germany or I'm already bloating around the middle again).   

 8:20.  Pheew. Almost time to walk to the train station.   

 something about lavender ... 
(or maybe something about too much Tempranillo?)

Good bye Karlsruhe !

The train arrives on time in Karlsruhe but leaves 9 minutes LATE.  Why?   Part of the train crew is to change here, but the replacement crew isn't there.   
Is lovely, LOL.

We're picking up an additional 10 minutes delays at the very next station, Mannheim.  This time it's an ambulance action on the platform that we're supposed to arrive at.    I'll NEVER catch my connecting train ....

The train is late but we're sitting for what seems like FOREVER at Frankfurt Airport Station.

It gets better.  The stop at Cologne is an extra long one as well.  Another part of the crew is to change but there is no replacement. AGAIN.   

Don't Panic is the motto of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.  If you're going to die or even just miss your train, panicking will not do anything to help ;-)  

When it comes to changing trains, it is EASY.  For some VERY ODD reason, track 6 is on one side of the platform and track 4 on the other.  Don't ask !

My fast train actually manages to get there 2 minutes before the slow train is scheduled to depart and all I have to do is step out of one door, walk straight across the platform and step into the next train.   NICE.

Renting the e-bike from Radstation in MomTown is almost as easy.  I've been there a few times and they recognize my face.   70 Euros for 96 hours of bike rental  I don't need to take a bus or taxi in the next 4 days ;-0

I cycle the 4 km to my regular Chinese restaurant.   Hong Kong Duck is waiting ;-)  And it is as GOOD as I remember it.  

is THAT Sweet Baby Jesus wearing a crown of thorns?  In my wine glass?

 The reason why it is almost impossible to get proper duck breast in stores or restaurants in BC still eludes me.  There is no shortage of overgrown monster turkey or cardboard-dry chicken breast on the shelves and in the menus.   Could it be that The Duck is a Holy Animal in Canada, like the cow is in India?  After all, it is even represented in the image AND the name of the currency !  Or is it a modification of that typical North-American prudish saying "You can't have your loonie and eat it too"?

That's what the guy realized who was caught on video trying to abduct a male goose from Stanley Park.   I can just hear Vancouverites SCREAMING "Tar&Feather the culprit, he defaced the beauty of our fabulousest city".  I'm sure there are already internet conspiracy theories about an Asian-led goose-smuggling ring.  "Asians become even richer by selling Canada geese".  Yeah, those kind of headlines wouldn't even surprise me anymore.

What is probably much closer to the truth is that the goose-napper was one of the way too many homeless in Vancouver and that the poor guy was just really hungry.

I'm almost done with my duck when I notice that the Monastery hotel, who not only demanded that I tell them my exact arrival time (WTF?) AND charged me the entire price for the stay 3 days in advance (In Germany one usually pays cash upon check-OUT) now lowered the prices for the night I booked by 33%.
All VERY Christian things to do, I'm sure......

ONLY, I can still CANCEL my booking for free until tomorrow night AND re-book at the lower price.  I send a tongue-in-cheek e-mail inquiring whether they will refund me the difference in cash or whether I actually have to cancel & re-book.
And YES, I enjoy toying with unchristian self-proclaimed Christians ;-)  

NOW I feel like a complete idiot for writing the above paragraph.  I got a reply and the sweet woman not only confirms that I should cancel & re-book but even grants me an early check in.  Now, WHO turned out to be the Un-Christian one ?  (Yes, I could have just erased the above paragraph and no-one would have been the wiser, but that wouldn't be playing fair, would it?)

OK, I admit it:  I just haggled with a NUN.   How much lower can I sink ?????

The answer comes quickly:   I try to divert some of my haggling-with-a-nun savings to an online charity (Hello Gabriel!) and find out that my credit card no longer works. Oh My God.  PLEASE do NOT tell me that they did it AGAIN?

See, they blocked my card before when I bought SNCF train tickets in France.  And I just happened to have bought my last train ticket in Germany with my credit card.  After 10 minutes on hold with my credit card company I finally get the issue resolved (Yes, buying German train tickets while in Germany got my card blocked) but after all is said and done, I realize that I probably could/should have used a nicer tone of voice on the phone.

Live & Learn !

Time to visit my mother.  I walk down the old-age-home corridor and peek into the commons room.  My mother has early stages dementia, BUT she sees me before I spy her. oh oh.....  What does that mean ???? 



We go to the ice-cafe next door.  Same routine as always ;-)

She doesn't know what she should order.

I point out the thing on the menu that I will order.

She does NOT want THAT.

Instead:

She orders whatever the waiter suggests.

Our food arrives.

She HATES what she ordered and insists on having my food. 

I get to eat the crap she ordered.

Same Same Same ...









This is the time when a cunning plan is hatched.  Grandma always wanted to visit Mother before her demise.   I am being silly enough to offer my services in escorting my mother from Germany to Canada & back.  Yes, that is 4 flights for me.  But I don't see any other way to enable those two to see each other again in this lifetime.   

We'll see ....

Total cycling kilometers: 15
Total eliminated bus/taxi rides:  3