A good way to remember the trip.  Dianne in front of the Thames and Parliment.

October 9

Because of the upcoming flight, I slept fitfully through the night.  I finally arose at 5:45 a.m., and Dianne followed suit.  We cleaned up and did our final packing.  At 7 a.m., we were ready for our departure.

The hotel was kind enough to get a taxi for us.  I initially told the driver that we wanted to go to Paddington station to take the Heathrow Express back to the airport.  However, he insisted that we’d pay just as much taking a taxi to Heathrow as we would going to Paddington and then to Heathrow.  After considering that the traffic on an early Sunday morning would probably be pretty light (thereby reducing the chance that we’d have a large taxi bill due to heavy traffic slowing the travel time), I decided to take him up on his offer.  We loaded our bags into the taxi and sped away.

As we pulled away from the Holiday Inn, I thought briefly about our stay at this hotel.  Overall, I thought it was great.  The rates were reasonable, the rooms were very comfortable, and the location was absolutely perfect for getting around London.  I made a another mental note to myself to remember this hotel if I ever came to London again.

Our trip to Heathrow ended up costing £40.  That was a little bit more (about £4) than if we’d use our original method of traveling to Heathrow.  However, we made it in only 20 minutes, which was much faster than our original plan.  So, the tradeoff between time and money seemed like a fair deal to me.  We checked in at the ticket counter and proceeded to the gate.  Our flight to San Francisco departed on time.  Despite my usual anxieties, it was another very smooth flight.  We even arrived in San Francisco 15 minutes early.

My brother was waiting for us at the airport.  After we picked up our bags, we put them in his car and he drove us back to Monterey (with a customary stop at the In-N-Out Burger in Gilroy).  With our arrival in Monterey, our trip was officially over.

So, what was my overall impression of this trip?  Well, first off, just the few days we spent in England were enough to remind me what a special place it is.  I hadn’t departed Heathrow more than 10 minute before I was planning another trip back to England. 

My feelings about Germany are more complex.  A lot of that ambiguity stems from my interactions with people we met over there.  I’ll start with the Germans.  I’ve already mentioned that they didn’t seem very happy or appreciative that we were trying to speak their language.  But, beyond that (and yes, there were a few exceptions to the generality that I’m about to make), my impression of most Germans was that they were standoffish and really not very happy that I was in their country. 

Then again, given the behavior of most Americans I saw over there, I’m not surprised that the Germans treated me the way that I was treated.  Again, I’ll speak in generalities, noting that there were a few exceptions to these statements.  But, generally speaking, I thought the Americans were spoiled, rude, and lacked humility.  They portrayed the image that it was their God-given right to demand that the Germans speak English when spoken to and that they catered to American whims when appropriate (which was almost all the time).  In all my travels, I’d never been uncomfortable about being American.  In Germany, I was.

So, I was left with a chicken and egg situation.  Were the Germans unfriendly because the Americans were rude?  Or, were the Americans rude because the Germans were unfriendly.  I wasn’t there long enough to get any idea of which condition existed first.  I just know that it was more than a little uncomfortable interacting with the Germans.

As for the country itself, there is no doubt that there are some beautiful parts of Germany that I’d love to see again.  For example, I could spend a lot more time in Garmisch or in Lubeck.  I’d also like to explore Cologne and the Lake Constance region more thoroughly.  There are also places that are must-sees; but, don’t need to be seen again after visiting them once (Dachau and Maulbronn come to mind).  Then, there are those places that are a bit overrated (Oktoberfest and Heidelberg).  Overall, I’d say that it wasn’t much different from every other country I’d visited.

So, would I go back to Germany?  The answer is a marginal “yes”.  The countryside and the artistic/historic attractions just barely offset the off-putting German behavior.  However, I have to confess that the main reason I’d go back is to delve further into the causes of their behavior. 

All that being said, it will probably be some time before I get the opportunity to travel to Germany or any other country.  In May 2006, Dianne and I decided to embark on another journey by adopting a baby girl that we named Rebecca.  While we’re thrilled to have Rebecca in our lives, we’ve already learned that traveling with a child is something that should be done in small doses (she also requires quite a bit of time, which is why it’s taken a few years to write this travelogue).  So, our traveling days are on hold for a few years until Rebecca gets to an age where she can appreciate the fantastic things she is seeing. 

Thanks for reading this travelogue.  When I’m back traveling again, I’ll be sure to update this web site.

                                                                                                                        Home