Friday, August 8

• Uneventful flight from SFO to Atlanta.
• An otherwise boring flight from Atlanta to München passed fairly quickly thanks to a chatty young woman from Slovenia seated next to me. As I knew I'd never sleep anyway, someone to talk to made the flight go much faster.

Saturday, August 9

• My flight arrived in München only a few minutes before that of my colleagues arrived from Chicago: Dan, Mike & Sangeeta.
• Thanks to Dan's knowledge of German, we had a easy time changing money and finding our way into town via the S-bahn and U-bahn, then finding our hotel. After lunch Dan and I posed for a photo.
• By later than afternoon another colleague, Erik, had arrived. He knows German well, and had been to München before, so he guided us to the English Garden, where we found a very nice beer garden with a Chinese pagoda where an Oom-pah band played. Never before in my life had I enjoyed beer, but the weißbier was quite good; Dan, Mike and Erik each enjoyed a liter or so, and even Sangeeta (who doesn't normally drink either) agreed that it was quite good.

Sunday, August 10

• By this time two more (Cathe & Carl) had arrived. The 7 of us took the U- and S-bahns to Freising, where after a quaint and somewhat adventuresome walk we found the oldest brewery in the world, dating to 1040. Mike was in heaven.
• When we got back to town, we took the train to Nymphenburg Castle. The grounds were gorgeous, the rival of Pemberly (in Pride & Prejudice). While Cathe rested and Carl, Dan & Mike napped on park benches, Erik, Sangeeta & I explored these beautiful grounds; I took several pictures.

Monday, August 11

• I didn't sleep well, waking up at 3 and finally getting up at 4. I went down to the terminal room for an hour, then went for a run. I found a nice tree-lined street that led to a forested park trail. In the early- morning fog and silence, it was wonderfully refreshing.
• Around 10, Dan, Mike, C/C, SParker and I headed for the museum of science and technology. After an hour there, we saw an IMAX movie on Alaska. I had a great deal of trouble staying awake during this; oddly, when I was drifting I understood the German narration better than when I was awake. A few blocks' walk found us an Italian restaurant with excellent pizza. Then it was back to the museum for a few more hours. Despite going into high-speed cruise mode, I still did not make it thru the entire thing, it was so big.

Tuesday, August 12

• I spent most of the day in the terminal room and preparing for my DRUMS meeting at 5. This went well, and I even contributed a few things.
• About 18:30 we all gathered for the social event and took the tram to the Lowenbrau house. The food was decent, the beer was good, and a good time was had by all, including some singing.
• C/C decided to walk back, but Erik led the rest of us on a walk thru down- town, where we saw some beautiful churches, including the Glockenspiel. There a street musician serenaded us, and got us all to sing along to Hotel California as he played guitar.
• Upon return, I went to the terminal room and read my e-mail, which included a message from Peggy with the wonderful news of our baby's heart-beat.

Wednesday, August 13

• Much of the morning I finished reviewing the drafts for my WG, then much of the afternoon typing in my comments and sending them to the editor.
• The group went to dinner at an Australian restaurant. Sangeeta and I left early to go back to Marienplatz for some photos and shopping. We got a few pictures, but all the shops were closed. But we learned our way around much better, without any German-speakers to assist us.

Thursday, August 14

• Sangeeta, Mike & I went back to Marienplatz to see the Glockenspiel go off. After witnessing this, which by the way was my only memory of Deutschland from my first visit in 1969, we climbed a nearby church and got a splendid view of the city.
• After the last plenary, we all went back to the English garden, to another beer garden. The walk there and back was very nice, with just a few sprinkles, the only of the week.

Friday, August 15

• My main meeting of the week was 9 - 11:30, and even went 15 minutes over. It was very interesting and informative, and I participated even more than in the first one, and was quite pleased with the results. Then a quick last check of e-mail and the terminal room closed.
• Just then Peggy showed up. We went and said good-bye to Mike & Dan, then had some lunch and checked out. We took the U-bahn to HBF, got our Eurail passes stamped, and boarded the train for Salzburg.
• After a relaxing dinner in the hotel pub, we took a stroll down-town. There was a botanical garden with beautiful floral arrangements. We walked across the river, pausing atop an arched bridge to take in the spectacular sunset over the castle. The walk back thru the quaint down-town was very charming.

Saturday, August 16

• We caught our 9:15 train to Venezia. It was a very relaxing long ride thru fantastic mountains, tunnels, ravines, ... in Osterreich and northern Italia. Getting further away from the mountains, the land looked more like California, the grape-vine/Mediterranean look (funny that).
• Arriving in Venezia, we walked 10 min. to our hotel. An hour+ nap later, a fair walk found us a restaurant over-looking the Canale della Giudecca.

Sunday, August 17

• Best sleep in weeks: the open-window breeze was wonderful. The street and canal outside were surprisingly quiet, even past 9, though being a Sunday morning probably helped, and the soft rain even more so.
• We walked back to the train station, in front of which we caught a ferry to Ponte dell'Academia, where we visited an art museum.
  
• By the time we left, the rain had stopped. We walked to Piazza san Marco, where we went up the Campanile, checked out the basilica, had lunch (good salami sandwiches), window shopped, ...
• A half-hour gondola ride thru some back waters was very relaxing, and romantic as well. Then we sat at the base of Ponte di Rialto and people- watched for quite a while, then had dinner nearby overlooking the Grand Canal.

Monday, August 18

• The over-night sleeper train from Mestre to Rome was surprisingly comfortable, and the rocking was actually fairly soothing.
• An 8:30 bus brought us on a tour of "Classical Rome", including the Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon, which was incredibly well preserved from the 2nd century. Then the Piazza Navona, with the fountain of the 4 rivers, then off to the Vatican.
• St. Peter's Basilica, the largest church in the world, is beyond compare. Incredibly ornate and stupendous, words cannot do it justice. Likewise the Museum of the Vatican had treasures innumerable. And the Sistine Chapel in its restored state was so beautiful and rich as to have a profound impact: God reaching to touch Adam, the oracle Delphi, ... The crowds were as endless as the statues.

Tuesday, August 19

• An afternoon tour of "Imperial Rome" brought us by the Forum, out to St. Paul's, back to the Colosseum, then a walk up the hill to St. Peter's-in- Chains.
• We walked from the hotel to the nearby Spanish steps, then found a small hole-in-the-wall pizzeria where we had a delicious dinner.

Wednesday, August 20

• We visited the Castle d'Angelo. The castle was pretty cool, quite large inside and out, with some cool staircases inside and out, and a great view of St. Peter's. The Popes used to hide out here when Rome was threatened by invasion.
• A walk of another km or so brought us back to St. Peter's. This time we had time to see Michelangelo's Pieta up-close, plus some parts of the basilica that we missed the first time, including the underground burial chambers of the Popes.
• It started sprinkling just as we were approaching St. Peter's, then rained very hard for a while when we were inside. Then it let up, and we walked the mile or more back to the known bus stop, and caught the bus back to our hotel. The skies were getting very dark again by this time ... less than 10 minutes after we were back in our room, the skies opened up again with a tremendous downpour.

Thursday, August 21

• We caught a bus to the train station, a train to the airport, and a plane to Genève. That evening we went to an excellent fondue place for dinner.
• Afterwards, we walked around; the quai by the lake is quite nice, and down-town Genève seemed bustling.

Friday, August 22

• We stopped at an Internet cafe, where I checked my e-mail.
• We then popped over to the quai, had a quick lunch, then walked up to various parks on the lake. Last and best of these was the Jardin Boutanique, with some gorgeous flora, and wonderful scents.
• From here, a half-mile walk up the hill brought us to the Palais des Nations Unies, where we took a 90-minute tour. This was very interesting and informative, and a lot of fun.
• Right next door was the Ariana museum of ceramics, which was very nice, including some beautiful stained glass. We had to rush thru, arriving only 30 minutes before closing.
• Next, a long (75 min, ~4 km) walk, as we hurried back downtown, thru la gare, across the Rhone (just as it enters Lac Léman) to see the floral clock, back across the river and up to the hotel to get our bags, then back to la gare to catch a 6:18 train to Lausanne. Considering the 3 rests for P, getting on the train with less than 2 minutes to go was an incredibly efficient use of time.

Saturday, August 23

• A disaster and a lost day: the veal the night before must have been bad, as I awoke in the middle of the night and lost it. For many hours I couldn't keep anything down, which weakened me severely. By the end of the day I was able to get up and eat a little, but the entire experience was horrible.

Sunday, August 24

• A slow start, as I was still quite weak, and had to take it very easy most of the day, but by night I was fine.
• We spent most of the day at the Musée Olympique, which was fantastic: very many details and interesting exhibits; a veritable treat.
• Around 6, we caught the TGV to Paris via Dijon. It didn't start that fast, but after Dijon it picked up speed.
• When we arrived at Gare de Lyon, we got help then caught the line to Concorde. Upon exiting the Metro, in the Place de la Concorde, we had a good view of la Tour Eiffel, then walked the two blocks to our hotel.

Monday, August 25

• Popping across the street to the Metro, we learned that the 3-day pass for zones 1-3 was optimal. A British couple just ahead of us in the queue wanted the same thing but spoke almost no French, so I helped them out. Then they showed up again waiting for the train. It turned out they were also header to the Eiffel Tower, so we stuck together.
• At la Tour Eiffel, the lines were long and the sun was fairly hot, but we managed to wait out 45 minutes in the shadier queue. This brought us up to the 2nd level, where the view turned out to be the best (being on an eye- level with the tops of the other tall buildings), but we still waited 30 minutes to go up.
• The view from the top was quite nice, with a wide panorama. As we were looking down on everything, most buildings blended into the background. But this was a minor inconvenience, as the fulfillment of a 28-year-old wish was far more on my mind.
• Next we all went to l'Arc de Triomphe, where I was the only one ambitious / foolish enough to climb the 284 stairs. As we were about to leave, we were treated to the changing of the guard (the French tomb of the Unknown Soldier is there).
• We then headed to Montmartre, where I learned what funicular meant (tram or cable car up a hill), and climbed Sacré Coeur, after first checking out the gorgeous interior. We barely got up (more steps) in time before they closed it at 19:00.
• Finally we took the metro to the Latin Quarter and had a nice dinner.

Tuesday, August 26

• Off to Notre Dame. It's huge, though not as big as St. Peter's. What was really impressive was the cleaning effort going on out front. You can see just how filthy pollution is, but the top 2/3 are gorgeous again.
• Peggy wanted to visit la Défense, so uptown we went.
• A clerk at a store there gave me directions to a gallerie in Montmartre, where we went and I got some Tintin T-shirts and some other minor stuff. Across the street at a bookstore I picked up some Tintin books en français, including the elusive Tintin au Congo.
• A sendmail colleague, Christophe, with whom I'd worked for two years but never met, lives in Paris. We met and he and took us out for a lovely dinner at a hole-in-the-wall (the closest I've ever seen to this being literally true) in the Latin Quarter, up the hill near the Pantheon. Though the restaurant was small, the food was excellent.

Wednesday, August 27

• Christophe had recommended a crêpe place, where we had a very nice lunch.
• While Peggy went off to do some shopping, I spent a couple of hours looking for an Internet cafe. After many false starts, I finally found one quite far from the hotel. But it was a grand adventure, showing me people and parts of town I'd otherwise have missed. Oh, and the machines were Sun work-stations.
• For dinner, we headed up to the Champs-Élysées and found Planet Hollywood, where we had a nice big American-style dinner.

Thursday, August 28

• We checked out and took the metro, to Gare du Nord to catch the Eurostar at at 12:19. This was far faster than the TGV: very impressive, clearing the Chunnel in about 20 minutes.
• Arriving in London, we took the Underground and found our hotel. Then we headed back to the UG, making for the West End (Leicester Square) theater district. We were lucky enough to get good seats for Grease, and saw a great show.

Friday, August 29

• We caught the 9:51 train to Cambridge, arriving at 10:50.
• Peggy's cousin Renee and her husband Andrew were there to meet us. He was quite nice; we were both impressed and really liked him. We had a lovely day together, walking and talking and shopping and eating. When the time came we caught the 17:45 train back into town.
• After dinner, we walked to Trafalgar Square, with its cool huge lion statues (mentioned in Chapter 2 of The Silver Chair).

Saturday, August 30

• We headed for Leicester Square again and got tickets for Les Mis that night.
• Then we caught the UG to St. Paul's. This was very nice and quite impressive; it's supposedly the second largest church in the world after St. Peter's.
• Back to the UG and on to the Tower Bridge, via a long transfer. The bridge was great, and the long presentations on how it was built and how it works were very informative.
• Back to the UG again, and out at Big Ben, a good photo-op. A block away was Westminster Abbey. Inside, we waited a few minutes for a 15:00 mass to begin, which was preceded by some beautiful choral singing (we were really waiting for the singing). The echoes were quite inspirational.
• From there it was a walk of several blocks to Buckingham Palace. My feet were aching by this point, so I took off my shoes and stretched for a few minutes while Peggy scoped out a spot to take a picture. She got up on a statue and grabbed some bronze guy's butt.
• We walked across the beautiful park, to a UG stop, and went back to the hotel to change for the show that evening.
• Back in the West End, we found a Lebanese/Moroccan restaurant, where we had a nice dinner.
• Before entering the theater, I wanted to call Alison on her 21st birthday. Her old number was no good, so I called Mom @ Nana's to get it. Stacy happened to be there with them, so I gave her the news. Then I called Alison and did the same. Hilariously, they both reacted nearly identically: "Really? Aaaahh!!"
• Les Mis was absolutely first-rate. The first act started to choke me up, but the finale far more than saturated the one tissue I had. Happily, Liz & Dave gave Peggy the sound-track for a birthday present shortly after we got home.

Sunday, August 31

• Having packed the night before, we were quickly ready to go after a 6:50 wake-up. Down in the lobby, the news was on with what seemed to be a major story. I asked the clerk if it was, and was shocked and saddened to learn that Princess Diana had been killed only two hours earlier in a car crash in Paris.
• The flight was mostly uneventful; cloud cover prevented much aerial viewing. The only exception to this during the first half of the trip was the east coast of Greenland as we came ashore slightly north of Iceland. The skies were clear, and the view of various fjords, mountains and glaciers was spectacular. I took 4 or 5 photos.
• We arrived home about 15:30 Pacific time, and our dogs Opal and Jasmine were very happy to see us. Our trip was wonderful, but we were glad to be home too.