As we left Europe I handed the Dutch officer my passport for inspection. He looked at it and with a Dutch accent said, "How Yea'll doink?" He looked through the pages to find a blank space to stamp, which is not easy given the number of times I have traveled out of the country in the last five years. After stamping the page he said, "Howdy"which came out more like *Whoody* and he said it like it was the expression for goodbye. It took me a minute to realize that the passport correctly lists Texas as my birth place. The immigration officer was doing his best Cowboy for me, and I almost missed it.
This is a picture I took of the Brandenburg Gate from what used to be the East side of Berlin. It was very pretty lit up with the Christmas tree in front and snow all around. It looks like the picture was taken in the early evening, but it was actually about 3:00pm. The sun doesn't come up in Berlin until 9:30am and starts setting about 4:00pm and by 5:30 it is full blown darkness. It makes all the Christmas lights of the city more enjoyable.
As for our luggage, no word since the German delivery man called my son to tell him the bags were on the way to his apartment, while we were on the way to the airport. The fact that the bags made it to Berlin and had been found is not in the record that the magic tracking number was supposed to log. In fact we are getting forms emailed from the Airline to fill out so we can file a claim. According to the records the bags are still missing and have been since Dec 16th. I suppose on Monday I will have to make my rounds calling to see what news there is. Sandi and I leave for a New Years Eve Cruise on Wednesday and I doubt we will know anything definitive about the bags before then.
Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. I know the New Year will be full of surprises and opportunities.
As you were,
Jay
I hope your luggage contained clothing, and not a vent figure. This was a pleasure trip and not a working one, so Bob is safe at home.
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