Why a Vacation in Germany?

Brandenburg Gate, Berlin

For someone who doesn’t go on vacations much and so far the only two countries I’ve been in are the Philippines and USA, other than layovers in South Korea, China, and Canada, how on earth did I end up taking a vacation in Germany? Well, that took more than a year in the making. Early in 2016, my friend Emy who lives in Germany was planning on having a grand 60^th birthday party, inviting friends near and far. The party’s theme was supposed to be the hippie culture of the 1960’s, so I started checking out costumes on the internet, you know: bell bottoms, flower power, long hair, LSD, and the like. Well, OK, not LSD. I also started looking into airline flights, but the websites were unable to show me anything more than a year in advance. When that cutoff time finally came, I immediately booked a flight on Air France from Los Angeles to Bremen (the closest airport to where Emy lives), with a connecting flight in Paris Charles de Gaulle airport. Having had a bad experience with very long layovers during last year’s trip to the Philippines (8 hours in Guangzhou!), I found a flight with the least amount of layover time. Little did I know that it would end up biting me in the butt later. Another lesson learned with that one: book a flight with a layover time that accommodates for delays.

Well, about two months before my trip, and after the invitation arrived, Emy calls me tearfully saying that the birthday party is cancelled due to a drastic change in her life. She had to find a job, sell her house in the suburbs, separate from her husband, and find a new place to move in. Additionally, she had to sell her excess but valuable items and find storage space for all her possessions. Since I hadn’t seen her since 1992 when she stopped by briefly in my home, I told her that I wasn’t going to Germany for the party, but rather to visit her after all these years. Prior to 1992, the last time I saw her was in 1979 when we worked together as physical fitness instructors in a gym called The Sweat Shop in Makati, Philippines. I suggested that I could make other plans for my vacation, but she said it was ok for me to come to Germany anyway.

Luggage packing test before trip

As the day of my flight approached, I did several suitcase packing trials taking into account that the July weather in Germany was similar to winter weather in California. I tried packing 6 microfleece long sleeved shirts and 3 pairs of jeans along with my packable North Face jacket which I bought specifically for this trip. I ended up packing 3 microfleece shirts and a couple of thinner shirts and had to ditch the jeans for regular slacks because they wouldn’t fit in my carry on suitcase. Having done that, my other checked luggage was for presents. I also bought some Euro currency from Travelex and with that, I was good to go other than not knowing the language. So I downloaded a German/English translation app, as well as Google Translate, none of which I ended up using, or barely anyway.

The rest of the trip to follow.

Beers I've Tasted in Germany While on My Vacation There

Beers I've Tasted in Germany While on My Vacation There

Being just a domestic beer drinker and not a big one at that, the cheaper the beer, the better for my budget. How’s a 36 pack of Tecate, Budweiser, or Miller’s Genuine Draft for $19.99 sound? Well, that’s the kind of beer I drink in the U.S. So when I found the opportunity to visit friends in Germany which is known for its beers, I decided to try as many as I can while I was there and hoped my liver survived the taste tests.

First, let me tell you I don’t know from bad beer to good. Being originally from the Philippines, I’ve had San Miguel of course, and Red Horse which is more of a malt liquor. Years ago, the Philippines also imported Carslberg beer, so I’ve tried that too.

If I remember correctly, the first one I tried was in Hannover and it was a Czech beer – the original Budweiser Budvar, which my friend Emy’s son Michael offered me at his home. It was definitely a lot more full bodied than the U.S. Budweiser, and to my untrained taste, more hoppy. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a photo of it.

Bitburger & Berliner from the hotel vending machine

The next couple of beers I tried came out of a hotel vending machine in Berlin, which was a total surprise for me. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that in the U.S., but then I don’t go out much. The first one was Bitburger which I brought up to my hotel room, but couldn’t open because I didn’t have a bottle opener. So I went back down to the lobby and asked the desk attendant where to find one. It turns out, it was attached to the vending machine with a string. I asked if it was okay to open the beer bottle in the lobby and the attendant said, it was no big deal because beer is just like water in Germany. I brought the beer back to my room and drank it while eating a piece of cake that I bought from the KaDeWe store earlier. Well, that Bitburger didn’t quite hit the spot so I went for a second bottle which was a Berliner. The vending machine had those two beer choices with alcohol and two which were alcohol free. My impression of the Bitburger and Berliner was that they had more taste than my cheap domestic beer.

Erdinger

While still in Berlin, we stopped by some kind of street fair where I tried Erdinger beer with my first bratwurst. I ordered the smallest possible glass which was 1/3 liter since I didn’t want to be walking around town in a tipsy state. While at the fair, we met a couple of young Mexicans (bf & gf) who were travelling all over Europe, and talked with them for more than two hours.

Weihenstephan

The next day, we had time to kill after visiting an Anne Frank exhibit and while waiting for our train to Hamburg, so we stopped by a beer house and I ordered Weihenstephan dark beer. Half a liter this time.

Tsingtao from a Chinese Restaurant

Becks (the only beer this hotel had)

In the hotel in Hamburg the next day, I didn’t see a vending machine, so I approached the desk clerk to ask if they sold beer. The only one they had was Becks, which the internet says is a beer from Bremen. My tongue can’t really detect the subtle differences been the beers I’ve tried so far, but I felt that each one had a different finish. Oh, I had forgotten that we had dinner at a Chinese restaurant near the hotel and I had Tsingtao beer. I don’t know if it was my tongue, but it tasted a little bland after all the German beers I had so far, even though Tsingtao was once considered one of the better beers in the world.

Paulaner - the taste changes from tongue to swallow

When we returned to Hannover, we stopped by a grocery store before going home and bought a bottle of Paulaner and Grevensteiner. The Paulaner really took me for a loop. When I took the first sip, it tasted like any other beer, but upon swallowing, the taste changed to somewhat sour/sweet. And this happened on every sip.

Grevensteiner

The next day, we tried the Grevensteiner and that was probably the most full bodied beer I tasted while I was there. Somewhat like San Miguel but without the pungent follow through. Emy said this was her favorite beer.

Hofbrau Munchen

After shopping for curtains and other fixtures for my friend’s new apartment the next day, we went to have dinner at Hofbrauhaus Munchen. Their main brewery and beer house was in Munich and we were at the Hannover branch. I tried a half pint of their dark house beer, while Michael had 2 (!) pints of the pilsner. Needless to say, he was quite tipsy but still with faculties intact by the time we left the Hofbrau. We ended up sleeping at his apartment since Emy had trouble driving in the dark and couldn’t make it back home.

Hutt Luxus Pilsner
I left for Kassel the next day and upon arriving, was taken by Bernadette and her husband Wolfgang to see the Hercules monument, after which we went to lunch. With the currywurst, I ordered the house and local beer called Hutt Luxus Pilsner, which didn’t come with Jabba. However, the heavy lunch made me feel like Jabba the Hutt afterwards.

Oettinger lime beer

Schofferhofer lemon beer

At dinnertime, Wolfgang brought out a couple of low alcohol citrus beers named Oettinger Radler and Shoefferhofer Zitrone. Very tasty, kinda like what my cousin used to mix back in my college days which she called shandygaff – half beer and half 7-Up.

Einbecher

I was picked up by Liza’s husband Sven the next day and was driven to his home. There Mama Becca was waiting and we had lunch. Along with lunch came yet another beer called Eibecher. I had two bottles which is normally my limit for a day. But, this was not an ordinary day.

Fritzlarer samplers

We hanged out in the backyard, then had early dinner, after which we went to visit a very old town, so old that the buildings were leaning against each other to maintain stability. After visiting the town, my hosts which now included Irene and her husband Matthias, decide to go to a local Hofbrauhaus. I finally found what I was hoping for: a sampler of 4 glasses of Fritzlarer with 11 ounces each of the house beer, a wheat beer, a dark beer, and a summer seasonal beer. I sipped slowly trying to detect the subtle differences. I finished half of each before going around again to finish the second half. By this time, I thought I’d be drunk as a skunk as I have exceeded my daily drink limit by at least 2. But surprisingly, I was still able to walk straight and touch my nose with each hand with my eyes closed. So, my companions didn’t have to carry me back home after all.

Veltins

I left Kassel the next day and headed by train to Bremen which airport I was supposed to depart from the following day. I checked into the Holiday Inn Express, walked to the airport to scout it so I would be familiar with it the next day, then found a Chinese restaurant across the airport where I had a light dinner with a half pint of Veltins.

Krombacher

I stopped by McDonalds and ordered an apple strudel to go which I took back to the hotel. I stopped by the bar and asked the bartender if they had any bottles of beer I can buy to take back to my room, and she said, I can take the mug that they had, and thus had my last beer in Germany, a half pint of Krombacher drank with apple strudel from McDonald’s.

I bought this from Trader Joe's after I got back to the U.S.

Having developed a taste for German beer, the American beer I drank upon returning back home tasted very bland, so I checked the internet and found that some of the beers I drank in Germany were sold at specialty wine/beer/liquor stores like Total Wine and BevMo. I did find a 6 pack of Henninger at Trader Joe for $5.99 so I bought it. The first can tasted bland but the second tasted more German, so I’d say it wasn’t bad. I also saw a 4 pack of Bitburger for $4.99, but I think I’ll go to Total Wine next time because they are selling a 4 pack sampler of Paulaner for about $10, you know, the one that changes taste from tip of the tongue to swallow.

Germany – The Adventure of the Last Two Days (Part 3) Paris to San Francisco to Los Angeles

Shackled in Germany

I had requested the customer service attendant for an aisle seat.  Unfortunately the only seat available was a middle one, so I was sandwiched between an Armenian lady on the aisle side and a Greek man who liked to manspread on the window side. However they were very pleasant people so it wasn’t a difficult trip in that regard. The Armenian lady noted that at least I was good natured about missing my connection. And I said that’s because I couldn’t really do anything about it since it was beyond my control. The flight felt longer than it was and despite watching a couple of movies and imbibing two glasses of wine, I couldn’t sleep. So when I started feeling antsy because I don’t like sitting for long periods of time, I got up and hanged out near the galley for a couple of hours. It was then when I noticed the difference between the other airlines I had flown with and Air France. Air France had a pretty much unlimited supply of snacks and drinks that they just left in their two galleys in coach class for any passenger to partake in and one particular woman kept coming back for more. That kind of perk was indeed very nice for coach class.

Gaming area in Charles de Gaulle Airport

When we landed in San Francisco, we went to the baggage claim area, but since I wasn’t sure if my baggage was going to be transferred by Air France to Delta, I asked customer service and the man said yes. So I proceeded to Customs and asked the officer to direct me to my connecting flight. He did, but asked me first where I was coming from. I told him about how I missed my flight to L.A., and he said that I should wait for my baggage because it would not be forwarded to L.A. Thank goodness that customs officer gave me the correct information which was not part of his job, and was very nice because some of them can be surly. I found my baggage and went through the same officer and thanked him profusely. Much to my surprise, even though the zipper of the front pocket of my checked baggage was slightly open, none of my belongings were missing!

I proceeded to my proper domestic terminal, checked in the correct baggage this time, then went through TSA inspection again. Oh boy, it looked like the majority of TSA agents I saw in that terminal were Filipinos!

The 55 minute flight to L.A. was uneventful, however it was already 10 p.m. when we arrived. My original arrival time if I hadn’t missed my connection would have been about 3 p.m. We went to baggage claim again and it took a while for mine to appear. As soon as I picked it up, I exited the building and started looking for the Prime Time Shuttle stop. The first lectern I found had no agent and a note directed me to the next stop. Upon getting there, there was no agent either but there was a touch screen computer which asked me to enter my reservation number or phone number. The computer system did not find me. I found Super Shuttle and the next van happened to be going to my direction, so I boarded it even though I had to pay again because the Prime Time reservation was prepaid. There were only three stops but I was the last one, and by the time I got home it was already 11:30 at night. It had been a very arduous trip that lasted almost a day and a half, but I was very relieved to make it back home with me and my luggage intact and safe. All it took were trains, a car, planes, and a van to reach my final destination.

Germany – The Adventure of the Last Two Days (Part 2) Bremen to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport

Airplane sculpture in park across Bremen Flughafen

The next day was my flight back home to Los Angeles by way of Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris. I checked out of the Holiday Inn Express, dragged my 2 suitcases to the airport and checked in one of them, then took a stroll in the terminal with my carry on bag. Suddenly, I realized that I had experienced at senior moment when I noticed that I checked the wrong bag! The bag I checked had my clean clothes, medications, personal items, laptop, and U.S. cellphone. The electronics were in the front pocket which was not locked. I walked back to the counter and asked the ground attendant if it was still possible to recall the luggage. She said it was too late. So I was resigned to the possibility that some of my items in that bag would get lost. In the meantime, the bag I had with me had dirty clothes and candy. But it also had a small container of pepper spray and a big bottle of body wash, both of which I had to throw away because it didn’t meet the carry on security requirements.

After going through security, I entered the waiting area and looked at the plane schedule which indicated that my flight was on time. The Air France app on my phone indicated the same thing. However, I didn’t see a plane parked at the ramp and we kept waiting for an announcement which never came. A few people including me went to talk to the Air France HOP agent and she told us that the plane was delayed at least half an hour due to technical problems. I told her about my connecting flight to L.A. which was supposed to leave an hour after my supposed arrival time in Charles de Gaulle. She told me those connecting flights are often delayed too. That didn’t make me feel any better though. Having experienced how long it took to transfer from one terminal to the next in CGD, I again resigned myself to missing my flight to L.A.

Sand sculpture depicting summer vacation in Bremen Flughafen

Our flight from Bremen to Paris was delayed an hour and sure enough, as we arrived in CDG, I saw the final boarding notice for my flight. It took a while before the shuttle bus transporting us from one terminal to another arrived and when it did, the driver drove at what seemed like 5 MPH. When we got off, I walked as fast as I could but when I got to the gate, it was already closed for boarding. It was too bad that I had left my Superman cape behind in California. It would have been useful to at least fly from one terminal to the next, if not from Germany to L.A.

 I was directed towards the Air France customer service desk, and after a short wait, I went to talk to the ground attendant who seemed to have a permanent smile on her face. I told her that it must be tiring to keep her smile several hours a day, and she told me she was already used to it, having worked in that position for 15 years.

She gave me two options: there was a flight in about an hour leaving for San Francisco, and from there, I would board a Delta flight to Los Angeles. Or wait till the next day for a direct flight to LAX and the airline would help me with accommodations in Paris. I took the first option, gave the lady a fist bump for her help, and was soon boarding the flight to SFO. Thus ended the second leg of this adventure.

My last beer in Germany the night before leaving (with apple strudel from McDonald's)

Germany – The Adventure of the Last Two Days (Part 1) Kassel to Bremen

View from Kassel's Hercules monument

Did you know that it costs a Euro to use the WC/toilette/bathroom in a train station? Well, anyway…

My last couple of days in Germany was quite an adventure due to unforeseen circumstances. What should have been an uneventful train ride from Kassel to Bremen turned out to be otherwise. Taking the taxi from my friend Bernadette’s house, it was easy enough to find the correct platform from the eingang (entrance), the correct train number, and the correct seat (platz) reservation on the Deutch Bahn ICE train (an express train) because the bahnhof (train station) in Kassel was small enough. Hauptbahnhofs or Grand Central Stations were more confusing for me because of numerous platforms and floors. Next, the train was delayed and instead of arriving at the original platform in front of me, it arrived at the one behind me. Fortunately I had been talking to a woman minutes before, who happened to work for Deutsch Bahn, who told me about the change. When we got going, sometime in the middle of the trip, there was an announcement that we would be getting off at Hannover Hauptbahnhof to transfer to a regional train which has more stops. Initially, we were informed that it would be the regional train on track 11, but as we were about to get off, another announcement in German said we would be taking the train from track 12 instead. Fortunately, some Germans nearby translated to announcement for me, and I told one of them that I would be following her and her kids. However, they stopped by a snack shop to buy some food. Being in unfamiliar situations and the thought of being lost especially in a foreign country gives me high anxiety. I told my friend Emy about that before I left for Germany and that my life was in her hands when I got there.

Beer tasting near Kassel

I then proceeded to track 12, looked at the posted schedule, and it turned out that the train that was waiting at the track was the one I was supposed to take. I entered it and asked a gentleman if I was on the right train and he said that I was. However, I didn’t have a seat reservation on this one even though I had a reservation on the original train. The same gentleman told me that reserved seats were indicated by an LED sign just above the seat. Fortunately, the immediate area I was in had a vacant one.

When we arrived in Bremen Hauptbahnhof, I looked for the ausgang (exit) towards the front of the building and started looking for the taxi stand. I found a taxi easily and told the driver I wanted to go to the Holiday Inn Express near Bremen Flughafen (airport). He said “no problem”. A few short miles later, I arrived at my destination for the day. I checked in and explored the area so I could easily find my way to the airport the next day. It was only about a block away by U.S. standards. I found a Chinese food restaurant, ate a light dinner, then found myself buying an apple strudel in McDonalds which I took back to the hotel and ate it in my room with yet another mug of beer which the bartender downstairs allowed me to take. And thus ended the first day.