Don't forget - DST ends tonight at 0100. Set your clocks back one hour. Or if you are in Prague, forward 8 hours or something like that. I just know I'm going to screw this appointment up in Prague on Monday because I couldn't figure out what time it is! Had a great time strolling around Zurich today. 'Stuff' is VERY expensive though. I think I spent my allowance already and I'm not even to Prague yet. I think I'm going to try mailing a package home from the airport tomorrow so I don't have to carry extra bags all over Europe.
Don't get your hopes up. It's all for me!
LU

Bathe at the Golden Tulip Hotel

Welcome to the world of bathing at the Golden Tulip Hotel in Konstanz, Germany, where I can stand in the middle of the bathroom (or slightly off center) and touch all four walls, including from inside the shower to the mirror over the sink on the opposite wall!

Ah, yes, the shower......a two foot square shower base in the corner with a curtain around it. Try this sometime: attach a seven foot piece of hose to your shower outlet (I call this the Temperature Delay). Next, wrap a bedsheet around yourself, step into the shower and let 'er rip. Taking care not to bump into the super touchy controls so that at any moment (actually about 15 seconds after you ran into them, thanks to the Temperture Delay), you are treated to a totally unpredictable flavor of pain; either ice cold or skin peeling hot, depending on which faucet you ran into during your dance with the freezing cloth bandage you are wrapped in.

Of course another 15 seconds elapses before you determine if you have improved your situation or only made it worse. Girls would love the sink. There is a handprint area of space on either side to place toiletries or more like toiletry. I do like the heated marble floor and you might want to stand up before flushing or you could go down with the ship if you know what I mean. Anyway, just a few morning observations before I leave for work.

BTW, I accidently drank a yogurt at breakfast. Who knew?

Swiss.......not just a cheese anymore!

Greetings from the hills of Switzerland. Lots of rolling hills with big farms. Big Alpental looking farmhouses too. And REALLY long tunnels through the hills - like 2-3 miles for one of them. And the leaves are turning all colors. Looks kind of like Leavenworth this time of year.

Of course all is not rosey........ That would be too easy. Got into Zurich after a mere 14 hours of flying. Did get some sleep on the plane. Rented my Cadillac (kind if a mini Dodge Magnum). I found out that if you ask for a GPS you end up with an automatic caddy with GPS in the dash. It's saved many times already.When I finally found the account and parking only a few blocks away (and free). I found the p............aaaaannnnnddddddd he falls asleep on the bed of the hotel for 2 hours. I've GOT to get some sleep. I'm here and all is OK. I promise to tell more after some SLEEP!

Goin' Home

Here I sit in the center seat
No place to move and nothing to eat.
Can't wait to see who my seat mates 'll be.
Prob'ly a couple of tubs like me.
In row 37 across from the loo.
But I don't care cause I'm headed for you!
Love you,
Smee

Oh, Crap!

So I’m on the plane to Syracuse – The “40 minute flight” took 40 minutes to get off the ground. This, after missing my 4:30 flight where they gave away my seat 18 minutes before the flight was scheduled to leave. “You have to be in your seat 15 minutes before the scheduled departure time, Sir.” The rules are pretty strict when they apply to the passenger and not the airline.

Anyway, the flight attendant gives us her “This is a real short flight and I don’t have time for any crap, so you’re getting Coke and Sprite and their diet equivalents” speech and suddenly RUNS the length of the plane and disappears into the lavatory. She emerges about 5 minutes later and makes an announcement. “Uh, the lavatory is, uh, well, you’ll have to very careful, uh, using the lavatory, uh, because the, uh, toilet, uh, well, doesn’t flush, uh, properly and, uh, well, you need to be very careful using it.”

Gee, maybe that’s why it smells in here! Needless to say, no one used the lavatory.

Flying really is fun though!

The Further Adventures of the Flying Papp Show

Soooooooooo……Another day in the airport jungle. I got finished at Harvard in good time and arrived at the airport 3 ½ hours before my flight. Score!! Or not. United (Our Motto: We’ll get you somewhere, eventually, we think.) Decided 3 ½ hours in advance that their 7:15 flight would be delayed long enough that I would miss my connection to Charlottesville in Washington DC.

My option was to take a flight out in the AM, which would ultimately get me home, maybe Saturday? After pressuring them they agreed to send me on a USAir flight to Pittsburgh (Wasn’t I in Pittsburgh yesterday?) that would allow enough time to make a connection to VA. OK. Now all I had to do was walk a mile from Terminal C to Terminal B. No problem, I need the exercise.

So I get to USAir where I’m told that I now don’t have a ticket on either United OR USAir. Perfect! After 2 hours of phone calls and standing around, they realize the agent voided the wrong ticket and gave me the correct ticket - to seat 17C. “So what about the First Class ticket that I originally had?” I ask, brazenly tempting fate. “Did you pay for First Class?”. “Beats me”, I think. “Yeaaaah, sure I did”. OK, we have a seat left in 1st if you don’t mind a window. I settled.

Then God got even with me at Security, where I had the privilege of a free frisking. Now I find out this flight is also delayed, so I still may not make my connection. I called the account and told them I’d be there when I got there, unless the airlines had anything to do with it.

P.S. I’m now in Philadelphia with about 10 minutes between flights thanks to delays at both ends, but my Blackberry is not. I have no idea where I had it last. I think maybe at the USAir desk. Don’t recall taking it through Security. God, I love traveling! I wish I was better at it.

Feenix to Seattle

Lady in front of me can't stop talking to her new best friend in the next seat. I can't concentrate on anything else. My headphones just make it worse so I'm going to be her court reporter. I moved to the middle seat so I can hear better. Dyed bright hair. Mother had cancer. They wouldn't give her enough morphine. She wants to be cremated. Throw a big party 8 or ten weeks after her death and play Led Zepplin music. Dog had something like mange. Cost $175. Friend gave her $25 toward bill. Had to put it to sleep, but they won't let people do that, cause they treat dogs better. Her other dog was bitten by her ex-husband's dog. He gave her $75 toward the bill. Shops at Trader Joe's. Good cheese and chicken and of course desserts, but they don't have too many desserts. Likes Foster Farms chicken. Man, I can't keep up. Now we're on to pumpkin soup. The CD's got 10000 recipes on it, but apparently no pumpkin soup! We've been airborne about 15 minutes. She goes to Goodwill. Not sure if she's sleeping under a bridge. Loves German sausage even tho she used to be a vegetarian. Then chicken was OK, fish was OK. Squeezes her own juice. And freezes it. Lost 17 pounds. Friend lives close and has a huge swimming pool, but she just likes to lay out a couple times a week so she goes to her son's apartment. Going to Big Sur this summer (just like her new friend) and went to Cabo last summer - went snorkling, but they're just pushing time shares. The meals were SO expensive - 15 - 23 dollars. Lot of resort areas. Oooooo! Very sucky! At least she speaks Spanish. Her daughter Alexis said "You speak Spanish?". Well, at least the swear words.Why did they take the knives out of the planes. I could pry open a window and get sucked out!Alexis didn't want to go to Alaska, so I think it's Jamaica next. This is riveting! Are you asleep yet? No intentions of getting caught in a foreign country. She carries her key. She's going to poke him in the eye with her key.If she's tired and you wake her up she's mean! - Information overload. No bus tours. Walking tours only. The castle in Germany was a disappointment. It wasn't a real castle. It was made in the 20th century. Bummer. Never going back to Japan. Not sure why. Wants to go to Italy, Greece, Prague, maybe the Dominican Republic since she speaks some Spanish. The hotel in the Yucatan was walls with hooks for hammocks. Believe me, she was pissed, or as her friend told the proprietor, "My friend is very hot tempered." Had to use the animal yard for a bathroom. I think I've accidently been sucked into a Soap or maybe a "Lost" episode.Good news! She likes Hawaii! My God! I think she wore herself out! She's kicked her seat back and turned off her reading light. What am I going to do for the rest of the trip?! I think her mouth actually closed! But it's still smoking.

Whew! And I only got half of it! That's all for now.