Lola in Texas

Well time for Lola to hi-jack the blog as she is heading to Texas by herself, to visit MBMell and the rest of the gang.  Sad that AA couldn't join her but, he has been travelling a lot for work lately.

She worked the morning and then met AA at home for lunch, and a lift to the airport.  Lola had her bag packed and was ready to go without AA... but got a little nervous about the travel as they got near the airport.  Arriving with plenty of time, she got through security, and customs with no problems.

WAA has a very small international side, with only 3 gates open.  She asked the lady sitting near the Tim's self serve kiosk if there was steeped tea.... "no but i can make you some".  Yes PLEASE!.  Lola went for a little walk and came back, the lady told her it was ready!  It was a really good cup of tea!

As she sat down to enjoy the tea, a lady came up to her to ask if she could do a survey on airport security (it was Winnipeg's day).  Why not, she had time to kill.  She finished the many questions, with the most difficult questions being, what is the security company named...and how many flight trips have you taken in the past 2 years.  Pondering, she thought to herself "I bet AA would have a harder time with that question".

Flight boarded, Lola read her book, and almost didn't get a drink, as 17 minutes left to landing they had just past her row.  She wanted tomato juice, but all they had left was bloody mary mix, and who knows  if that is GF.  So apple juice, and to her surprise, almonds (first time she has had an airline provided snack).

Landing in Minneapolis, she used the delta app to help her find her next gate, as she had never been in that airport before, and didn't know her way around.  She struggled to find a quick place to eat, but settled on a philly cheese sandwich with fries, well without the cheese, bun or green peppers.  It was good!

The plane was fancy, with nice touch screens, and plugs for your devices.  The bathrooms were tiny, 2 side by side at the back of the plane that usually would be 1 in an older plane.  She decided to watch Baywatch. Not a very good movie, rated 1/5.  She got her tomato juice and almonds on this flight. There was quite the turbulence on the flight, with no one to hold onto, but she survived.

Arriving in Austin 40 minutes, early, she waited for her bag, chatted with AA, and waited for DD to come pick her up. A familiar face to come pick her up!  Pillar H were the instructions, and nice that the pillars had letters to help pick people up!  It is hot here, even at 8:30 at night. The drive was good, we stopped at Mcdonald's (MBMells request), and got to their place.

Reunited :)

So good to see MBMell.  We stayed up late chatting and cant wait to see the twinkies tomorrow.

Off to bed.

Night Lola

Random bonus pics

Slippery when wet (in Toronto)

Lookin' a little tired at the Hard Rock Cafe on my first day

So many diesels here... (Munich)

Not sure why this didn't make a blog post previously (Munich)

Hang glider coming in for a landing (between Munich and Neuschwanstein)

Hang gliders catching some updrafts at Neuschwanstein

This one was for Janet.  She likes cows.

This one slipped through as well.  Archway in Munich

Entertainment at Hofbrauhaus

Bier garten (at Hofbrauhaus)

The band at Hofbrauhaus (can't you see them? lol...)

The Mercedes Tower (Munich)

Olympiapark (Munich)

Might have been influenced by a "few" beers with friends... No idea why this exists

This made me laugh out loud at the facility I was at outside Munich.  Very graphic.

A Sport Version of Gwen's car, a little newer.  Price in CAD = $120,000.  Not even close to what we paid. (Munich Airport)

Lufthansa had a very cool inflight magazine.  And they offered you a sandwich or pastry on the flight.  Too bad I was not hungry... (Somewhere over Switzerland or France)

Last day in Europe

I've lost track of days.  It's Friday (I think).

I left off yesterday at a hotel near the Munich Airport.  This morning, I was up at 5:30 and made my way to the airport at 6 to drop off the rental car and then drop off my bag and go through the many stages of security.

The rental car drop off was interesting.  I pulled into the drop off garage and was flagged in by a worker.  There did not appear to be any separation for the cars by rental company.  Ok, I thought.  As I was about to leave the car, the worker reminded me to place the keys inside the car.  I did.  I then asked him about a return counter and he said "Just leave the keys in the car and you can go to the terminal".  Ok then.  Hopefully that was the normal drop-off process... lol.

I made my way to the terminal.  The BMX bike demonstration was torn down, likely getting ready for something new to be setup next week in the "quad" (at least that's what I would call the large open space between the terminal and rental car/services building).

That's a pretty cool food truck

Once in the terminal, I checked in my bag and went through security.  There were not many people at the airport, much less than when I was returning from Vienna a few months ago.  I cleared security in about 10 mins and then realized that I don't have to go through Passport Control because I am basically flying domestically (within the EU).  Total time from dropping off the car to getting through security was probably 20 mins.  Maybe 30.  I now had 2 hrs to kill.  Hmmm, guess I could have slept in a little more but then that would be when I get jammed with a huge line for baggage drop-off and security.

I did some wandering around the airport, checking out the shops that were open.  Bought a few things.  Then I made my way to the Lufthansa lounge, which I found out I have access to as I just got Air Canada Altitude Elite 50k status (meaning I've traveled 50,000 miles this year...) - this gives me and a guest access to any Star Alliance airline lounge.

In the lounge I ate breakfast, had a coffee and got some work done.  Then, I made my way to the gate and arrived right on time to board the airplane.  No Lola I wasn't late, it was pre-boarding.

The flight from Munich to Madrid was 2.5 hrs and took us over Switzerland and France.

That's a nice paint scheme

Germany, on takeoff

Germany again

Germany?  Or else Switzerland

Switzerland

A weather front

Spain

More Spain

These hangars look ancient

After picking up my bag in Madrid, I made my way to meet with my contact, Adolfo.  Adolfo then took me to his office (about 30 mins away) and we talked business.  Adolfo's office overlooks a small airfield used primarily by flight schools, the military and police.

I like airport towers especially against a blue sky

At 2:00, we went for lunch.  It is customary to eat mid-afternoon and then late in the evening (9-10).  I was fine with this, I was still pretty full from breakfast.  After lunch, Adolfo drove me to my hotel which is a 5 min drive from the airport I arrived at (and will depart from).

Fancy

A little bigger than my first hotel room

I can't touch both walls with my hands stretched out

Maybe I'll sleep sideways tonight?

The view

Adolfo mentioned that I could take a bus to the center of Madrid but I was pretty tired from an early morning and needed to get some work done.  After a couple hours of work, I made my way to the hotel pool for a short swim - I needed to move and cool down from the 35+*C heat.

I wasn't lying

After my swim, Lola was finishing up for the day so we were able to talk for about 36% of my iPad battery - maybe an hour or more?  I pulled a Dad and took a few pictures of the sunset, thinking each time "oh, this one is better".  Hahaha

It was then time for Lola to run some errands and I was starting to get hungry (at 9 pm).  I made my way to the hotel restaurant and enjoyed a very juicy grilled chicken breast with grilled vegetables.  And a Heineken (not very Spanish but that's ok, beer is beer).  The chef even brought out a shot of watermelon and mint puree "on the house".  It was very good and refreshing.

I'm now all packed up and ready to go home.  It all starts at 7:30 when I'm planning to get to the airport for my 9:30 flight.  This time I need to clear passport control.

It's been a long week but very productive.  I doubt next week will be as productive...