The "FReepers stranded in Europe" thread

vanity | 4/18/2010 | sionnsar

[DollyCali]

guess now is a good time to be too poor to travel? (like me)

[sionnsar]

Trade show in Dusseldorf? I was at one in Frankfurt.

[sionnsar]

Frankfurt airport is open again for flights to the north!
I hope you are able to get a flight back into the US soon.

Thanks!

I heard there were going to be tentative openings for about half of EU flights tomorrow, hopefully with more on Tuesday. But they're warning it could get worse on Thursday and Friday.

Late this afternoon I did see an airliner in the sky over Frankfurt, but it was probably one of the empty planes they were shuttling around prior to tomorrow's opening, with engineers checking every engine of every plane that flew.

[JohnBovenmyer]

Since we're not limited by WWII's shortages we could now build in aluminum rather than wood ('Spruce' Goose was mostly birch, not spruce.) And we probably want a land based aircraft rather than a sea plane. Otherwise something with the other specs of the 'Goose' would come in real handy right now.

A free market could probably invent work arounds faster than such could be built. It would never be cost effective over the long run... so it would be a perfect use for Obama's slush funding! Just think of all the jobs that could be 'created' by a crash program to make a backup, volcano resistent, civil aviation fleet. It could be justified when Obama nationalizes the current fleet to save their union benefits from volcanic mark downs. He'd promise to construct them in time for the volcano, which volcano need not be specified. It might not reach modern day safety standards, but if a Tu154 was good enough for the president of Poland, who are we peons to complain? While awaiting delivery of the new Fleeced Goose air fleet routine Congressional junkets to Europe will have to subsist on commandeered cruise ship transport. President Icarus has his own transportation.

[M Kehoe]

OK, just a silly idea to bump this thread. How about getting to Madrid or Lisbon and taking the southern route.

See, I told you it was a silly idea.

Good luck and God speed to all that are stranded.

5.56mm

[sionnsar]

I know,,isn’t it wonderful that you can meet people you would never meet in a strange place. My husband who worries I will meet a serial killer on the net was delighted to meet him and we had a lovely time!

There is always a risk meeting someone face-on-face, but I've met several FReepers I've known online for years and met great people in the process.

[STARWISE]

Me, too!!! LOL

Picking up any political buzz, EU/global economy fallout there ?

Stay safe and enjoy every new experience, sion,

We plan .. God laughs

[sionnsar]

When my brother lived in Italy, his landlord made grappa.

I had grappa (the first time) just last week! Some colleagues and I went to a most authentic Italian restaurant here in Frankfurt. (Authentic enough that we ended up eating what Mama wanted us to eat... and it was good, but so plentiful we never got to the main courses we'd decided on.)

While waiting for the taxi, we were served grappa. It tasted familiar somehow -- and the nearest association was something I encountered in China. Potent, thick stuff. Called it "dragon whisky" (though it's nothing like whisky).

I have a gift jug of it presented later, I think at the end of my visit. Along with a number of other later such gifts (including Russian "Standard" vodka -- a gift to the chairman of a standards group) it remains unopened. But the label is all Chinese, I cannot read it.

[Myrddin]

On my first vist, I wasn't very clued-in to the public transportation. I hopped on the S-Bahn from the airport. The train pulled into the station and the exit door jammed. I couldn't get off and had no idea of how to recover. I rode to the next station and used a different door. It opened. Hooray. I then had to navigate to the platform going the other way. When I did get off, I wasn't aware of the exact location of the hotel, nor how to use the street level trolley get there. I pulled my stupid suitcases a good 2 miles on bumpy sidewalks before I located the hotel. By the 2nd day, I had it figured out. On a subsequent trip, I was allowed to rent a car. It was necessary to drive out to "gate 23" of the airport to get to the Lufthansa offices. On days when I just had to work at DeTeSystems, I could take the street car down to the S-bahn stop and walk 2 blocks to the office.

I hope the balance of your trip is enjoyable. The restaurants tend to be open on weekends. Not so for many of the retail stores. Be careful around the planters in public areas. I found lots of used syringes with needles still attached in the gardens on a Sunday morning. Other than that, the city areas are pretty clean and nice.

There is an Australian themed restaurant not too far from the Turmplast theater. Very much like Outback Steakhouse with a similar menu. You might have noticed that McDonald's serves beer...and it cheaper and tastier than their attempt at iced tea.

[sionnsar]

OK, just a silly idea to bump this thread. How about getting to Madrid or Lisbon and taking the southern route.
See, I told you it was a silly idea.
Good luck and God speed to all that are stranded.

All booked full, along with the means of getting there. So are the various means of travel to America by sea. And going to those EU departure points, if you haven't fully booked hotels in advance, it can leave you stranded with no place to sleep/shower/etc.

[M Kehoe]

... if you haven't fully booked hotels in advance, it can leave you stranded with no place to sleep/shower/etc.

For a long while. Been there, done that. Good luck.

5.56mm

[sionnsar]

I hope the balance of your trip is enjoyable. The restaurants tend to be open on weekends. Not so for many of the retail stores. Be careful around the planters in public areas. I found lots of used syringes with needles still attached in the gardens on a Sunday morning. Other than that, the city areas are pretty clean and nice.
There is an Australian themed restaurant not too far from the Turmplast theater. Very much like Outback Steakhouse with a similar menu. You might have noticed that McDonald's serves beer...and it cheaper and tastier than their attempt at iced tea.

So far, so good and the weekend has been enjoyable. After all, business ended Friday and I've had two unexpected days to tour. I might look at your restaurant, though I have "discovered" Sachenshausen and its relatively inexpensive meals -- if you can endure the noise. (Corporate is not requiring me to be this frugal; it's just my nature.)

[Myrddin]

My wife and I were headed to Wales for vacation. Our flight was booked through Chicago to Heathrow. We arrived. Our bags did not. It was a Saturday morning around 9 AM when we picked up the rental car. Off we went to Cardiff with forwarding address for our bags. No bags on Sunday as we headed to Carmarthen. We updated the airline as we moved along our itinerary. This was a "Rick Steve's" kind of trip. Take almost nothing. Buy small quantities of what you need. An extra day in Carmarthen and no bags. We headed for Aberystwyth on Tuesday. On arrival, the wind was blowing fiercely. The Irish Sea looked like a boiling cauldron. The folks at Bryn y Don (bed and breakfast) lent us a couple coats. Around 5:30 PM on Tuesday, our bags arrived in Aberystwyth. The delivery person regaled us of all the vehicle accidents and breakdowns that had been experience over the 4 days they attempted to forward our bags. Lovely. We put on our proper winter gear and headed out to visit friends in Cwmystwyth. It snowed while we were visiting. The drive back to Aber on B roads with no railings, no snow poles and 3 inches of snow was "exciting". On Thursday we headed back toward London. A brief visit to the woolen mill at Dre-Fach Felindre and a walk around the old castle ruins at Newcastle Emlyn wrapped up the visit. We flew back from Heathrow on Friday morning. As we returned our car to Kennings car rental, the Concorde made one of its last landings at Heathrow. Very loud. The vibration set off all the car alarms on the lot.

[KC Burke]

Remember the election is only six months away, if you want us to get you an absentee ballot let us know.

I just heard the 1812 eruptio lasred two years.

[Myrddin]

The Turks run a bunch of sidewalk cafes that serve something similar to a Greek gyros sandwich.

Ouzo will fix your wagon in a hurry. The clear, distilled liquer turns "milky" when poured into water.

[Myrddin]

My customer at DeTeSystems took me out for a nice dinner in Sachenshausen. Since I was mostly on foot, I hadn't ventured out that far from the trolley/S-bahn train routes.

[fanfan]

This will be a great story one day. :-)

[Tax-chick]

I lived on falafel when my mom and I visited Amsterdam. The best place within a few minutes’ walk of our hotel was Egyptian, the “Nile Sphinx.”

[darkside321]

Well if i hear something i will ping you i promise.
But beeing located in Poland gives them a chance.
The more north (or north west) you can get your chances will be higher to get a flight to the US, because simple of the fact that if “europe” opens it´s central or south airports will no help you to get back into the US. As long as routes to the north and north west are not open it will help americans little to nothing because of the location of the USA.

[little jeremiah]

Thanks, his return is still a few weeks away. Non-changeable cheapo ticket, Warsaw to Amsterdam, then to Portland OR.

We will see.