Aileen Jeffries

There’s now an 8 kilogram weight limit for carry-on luggage on Lufthansa flights. How much is eight kilos? About the weight of an empty rollalong-style suitcase that is small enough to fit in an overhead compartment. Should you be the sort of person who likes to put things in your luggage when you travel, that suitcase will have to be checked in. And with that, my burgeoning head cold was separated from the medicine I had hoped would put me in a minimally-conscious stupor for the nine+ hour flight from Portland to Frankfurt.

Lufthansa more than made up for this irksome restriction by giving us the front row seats in coach, equipped with a bassinet for Kea. She slept for much of the flight, her easy repose stirring jealousy in my heart as I squirmed in my seat, hoping to find a position that did not cause any of my body parts to go numb. She wasn’t even bothered by the change in air pressure during descent.

Sunday was our first full day in Munich. We woke early due to our little jet lagged baby alarm clock. After a croissant and cappuccino for breakfast at the corner cafe, we took the subway to Marienplatz, the city’s center. It was a perfect day for walking around – cold and sunny and smelling of fallen leaves. People were bustling about, presumably on their way to church as all the shops were closed.

We made our way over to the Englischer Garten, a large urban park created in 1789. The vibrant colors of autumn, crisp weather, and people watching opportunities made for a perfect day. We traversed the park south to north, getting closer to our hotel. Once we got back, we stopped off at the hotel’s bistro for lunch and a pint. My tortellini with sage butter sauce was particularly good.

That night, we met up with Latifa, the main organizer of the conference Kes is attending. Like many Europeans, Latifa is fluent in what to me is a staggering number of languages – French, English, German and traditional Arabic. We had a great time getting to know her over tapas and sangria.

Monday was another early morning. We piled into a taxi and headed over to BMW Welt. We’re getting European delivery on a black 135i. The building is deservedly famous for its fluid, graceful and soaring design. In the early morning sun, it was simply stunning. The experience of picking up a car through this program has been carefully crafted. Of course, the best part was driving out through the huge, fortress-like doors into the sunshine.

The only way to fly.

Kea meets a local.

She did not appreciate our efforts to fit her into the mouth of the catfish.

“hold on to your children lest they be carried off by a bird of prey.” I assume.

In the park

Jet-lagged and oblivious

This is a hedgehog. Apparently, native to the Munich sidewalk

The first glimpse of the new car

Our shiny, new and possibly sentient 135i

This entry was posted on Monday, October 20th, 2008 at 8:23 pm and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.