Arrival with travel notes

[dagibbs]

I'm safely arrived at my hotel in Ettlingen. Yay.

Really stupid design decision of the week: on the airplane, for some reason, the on/off switch for the reading light is tied through the (quite complex and failure prone) entertainment system. So, if you can't get movies or whatever at your seat, you also can't turn the reading light on/off to read while you don't have the movies. Why does a simple on/off switch even need to go through the entertainment system? This strikes me as extraordinarily stupid. It also means that, before the system is on, or after it is off (approaching landing, for instance), you can't have a reading light. Yup, stupid.

And, my hopes of getting an interesting European car were dashed. I ended up with a Mazda 5. A micro-van, and not my favourite vehicle -- I've driven one before. Though this one is a 6-speed manual diesel. I'm not used to a car with 6-speeds, but that's ok. And the diesel engine seems to run quite nicely -- it will accelerate nicely in 6th gear at 120 km/h. I was quite surprised.

And, hotel reception seemed to be expecting me. I arrived, said I had a reservation, and they asked if I was Mr Gibbs. I guess they knew I was coming in from Canada, so would be getting in early. I had worried I might be too early for check-in. (Many hotels don't do check-in until the afternoon.)

Now, I'm resisting the urge to sleep. I hope to make it through to the evening, then sleep. We'll see how that goes. I've got a meeting with someone from work at 2pm, so I'll definitely have to stay awake until then.

Comments

[horsetraveller.livejournal.com]

Have you thought of short naps when you jump time zones? No longer than 1/2 hour?

What you need is books on your Palm Pilot, light source included. :)

[dagibbs.livejournal.com]

I haven't thought of short naps. It might work.

I don't have a Palm Pilot, but if I did, books on it might be a good idea.

[jeffreyab.livejournal.com]

Well at least the Mazda is a 6 speed diesel you are the only person I know who has driven one.

Have you stayed at this hotel before?

[dagibbs.livejournal.com]

Nope, new hotel. Actually new area -- previously I've generally taught this company in Filderstadt, but this time it is in Karlsbad.

[jeffreyab.livejournal.com]

The Canadian Armed Forces used to have a base nearby at Baden, so they may be better at tourists in general and have some specific experience with Canadians.

Here is a map to area restaurants some one made:

http://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en&q=Karlsbad+germany&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&resnum=1&ct=title