a weblog of whereabouts & interests, since 2010
On Wednesday night we had a project team event : going to an ice hockey game here in downtown Denver’s Pepsi Center. (Yes, we DO work here in Denver as well!). We had great seats ($103 said my ticket, a good thing I did not have to pay). It was not a sold-out event, but there was a pretty good turn-out, given that it was a week night, and that it was pretty cold outside.
We made it up to 4°C/ 39 °F here in Denver on Tuesday – which is a lot warmer than most places here in the USA. I had to hang in there : it was effectively my first day back at work after the break, and I still have jet lag. And what does the cat picture have to do with Tuesday? Well, we stopped by a colleague’s house here in Denver last night. She has one of these, but a black and white one. Seems like the purr-fect cat for a cold night.
The polar vortex
flinging extremely cold arctic air and snow over North America made for lots of canceled and delayed flights today. My early morning flight out to Denver was canceled, and the next flight out was delayed by several hours as well. So the sun was setting in Denver by the time we arrived there. There is some snow on the ground here, but not a lot. And the temperature may actually reach 50 °F (10 °C) on Tuesday.
It was frosty early this morning, but by 9 am the sun was already at it, melting the iciness. The Pacific Northwest is escaping most of the arctic blast that is hitting the Midwest and East.
My bags are unpacked. I like to ‘discover’ the silly little souvenirs that I bought again, as I unpack my luggage and find it in there.
I made it in .. was a little tired and uncomfortable during the flight, but Lufthansa took good care of us. Great food, on-time and good service.
I’m at Munich airport. A quick stop in Frankfurt, then Lufthansa will take me to Seattle from there. It’s a good thing we fly over New York and Chicago without stopping! I see the winter storms Hercules ans Ion will bring strong winds, snow and brutally cold weather to the Midwest and eastern parts of the USA.
Here is a selection of my pictures of walking around Munich, some from Thursday, and some from Friday. Since I’ve been here before, I can enjoy the sights a little more and not feel I have to take hundreds of pictures!
I arrived in Munich. The Marriott hotel by the main train station did have a room for me for an early check-in at 8.00 am in the morning. So I had my European shower (the kind where you are very careful not to spray water all over the floor, because for some mysterious reason the showers all over Europe only have half bath-length and open-ended partitions. (But it’s not a complaint, just an observation).
I am at Johannesburg’s Oliver Tambo airport. I have to wait a few hours for my flight to Munich. We leave tonight, and I fly just about due north, so hopefully I will get a few hours sleep.
The flight is scheduled for an early morning arrival there, and they may not have a room for an early check-in for me at the hotel .. in which case I will feel compelled to use the time to wander around in the city for a few hours!
It’s here! .. it’s 2014! Happy New Year! My family and I 
did not make a fuss about it in Stellenbosch, all of us retiring to bed well before midnight. I did hear ‘Ob-la-di Ob-la-da, life goes on’ from celebrations at a farm or wine estate close by our house, but not enough to keep me awake.
In South Africa there will be a general election in April (but Pres. Zuma is likely to get elected again despite his unpopularity), and in the USA there will be mid-term elections in November. And Obamacare is kicking in for real with the newly insured.
P.S. The protea flower arrangement is from the lounge at Cape Town International airport. I have started my journey back to the United States, but will stop over in Munich for a day or two first.
My brother’s family and I ran out to the Victoria & Alfred waterfront in Cape Town this afternoon. We spent some time at a Leonardo Da Vinci exhibition. It consisted of wood constructions of his designs, and electronic displays of his anatomy drawings and of the Mona Lisa* and The Last Supper. Then we had a beer and fish and chips at Ferrymans pub to bid 2013 good-bye.
*Of course : the real Mona Lisa was still safely ensconced in the Louvre!
I stopped at the liquor store on Monday to buy some wine, and spotted some Cape Velvet cream on the shelf as well. A brandy-based creamy aperitif, the stuff has been around a long time, at least since I was a student. I believe the label shows the landing of Jan van Riebeeck’s three ships (Dromedaris; Reijger and Goede Hoop) at the future Cape Town on 6 April 1652. Van Riebeeck volunteered to undertake the command of the initial Dutch settlement in the future South Africa. He oversaw a sustained, systematic effort to establish an impressive range of useful plants in the novel conditions on the Cape Peninsula – in the process changing the natural environment forever. Some of these, including grapes, cereals, ground nuts, potatoes, apples and citrus, had an important and lasting influence on the societies and economies of the region. [Information from Wikipedia’s post for ‘Jan van Riebeeck’].
There is a flap over an enormous house and art studio that is nearing completion here in Stellenbosch, one being built for a local – very successful – artist that goes by the name Portchie (real name Jan Hendrik Viljoen). The local taxpayer association contends it is too big and that the style does not fit in with its surroundings. ‘Wait until it’s done’ says the artist, and ‘One cannot please everyone’.
It rained this morning and so Marlien and I went to check out some book stores and to have coffee. I can buy books here off the shelf that I would still not be able to get through Amazon in the USA : those from local publishers, or those in Afrikaans. (There is a South African website that offer these for sale on-line, though. They will ship it overseas, but of course at an additional cost, and it takes 6 to 8 weeks).
I made a run to Cape Town 
International Airport today to pick up my friend Marlien that arrived to visit me for the weekend. A sales poster inside the arrivals hall of the airport advertised shark cage diving. Will it cost me an arm and a leg? No, it’s US$ 135 per person. ‘Free trip if no sharks were seen’ and ‘Boat maintenance is pre-scheduled and done regularly’ says the operator’s website. But no, I still think I will pass it by!
So what do South Africans do on Boxing Day (officially changed to the Day of Goodwill in 1994)? They relax, put away the left-overs (food and wrapping paper) from Christmas Day, and go to the beach if they are lucky enough to be close to one of the beautiful beaches here. I watched a lot of BBC News yesterday, and I see that Boxing Day in the UK is a very, very big day for shopping there.
I did a little Christmas shopping on Tuesday here in the town of Stellenbosch where I stay with my family. I am still adjusting to the new time zone and the summer temperatures!
With the students from the University of Stellenbosch gone for the summer break, there is less traffic and a lot more parking available. (The academic year in South Africa runs from February through November).
We left an hour late for Cape Town on Sunday, but made it in just fine on Sunday afternoon. I was so warm and sweaty in Johannesburg that I replaced my heavy jeans with lighter pants .. and I stuffed the heavy winter jacket and scarf that served me so well in Iceland into one of my suitcases before re-checking it. It is summer in Cape Town and here in Stellenbosch with temperatures at 81°F/ 27°C.
We have landed in Johannesburg. One more leg on my journey to make, to Cape Town. I cannot write more; I have to run to the gate!