’Tis a far different world we now find ourselves in.
Yes, we're back. We hit Indy at around six on Thursday evening, after bidding farewell to our son and Berlin some twenty hours earlier. It seemed almost fitting that it was raining about as hard as it could as I dashed the thirty or so feet to my car from the shuttle bus I'd caught at the terminal out to the long-term lot, where I'd parked.…
Article comments
26 - Baritone
The only other particularly interesting tale I can share regarding travel was what we came to remember as the "flight from hell" we took from Indy to Panama City, FL several years ago during which my older son threw up the entire way. We actually had to have him hospitalized in Panama City as he was so dehydrated that he was beginning to convulse. To add insult to injury, the car rental place never heard of us, and owing to some other financial woes we were undergoing at the time, no one would rent us a car without financial clearance. At that time we had no credit cards, so we were essentially persona non-grata to about everyone.
Our son recovered, and we eventually did get a rental car, but that was a great beginning to a long awaited vacation trip.
B-tone
27 - bliffle
I confess that I prefer food that is appealing, tasty, nutritious and not bilious. It's a weakness of mine.
"Ah, yes, I was forgetting your particular culinary sensibilities. Sorry about that. Fortunately, I have no such limitations. "
28 - STM
Actually, the one German food that I don't mind (apart from the schnitzel), is the cooked sausage (usually simmered in hot water) that Germans snack on with bread rolls, mustard and beer.
I don't mind a nice bratwurst on a bread roll with a bit of onion like the ones you get at the Sydney Royal Easter Show, either. Even though they cost 20 times more than you'd pay for them elsewhere, and that's after you've paid $100 for show rides, $5 shave-ice cups (ice, with a bit of lavouring - I reckon that's a 1000 per cent profit at least), and the kids still want more.
The Viennese sausage stand there gets a fair workout, and so it should 'cause it's bloody good.
29 - Baritone
Stan,
I tend to think that ethnic foods served outside their homelands are often bastardized in some way or other.
Most of the food we had while in Germany was not generally typical of what German restaurants sell in other countries. Certainly, one can find schnitzel and sauerbratten in Germany, but only once did I have schnitzel during our stay.
I actually find German breakfasts interesting. Rarely do they have anything like typical American fare. They do eat eggs, but usually just boiled - soft or hard. Otherwise, they often lay out a variety of meats - sausages - (I really liked blood sausage,) and breads. German breads are generally really great. They may serve sweet rolls, but they are generally not nearly so sweet as those in the states.
On a couple of occasions we ate Turkish Doner and Arab Falafel. But usually we ate at a variety of domestic restaurants. There are some damn good cooks working in Germany. Keep in mind that Berlin in particular is a very modern city - mainly, I suppose, owing to the fact that it was nearly decimated during the war, and a lot of new building has taken place in the east since the wall came down.
Oh, and, yeah, they make some really great deserts.
B-tone
30 - STM
Actually Baritone, I don't mind typical German food on occasion ... just not four meals in a row served up at the Sheraton on the cheap economy-class budget reserved for stuck Qantas passengers!
Heck, I even shop at Aldi in Australia because two really big supermarket chains here, Coles and Wooloworths/Safeway (different names for different states but the same mob), have cornered the market.
I wouldn't go so far as to accuse them of colluding on price, but geez, they do seem similar and the smaller grocery chains just can't compete a lot of the time.
Aldi, however, offers genuine savings, is really good quality stuff, and I buy all my fruit and vegies at the fruit market, mostly fresh local produce and American fruit and nuts out of season (the only imports I will buy, apart from Mexican mangos) to support our brethren on the other side of the Pacific.
My wife buys meat fresh from the butcher's, mostly on the day we eat it.
A lot of Aldi's stuff here is made in Germany or other parts of western Europe, New Zealand or Australia, so the quality's excellent and the savings are phenomenal.
This is how they do it: they go to a well-known, quality manufacturer and ask for the same product but packaged attractively as an Aldi brand. They then buy in bulk and it's too good for most businesses to pass up, because Aldi is multi-billion-dollar international concern.
I bought all our packaged-type Christmas goodies from there, including an Australian ham.
Usually it will cost around $250 for all that, and it came in at under $150 and in my view, was better quality than much of the more expensive Australian-made stuff on offer at Coles and Woolies. On a weekly shop, we're saving $100.
So those clever Germans are helping me a) meet the monthly cost of spiralling mortgage interest rates in Oz, and b) putting quality tucker in my cupboards.
31 - Baritone
Stan,
We shop at Aldi as well. Odd that I haven't seen you there.
Both Aldi's prices and quality are quite good. I don't particularly recommend their meats and veggies, but most of their pre-packaged foods, staples & such are generally good. We buy their frozen stir fry meals which are much cheaper than similar fare at other area groceries and actually taste far better as well.
Also, it's always fun to check out their non-food items they feature, usually toward the rear of the store. Some of it is junk, but a good deal of it appears to be of at least average quality. I'm talking hardware, tools, toys, household items, even some electronics, although I generally avoid the latter of these.
A feature that Aldi offers is the shopping carts for which you must pay with a coin in a slot to release them, but you get the coin back if you return it to where you got it. They do the same at the German airports for luggage carts.
In Newark and Indy as well, the same type of cart costs $3.00 and you get nothing back for returning it (so I don't.) The Germans (and perhaps others) essentially offer the service for one Euro, but return that in reward for courtesy. Not a bad gesture, I'd say.
B-tone
32 - STM
B-tone: "We shop at Aldi as well. Odd that I haven't seen you there".
Lol. Nice one ....
You never know though mate, knowing those Germans - one day ther world might be one giant Aldi supermarket.
33 - STM
I was actually there last night buying up some chocolates. I got a whole grab-bag of good stuff from Europe for about $10.
The man in front of me in the check-out queue was one of your countrymen transplanted Down Under (very common these days, for some reason. Must have something to do with George), and was saying in relation to Aldi that it was nice going to do the groceries without having to hand over at least $200 in folding stuff.
I do check out the non-food specials when I'm there, but have only ever been able to bring myself to get a screwdriver set - although a couple of my mates reckon the stuff's OK, and one bought a second TV there on a whim a few years ago and says it's as good as his other, far more expensive, one.
I'm like you though - it's pre-packaged goods mainly. My wife occasionally buys the steak there, and it's not bad, but like I say, we go to the butcher's and the fresh-fruit-and-veggie market for the other stuff.
34 - Baritone
Stan,
I have long been coming to the conclusion that we are not that far away from being obliged to do our banking at "The Bank," and do our shopping - all of it - at "The Store," where one would likely find a branch of "The Bank," which in turn would offer coupons for shopping at "The Store." Of course "The Store" would cover an area approximately the size of, oh, I don't know, say Pittsburgh, and would likely include both an in-door version of Disney Land and Las Vegas to boot. It might also include an "Oprah World" as well. The possibilities are endless.
By the way, you might see an even greater influx of American ex-pats should McCain win in November.
My wife and I have tossed around the idea of moving to Germany, but I don't know if I could last for an extended period without air-conditioning, a clothes dryer (my son's towels had the feel of parchment) and ice in my drinks. I am truly spoiled by creature comforts.
B-tone
35 - Christopher Rose
Baritone, I can't speak about your son's lifestyle choices but, just for the record, air con, clothes dryers and ice in drinks have been available in Europe for decades.
36 - Baritone
Christopher,
I can only speak of my experience in Vienna and Germany, but while I don't doubt they are available, few people avail themselves of them. Clothes dryers and air-conditioning are rare in most German, and presumably Austrian homes owing to the cost to operate them. My sister in-law and her husband took an extended trip through Italy, Germany and Austria - nearly a month - last year. They didn't travel extravagently, but neither did they scrimp. Only 1 or 2 hotels where they stayed had air-conditioning - this was in August.
Few restaurants in Vienna or Germany serve ice without prompting, and even then, do so reluctantly. I have been informed in a few places that they have no ice available for drinks. Even a Burger King in Nuebrandenburg had no ice available. Presumably, this is also owing to the cost factor. I have noticed that many Europeans on planes will specifically ask for drinks with NO ice. My son's girl friend, who is German, can't stand iced drinks. Some waiters and waitresses will look at you askance if you request simply a glass of water - that is tap water. One place we went to in Berlin for coffee refused to serve us water. We could, of course purchase bottled water.
Obviously, this is a trivial matter, but it is just one of those cultural differences that one notices when traveling.
B-tone
37 - Christopher Rose
Well, it has to be said, in my experience in the European context, at home the Germans and Austrians are special (like the special Olympics, lol).
Maybe it is something to do with the German climate and culture? In Spain all the expat Germans used aircon and ice just as much as everyone else.
38 - Baritone
Also, it should be noted that neither in Austria nor in Germany can providers use preservatives in packaged foods. I'm not sure if the same applies to things like food colorings or flavor enhancers.
Maybe we should think about moving to Spain. Actually, a place that really appeals to me is Ireland. Although, I think my main motivation in that regard has to do with calender photos. When it comes down to it, I really know nothing about living in Ireland, but it sure is pretty.
B-tone
39 - Baritone
Just had to laugh. I opened the May issue of "The Atlantic" randomly to page 12 which has a 2 page spread for British Airways having a beautiful artist's rendering of their fabulous new terminal at Heathrow with a legend printed in large white letters saying "FEEL CALM AGAIN." Does anyone at this juncture imagine that "calm" has been restored there?
B-tone
40 - STM
Lol. Heathrow ... calm?? ... again?? Bloody hell, I have heard of people missing planes when they had two hours to spare because of hold-ups with baggage that then were compounded by the number of held-up passangers trying to shuttle to other terminals.
Frequent travellers call it Death Row. When I flew to Europe from Australia last year, I purposely took the less-frequent Qantas flight into Frankfurt rather than the more regular Qantas/BA servive into London, for a connection to Porto, because of the dramas you can always expect at Heathrow.
I know people who prefer to fly into continental Europe and then into Britain by any other airport than Heathrow after having bags lost, etc.
And Baritone, if you want to move somewhere out of the madness of the US, this place is the closest thing to the US on the planet, but without most of the bad bits - plus, we DO have airconditioners, washing machines and clothes dryers - although when it's between 30-45C outside, you don't really need a clothes dryer. By the time you've had a quick swim at the beach and a bit of lunch, your clothes are bone dry :)
Plus, B-tone, our cars are better, and have their steering wheels on the proper side. Easy to pick up the language too - just go to the pub four Friday nights in a row and what sounds like Swahili after 20 beers soon becomes a new and exciting form of English. Well, kind of ...
Mate, are you sure the Europeans don't have those creature comfort things you've mentioned???? Everywhere I've been they do, although I think they probably don't need aircon in a lot of places. They have central heating instead, don't they, if I'm not mistaken?
41 - STM
On the bollocks bottled water thing.
It has become customary at the swankier, trendy restaurants in Sydney for waiters to ask in relation to your water: "Still or sparkling, Sir/madam?"
I have a friend who invariably replies: "Tap (faucet), thanks".
42 - STM
And Rosey is right ... those Germans/Austrians are certainly a strange bunch, and not just in their own countries.
I like 'em, but they are a weird mob.
When they get up early in Thailand and leave towels on all the beach and pool sunlounges, unlike the polite British, I have no compunction in relation to going down there, throwing them on the ground and pinching the until-then-unused lounges that the Hermans have "reserved".
Only one guy complained, and I just told him I only ever saw his towel on the ground and that the lounge was free. The rest just picked up their towels and moved on.
I mean, how anal do you have to be as a race of people to get up at 6am to reserve a sun lounge, and then go back to bed for three or four hours??
They are notorious for doing this, by the way.
Truly bizarre.
43 - Baritone
Of course, the current Heathrow thing relates directly to the new BA terminal where they experienced a luggage cluster fuck that, as far as I know is still ongoing.
I can't speak for Europe at large, but I do know that a large number of people in Germany do not have AC. My son's girl friend's mother (got that?) lives in Ulm in a very nice, modern, well built spacious home. No AC. Of course Ulm is somewhat nearer the mountains, and perhaps it's not a particular issue there. But my son claims that few have or use AC or clothes dryers in Germany. He's been there for over 5 years, so I guess he knows of what he speaks. We've only visited in the winter months, so neither my wife, nor I have any direct experience as regards AC.
Yes, they DO have central heating for the most part. Although, my son did live for a time in an apartment in Halle, a city near Leipzig (and the birthplace of George Fredric Handel) that had two coal stoves as the only source of heat. He had to trek down to the basement at least once a day starting as early as September to stock up on coal with which to provide his heat.
Of course, some years ago my wife and I lived in an old farm house in rural Indiana having only a wall space heater fired with Liquid Propane. The living room was quite toasty, but the bedrooms were rather icy - especially during a spell of sub-zero (F not C) weather.
I'm certainly not familiar with the habits of Germanic peoples outside their homeland. I will say that for the most part, most of the people we encountered were friendly and gracious, usually forgiving of our inability to speak their language. Of course, our son was usually present to act as a go between. He is quite fluent in German. He is also a very good ambassador, at least on our behalf. The last few years, owing to his performing successes, he has become a minor celebrity wherever he has been living and working. That helps.
I must confess that I know little regarding Oz, as I believe you call it. What I have seen and learned - some from you and a few other Aussie bloggers - is quite intriguing. Frankly, I doubt that we will make any major move. Should we feel compelled to do so, though, we would certainly give Oz a look see. As you say, a few pints, and we'd be speaking and understanding things just fine. I don't know about the driving thing, though. I used to be a hack in NYC. I'm fairly religious about driving and which side is "truly" the right side (that being the left side) for the steering wheel. Some things are sacred, after all.
Back to Heathrow. Our trip to Germany a couple of years ago took us through Heathrow, and it was and remains my least favorite airport. After landing, we had to wait for around 45 minutes before they taxied to a gate - or so we thought. Actually, they taxied to a spot near a gate. We then had to disembark a few at a time down one of those old style roll around stairs to the tarmac and board a shuttle bus which took us quite far around the terminal to another location, and then we had to walk forever to the gate for the flight to Munich. A Brit who checked us in at a counter to which were were directed en route was friendly until he saw that we were Americans and then for whatever reason became almost openly hostile, claiming that we had little hope of making our connecting flight, and would likely have to stay the night at Heathrow until another flight the next morning. His attitude seemed to reflect that all of this was our fault. As it happened, we hurried along rather frantically to our gate only to find that they hadn't even begun boarding the flight. We even had time for a coffee, and for my wife to find one of those enclosed smoking areas for a cigarette. I felt like going back and smacking the bastard. Not sure why he got a hair up his butt at us.
I wonder, do they need any real estate appraisers down your way? Or how about jazz singer wannabes? I do a fair job of scatting ala Mel Torme'. At least my shower tiles seem to like it.
B-tone
44 - STM
Mate, everyone's welcome here, as long as the join in the fun and don't play up.
45 - STM
As for the real-estate business, you'd find plenty of work here, especially in Sydney. Like Americans, Australians are obsessed by private-home ownership (The Great Australian Dream), although things have changed since my parents' time and in this city, but not so much elsewhere, like Melbourne for instance, affordability is really at a premium.
Sydney has some of the world's highest property prices, probably comparable to LA, New York and London when you get right up the rungs with harbour views or beachfront lots. Just a decent three-bed family house in a nice suburb (that's not a top suburb) won't leave you much change out of a million bucks.
I was lucky and bought the kind of place I'd always wanted last year (a full-brick 1930s California bungalow, which were popular here between the world wars) during a bit of a down turn in the market, but not long after I did prices started going up again.
Interest rates are now really high too (9 per cent), because our economy is so strong and they are trying to discourage us from spending and getting credit to slow it down and cut inflation (which runs about 2 per cent).
My mortgage is now costing me an extra $500 a month since February 2007 ... which is why I dscovered the Aldi shop at the big shopping mall up the street (and mighty glad about it, too).
As for steering wheels, they SHOULD be on the right-hand side!! You guys drive on the wrong side of the road, and it's a bugger when I go to a left-hand drive country trying to get my head around switching over.
Highly stressful, especially at intersections, traffic lights and roundabouts.
46 - Dr Dreadful
As I said earlier, Heathrow is not my favourite airport in the world. The only thing I love about it is the glamour of looking up at the departure boards and reading all the flights leaving for exotic places like Mumbai, Marrakech, Singapore,
Fresno, Rio de Janeiro, New York, Johannesburg...The way to avoid the stress is not necessarily to avoid transiting through Heathrow at all but rather to get there in plenty of time. Sometimes, though, even that doesn't work, as I discovered on my return journey following my last visit home in December.
I was staying in Croydon, the suburb of South London where I grew up, which is about 20 miles from Heathrow as the crow flies - which if you know anything at all about London you'll be aware does not make it conveniently close. There is, however, a direct bus from Croydon to Heathrow which I decided to take because (a) I didn't want the hassle of lugging my bags onto and off a train and onto and off two tubes, and (b) I'm too cheap to take a cab. The scheduled journey time is about an hour (see what I mean?) and I reckoned that if I caught the 6.30 service I'd be there in plenty of time to catch my 11.00 flight. Unfortunately the bus got caught in a massive traffic jam and then had to take a diversion at the entrance to the airport because of Terminal 5 construction, so I just barely made it to checkin before the one-hour cutoff for hold baggage and, once through Stalag-Luft 7 (BAA security screening) had to dash straight to the gate for boarding.
All things considered, I'd much rather use Gatwick. Despite being further out, it's only a 15-minute train ride from Central London, is more modern and much less crowded. Sadly, Virgin stopped their summer direct flights from LGW to SFO some years ago.
47 - Baritone
"Getting there in plenty of time" is pretty much necessary everywhere now. In my days back in '69 & '70 working for Tweenie Weenie Airlines it was fairly common to have a passenger dash from the ticket counter, down the concourse to the gate and jumping on the plane as its engines were starting up. A couple of times I was charged with loading a late comer's bags into the luggage comparment of a 707 with the engines running. That's a bit unnerving, let me tell you.
Stan, perhaps someday you and I can mull over the question of right or left hand steering over a few pints at your favorite pub. I'm sure we can work out a suitable conclusion for which the world at large will thank us.
I must say that, while people who live in more attractive and exotic locations probably wonder why anyone would want to live in a place like Indianapolis, one of the reasons is, as you note, housing prices.
In the Indianapolis market, the average price for a home is less than $200,000. Indy is one of the most affordable markets in the U.S. There is a home currently on the market here - the former home of the former CEO of Conseco Insurance, Stephen Hilbert - listed at around twenty million. No takers as yet. Former Indiana Pacer, Reggie Miller has his Indy digs on the market for around seven million. Also, no takers.
Generally, though, even high end homes in this market sell in the 1 to 2 million dollar bracket. I live in what is about a 1500 square foot, 1 level stone ranch style 47 year old home which happily has a full, finished basement, a 2 car attached and 2 car detached garage situated on just over an acre of ground which is currently worth something in the area of $160000. It should be worth more than that, but as many may know, current residential markets throughout much of the U.S. are in a hurt. With a few exceptions, home values are generally going down throughout the country, including much of the Indy market.
I've been appraising residences for over 20 years, and involved in the RE business even longer. In that time I've never seen a market like this one. Back in the early 1980s mortgage interest rates went off the charts to highs of as much as 18%. That was an abberation lasting about a year or so which has not been repeated since.
I can see no quick fix to the current situation. Reducing interest rates as the Fed has and arranging bail outs for banks and other lenders I suppose are helping. But this is a scenario which will just have to play itself out over the next several years as I see it. Doubtless, some lenders will fold and many thousands of homeowners will be forced out into the street as it were. At the same time, the investor wolves are already out in droves, ravenously buying up homes, turning many of them into rentals which will likely hasten the downfall of their respective neighborhoods. It's not a pretty picture.
Oh, and Dred, I'm sure Fresno has its exotic aspects. Just the name itself conjours up - well, not much actually, but still.
B-tone
48 - Ruvy in Jerusalem
Interesting to read these comments - especially that a Burger King in Europe would refuse to serve ice in a drink!
When I managed a BK, drinks were considered a prime source of income (along with breakfast and fries) and the basic idea was to maximize that income by stuffing every single cup of soda handed out the drive-thru window with ice. When BK in North America still sold drinks individually over the counter, the same strategy was followed.
I find it interesting that in a water short country like Israel, I can almost always get a glass of tap water in a restaurant for nothing. Naturally, all the restaurants sell bottled water, bur one would have to be a fool to buy bottled water in a restaurant when you can get it cheaper in a shop or mini-market. Nevertheless, "those who know" claim that we are facing a water crisis. With all the other crises we face, I fuess one more can't hurt....
49 - Dr Dreadful
Ruvy, I sussed the restaurants' ice scam years ago. So if I order a soft drink in a place that doesn't have free refills, I make sure to say 'no ice'. The damn drink's chilled anyway - it doesn't need it.
50 - Jet in Columbus
When did Suss become an verb? did I miss a memo from the sports section?
51 - Baritone
Dred,
If you're an ice person, the drinks just aren't the same without it. Unless you gulp them down, they will warm up fairly quickly. Warm Coke! Yew!
Note also that when getting a soft drink via their dispensers which mix the carbonated water with the syrup, that the balance of water to syrup is calculated (at least in places where ice is normally served in the drinks) to include a certain amount of ice. Getting a drink in such places without ice means that you are getting a drink heavy in syrup, therefore, probably actually sweeter with more sugar and more calories. The same is true of diet drinks except for the sugar and calories. This I learned from my days managing a Long John Silver Seafood Shoppe. Coke, Pepsi and the like don't leave much to chance.
Ruvy, you are correct about drinks being a major source of income. At LJS the overall food cost ran around 35% of the price of a meal while drinks were only around 8%. That's why free refills generally don't cost restaurants that much. Although, again, I have never found anyplace in Germany that served free refills of anything except, perhaps in some cases, coffee. Even that's far from a given.
B-tone
52 - Dr Dreadful
Jet, 'suss' is an old piece of British police slang that made its way into the general vernacular (or possibly vice versa). It refers to the (now hopefully stamped out) practice of police officers stopping someone on the street 'on suspicion'. The officer did not have to have reason to believe the person was in the process of committing, had just committed or was about to commit a crime - all he needed was his own intuition that the person was acting suspiciously.
Naturally, what that meant in practice was that all you had to do to seem 'suspicious' was to have dark skin, grow your hair longer than regulation police length or spend longer than 30 seconds in a public restroom.
Of course, not every use of the 'suss' technique was a result of prejudice. I was sussed myself a couple of times when I was a youth, once after been spotted climbing over a fence to get out of a locked park (which had still been open when I went in), and once after stopping in Oxford Street to open the briefcase I was carrying in order to check a map.
My use of the term was in its more general sense of seeing through some trick or scheme.
53 - Jet in Columbus
(troan) I can see I'm going to have to start labeling my jokes again, so people know when to laugh....
54 - Dr Dreadful
I did get the joke, Jet. (Hi Matt!)
But I'm a mine of useless information. It frequently leaps unbidden (or in this case, bidden) from the cavernous warehouses of my memory.