I packed a lot of Europe into 10 days. Still, I had conflicted feelings about going home. It took me 40 years to get there the first time and I wasn't sure when I might return. It was very easy to get around Munich because most people spoke English.
It's hard to pick out my favorite memory. Generally, the beauty of the cities is remarkable. Granted, I visited some of Europe's prettier cities. It's just that you don't see that variety of buildings in the United States.
For those of you who have never visited Europe, I'd strongly recommend at least one trip. It definitely broadens your horizons. And in the major tourist cities the language problem is minimal.
The worst part is the traveling. To go home, I got up at 5 a.m. to get ready to catch the subway to the Munich Airport. I had to go through two checkpoints in Munich. My flight was late leaving Munich and in Frankfurt we got dumped out on the tarmac at the far end of the airport. There was a long shuttle bus ride to the terminal and I had to go through two more checkpoints, clearing the second one only minutes before my flight to San Francisco was supposed to take off. I slept little in my seat on the flight back to the U.S. After we landed, I cleared customs and got kicked back into the main airport entrance. To catch my Reno flight, I had to go through yet another security check point. SFO is a major United hub so the line to the security checkpoint was more than 200 people long as I arrived. I muttered obscenities as I approached the line, loud enough that the people in front of me turned around and looked. By the time my flight to Reno took off it had been more than 24 hours since I awoke in Munich. The flight back left me exhausted and it took me more than a weekend to recover.
But I have some wonderful memories. It was a great trip. I hope that's shown in these web pages.
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