The *somewhat* frugal beach holiday in Portugal

A few months back, new friend Ian and I went to Portugal. Portugal has been an elusive one for me for a few years. Back in 2003 when I first arrived in Europe, there were a lot of cheap flights and travel, but over the years it seemed to dry up. Portugal was never a cheap flight from my corner of Germany though, so I was pleased to finally go.

The flight and transport:
Living (relatively) near Stansted means that we're somewhat limited in our flight selection. Love them or hate them, Ryanair runs the show over there, so you're hard pressed to find a cheaper flight option, unless it's a country specific one like AirBerlin to Germany.
-I had a few requirements--I wanted to go to the beach.
-Ian had a few requirements--he didn't want to go on (another) 6 AM Ryanair flight, he wanted a more civilized time.

We were somewhat lucky in that we were both flexible on when we could go. We held off until September (the beginning of school sessions), and prices dropped.

I found three cheap Ryanair flights--2 in Spain, 1 in Portugal. We ended up with Stansted to Faro for 83 GBP each, which included all their silly taxes and baggage fees, and a civilized flight take-off time of 09.25.

We skipped parking at the airport because the airport bus is easy to take and parking is expensive. Ten GBP gets you a roundtrip ticket on the nice, direct bus and it leaves you 2 minutes walk from the check-in desks.

On the arriving end, I had pre-booked a reputable transport company [Algarve-365 Airport Transfers (transfers@algarve-365.com)] to take us to and from the Airport to our hotel in Albufiera. They are staffed by UK folks living in Portugal, so our driver was a great source of info on the local area. We didn't want to deal with the hassle of renting a car, or a never-ending shuttle bus run to multiple hotels. So we paid 60 Euros for the roundtrip transport. With two or more people, it's a great way to go.

The Hotel

Now that Easyjet and Ryanair have come to Faro, the surrounding beaches are overrun with Brits. In addition, the market is mainly filled with the gigantic, all-inclusive hotels. We were looking for something a little smaller and quieter.

We ended up choosing the Albufeira area due to its reputation for nice beaches. I searched far and wide for a hotel. I searched through the Spanish sites in addition to see what I could find.

We went with Residencial Mar a Vista, a smaller hotel of five floors located at the top of one of the winding hills. The area is very hilly. It was only 150 metres away from Peneco beach, but it was pure treading uphill at the end of the day. We liked the exercise, so it was great. Five nights came in at 173 Euros total (excluded breakfast) and we didn't see a single Brit there. It was a smaller, cozy hotel set a distance from the loud discos and such. The steep walk ensured that it attracted more of a Portuguese crowd, or some other healthy Europeans.

There was an option to get breakfast for an additional 5 EUR per day, we tried it one day. The difficulty on this point is that I am not a breakfast person, only coffee, so I'm always peeved at the thought of overpaying for coffee only. Ian isn't a huge breakfast person, so we tended to pick him up a sandwich on the way.

If you did happen to be going to this hotel--the site where breakfast is located is beautiful, if you can get the two outside tables overlooking the ocean, but the sun glare off of it is immense. It's nothing fancy for breakfast--bread rolls, cheese, salami, and a choice of cereals.

A much better option--which we did--was to stop at the neighborhood supermarket on our way down the hill. It had all the basic provisions like bottled water, cookies, etc. at a fraction of the cost of the beach stores.

The Food:
When in Rome...the dish of the region was chicken piri piri, which Ian enjoyed multiple times. At many places it was advertised for 5 Euros for the plate which offered a choice of fries or some or some other potatoes:

For the vegetarians in the party (heheh), options were a little more limited. However, virtually every place offered salads and omelets. I'm not a huge fan of omelets, but they did mushroom ones pretty well:

A lot of places did lunchtime specials. The vacationing Portuguese (and us) were smart enough to get out of the sun from 1130-14.00. The sun was really strong still in September and temps were high 20's. The Brits stayed on the beach and fried to a pink crisp.

The result was that most restaurants offered great lunchtime offers to get people in. Often our best meal of the day would be lunch.

Along the way I noticed that everyone was using those floaty things not for paddling around in the water, but for sleeping on the beach:

And there were plenty of places selling them, plus umbrellas, hats, sunblock, etc. all at exorbitant beach prices:

One day, the clouds came overhead ominously and it began to spit rain. There was an exodus from the beach as everyone headed back to their hotels. On the way, beachgoers who were obviously on their way out that night or tomorrow morning started depositing their floating things, umbrellas, etc. next to the trash bins on the beach.

Ian was fully embarassed by me picking up two rafts which looked like new, as well as an umbrella. He wasn't so embarassed however, not to use the raft the next day for his ancient back, once i rinsed it off in the ocean. Talk about a consumer society...the items looked new, like they would bought in the past day or two. So we got a good couple of days out of the two rafts and umbrella, and then donated them on our way out to the charity shop for pets who were selling all sorts of that stuff and who gladly accepted them.

Heather's thought for the future-->check the local charity shops in advance for beach things and general souvenir stuff, if there is one relatively close to our location. Portugal is known for cork, so had I wanted to pick up any of those little gifts for anyone like cork coasters or Portugal spoons or plates, the charity shop was oozing with that stuff, for a fraction of the cost of the main shops.

One thing we did enjoy...coffee in Portugal reminds me of coffee in Spain--it's strong and it's cheap. We ferreted out a place near the beach, but off of the beaten path, which seems to be frequented by locals. I sent Ian in, but the woman only spoke Portuguese (score!). I went in and spoke Spanish with her (I was a little hesitant to do this, my Spanish colleagues have given me quite an education about the historical role of Spain in Portugal's history), however, it seemed better than English in this case.

I was able to get my strong expresso and Ian's frilly Latte at a lower price than any of the cafes where the menu was in English:

Could we have done it cheaper?

Well sure. We could have done couchsurfing to save the hotel costs (Ian not so fond of that idea and had already vetoed camping). Or we could have stayed at a closer beach to Faro (Heather not fond of that idea since we were there for five nights, maybe if it was only a weekend.) Or we could have gone with a self-cathering flat and done lunch at home. We had asked the shuttle driver how business had been, she said the numbers have been down, and those that were coming were saving pennies. She noticed a big increase to trips to self-catering flats in the past year over previous years to full-service hotels. In addition, she mentioned that people who own properties there and usually rent them out were coming to use them for personal use--a cheap holiday for the owner while the place was unrented.

Would I do Portugal again?

Yes, definitely. The little we saw of it I liked. However, seeing the dry landscape in September, I'd be careful to avoid the summer months. In addition, my work colleague went during August and told me how the beaches were packed, so September was really the way to go, even though the sun was setting behind the mountains as of 18.30 each day.

UK theoretical driving test - done!

I've been a bit MIA this past week. All of my free time was spent working on a big law assignment for Wednesday, I had a lot of after hours work calls with the US office, and the rest of the time was spent studying for the UK theoretical driving test.

I had two UK 'how to get your driving license' books from the library, a printout of the UK Highway code from the the government motoring site, and most importantly, The Official Theory Test for Car Drivers from the UK Driving Standards Agency, the government group who licenses drivers. My version was from the library so it wasn't the latest and greatest version, as well it had plenty of pencil marks of previous borrowers, however, I knew I didn't need this book long term so it was good enough for my purposes. This book is all questions from the test bank, actual questions, almost 400 pages of them.

I had booked the next available appointment at the closest testing site. The testing centers for this theoretical computer test are outsourced centers, so a little different from the US version where they are goverment agencies. My corner of Essex is large so we have one in town, a mere eight minutes walk from my house.

I remember when I turned in my Pennsylvania licence for a California one. I was in San Mateo and the Driver's License office was gigantic. You entered a took a number for the main desk. The main desk looked at your forms and ID and insurance papers or whatever, and then instructed you to take various numbers from machines next to them. The number slips were different colors, and it corresponded to different areas. For my part I needed to convert my PA license to a CA one, to do so I had to take the theoretical test. Then I had to change over my car registration as well once that was passed. The changeover included showing the car insurance paperwork, title, etc. to someone at a desk, as well as the car receiving a once over to insure that it was worthy for CA roads. I had three or four little slips of paper and was there a good two hours or so, but everything was done in that one visit, although I did have a little waiting at each 'station'.

So I showed up 15 minutes early for my 10 AM appointment as the appointment letter suggested. Only in the UK--when you walk it, there is a sign 'please take a seat.' There is no number taking machine. There are already five people there, how would they know who is next? When the man sitting at the desk said next, they all looked at each other, eventually coming to consensus as to whose turn it was after 15 seconds or so. Can you imagine this scenario in Germany? ;-)

After reviewing the Provisional license and the accompanying paper form which travels with it, I was sent to his colleague for a second review. Both of them crossed me off their lists once proof was appropriate. The second colleague was also a little older, both of them looked as if this was a part-time retirement job. She goes through the rules--don't stand up until you are done, please use the anti-germ hand gel here, if you have any issues please raise your hand, etc etc--'and most importantly...good luck!'

I took my seat at my assigned computer and followed along the introductory tutorial. The temperatures were rather chilly, I felt like an egg in the icebox. There are two parts to this theoretical test: Part 1 is 50 multiple choice questions in 50 minutes; part two is 14 'hazard scenarios' where the camera is positioned like you're in the driver's seat in the car going down the road, and you're supposed to mouse click when you see hazards developing.

The first part is nicer than any driving test I've taken in the US, or maybe it's because my US driving tests were 10 years ago (CA) or ahem, *cough*, more than 15 years ago (PA). This multiple choice test was completely touch screen, no mouse needed, and it had such fancy things like 'flagging a question' to return to it later or the option to review all questions at the end, etc.

As I started, I recognized many questions from the book, so most were quick. Plus, I was freezing cold, so not dillydallying on the answers. I went through the 50 questions in 7 minutes. Granted, I was on autopilot on a number of them as they were from the book and some of them are just common sense if you are already a driver.

Sidenote: in the waiting area, I was the oldest applicant by a good 15 years or so. The two young ladies near me were chatting--both had failed this test previously and both have been actually driving on the UK roads since August. Boy did I feel old...and maybe wise with experience, not sure.

I then proceeded to part two of the theoretical test, the hazards. I didn't prepare for this bit at all, but probably should have in retrospect. It takes you through these driving scenarios (which make me a little carsick). The camera is bouncing along, just like you're in a car. In the introduction, it gives you an overview of how it works. You're driving along and it circles the hazards for you. There is a pedestrian on the sidewalk...as she approaches the sidestreet to cross it, there is a motorcycle in front of you nearing the sidestreet. It circles the woman as a traffic hazard as the motorcycle might want to turn left and there will be a pedestrian crossing. (In my corner of Essex, that wouldn't be called a 'hazard' but rather a 'nuisance' and the driver would honk the horn at the pedestrian for slowing him down--but I digress.) It gives you the warning not to overclick or willynilly click, or that scenario will be given 0 points. There is the instruction that there is one hazard per clip, with one clip having two, and that you should click as soon as you notice the hazard, and then subsequently click each time the scenario changes.

Off we go on scenario one. I was giving each clip about four clicks in my quest to not invalidate my scenario. A car is signalling to put into the lane (click). The car pulls into the lane in front of me (click), and on and on we go. A child is playing with a ball on a sidewalk (click), a bird flies through the air in front of the car (no click?).

As I muddle along, I get really bored of this game around scenario five. Click, click, click. One scenario has sheep wandering into the road, it looks like you're driving deep in the Wales countryside or maybe up North in Scotland. I have no idea where the closest sheep field would be to my corner of Essex, but I guarantee it's at least two hours away.

I finish with the scenarios, stepping out into the hallway looking forward to putting on my coat and scarf. The woman checks my id once more and sends me to my locker to retrieve my coat etc. with instructions to then report to the first colleague for the results. He hands me two papers folded up and says, 'I'm not allowed to tell you the results.' As no one was there, I unfolded the sheets to look. He helpfully suggests--It's usually the first sentence.

The pass rate on this test seems higher to me than the US equivalent tests. On part 1, one must get at least 43 of 50 multiple choice questions correct; I had 47. On part 2, one must get 44 of 75 points (5 points is the maximum per scenario, there are 14 of them and one has two), I had 44 dead on, so one less click and I would have been sunk. In retrospect, I didn't click enough for their stringent requirements. For example, there is a puddle on the other side of the road and no cars coming on that side. To me that is not a hazard, but I think on this test it was. Then a car comes toward the puddle--that should have been another click--then the car swerves into my lane to avoid the puddle--ok, so I clicked there. And then another car does the exact same. Who swerves into another lane with a car coming to avoid a puddle??

But anyway, a pass is a pass, so it's on to the second part next, the Practical driving part of the exam. In theory, I could drive as a learner with this Theoretical Pass for up to two years, but my 'non-learner' status under the 'one year as a foreign driver' expires in Feb so you can be sure I'll be working toward that date. :-)

Frugal side potatoes

I've had a busy week this week. I knew going into it that it would be busy, so I created a few big meals and spent the rest of the time combining them in leftover fashion. In addition, it was chilly this week in the UK so I made meals that could go into the oven for heating.

I started with the rooftop garden potatoes. I boiled them for 15 minutes and then put them into the roasting pan. I added a bit of onion and garlic (also from the garden). I added half of a leek from the market and a little oil (cost negligible). Full cost of the leek was .75 pence, so we're up to around .37 pence cost here:

Next I topped it with the remaining breadcrumb/parmesan cheese mixture from the Breaded mushrooms. As I calculated that cost into the mushroom recipe, I considered this one to be a free addition:

It went into the oven for 25 min at 175 C. Then I added a few chopped up tomatos for moisture and because they were reaching the end of their shelf life:

The final outcome was a side of potatoes with at least 5 meals this week:

Total cost per serving? Around 7 pence.

What ended up with it? One day I had leftover pasta bake for a carbfest, another day was a green salad, another day was assorted leftovers, and on and on...the above photo was the salad day, other day's portions were smaller.

Technology

is like everything else, it's neither good nor bad in and of itself, but it's all in how you use it. More so, it's how the people who set it up create the user experience...

Example: bad technology
Southern Water Company sent me an SMS yesterday on my company J provided work mobile--'please contact this number to pay your water bill immediately, it's past due. If you do not contact us further action will be taken.'

Here in my corner of Essex, I'm serviced by Essex and Suffolk Water. Further, that water bill is paid through the property management company who covers the flat and then bills us all back every six months.

Out of curiousity I looked up where this company is located--they deliver water to people across Kent, Sussex, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. The person who had this phone before me (not at company J), skipped out on some bills it appears. For some weeks I had collection agents calling me a few months back, but once I informed them that it is a corporate registered work phone since February and here is the registered work address, they would usually back off as these bills were coming from before then.

Not wanting to get further bothered by Southern Water Company, I called them to point them in another direction.

Southern Water Co voice: What's your account number?
H: I don't have one...(explains situation)
SWC: OK, let me try to search on the mobile number.....nope, not here. Any chance you have a name or an address?
H: No...I don't know this person, I just received the mobile number later.
SWC: There's nothing we can do.
H: So you're smart enough to send me the SMS messages, but you can't figure out the person linked to that number?
SWC: Not on this system, without an account number or a full name or an address, no, sorry about that.
H: Well, it's not your fault, you didn't design it.
SWC: I would recommend, when you get more of them, just to ignore them.
H: Will this account then go to a collection agency?
SWC: If not paid, yes.
H: ....(eyes heavenward)
SWC: But if you explain, then they'll stop calling. Sorry I can't provide more help.
H: ... Well. you did your best.
SWC: I know I didn't help you so much today, but would you mind to go to a customer service survey to rate my support?

Example: good technology
I went to donate blood here in the UK. I had donated blood over six years ago, when I lived here last. I no longer have the card, nor do I remember the address registered as I do remember giving a work colleague's home address rather than worry about them sending sensitive mail to a corporate flat.

I show up and mention that the last time was over five years ago (as a non-UK resident, on top of it!), so that I probably need to register once again? The woman taps onto the laptop my name and date of birth and manages to find my record.

NHS Woman: Was your home address... (screws up face in concentration)
H: in Wales.
NHS: Yes, and you last donated in (J work city near Birmingham)?
H: Yes, that's me!
NHS: (dryly) I'll assume I should change your home address and donation address to this corner of Essex?
H: Oh yes. When I called the central help line, they mentioned that I would need to register again as a new UK donor, as it was more than five years ago?
NHS woman: They tend to say that, but your name and date of birth is distinct, so possible to find you.
H: And they don't remove the records after they are dormant for a while?
NHS: Only if you ask.

I was pleasantly surprised by that one, that they made this system easy enough to use that this woman was able to locate my six year old record in under a minute, nevermind the huge geographical disparity of where I am now to where I was before. Well done, NHS.

Breaded mushrooms

I recently bought this book at Oxfam for 8.99 GBP. It was rather heavy to carry home, but it's absolutely superb. Every single page has a recipe and 4 photos: the final product and 3 steps leading up to it. I love photos in my cooking, mainly because I have no idea what I'm doing most of the time. ;-)

If you'd like to try some vegetarian recipes which are slightly above basic skills, I'd highly recommend it. I also like that it includes the nutritional info with each recipe, so that you can see what you're getting into.

Below, I tried out 'Mushroom Bites with Aioli' (page 161 in my edition):



On the left are the mushrooms which were dipped in two egg whites and then dipped in a breadcrumb and parmesan cheese before going into the oven for around 15 minutes. On the right is the Aioli. I took some heavy liberties with this one. The recipe suggested 2 egg yolks, garlic cloves, olive oil, and salt/pepper. However, it also suggested a variation to try instead fresh herbs and sour cream instead of the egg yolks. I combined a bit from both ideas and it all came out right in the end.

I know you can get packaged frozen version of breaded mushrooms, but these were so much better than the ones I had like that in Germany or here in the pubs. There is no oil involved in the mushrooms of this recipe so they come out much lighter and it was simple to make. (Excluding the self-inflicted injury Ian suffered while trying to grate the frozen bread into breadcrumbs.)

'Let's get 'er done'

All political opinions aside, I can't help but think of Sarah Palin saying that phrase when I have things to do. :-)

There are a few simultaneous plates spinning right now so I haven't been online much. The newest is the UK driver's test. I currently have a Germany license (which I brought along), and my US Pennsylvania license (which I received when the PA one handed in to DE expired-PA issues new licenses every four years.)

In the UK, US citizens are given a one year grace period to drive on their home license before getting a UK one in place.
EU citizens can do an even swap from EU licence to UK once, once they've been here for six months, or they can stay indefinitely on their EU one if they prefer.

Even though I have an EU one, I received my German one though an even trade of my American one, meaning--I didn't take any qualification test to get it. The UK therefore does not recognize this license as a true 'EU' one, but they treat it under the one year rule like the US one, that I can drive on it for a year and then must convert it to a UK one.

Someone suggested to me that the UK would never bother to track down in Germany whether or not I did or didn't take the test there. Probably true. However, the application to get the UK license forces one to state whether or not they received this EU license from a test or not, and from where. As a non-citizen in this country who plans to stay here, I don't want to be found lying on government forms. In addition, company J graciously provides me with a company car and insures it for me, they would not be too keen about this topic if I was found to be skirting the law.

I had an American expat colleague here who was convinced that she wouldn't pass the test here and as she was only here for two years she decided to carry on and not get caught. (Yeah, she got into an accident and got caught prior to the two years being up.)

No time like the present to get things rolling. I've purposely waited at least six months to get the rhythm of driving on the opposite side, and to stop clipping the curbs (done). I had to wait a few more weeks as one must turn in their non-UK passport to get the Provisional license, and I had work travel planned.

Expenditures so far:
-50 GBP to receive the Provisional license
-5 GBP to send off passport/application recorded mail
-5 GBP to pre-pay an envelope for them to return it in the same manner.
-31 GBP to pay for the theoretical computer test (test next week)
-practical test fee, still to pay

-a few hours spent reading the UK Highway code, including Friday night. As I've been driving for almost 20 years I'm doing the reading on the cheap by getting out library books. This should be interesting, however; my local driving center has a 38% pass rate on the practical test...

UK shortage list updates

I always keep an eye on what is happening on the UK immigration scene, in particular in case they introduce any new requirements which may impact my later applications for extensions.

All things being held equal...assuming you have desire and drive to go and live in another country, there are certainly a lot of opportunities in the UK for 'other' job holders, not just computer geeks (like so often come to the US). For example, on the list are 'exotic' professions such as professional ballerinas and orchestra musicians, but many 'normal' jobs such as nurses, social workers, paediatric dentistry consultants and pipe welders.

These tier 2 permits are skilled worker permits, so a company does have to jump through the hoops of applying for it on your behalf, as well as paying for it, but apparently the UK is lacking in these professions so that the need is justified.

The whole reason I found my way over there, the committee for these released a short update that teachers in special schools and skilled meat boners and trimmers should be added to the list.

So apparently the opening of the EU didn't fill the need for meat workers as predicted. More interesting--meat cutters are on shortage occupations lists elsewhere as well:
Canada - http://www5.hrsdc.gc.ca/NOC/English/NOC/2006/Profile.aspx?val=9&val1=9462

Not yet skilled in the trade? Go to Denmark and learn the skill.

From my last trip to Germany

Graffiti in the Aldi Sued parking lot:

Behind the cars, not crossed out is 'Jetzt' (now)

And because we were stuck in traffic and it amused me:

If you like to lookup plates in Germany to see where they come from, try here. One often sees 'suck' plates on the A3 near Cologne as this combo comes from Rhein-Sieg-Kreis / Siegburg.

The rooftop garden in October

I am lucky being fourth flights off the ground--I think I miss some of the fall dampness. In addition--I still get the sun on the front terrace, from 8 AM - 3 PM. Nevertheless, it's potato and oninon harvesting time:

I love these little potatos...mainly because they're so easy to cook, roasted with a little olive oil, garlic and spices.

Speaking of garlic, I did not get all of the garlic out of the pots, so I have some self-seeders:

I enjoy the green garlicky shoots for cooking, so we'll leave these as is. (As I understand the gardening literature, this isn't the best situation in the world as far as planting goes as the heads are too close together so it will only produce little garlics in the spring.)

And below, the scotch bonnet* pepper enjoying the daytime sun:

*If you are my trini friend, replace 'Scotch bonnet' with 'habenero'.

-->We aim to be inclusive around here. ;-)

I'm not sure which is most worthy...

to (whine) uups blog about this week:

1. How I had no water (Monday)
The building management company told me that it wasn't their problem and to call the water company. The water company told me there were no outages and to call the building management company. The assigned building manager only comes in at 9, and no, they couldn't call her in advance. (Why-->do you think she's at home showering or otherwise enjoying her water??)

2. How the cat fell in the toilet in 'Operation Potty' (Tuesday)
(I was aiming to have her do something like this, in case you're curious.)


3. How I got pulled over in my corner of Essex for driving with fog lights on. (Wednesday)
(oops! I rather loathe this car, too many buttons. And it's the first time I've driven in 3.5 weeks.) I would be willing to bet money that he heard my accent and didn't want to potentially get involved with the paperwork of an illegal alien or illegal driver. (Neither of which I am.) He literally sprinted back to his car with a 'thumbs up' sign wishing me a nice evening once he saw to it that the right switch was set.

4. How getting the MOT took 2 hours rather than 15 minutes (Thursday)
...because the third party company J car service outsourcer made an appointment for me at 08.00 for a garage that wasn't open until 08.30 and then didn't do the MOT until 9, but their early appointments were already booked up so I couldn't be scheduled until 09.30. I love outsourcing arrangements! In case you're wondering, it is chilly in my corner of Essex at 8 AM, but not frosty.

I am now off to have a glass of wine and a hot bath...I think I'll be sticking with more frugal posts for the next few days to steer clear of the negativity above. :-)

Frugal Sunday lunch - a week late

I managed to get to the farmers' market on Saturday around closing time and came home with a few things as they lowered the prices to move them out:

1 large cauliflower + 1 giant bag of brussel sprout greens = 1 GBP
1 bag of brussel sprouts, around 75 of them = 1 GBP

Into this recipe went 1/3 of the cauliflower and 1 bunch of 4 of the sprout greens.
around 10 brussel sprouts went into the mix as well.

Already on hand:
a veg Thai green curry paste similar to this
a dented can of coconut milk, discounted to 51 p
rice and noodles
on sale tofu = 1 GBP
1 scotch bonnet/habenero pepper from my garden (ok, so not a perfect substitution, but in the vicinity)

Lunches made:
4.5 during the week and 1 for the freezer later for work

Estimated total cost:
.20 p for the cauliflower
.13 p for the greens
1 GBP for the tofu
.51 p for the coconut milk
.05 p for the paste
1 GBP for the rice/noodle servings
.15 p for the brussel sprouts
0 for the pepper (garden has already paid for itself)
=3.04 GBP

3.04 divided by the 5.5 meals = approximately .55 p per serving.

The frugal trip home for the December holidays

One of the things that really bites about working in Europe is that the airlines know you want to come home to America for the holidays and price their flights accordingly. For a few years I was very lucky as the company paid for me to go home as an expat. When I transferred my employment contract to Europe I lost that benefit, but gained extra vacation, so it all comes out in the wash.

Recapping the past few years of holiday travel:

• 2008 - DUS to EWR with Lufthansa (Newark baby!)
• 2007 - DUS - FRA - PHL, PHL - FRA - CGN -with USAir on miles.

I was extremely displeased with USAir's lack on service on this one. The best was when I went to confirm 72 hours in advance and they told me--we cancelled the DUS to FRA leg.

Funny, you didn't call to tell me this. So how to I get to my Frankfurt flight?
We cancelled the DUS to FRA leg. (yes, it was a German agent!)
(Sigh) Give me a supervisor please.

The trip was further riddled with incompetence, including the return leg when USAir's International counter wouldn't check me in because the trip was on miles and Domestic wouldn't check me in because it was an International flight. This is why I go to the airport 3 hours early, because USAir is the most incompetent airline and I needed to wait in various lines for 2.5 hours with everyone passing me off elsewhere, unable or unwilling to do anything. There is no customer service desk in Philly, only a 1.800 number. P*sspoor, and never again on USAir, or even a codeshare which is flying on USAir flights.

Moving on...

• 2006 Cologne to Newark with miles (direct!) back in the day when they were running this route.

I did this one a few times that year, and I loved it. Cologne isn't really set up for US flights, so it was goofy, their workarounds to keep the passengers who already cleared security, um, secure. It involved handing your passport to an agent to leave the area to use the toilet because they had blocked off a previously open area, so you needed to be secured again upon leaving.

The only issue with this one was that the route obviously wasn't making enough cash, so they started to cut back from 7 days a week, then 5, then 4...my outgoing was cancelled and the Continental people worked with me to find a decent replacement as I was rather set on my outgoing day. They re-routed me from CGN-EWR to CGN-Paris-PHL on AirFrance. It was the closest I ever came to missing an international flight, because Paris on December 18 was chaotic and we were late incoming. I was the second to last person to walk on the flight, having gone through the last security, and taking off on a run in stocking feet.

***
I was looking forward to moving to the UK because the increased competition on the London to New York market ensured that I'd be paying less than I did from Germany where Lufthansa runs the show. In addition, Open Skies has ruffled the market up a little.

I've been hemming and hawing on booking a flight over the past few months watching the prices go up and down. I was expecting to have to pay over 400 GBP for decent dates. Prices were reaching into the high 500's.

The negotiable items:
-Return date is flexible. Usually I try for Dec 31 because it's hella cheaper than the days around it, and I'm not so big on New Year's partying.
-Philly or Newark or Allentown airports are all possible.
-I can do any London area airport.
-I don't terribly mind connections.

The constraints:
-Dec 17th is the earliest I can leave.
-If I'm coming into Philly or Newark and getting someone to pick me up, I need aim for socialable times (non-rush hour, not post 10 PM, etc.)
-I need to keep in mind the Septa (Philly train) and Amtrak (Newark train) times. A 6 AM departure from Newark can't really be accomodated.

• The best option was looking to be AirFrance for 388 GBP, with a 1 hour 5 minute connection. (ho-ho-ho, I had 0% faith of making that connection.)
• Our neighbors to the North, AirCanada, had a nice selection for 398 GBP, with plenty of flights out of London to Toronto, and then multiples from Toronto to Newark. It became a little pricier for Philly, but I actually like to clear US Customs in Canada. Queues aren't too bad.
• BMI offered as direct to Philly, but it was USAir planes. No thanks.
• United had plenty of options that would ship me halfway across the US in the process. Chicago, Washington Dulles. I got sidetracked here, trying to see what the worst connection was that I could make for a limited cost. (London-Dulles-White Plains, New York-Philly or London-Chicago-Dulles-Newark for 434 GBP seemed to be the winners on that front)
• I checked Air India, for the London-Newark option

What was the final outcome?

I happened to catch a really cheap option on TAP Portugal, which goes London to Lisbon to Newark with superb connections and a nice return time from Newark, on the absolute perfect days. The only negative--it leaves Heathrow at 06.00. OK, for 313 GBP (including all taxes and everything), I cannot complain.

Happy 8 month UKversary to me

The 15th of each month remains a special day for me, as it's the day I arrived in the UK. Most funny to me last week in going to Germany...when I deregistered at the Rathaus, I expected them to mark something in my German permanent residency in my passport, like 'good until 6 months from Feb 15'. (I had the 'old' residency sticker which was supposed to be good for return for up to 6 months.)


The first time I flew back to Germany was withing six months of leaving; I had carried my deregistering papers in case of difficulty. However, they waved me through and refused to stamp my passport. When I questioned it, they said that they could not as I had the permanent residency sticker. OK.

Now that it's more than six months, upon arrival I expected that their computer would beep and they would ask me if I live there and would note that I'd been gone for months and would stamp my passport. Nope, not at all. I handed the guy the passport, not on the permanent residency page. He then proceeds to flip through it, to find it, and then hands it back and waves me through. Huh.

Upon leaving, the guy asks me for my destination. 'The UK, Stansted'. Alles klar, and back comes the passport, no more questions, and no stamp. Granted I have only three more years left on this passport and I'll need to get a new one, but otherwise it seems that I could come and go willy nilly to and from Germany, with them always referencing the permanent residency even though it's no longer valid.

Odd.

On the Stansted side they continue to question me upon arrival. Their basic minimum question is 'has anything changed in your circumstances since you received this permit?' Um, no. Some of them continue the line of questioning: where do you work, what do you do, how long have you done this, and on and on. When I had the German sticker, the agents in Germany tended not to ask anything, so this is a bit of a surprise, the difference in questioning...

No worries, the next trip out should be back to the US for the December hols.

The week in Germany - a wrap up

Last week was a nice time to visit Germany--fall has arrived with leaves changing color and crisp weather. (Well except for that one night when the weather was freakishly warm, above 20 still after the sun went down and we drank wine on the Balkon.)

I'm very lucky to be able to stay with a work colleague who has a very nice kitchen so I can buy foods and properly cook, instead of having to eat heavy hotel foods. I also consider myself to be blessed, my direct and indirect work colleagues are very nice, so the week was spent doing work while being invited multiple times for a coffee, lunch, etc.

While it was all pleasant enough to visit, I wouldn't really want to live there again.

One night, on the way home, I stopped off at Lidl in Leverkusen. (Leverkusen locally has a reputation of being a bit rough around the edges, working class.) In line behind me was a gentleman wearing the blue overalls of the working class uniform, and a dyed blond mohawk, perhaps 50 years old. As I'm past the queue and at the counter arranging items in my recycled box, he is then next to me doing the same.

He then says to me (in German): Pfui! It's too early for Christmas chocolates!
I have 15 items--pasta, tomato sauce, lettuce, etc. and he's commenting on the one Christmas item I have, a Milka Santa.

In my first few years of living in Germany, I probably would have felt affronted. Even in year three or four I may have stumbled along a response. After year five I think I got into the flow, and apparently, I have not forgotten this necessary attitude even after leaving.

Heather response: Ah yes, I used to lived in Germany, but now I only get to visit from England, and I will not return before Saint Nick day.

(To his credit, he managed to understand my less than perfect German. It's what I always liked about Leverkusen, the people seem a little friendlier to me than Cologne or D'dorf where they seemed personally offended by incorrect grammar.)

Leverkusen man: Ja, but you cannot buy a chocolate Santa Klaus in the UK?

Heather: Yes, but not such nice chocolate like Milka, and not so big, only little Santas.

Leverkusen man: Hmm! Then this is ok that you buy your German chocolate to take back to England...but this is not ok for normal Germans, this is too early.

*****
Well then. In addition, you'll be pleased to know that due to careful packing and AirBerlin's delicate suitcase handling, Milka man survived the trip back fully intact. :-)

Anglo American Cultural Exchange - with New Friend Ian

Having only ever lived in England (and one small part at that), my experience of other cultures is – shall we say, much more limited than Heather’s. However the other culture I know the best is probably American. (Admittedly this is mainly through watching The Sopranos and 24. Though my Aunt is American). Despite having a reasonable grasp of ‘Americanisms’ there is still the odd occasion when Heather and myself don’t quite get what the other person is saying. For example;

English / American
Anti-clockwise = Counter clockwise
Trousers = Pants
Pants = Panties
Courgette = Zucchini
Aubergine = Egg Plant
Manual car = Stick shift car
Ground floor = 1st floor
Chips = Fries
Large Coke = Small Coke
Petrol = Gas

(Pronunciation)
TomARto = TomAto
OrigARno = OrEGGANNo

The ground floor / first floor caused some confusion, with Heather telling me she had purchased a 4th floor flat, and me thinking to myself, “but the block only goes up to the 3rd floor”. And I will confess to wandering round the supermarket for at least 10 minutes looking for an Egg Plant, without realising what I was supposed to be getting.

With Heather teaching me about American culture and language, I have also tried to educate her with regard to Essex culture. ‘Essex Man’ and ‘Essex Woman’ came to prominence during the 1980’s when Mrs Thatcher made Essex very rich (and simultaneously made a lot of other places very poor). Characteristics of ‘Essex Man’ and ‘Essex Woman’ include the following;

* A desire for designer goods – though tacky rather than quality.
* Hard working – will do anything for a bit of extra money.
* Lack of subtlety – say it as it is at high volume.
* A habit of starting to produce babies in their teens.
* Politically right wing - with a fierce dislike of immigration.
* Big fans of fast food and cheap drink – and all the associated health related issues this brings. (As Heather found the other week when she wanted to buy a size 10 – only to find a lack of size 10’s but plenty of size 16’s and above).

As with all stereotypes – they are exaggerations but based on truth. Heather will often see an especially bad example of Essex Man and comment that they are “my people”. Well….. Yes, I suppose they are! But Essex isn’t really that bad. I wouldn’t live here otherwise.

So hopefully, as the years roll on, Heather will continue to teach me how to speak ‘American English’, and I will continue to try and convince her that not all Essex people live up to their stereotype. It will be fun!

New Friend Ian

Book Wednesday: Stuerm vor Englands Torren

NR. 4 Kleine Kriegshefte 10 PF
This one came from the Hay Castle Bookshop for 6 GBP.

My interests in German reading are mainly historical pieces about Germany, in German--such as this one. It's a piece of Germany propaganda from the early 1940's.

This one mainly talks about Germany's activies in France. It's a mixture of articles and photos.

As an added bonus, someone left a Hotel menu in it from 1942:

Book Tuesday: The Economic Development of Poland's Western and Northern Regions

Year of Publication: 1961

This one was an ex-library book, from the University of London, King's College

My price in Wales: 3.50 GBP

From the preface:

'Poland's prewar frontier with Germany and with the former Free City of Gdansk was 1,931 kilometers long. At present the border on the Odra and Nysa rivers is 460 kilometers, or one-fourth of what it was before 1939. The restoration of the regions in th west and north have placed Poland's boundaries on a natural frontier. The Odra and Nysa boundary unites two friendly nations: The Polish People's Republic and the German Democratic Republic; it has ceased to be a powder keg and is properly called the "peace frontier".

Fifteen years of reconstruction and expansion on Poland's western and northern regions as part of one unified economic plan, have made of the regained areas and the other parts of Poland one unified whole.'

Why did this one look interesting to me?

It's full of facts and figures, comparing Poland during the war years to Poland in 1961. Especially interesting to me is the overlap between Poland and Germany, including Chaper II. Nationality and Demographic Problems. Knowing the later history of Poland being in the EU, to see how Poland was viewed in 1961 in the post-WW2 years is a nice historical insight.

A snippet of one of the many tables:

Book Monday - Best of Enemies

Britain and Germany: 100 Years of Truth and Lies

by Richard Milton

from Amazon, here. My price at the Red Cross Charity Shop in Wales: 2.99 GBP

From the inside cover:

'For the best part of a century, Brtain and German had been closer than any other two countries. Germany was Britain's biggest export market, and vice versa. Germans adopted English dress, customs and manners. German thinking on race, national identity, eugenics and racial supremacy also had its roots in British thinkers like Darwin, Huxley and Galton. Even as late as the Nazi era, Hess, Himmler, Goering and Hitler himself remained passionate Anglophiles.'

I've wanted to read this one for a while, since I knew I was moving to the UK. Over time, some UK work colleagues have mentioned how they thought of Germany growing up is largely a result of their UK educational background. While I have an interest in German history over the past 100 years and have read up on it, I'm not so familiar with UK history over the past 100 years, so looking forward to see the intersection of them.

The start of Chapte 23:

On the road to DE

Be sure to wave above D'dorf to the AirBerlin plane incoming from the UK this afternoon.

I'll be offline for a few days in the office, but I preposted some book choices from Wales over the next few days. In addition, New Friend Ian will make a guest post on Thursday. Be nice to him, he's not a blogger (yet! hehehe...)

The painted kitchen

You'll probably recall, I had a German visitor a few months back. In the meantime I had a nice guy visit from Slovenia too. (My location is very convenient to the train and bus station in my town.) I gave the German an open invite to pop round whenever she needed a place for the night, so she stopped in once or twice as she was traveling through. In addition--she was doing some major walking (20 miles one day!) and ill-equipped for the task by having only a regular backpack and plastic sacks. So I lent her my camping rucksack with the agreement that she would come back around before leaving to drop it back.

Someone asked me, 'how do you know that she'll actually give it back?'

A. Because she's German and she said so. I put a lot of faith into German honesty.

B. Because she asked to leave some items here which she didn't need for the rest of her trip-mainly library books which she'll need to return to Germany.

And even if she didn't come back, it was my older rucksack which I keep for secondary purposes, the one which has been through a lot, so if it went on to never return that might not be so bad.

So she ended up coming round on Wednesday night, at the end of all of her adventures. She was out of cash and had seen enough of England at this point and was mentally preparing to jump back into school and a new flat on Saturday, after seven weeks of being on the move in the UK.

Since she last visited me I had window blinds installed and had bought my ebay bookshelves. In addition, I painted the bathroom. After painting the bathroom, upon removing all of the tape, I just put it directly up in the kitchen, my next painting project. I have been busy with work, etc. though, so I didn't get further than that on this project, although I had everything bought and ready to go.

As a thank you for letting her stay here and for something to do, she asks if I would like her help to paint the kitchen. I have relatives who are 22 in the US--if they asked to help paint something I'd probably hesitate a moment as it could be more trouble that it's worth. However--I knew that as a 22 year old German, she would have had YEARS of painting experience. (Which, of course, she did.) So I hesitated perhaps half a second before accepting her kind offer.

As expected--this got done the German way, immediately after dinner we began. Jump right in and start taping and preparing, no hestitation, just get 'er done. Within two hours we were cleaning up. She was an expert at wrapping the radiator and lightswitches in plastic and I couldn't be more pleased. I would never have even hinted at a Hospitality Club or Couchsurfing guest to have to assist me with anything, so this was such a pleasant surprise to have the offer.

Here is the before photo. The chosen color is the 2nd from the left, a slightly mossy green.

The after shot is a little washed out to be able to see the color. However, to get an idea--it's matching the lightest tiles here: