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March, 2006

  1. Hamburg: Monday About Town

    March 20, 2006 by Gail

    Berit had errands to run all day, so I tagged along and we chatted as we zipped around town, picking stuff up, dropping stuff off, and going on a bit of a wild goose chase trying to replace her digital videocamera battery pack. We gave up after a futile trip to the Canon dealer on the outskirts of town, then paid a visit to her old workplace housed in an über-funky converted brick warehouse to borrow a semi-professional videocamera instead. I think this’ll work out better, anyhow — especially quality-wise.

    Canon art
    “Canon art” — old camera parts from the service centre, made into a wall hanging

    The memorial preparations are coming together, but there’s a lot of coordination involved and still much to do. I found the drivers for their scanner online and hooked it up to my PowerBook to scan photos of Vinny for a presentation on Saturday, pictures that span all 11 years of his life from babyhood to trips abroad. I’m still working my way through the piles, digitally editing the photos as I go along.

    I finally reached my friend Claire in France, who was supposed to be here as well, but at the last minute her work schedule wouldn’t permit her to fly up for more than a couple of days at a ridiculous price for the flight. :( Oh well, we’ll have to try and meet up some other time, hopefully in the spring.

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  2. Hamburg: Sunday Stroll

    March 20, 2006 by Gail

    Woke up at a completely uncivilised hour yesterday because I’d crashed (relatively) early on Saturday evening. Justy, who apparently also tends to wake up far too early on the weekends for her parents’ liking, generously shared her plasticine with me, resulting in the following Play-Doh masterpiece:

    my Play-Doh bird

    I can hear the new jingle now: “Play-Doh — not just for kids!”

    After breakfast, the lot of us gathered ourselves to meet friends at the park — the name of which I didn’t think to ask, but it was a ways out of the city centre. We picked up Jonas, Justine’s little friend, and made our way along the paths beside the Elbe river while waiting for the other couple to meet us.

    Justy and Jonas

    Justy

    (Justy, 2, and Jonas, 4. You can see why people — including myself — find it hard to believe Justy is only 2 years old.) (more…)

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  3. Hamburg

    March 19, 2006 by Gail

    Hamburg

    Local time: 08:38 GMT+1

    The flight between Frankfurt and Hamburg was less than an hour long, so it was basically steep ascent, steep descent. Like flying from Zurich to London or even Vancouver to Calgary — well, except for the German. (more…)

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  4. Dash

    March 19, 2006 by Gail

    Dash

    My friend Sergio’s new Golden Retriever puppy, on the way to the airport. Makes me want to get a puppy, too, except for one not-so-small detail: Hugh. Fur would fly!

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  5. Frankfurt Airport

    March 18, 2006 by Gail

    Quick post from Frankfurt, where my flight from Toronto arrived more than an hour late and made me miss my connection to Hamburg by minutes. I had to go through passport control and security with only 15 minutes before the plane was due to leave. This place is just as confusing as it was last time (many moons ago)! Last time passport control didn’t even OPEN my passport, and this time it was almost as easy — the officer’s stamping hand was ready to go by the time he found an empty page!

    I got halfway through security screening when the agent informed me it was the long way ’round to A gates, so they pulled my laptop off the belt and sent me in the other direction.

    Am quite distracted by the airport personnel scooting around on bikes — I keep wanting to take photos of them, but I’m about to head to the other gate now.

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  6. Dear David: Month Three

    March 18, 2006 by Gail

    Lufthansa Flight 471
    Toronto – Frankfurt

    Dear David,

    It’s been exactly three months since we said goodbye, and how could I not think of you while on an airplane? It’s the first time I’ve been in the sky since our last flight in November, and I thought of something that your friend Ed said back in December: that the Wright brothers’ first flight was on December 17, and you passed away only an hour into the 18th. I can’t help but think that date is significant, and perhaps it sat in the back of my mind when I booked this flight.

    Over the Atlantic the moon was full and bright, lighting the wings of the jet in an ethereal glow, a blanket of clouds below and a bracelet of stars above. I wished you were sitting beside me to witness such a spectacle, but the seat is occupied by an English fellow on a ski holiday in Austria. He didn’t comment on it at all.

    (more…)

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  7. Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

    March 17, 2006 by Gail

    Am off to the airport now…

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  8. Food World Tour

    March 16, 2006 by Gail

    Krisanne and I went from Korean BBQ last week to Persian cuisine this week. I went to the online edition of Now Toronto, the free current events paper for the city, to get some flavour inspiration and see if there were any recommended spots. The first two I found sounded marvellous, but the Persian restaurant Tempus won out:

    Iranian style hits Yonge strip

    It was easily accessible for both of us, and the prices looked very reasonable. When I arrived, I was salivating over the menu. EVERYTHING looked good. The interior is obscured by the narrow frontage, so if you go, don’t let the exterior put you off. It’s a long room and the decor is much more pleasing to the eye once you’re inside.

    It occurred to me while I was at Tempus that for all the Persian restaurants in North Vancouver, I’ve not been to a single one of them. Shame on me!

    If you have more conservative tastes when it comes to food I would definitely recommend Persian, because it’s flavourful but mild. The emphasis appears to be on herbs rather than spices, so it’s not going to be a jarring gastronomic experience for the person with a delicate constitution.

    Tempus
    508 Yonge Street
    (a couple of blocks north of College)

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  9. Itinerary Updated

    March 16, 2006 by Gail

    I now have all rail connections sorted as well as flights. I’m also making a stop in Eindhoven, in the south of Holland, to visit David’s friends before heading on to Cologne on Saturday, April 1.

    Fri, Mar 17: Lufthansa Toronto–>Hamburg
    Sun, Mar 26: Lufthansa Hamburg–>London Heathrow
    Virgin Trains
    London–>Wolverhampton
    Wed, Mar 29: BMI Baby Birmingham–>Amsterdam
    Dutch Rail Amsterdam–>Rotterdam
    Fri, Mar 31: Dutch Rail Rotterdam–>Eindhoven
    Sat, Apr 1: Dutch/German Rail Eindhoven–>Cologne
    Sun, Apr 2: Ryanair Dusseldorf–>London Stansted
    Mon, Apr 3: Air Canada London–>Toronto

    I received the invitation to Vinny’s memorial in the mail yesterday. It’s a beautiful card, with a photo of him smiling on the front.

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  10. Toronto Flickr Meetup @ Gypsy Co-op

    March 16, 2006 by Gail

    on fire

    I was starting to exhibit recluse behaviour this past week, so I made a point of attending the March meetup for the local Flickr group last night.

    My inclination to socialise has waxed and waned, with no real predictability. The day after I arrived in Toronto I bowed out from both my friend’s cocktail party and cosmic bowling later that night with another group of people. Rather unlike me, but “putting myself out there” usually means fielding questions that I still find awkward to answer. It’ll get easier with time.

    Anyway, I took this opportunity to drive the car and get myself oriented to the grid of the city. Vancouver doesn’t have much of a grid, owing to its waterways, so in this way getting around Toronto is easier.

    When I arrived at Gypsy Co-op I didn’t recognise a single face. The first person to approach me was Tracer99, then Mawz (also from BC), and later basslinegfx, dzgnboy, and b-real. Conversation flowed, with only a few pauses from me (“Why am I here? Umm… long story…”), and I did get to check out other people’s equipment. (That sounded salacious, didn’t it?) The lighting was a challenge, but I managed to get a couple of photos from the few available light sources:

    Gypsy Co-op wall of libations

    I figure one or two more Flickr meetups, and I’ll be able to deflect the questions with ease. Or, we’ll be in a venue with better lighting and I’ll just take more photos…

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