Hamburg -- which I know (my mom's BFF lives here; so, for the longest time, did my maternal uncle & family, and we've stopped over often enough on our way to Föhr) ... but it's still nice to just do the tourist thing for once, with no family and other strings attached. Today's business thing was OK, but I got here a day early (yesterday) and I'll have almost all day tomorrow before returning home, too.
If I get through the night, that is, after tonight's fire alarm at my hotel. :D
Nice. I liked Hamburg a lot but another visit is looooong overdue!
Our meeting today was nowhere near as harassing as expected, which is saying something after three years of exchanges that had so far always ended in aggravation.
Only packing one book to start with: you are SUCH a grown up! :D Hope the business trip is fruitful and hassle free. I'll have to tell MT to be on the lookout for your MacBeth review. ;-)
You can tell him I *own* the book now but that doesn't necessarily mean I'm going to read and review it very soon -- after all, I also own several other books by Nesbo which I still have to work up the nerve to read as well ... :D
Does fire alarm at the hotel qualify as hassle free?
No, well, it depends: was it a false alarm? Was it just the once? And was it after reasonable people go to bed? Actually it's a hassle no matter what. (I had it happen to me in Indianapolis - 3 times during the night, all false alarms. But now I ALWAYS travel with my most puritan, flannel, pjs.)
Not a false alarm. I had plenty of those, too, in the building where I was last working in Cologne; we'd moved in while they were still in the process of finishing some of the other floors (it was a comprehensive restoration, both inside and out, complete with gutting and rebuilding the interior along new floor plans), and the construction workers easily produced a shortcut / blackout per week, always with the fire brigade being on instant alarm. It got to the point where I was tempted not even to leave the building anymore, the false alarms were so frequent.
Based on that experience, I was kind of hoping for the same thing tonight (especially since I'd already changed for the night, too ... lesson learned: bras and shoelaces can be major hold-ups in an emergency). But, no. There doesn't seem to have been any open fire, thank God, but once we'd evacuated out onto the street we could all smell something burnt coming from the interior of the hotel -- judging by where the firemen went, most likely the ground floor or the basement. We were inside the building again in the space of some 20-30 minutes, so it can't have been anything major. Still -- call me paranoid, but I'm sleeping in my clothes tonight. I've also packed completely (my laptop will be the last thing to go into my travel pack once I turn off the light), so I'll be able to leave the hotel at the drop of a hat if I have to.
I always travel with my Merrell clogs, that I call my 'ugly airport shoes'; they're mesh clogs, so easy to take off for TSA security, and I can run in them for those times my connections are too close together in time, and too far apart in distance. They were especially helpful during the fire alarms. I think I might have thrown a hoodie on over the pjs, using layers to hide the lack of foundational garments. ;P
It should be! Fry has a style of his own when it comes to portraying this kind of stuff (his book on musical history is a hoot and a half -- and nevertheless informative, too).
You were going away for 2 days! LMAO I'm going to show my husband your posts next time he complains about my book buying. (I'm heading to my favorite book festival this Saturday!)
Enjoy the festival then! I hope you'll find a LOT of books there ... :)
Airport book stores have a special kind of magnetism for me; I seriously can't explain why. I've p*d off quite a few people because I seem to be constitutionally unable to pass them by without entering (and, in 9 cases out of 10, emerging with one or more books).
At least, there is no chance your trip will be boring.
If I get through the night, that is, after tonight's fire alarm at my hotel. :D
Our meeting today was nowhere near as harassing as expected, which is saying something after three years of exchanges that had so far always ended in aggravation.
Have fun being a tourist! :D
And I'm glad to hear your meeting went better than expected.
Does fire alarm at the hotel qualify as hassle free?
Based on that experience, I was kind of hoping for the same thing tonight (especially since I'd already changed for the night, too ... lesson learned: bras and shoelaces can be major hold-ups in an emergency). But, no. There doesn't seem to have been any open fire, thank God, but once we'd evacuated out onto the street we could all smell something burnt coming from the interior of the hotel -- judging by where the firemen went, most likely the ground floor or the basement. We were inside the building again in the space of some 20-30 minutes, so it can't have been anything major. Still -- call me paranoid, but I'm sleeping in my clothes tonight. I've also packed completely (my laptop will be the last thing to go into my travel pack once I turn off the light), so I'll be able to leave the hotel at the drop of a hat if I have to.
Airport book stores have a special kind of magnetism for me; I seriously can't explain why. I've p*d off quite a few people because I seem to be constitutionally unable to pass them by without entering (and, in 9 cases out of 10, emerging with one or more books).