On falling asleep and awaking in a different world

It is currently 9pm in Timişoara Romania, and I'm currently relaxing in my hotel room, watching the Patriots game, and preparing myself for the grueling week ahead.

It also means that I've been on the move for the past 30 hours. After my last post from Logan airport my flight was able to take off without any Hannaference. The flight was uneventful apart from not getting much in the way of sleep. All in I probably dozed off and on for about three hours. Yet what a difference those three hours made.

After arriving in Munich I was immediately struck by the differences between Europe and the US. Not breaking any new ground here, but its something that you forget about until you encounter it anew.

The first big difference is the general cleanliness and orderly nature of the German people. There is a quiet efficiency to everything at the airport, and oddly off-kilter things as well. For example: There was a shop in the airport that sold traditional German wares such as steins and coo-coo clocks. Next to this shop was a high end porn store. There are the moving walkways that slowly creep ahead until you step on them, at which point a noticeable whoosh is heard and you begin moving at a pace we are more accustomed to. The neat efficiency of taking a shuttle bus from your gate to the waiting aircraft (the flight to Timişoara does not warrant a large plane, so you end up on a small jet with fold down stairs).

Of course Eastern Europe is slightly different than Western Europe. On arriving in Timişoara airport I noticed the lack of... well anything. There were two old buildings that appeared left over from the Communist years, weeds overgrowing, and a general sense of shoddiness that you don't find in many Western countries. The customs agent apparently doesn't have much to do, so she insisted on checking everyone's bags as they tried to leave the terminal. When I finally made my way outside the terminal my cab driver was waiting for me; and of course spoke no English at all. Not a problem however as he knew where we were going, and I wasn't in much mood to make small talk.

The hotel is much nicer than expected. The rooms are spacious, they have air conditioning (it's in the upper 80's here) and have new clean bathrooms. After checking in with loved ones and unpacking my bags I decided to head down to the restaurant and grab some dinner. This was at 6pm, and you would think I had a tail or something the way the waiters looked at me when I interrupted their wine/smoke break to ask if dinner was being served. Apparently six is a bit early for dinner in these parts.

After I finished my meal I decided to take a quick stroll around the immediate vicinity of the hotel to see if anything was going on. Of course Euro-rules apply, so on a Sunday nothing is open, but there appear to be quite a few shops in the area. Somehow I managed to find myself in the town square where around three hundred enraged football fans (European style) where having a rally. There were hundreds of flags, chants, and general hooliganism running rampant. If I had a bit more of my wits about me I would have stuck around to see how things broke down, but I'm afraid I was feeling a little fuzzy headed and decided I would need to pick my spots before I immersed myself in that sort of thing.

As I walked back to the hotel I realized that the women in Romania remind me of women from Long Island - a lot of big hair and ill-advised spandex.

That pretty much brings us full circle to me laying in bed - watching the Patriots and getting ready for bed. Hopefully with a good night of sleep I'll be ready to kick-start the week and maybe take part in some rallies.