… is the beginning of a famous poem* Urians Reise (Urian's Journey) by Matthias Claudius.
I continue with a free translation of the second line:Therefore I took my passport and trolley case and chose to go traveling.
*Wenn einer eine Reise tut, dann kann er was erzählen, drum nehm ich meinen Stock und Hut tät das Reisen wählen
I am writing about my latest and last trip to Freiburg's partner city in the States, Madison, Wisconsin, which eventually meant 28 hours of travel time to get to Chicago first.
Lufthansa told me it wouldn't be safe to take the direct train ICE202* from
Freiburg to Frankfurt Flughafen at 7:54 AM to catch flight LH9150 run by
United Airlines at 12:45 PM to Chicago. So Red Baron took it safe and woke up at 5:20 AM to catch the ICE374 to Frankfurt Airport at 6:50 AM, changing trains at Mannheim to arrive in Frankfurt at 9:06 AM.
*Intercity Express
It all started badly when I waited for my taxi to Freiburg train station that I had ordered the previous evening to pick me up at 6:20 AM in front of my house. I became extremely nervous and called the TAXI dispatcher three times, only to learn they had difficulties. Eventually, the taxi was 10 minutes late, but the driver made it to the station in time, and I was safe.
I felt somewhat unsafer when the display panel at the station showed that my train had a delay of 25 minutes, although it would still be well in time to easily catch one of the frequent connecting ICEs from Mannheim to Frankfurt Airport. Apparently, the delay was due to construction work south of Freiburg between Basel and Müllheim, as the loudspeaker repeated it frequently.
The minutes started to add up, and when the delay reached one hour, Deutsche Bahn (DB) simply canceled my train. Instead, they offered me a seat on ICE202 to Cologne via Frankfurt Airport. It was the train Lufthansa had told me to avoid! In the meantime, the platform was full of people because all earlier trains running north had been canceled.
The train scheduled for 7:54 AM finally rolled into the station more than an hour late. I entered the rail car in the first-class sector of the platform only to find out that DB had dropped first-class for second-class carriages with more seats to accommodate all those delayed and stranded passengers.
Suddenly I found myself in an empty wagon while frustrated travelers stormed the rail cars in the usual second-class sectors. On our trip to Frankfurt, some people from other parts of the train diffused into my neighborhood, but until the bitter end, the one seat beside me stayed empty.
Since the train had to load more people during intermediate stops, it took longer to board than usual, so ICE202 accumulated additional delays. So I became nervous again, deliberating whether I would be able to catch the plane in Frankfurt and cross the Atlantic with my six co-travelers of the Freiburg-Madison-Gesellschaft (FMG).
Suddenly my phone rang. On the other end, FMG's president said, "Don't worry. Our flight to Chicago is canceled. We will all be booked on other flights." Luck in misfortune, and one load was off my mind.
With a forced march, I arrived at the United Air counter at 12:15 PM. Together with FMG's vice president, Red Baron was booked on UA47 at 1:05 PM from Frankfurt to Houston, arriving at 5:50 PM local time.
Upon arrival in Houston, we had to pass immigration, pick up our luggage, and check it in again on flight UA2422 to Chicago. Although we had more than three hours of stopover, time ran short. I was lucky to have an experienced vice president on my side. She recommended carrying our luggage on the plane to save time on our arrival, scheduled for 12:45 AM the following day. Her glorious idea gave us a little time to spend in the UA lounge.
Although our flight to Chicago was delayed by 20 minutes, we arrived only 10 minutes late, thanks to our pilot's speed.
Ground transport to downtown Chicago was scarce at that time of the day. On the other hand, traffic was light, so we arrived at The Drake Hotel at 2 AM.
The Drake greeted us with Aquila non captat muscas, which I translated as " The eagle catches no flies, although I had to look up the significance of the slogan: An influential person does not deal with insignificant matters. I dealt with my bed first.
It was the longest trip of my life, nearly 28 hours from my home in Freiburg to The Drake in Chicago. So it was only a minor mishap that both of us, the vice president and Red Baron, were left with the vegetarian dish on the plane. Anyway, the quality of those menus served has deteriorated over the years.
The next day our FMG group was ready to make the Windy City. Five of us
took the architectural tour by boat.
I had participated in it twice
already, so two of us walked the Magnificent Mile instead.
On our way to the Chicago Art Institute, where
Georgia O'Keeffe
had worked, we looked into Neiman's, and later I bought my Nike Air, as
usual. When we arrived at the museum, we discovered it was not only closed
on Mondays as expected. but on Tuesdays too. With a Keeffe expert on my
side, I wanted to deepen my knowledge of Georgia's paintings, but I was deeply disappointed.
Well, the work of
Alexander Calder
(1898-1976) is not new. although it was my first encounter with the artist
who held a degree from Stevens Institute of Technology in mechanical
engineering. Called an American sculptor, he became mostly known for his
innovative mobiles (kinetic sculptures powered by motors or air currents)
that embrace chance in their aesthetic.
The statement that when an object is put into motion by
another force, inertia slows that movement until it stops is totally
wrong.
Instead, inertia keeps the motion going until drag on the mobile moving through the air eventually stops it. Never mind. Aren't Calder's mobiles real works of art?
*Intercity Express
It all started badly when I waited for my taxi to Freiburg train station that I had ordered the previous evening to pick me up at 6:20 AM in front of my house. I became extremely nervous and called the TAXI dispatcher three times, only to learn they had difficulties. Eventually, the taxi was 10 minutes late, but the driver made it to the station in time, and I was safe.
I felt somewhat unsafer when the display panel at the station showed that my train had a delay of 25 minutes, although it would still be well in time to easily catch one of the frequent connecting ICEs from Mannheim to Frankfurt Airport. Apparently, the delay was due to construction work south of Freiburg between Basel and Müllheim, as the loudspeaker repeated it frequently.
The minutes started to add up, and when the delay reached one hour, Deutsche Bahn (DB) simply canceled my train. Instead, they offered me a seat on ICE202 to Cologne via Frankfurt Airport. It was the train Lufthansa had told me to avoid! In the meantime, the platform was full of people because all earlier trains running north had been canceled.
The train scheduled for 7:54 AM finally rolled into the station more than an hour late. I entered the rail car in the first-class sector of the platform only to find out that DB had dropped first-class for second-class carriages with more seats to accommodate all those delayed and stranded passengers.
Suddenly I found myself in an empty wagon while frustrated travelers stormed the rail cars in the usual second-class sectors. On our trip to Frankfurt, some people from other parts of the train diffused into my neighborhood, but until the bitter end, the one seat beside me stayed empty.
Since the train had to load more people during intermediate stops, it took longer to board than usual, so ICE202 accumulated additional delays. So I became nervous again, deliberating whether I would be able to catch the plane in Frankfurt and cross the Atlantic with my six co-travelers of the Freiburg-Madison-Gesellschaft (FMG).
Suddenly my phone rang. On the other end, FMG's president said, "Don't worry. Our flight to Chicago is canceled. We will all be booked on other flights." Luck in misfortune, and one load was off my mind.
With a forced march, I arrived at the United Air counter at 12:15 PM. Together with FMG's vice president, Red Baron was booked on UA47 at 1:05 PM from Frankfurt to Houston, arriving at 5:50 PM local time.
Upon arrival in Houston, we had to pass immigration, pick up our luggage, and check it in again on flight UA2422 to Chicago. Although we had more than three hours of stopover, time ran short. I was lucky to have an experienced vice president on my side. She recommended carrying our luggage on the plane to save time on our arrival, scheduled for 12:45 AM the following day. Her glorious idea gave us a little time to spend in the UA lounge.
Although our flight to Chicago was delayed by 20 minutes, we arrived only 10 minutes late, thanks to our pilot's speed.
Ground transport to downtown Chicago was scarce at that time of the day. On the other hand, traffic was light, so we arrived at The Drake Hotel at 2 AM.
The Drake greeted us with Aquila non captat muscas, which I translated as " The eagle catches no flies, although I had to look up the significance of the slogan: An influential person does not deal with insignificant matters. I dealt with my bed first.
It was the longest trip of my life, nearly 28 hours from my home in Freiburg to The Drake in Chicago. So it was only a minor mishap that both of us, the vice president and Red Baron, were left with the vegetarian dish on the plane. Anyway, the quality of those menus served has deteriorated over the years.
|
| Near the Chicago River. He is still there. |
After lunch, we decided to visit Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA), which, according to its founders, is different from a general art museum where the values of the past are enshrined. Instead, it
is a place where new ideas are shown and tested.
is a place where new ideas are shown and tested.
Well, the work of
Alexander Calder
(1898-1976) is not new. although it was my first encounter with the artist
who held a degree from Stevens Institute of Technology in mechanical
engineering. Called an American sculptor, he became mostly known for his
innovative mobiles (kinetic sculptures powered by motors or air currents)
that embrace chance in their aesthetic.
Calder's mobiles are based on perfectly balanced levers on a fulcrum. A mobile disturbed by an air current will rotate. I wanted to embrace him already as a physicus ludens, a playing physicist, when I discovered a blunder.
Instead, inertia keeps the motion going until drag on the mobile moving through the air eventually stops it. Never mind. Aren't Calder's mobiles real works of art?
On my flight back, I noticed that I had no tray in front of me. Somebody must've broken it, and the slot was scotch-taped over. The purser gave the impression of seeing the damage for the first time, but then, in a stroke of genius, he covered my knees with a thick cushion on which he placed the tray with the meal, the same procedure in the morning for breakfast. Later, he said that United would like to compensate me for my inconvenience. At home, I found a credit note of 200 U$ in my email to be used for my next flight (?) with United.
This time, I caught my connecting train in Frankfurt and arrived only 15 minutes late at Freiburg station. At home again.
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