Aloha from ..... Home

 [Note: This is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland.]

10/8/22

Aloha Everyone--

Hope you are enjoying your early fall.

We got back a week ago Thursday from our 35-day trip.  The first few days were rough.  Our bodies were in Kona but our jet-lagged brains were somewhere else. A 12-hour time difference is difficult -- during the day your body thinks it should be asleep, and at night it wants to be active.  For me, though, the worst part is that I'm in a mental fog and unable to concentrate -- even fairly simply tasks seem extremely complex.

Anyway, we're mo' betta now.  It was a pretty good trip.  The river cruise was interesting, and the water levels rose enough that we were able to complete the whole stretch from Budapest to Regensberg.  However, we learned that we just aren't the cruising type.  There are certainly positive aspects to it, and we can see why so many people love it.  But it neither requires nor allows the kind of intimate interaction with a culture that we've found so appealing and rewarding over our years of independent travel.  There are no problems to solve, nothing that you are required to figure out, and no one you have to communicate with to accomplish something.  This, of course, is the appeal to many people.  But not us.

As I mentioned before, the cruise was actually only a minor part of our itinerary, and most of the time we were on our own as we drove through the Czech Republic and a bit of Germany, ending in Berlin. We definitely enjoyed this part of the trip, but we hadn't anticipated that the weather would turn against us.  For us Hawaiians it was c-o-l-d, often getting down to the low 40's at night and only reaching the high 50's during the day.  In contrast to my shorts and t-shirts that I wear here, I had to put on long pants, a t-shirt, a shirt (usually long-sleeved), a sweater, a fleece over that, a jacket, and a neck scarf.  And even then I was chilly most of the time.  There was also a fair amount of light rain that didn't necessarily make it impossible to sight-see, but certainly made it less pleasant.  Oh, well, this is part of travel that you can't really control, other than trying to time your visit according to seasonal weather patterns.

Parade

We got back just in time for the Iron Man Triathlon.  This is the first year since Covid that it has been held, and in order to deal with the backlog of athletes who had qualified for the last race, there are two days of competition this time  -- Thursday and today.  That extra day has meant additional disruption to the community, but we think it is worth it.  We volunteered to help with Monday's parade, as we have for the past several times, and it was fun to interact with so many people from all over the world.

Yesterday we got our special Covid boosters.  No huge reactions so far.  By the way, we were relieved that we were able to avoid getting sick on our trip, despite all the exposure.   Today I have an appointment with my retina doc.  I don't think I need an injection yet, but I'll find out for sure.

Ok, that's it for now.  We can't do our normal routine today because of the race,  but we may still be able to have a breakfast picnic at the shore.  If not, we'll just picnic by our pool!  Take care. Stay warm and healthy. Stay away from the crazies.