ITiCSE getting there!

Saturday June 25

I left the house at 9:50 to head to Houston for my plane. I got there in 3 hours 20 minutes exactly like google maps had said! The parking lot was nearly full and I had the Fast Park bus following me around as I searched for a covered spot. Glad there was no one else in the bus while the driver was doing that!


The plane was very full but KLM so service was good. I sat among some folks going on a mission trip to Kenya. I watched one movie and slept some.

Sunday July 26 In the air – Amsterdam - Darmstadt
There was no one around my 8 hour lay over in Amsterdam. However, Schiphol Airport is a great place – I found a comfy lounge areas with a series of different little “rooms” and actually slept comfortably.

There were lots of interesting shops to stroll through and I had lunch in a coffee shop complete with Delft teacups as booths! My plane to Frankfurt was late due to the commissioning of a new control tower at Frankfurt which didn’t work right, reducing flow into the airport.

When I got there, I rushed through the airport to find the bus for Darmstadt. Although I was a couple of minutes late, the bus was still there because it was so full. I had to stand in the aisle next to the driver until a woman moved her child onto her lap and let me sit with them. I had met the guy across the aisle from me at a meeting in Portland and he took my bag so even more people squeezed onto the overcrowded bus! Finally we were off.

It was quite hot in Darmstadt but we lugged out suitcases to the Etap hotel where we checked in and then hurried off to the conference reception. I missed registration but did chat with old friends and have some yucky apple wine. Several of us headed off into the old city for beer and German food at an outside beer garden. Finally back to the hotel to unpack.