My welcome gift from the Hotel Koenigshof - You can keep your real bugs, Andrew Zimmern, I'll take the chocolate ones.
A fresh springtime dessert from Cafe Rischart - Erbeer-rhabarber datschi (Strawberry Rhubarb....uuhhhhh...datschi). Really much more appetizing than it looks.
Busking Munich style - yes, that is a grand piano being played on the street.

Airline Passenger Etiquette

Riding as a passenger on an airplane may seem like a fairly straight-forward activity, but after sitting next to my seat buddy for 8 hours, I've come to the conclusion that there is a very important code of behavior for plane travel.

1.) When people have their headphones on and are watching a movie, they probably don't want to talk to you.

2.) Chewing gum on an airplane is no different than chewing gum in any other public place. People CAN hear you when you chew with your mouth open. "Smack, smack, squish, smack, pop." The only oral noises I want to hear from you are words, but only when you are not violating rule number 1.

3.) If the airline meal has given you a particularly heavy case of gas, excuse yourself and make use of the lavatories. Yes, I CAN hear that as well, and we won't even talk about the smells.

4.) It is a simple courtesy to close your window shade when the sun is shining on someone's video screen.

5.) It is better to gently wake someone and excuse yourself to sneak past their seat than to awake them by straddling their lap and passing gas.

There are more rules that we may add to the list as the trip continues, but these are the ones that applied to last night's flight. I'd also like to mention that Lufthansa should really invest in some quality noise-canceling headphones for their business class seats if they are going to make it virtually impossible to use your own headphones with the inflight entertainment system. That would have made the smacking and farting slightly more tolerable.

Airline meal: Mixed greens with hearts of palm and potato salad, Spinach stuffed gnocchi with roasted cremini mushrooms and vegetable cream sauce, Manchego and roquefort cheese with raisins and dates, tres leches cake with fresh berries, topped off with a nice glass of port.

Somali Driver's Ed

I haven't even left Charlotte yet, but things are already off to quite a start. I finished packing around 2PM, and my cab came to pick me up at 3PM. The driver seemed innocent enough when we set off, but it turns out he may have been a little too innocent.

The ride to the airport took twice as long as it should have, and I was having considerable difficulty determining which route he was trying to take to get there. He passed my usual route down West Blvd and headed down Tryon instead. I thought he was going to take I-277 to Wilkinson Blvd, but he passed that as well. Turned out he just wanted to drive around uptown looking for a sign for the airport - I opted to give him directions instead. Even with my directions, however, the language barrier cost us a few extra miles due to missed turns. While I was trying to direct him, he opted to make a few phone calls instead, chatting away in Somali. I figured the language was either Amharic or Somali, so I took a guess based on facial features and asked if he was from Somalia. He became very excited and started to share his life story.

Amidst the explanations of how he left Somalia because of all the unrest, moved to Saudi Arabia for 5 months, spent 3 months trying to get into a university in Italy and then finally fulfilled his dream of moving to America, he also added that he has only been driving for 2 months. "You've only been a taxi driver for 2 months?" I asked.

"No, got my driver's license 2 months ago, been driving taxi for one week. Soon I will learn my way to the airport with help from people like you."

We were pulling onto the entrance road to the airport as he was wrapping up that last sentence. That's when he tried to merge directly into an oncoming red toyota. There was some swerving, honking and a quiet "sorry," but we survived without impact.

The airport was packed, and traffic was at a stand-still, but I opted to get out and walk to the Lufthansa counter rather than sit in the taxi any longer and risk death so early in my trip. Once inside, the staff at Lufthansa took care of me as usual, and I made it through security quickly, despite the long line. I'll be boarding my flight to Munich in the next 20 minutes, and I'm looking forward to a long pleasant flight and a day of relaxation in Munich before things really get started.