Torben Week!

After about two weeks after Torbens big move to Seattle, I also went ther for a week to spend time with him. We had so much fun! With Kenmore Air we flew in a Beaver to the San Juan Islands, which was Torbens first floatplane-trip. On one leg he even sat in the copilot-seat. We visited the Museum of Flight and Paul Allens superb Historic Flight Collection at Everett. We really did a lot of man-stuff and enjoyed every moment of everything. I really hope we can see each other as often as possible. On my flickr.com stite (click "mehr Fotos/more pictures" in the right corner of this page) there are more pics - enjoy!

Sad day!

As much as I like airplanes, today I hated them. My beloved son Torben moved from Hannover to Seattle with my ex-wife. Alltough I knew this day was comming since a few weeks, this hit me so hard, I can rarely find words.
During the last weeks I did spend so much time with my little guy trying to use his remaining time here in Germany as good as possible - I cannot describe the feelings I had when I kissed him good-bye at the gate and saw him walking through the finger into his plane with his little trolleycase. I was trying to act normal around him, trying to keep my sadness inside myself, because Torben likes flying and he was so excited.

Cuba Libre!

Our ride from Havanna to Holguin - a 30 year old Boeing 737-200 from mexican carrier Global Air, operated for Aerocaribbean.

Viva la revolucion! Such paintings are just everywhere - like in most socialist-countries.

Bull-Taxi: such vehicles are very common in Cuba, mostly due to the lack of money and fuel. On the streets you see a lot of horse and bull-coaches, many bicycles but few cars. This great pic was taken by Katrin.

A long dream came true over Kartin's and my birthday: We decided to fly to Cuba and do it our style. We did not fly to the huge tourist resorts in Varadero, on the northern tip of the island, but rather to Holguin, which is a province in the southern part and less crowded. What a great experience. In Cuba there are two political systems at the same time - Capitalism and Socialism: tourists who live in luxurious hotels and can buy anything they want with their own currency - CUC (Cuban Pesos Convertible) - and the natives who just get the basics from their own currency (CUP). Some products you just cannot buy with the local CUP currency. Very confusing.

We did several trips by plane, train, boat and bus all over the island and including a short one-day trip to Havanna. Words can hardly describe the great time we had. This is truely a paradise island. Please have a look at my flickr.com pics (Click the "more pictures" button on the top right of this page) and view my Cuba photoalbum.

To Milano in style!

What a nice way to finish the week. Yesterday I was treated with a nice ride on our Cessna 560 Citation V for a nice filght from Hannover to Milano for a crew change. This flight came including nice views over across the Alps, spotting in Milano Malpensa, the international airport of Milano and on the way back with a great sunset. Such excursions remind me what a great job I have. Special thanks go out to my colleague Markus, who enabled me to do this while he was maning the office!

I want beaches, planes and great food, paraka'lo!

My wish was granted - Katrin and myself hat a great time on Corfu island, Greece. It has been a long time for me since I had a real beach holiday. We went snocheling, swimming, sightseeing and spotting - and the great thing is: on Corfu you can spend time spotting and swimming at the same time. We had so much delicious food - mainly fish - and I am turning into a greek redwine addict.

In this week we drove for nearly 1000km all over the island - and even found a little village that was a set for the 1979 James Bond "for your eyes only" movie.
One thing did not work out though - we were planning to fly with AirSealines scheduled floatplane service from Corfu to Paxos; however the airline just suspendet their services. On the other hand I cannot complain about the things we did insted on Corfu.
As usually I uploaded (and still annding to it) some more pics on my flickr.com site - please click on the "mehr Fotos/more pics! button on the top of this page!

London calling......

It has been a while, but last week I had the pleasure to return to one of my favorite cities for a three day businss trip. Allthough I have been to London quite a few times over the last 20 years, this has been the first time I flew into London City Airport in the docklands. Quite convenient as the DLR (dockland Light Railway) stops directly next to the terminal - so no need for a taxi at all.

A business partner treated myself and about 200 others with a pleasant day out on the river Thames and dinner at Madame Tousaud. We had a lot of fun that day. Also it was nice to catch up with many other guys I know since years, but rarely get to see them. I definetely need to comback...

Buenos Dias Espana

Handling a charterflight with an orchestra to/from Spain led me and my girlfriend to a nice weekend in Spain, involving lots of driving though from the very south up to the foot of the Pyrenees in the far north. We had one entire day to ourselfes in a tiny little cottage (www.masianovales.com). Far away from the next village Katrin found David and Maria's location through extensive internet reserch. Their little guesthouse in the Aragon area is a restored farmhouse which is nicely restored. All rooms have their own style and due to the lack of nearby restaurants, the couple cooks for its guests in the evening. Bikes were complimentary so we rode many kilometers along old railway tracks. The top pic shows our hotel. What a nice and relaxing place.
The business part of the job went very smooth as well by the way...