welcome to my first official blog series. some of you were privy to my two previous emailed journal series: big adventure 2014 (my road trip through the northern united states to the west coast and bak through canada) and on the road again 2015 (a driving tour to washington dc and boston via unexpected wine regions in pennsylvania and maryland).
this series will chronicle my trip to cape town, south africa, for the IFLA world library and information congress, and promises to connect all of the disparate themes of my blog. this is my 14th IFLA conference, and the first where i’ve attempted to keep a written record, so here we go…
on wednesday, my friend teresa drove me the 2 hours from ottawa to montreal (thanks, mama t!) for the first leg of my journey, the flight to munich. it was an uneventful overnight flight. i watched the entire second season of broadchurch – excellent! – except i missed the last ten minutes of the final episode as we pulled into the gate. maybe i can catch it on the flight back.
challenge 1: how to spend 11.5 hours at munich airport
the airport hilton offers their “fit & fly” spa travellers. for €30 you have day-pass access to the gym, pool, sauna, steam room, jacuzzi and shower, with robe and towels provided. there are comfy lounge chairs near the pool, perfect for a nap. you can order food & drink too. i added a half hour massage, and managed to stretch my visit to nearly 6 hours. there is a large outdoor square between t1 and t2 which is home to, amongst other things, a bavarian beer garden. so i sat with a half litre of the house wheat beer and a plate of bread, cold meats, and salad. it was over 30c outside, perfect beer gardening weather. finally it was time to head to the gate for the flight to johannesburg. i got on board, started binge-watching season 6 of the good wife, and that was thursday.