Some travel snapshots

Not everyone got to travel internationally since the start of the pandemic, so I figured I’d share a few pictures from my quick visit back home last month. (All photos taken with the camera on my iPhone 11.)

 

Descending into Schiphol. I fly into Amsterdam because it’s the closest major airport to where my family lives. Big fan of both the city and the country.

Schiphol airport is best airport. Whenever I see this place, I am happy because I’m either about to see family or I’m about to head home.

A local bakery/cafe in my old home city. All the shops were open and at what looked like pre-pandemic business. Indoor mask-wearing was mandatory and universal.

Prinzipalmarkt, the heart of the main shopping mile of Münster. Bombed to rubble in WWII and (luckily) rebuilt to match the old historic buildings.

The pub/restaurant next to the old City Hall. I want to think that my great-grandpa had a beer there every once in a while back in the 19th century already.

Looking down Prinzipalmarkt the other way, north to south.

St. Ludger’s parish church. My old Kindergarten is still there, just beyond the left edge of the photo.

The old Stuhlmacher pub next to the historic City Hall, where the Peace of Westphalia was signed in 1648, ending the Thirty Years’ War.

I remember playing in that fountain when I was a little kid. The church on the left is St. Lambert’s, where my great-grandfather was baptized in 1869.

Auf Schalke. 57,000 fans in attendance. Proof of vaccination was mandatory for entry, but it still felt weird to be in a big crowd like this again.

One of the things I miss from there: German bread. This isn’t even a fancy bakery, just the bakery counter at a large discount store.

Heading back to Amsterdam by train after six days of packed visitation schedule with the family.

Had the entire 1st class compartment to myself, which is a very acceptable way to travel. This is an Intercity, so not even one of the really nice trains, which go 200MPH and look like a Star Trek shuttle had a baby with an Apple Store.

Descending into Keflavik. Iceland is a pretty place.

Stopping over at Keflavik Airport on the way back to Boston.

They renovated since the last time I came through here.

This was the whole passenger load on the flight back to the US. It was a week before the end of the travel ban for Europeans, so it was all Americans or Permanent Residents going home. I’ve never been on a transatlantic flight that was this empty, and it was amazing.

Iceland, bringing the natural beauty again.

The Icelandair route between BOS and KEF goes over southern Greenland, so when the weather is good, you can get shots like this one from 36,000 feet up. (It’s not even slightly green. Erik the Red was a very skilled real estate agent.)

With the way the new case numbers are looking on both sides of the Atlantic right now, it may be a while before I get to go again, so I am glad I went when I did.