Travel : Frankfurt – Verona – Malcesine

I have my vaccination card. (Yes, of course I’m vaccinated, and yes, of course I’ve had a booster shot too.) I have my negative Covid test. (Yes, of course I had a PCR test.) I have my letter of introduction from the Italian Minister of Sport, certifying that I am a competitor in an International Competition. (This might get me past a quarantine requirement.)

I get to LAX two hours early. Yay, me. This enables me to hang out in the beautiful Lufthansa lounge, complete with nice wine and delicious cheese. A quote on the wall: “the world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page”. Well that’s a pleasant sendoff – I want to read the whole book!

my kind of departure lounge

It’s time! … off on a beautiful 747-800, probably 25 years old and solid as a rock.

the bird that changed the world

I will gloss over the trip – nice early dinner, lots of wine (Medoc), lots of sleep (yay!), a nice breakfast, and poof there I am in Frankfurt feeling kind of like I’m adjusted to the time already.

welcome to Frankfurt

After a brief little delay – editing photos if you must know 🙂 – on the road again…

no, it wasn’t a 737-800 Max, I did check

Another nice little meal – why do European airlines get this so much righter than US ones?

(The coffee on board was delicious, but I experimentally verified that when you put pepper in it thinking it is sugar, it tastes horrible. Sigh)

And so now, Verona!

first view of Lago de Garda

I have reserved an Alfa Romeo from SIXT, a German car rental company, and no they do not have any Alfas (boo), but the nice girl behind the rental desk sympathized with me and gave me a BMW 2ix instead (yay). I did have visions of motoring around Italy in a little Alfa… So be it.

not a bad way to explore the countryside

Off to Malcesine – I decided to leave the car in “Italian” so the GPS instructions would help me learn Italian. Hehe. I now know sinistra (left), destra (right), and rotatoria (roundabout) pretty well.

(By the way, Italians speak Italian velocemente – fast – and actually troppo velocemente – too fast. Whew. I have been learning l’Italiano – capisco un po’ – but I have work to do. )

wow. that’s just about all I can say

There was max traffic and so my car routed me onto side roads closer to the lake and wow, just wow. How beautiful is Lake Garda?

made it!

Day Minus One : Zero Hour

So it’s Sunday, August 29, and it’s early, and I’m packing. Yippee. I’m going to be gone for about four weeks, sailing, touristing, and business-ing, so I need a wide variety of “stuff”. And I am not someone who loves lugging around a lot of luggage.

First decision – I am bringing my sailing bag in addition to my roller bag. This gives me enough room for sailing “stuff” like wetsuit, boots, life jacket, etc. and will give me a convenient bag to take to the regatta each day.

sailing bag about to be checked at LAX … roller bag in the background … always check the tags, yep, VERONA

Second decision – yes … I am bringing my helmet! (I know you are cheering out there … Moth sailing is dangerous anyway, but in a big fleet with strong winds …)

Moth sailing essentials – wetsuit, gloves, and … helmet

Okay, so I’m off …

Later: yeah well I forgot something pretty important – my Garmin starting watch. No way to use a Velocitek on a Moth. Sigh.

Checking In

Hi! (Buongiorno!) If you’re here, you probably know me, but if you don’t, hi, I’m Ole Eichhorn, and I’m in Malcesine, Italy to sail in the 2021 International Moth World Championship. I’m going to post a few thoughts and a lot of pictures here, as an easy way to share. Your comments are eagerly solicited; please email me at ole.eichhorn@gmail.com. Ciao e avanti!

seen on a fence

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