Dispatches from Hamburg, Day 1

I have about an hour left before my taxi arrives to take me to the train station.

I see two ladies walking back from the school run.  They are walking side by side, each pushing a baby stroller.  They look calm and at peace through the looking glass that is my living room window.  I have a sudden moment of clarity.  These ladies are doing what they were meant to do, what they were biologically programmed to do by nature – to protect and nurture their young so that their young can grow up and feel the same biological urge to find a mate, make babies, and protect and nurture them so that they can, in turn, do the same.  Just as their parents did, and their parents parents did before them for generations.  Every thing else we do is fluff to pass the time between moments of creations.

My taxi driver arrives on time.  He is an an affable fellow.  We engage in some small talk. He tells me about the latest round of snow we are expecting to get tomorrow. I’m glad it’s not today.

I wait in Costa Coffee above the departure lounge in Heathrow Airport.  So far the timings have been perfect.  The cabbie arrived on time.  The train arrived on time.  The second train arrived on time and I am here 2 hours before I need to be here.  But I am a mobile warrior, which makes any place my office.  I have my macbook.  I have my iPhone.  What else do I need?  Dave and the other guys should be joining me shortly.  Until then, I am passing the time emailing, facebooking, writing, and reading Gerald Weinberg’s book, Wienberg on Writing.

Wheels up at Heathrow 19:55, an hour and half later and I am in Hamburg, Germany.  The airport is clean and efficient.  It’s also relatively empty compared to Heathrow.  There are five of us, one to many to catch a single cab, so we have to take two.  We encounter our first hitch of the day when the cab driver asks us where we are going.  Dave can’t remember the name of the hotel.  I never bothered to check. We spend nearly 10 minutes scrambling to find the hotel details.  Dave has a map of Hamburg and a general idea of the area the hotel is in so we jump in the taxis and hope for the best.  We eventually find the place – the Linder Hotel on Neander Strasse.  It’s a posh hotel not far from St Michael’s Cathedral.  I am impressed with the room.  It’s like a mini studio flat.

We drop our stuff off in the rooms and then meet for a quick nightcap.  We tell a few war stories to deepen the rapport amongst the group.  War stories told, we call it a night.  Tomorrow’s events kick off at 0800.