Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Note to International Readers

Hi Folks,
I'd really like some feedback about the chapters that take place in Europe and the UK and elsewhere (don't wanna give too much away now) and how accurate the descriptions of things from other countries seemed. I did quite a bit of research, which is why it took me a while to get them ready to post, so I hope it was worth it and seems like an decent account of other countries. I've been to Germany, so that was a bit easier, but I'd love to hear whether Scotland rang true and whether I did Germany the justice it deserves. I won't mention the others I'm planning to have Trish and Jon visit, but I hope that the European tour is as much fun for you guys as it was for me. Of course, I always welcome comments from fellow travelers on this shared journey and I wonder if the story inspires the same wanderlust it did in me for those of us in the States and Canada too!
Thanks again for holding on for the ride-I've appreciated all the wonderful comments and encouragement so far and I'll try to keep up with my muse! (She's talking really fast these days, LOL)
Opester

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Loving your story!!! And yes it's feeding the wanderlust!!!! Already thinking about doing some european shows next tour!!!!!

P in Canada

Opester said...

Hey, thanks for sharing! It's definitely doing it for me too-so much so that I absolutely had to find a German restaurant last weekend as nothing but wienerschnitzel would do!

Jovifun said...

Hi Opester!
First I want to let you know that I love your story! I'm hooked since the first chapter!
I'm from Germany and accidentally I visited Neuschwanstein 4 weeks ago myself. You did a very good job with your description of this wonderful scenery and the sad life of Ludwig II. As I am an Bavarian it's nearly my duty to visit this place and all his other beautiful castles.
The route you had described is a bit long for our standars here. The distance between Munich and Neuschwanstein is round about 150 km and that isn't a short distance for European standards. *lol* Please take this only as a little hint, cause it really doesn't disturbs your story.
So far thanks for sharing this story with us! Hope you'll be up with a new chapter soon! *lol*

KTF
Sandra

richiesambora said...

Hey Opester,
I love your story sooooo much. :-))
Thanks a helluva lot for sharing it with us.

One question: is the wienerschnitzel really known as typical German food?
I thinks that's funny because actually it's typically Austrian. (as the name itself says) ;-p

There's something else that confuses me soemtimes. It's the different local times your using. Like in Chapter 238: "It was approaching five o’clock in Buffalo, but it was only quarter to eleven in Munich."
But: when we have 11 o'clock in Germany it's 5AM in Buffalo (not PM)
Another example (Chapter 235) "It was just barely eight in the morning where we were, but it was mid-afternoon in Colorado"
I think Colorado is 8 hours behind our time. so 8am in europe means midnight in Colorado (not mid-afternoon).

Actually these mistakes don't really bother me. But when I see how concerned you are about the local settings in Europe, I thought you maybe would like to know about it. ;-)

I'm looking forward for the next chapters. And THX a lot to your muse. I love it that she's talking so fast right now. ;-P
~Andy

Anonymous said...

It's feeding the wanderlust -hey, this is a german word ;)- I'd like to see Colorado.
But the German Cuisine is more than Wiener Schnitzel. ;) It is very different in the Nort, South, East or West.

Opester said...

Thank you so much, everyone, for the wonderful comments so far! I just had to respond back:

I will tell you that I have had a horrible time with the time zones, to be honest! Andy, you are right! I don't know why I thought it was a six hour difference, but I think I may have written that before I found a link to a world clock that gives me comparable times in different places. I do apologize for this error, but I am afraid there may yet be more as to correct it would change the story line in a coming chapter. I really am sorry to have screwed up there, but hopefully it gets better in subsequent countries, but it is 2 hours off for Germany!
As for wiener schnitzel, I remember it a lot, but especially in Bavaria, I guess because it is close to the Alps. I also found it was a staple on German restaurant menus here (thank goddess) as I had such a wicked craving for it after writing about it. Most of the restaurants mentioned are real places and I checked their menus for accuracy. What I missed most about germany was the exceptional coffee-I don't know how you guys make it, but it is superb and while it's been 20 years since I was there, I still remember it! I loved Germany and hopefully I can get back there again someday!

Sandra, I did wonder if it was longer than the info I found suggested, but when I was there years ago, I remember we did a whirlwind tour (my husband was in the military) and we went from Munich to Garmisch in one day. I just had to get us to Garmisch as it is so breathtaking and I really did miss out on Neuschwanstein the first time I was there. That's so cool that you got to visit just recently too! I think I need a consultant in every major country to keep me on track, LOL, but I'm glad that these faux paus didn't disturb your enjoyment-I hate technical mistakes myself or things that strike me as unbelievable. I will keep trying, though!

And again thank you to my wonderful editor for catching all my typos and grammar mistakes-I know it really disrupts my enjoyment of a story too when there are a lot of errors in a story-I'm glad to know I am not alone in this!

It's so terrific to hear from everyone-thank you so much for letting me know you are reading and for all the great feedback. I will keep trying to get that time zone thing right, but please be patient as I seem to struggle with this for some reason! :) :)

Opester said...

Hey Andy(richiesambora)-
I think I got it right in the next chapter-it must be the am and pm that was screwing me up!
Opester

Anonymous said...

about the time: thats why we have a 24 hour day and not am and pm ;-)

but it's alright, I love your story.

And I guess I should visit Neuschwanstein, too. But it is pretty far away from there where I live.

Opester said...

My biggest regret when I was in Germany 20 years ago was not getting to Neuschwanstein! In fact, the day we were near there, everything except restaurants were closed in Garmisch, but Oberammagau was open. I'll never forget my first view of the Alps, though. It literally took my breath away!