Eurofurence 2008

My long-delayed Eurofurence report. I'm going to cheat a bit: I'll write about highlights in LJ, but for more detail I'll point you toward my Flickr account. I've annotated most of them and they tell the story more fully than written words.

For those who want to cheat-ahead and see the whole set of pics now, here's a link to my flickr page:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/10364044@N00/sets/



WEDNESDAY PHOTOSET
There was a little chaos on the flight out: while our reservation was with Lufthansa, the actual flight was operated by United Airlines (code-sharing: hate it). So we got charged for each bag (+$50) and nearly everything else ("Oh, you have *knees!* That will be $125 more...each!"). Other than the money-gouging, the flight was nice.

We met Goldie at Frankfurt Intl. and were treated to a great ride on the autobahn: fastest I've gone in a car in my life. He's an excellent driver!

At a remarkably clean and efficient rest stop, we noticed a raptor perched on one of the ubiquitous hawk-perches along the highway. While Goldie did not know the English name for the bird, I'm almost sure it was a female Merlin/pigeonhawk. Roz?

The hotel was the same as last year: the James Bond villain's secret mountain base (aka, the Ringberg Hotel). Opening ceremonies and the meat-filled bbq followed. Steve pretty much crashed on the bed (literally), but I ventured out to the lobby and spent a long evening meeting folks and talking. The hotel was better-prepared this year, with a nearly 24-hour snack bar and a separate cocktail bar. Sausages, burgers and breakfast foods abounded. There were many costumes-- more even than last year. As with last year, people were up to all hours-- I think I went to be around 2am.

Oh, and much to my embarrassment, I noticed a flyer posted prominently in the lobby. I'm positive that this is a reference to my most humiliating moment of last year.

Eurofurence 2008

My long-delayed Eurofurence report. I'm going to cheat a bit: I'll write about highlights in LJ, but for more detail I'll point you toward my Flickr account. I've annotated most of them and they tell the story more fully than written words.

For those who want to cheat-ahead and see the whole set of pics now, here's a link to my flickr page:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/10364044@N00/sets/



WEDNESDAY PHOTOSET
There was a little chaos on the flight out: while our reservation was with Lufthansa, the actual flight was operated by United Airlines (code-sharing: hate it). So we got charged for each bag (+$50) and nearly everything else ("Oh, you have *knees!* That will be $125 more...each!"). Other than the money-gouging, the flight was nice.

We met Goldie at Frankfurt Intl. and were treated to a great ride on the autobahn: fastest I've gone in a car in my life. He's an excellent driver!

At a remarkably clean and efficient rest stop, we noticed a raptor perched on one of the ubiquitous hawk-perches along the highway. While Goldie did not know the English name for the bird, I'm almost sure it was a female Merlin/pigeonhawk. Roz?

The hotel was the same as last year: the James Bond villain's secret mountain base (aka, the Ringberg Hotel). Opening ceremonies and the meat-filled bbq followed. Steve pretty much crashed on the bed (literally), but I ventured out to the lobby and spent a long evening meeting folks and talking. The hotel was better-prepared this year, with a nearly 24-hour snack bar and a separate cocktail bar. Sausages, burgers and breakfast foods abounded. There were many costumes-- more even than last year. As with last year, people were up to all hours-- I think I went to be around 2am.

Oh, and much to my embarrassment, I noticed a flyer posted prominently in the lobby. I'm positive that this is a reference to my most humiliating moment of last year.

Eurofurence 2008

My long-delayed Eurofurence report. I'm going to cheat a bit: I'll write about highlights in LJ, but for more detail I'll point you toward my Flickr account. I've annotated most of them and they tell the story more fully than written words.

For those who want to cheat-ahead and see the whole set of pics now, here's a link to my flickr page:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/10364044@N00/sets/



WEDNESDAY PHOTOSET
There was a little chaos on the flight out: while our reservation was with Lufthansa, the actual flight was operated by United Airlines (code-sharing: hate it). So we got charged for each bag (+$50) and nearly everything else ("Oh, you have *knees!* That will be $125 more...each!"). Other than the money-gouging, the flight was nice.

We met Goldie at Frankfurt Intl. and were treated to a great ride on the autobahn: fastest I've gone in a car in my life. He's an excellent driver!

At a remarkably clean and efficient rest stop, we noticed a raptor perched on one of the ubiquitous hawk-perches along the highway. While Goldie did not know the English name for the bird, I'm almost sure it was a female Merlin/pigeonhawk. Roz?

The hotel was the same as last year: the James Bond villain's secret mountain base (aka, the Ringberg Hotel). Opening ceremonies and the meat-filled bbq followed. Steve pretty much crashed on the bed (literally), but I ventured out to the lobby and spent a long evening meeting folks and talking. The hotel was better-prepared this year, with a nearly 24-hour snack bar and a separate cocktail bar. Sausages, burgers and breakfast foods abounded. There were many costumes-- more even than last year. As with last year, people were up to all hours-- I think I went to be around 2am.

Oh, and much to my embarrassment, I noticed a flyer posted prominently in the lobby. I'm positive that this is a reference to my most humiliating moment of last year.