It’s always good to be home, but I must tell you . . . I had a wonderful time in Europe. For those of you who knew my close friend, Gretchen, when she was an active lymphedema therapist in Tucson, Arizona, you might be interested to know she and her husband, Alan, have been living in Germany for the last six years and they love it. Alan retired as an F16 fighter pilot and is currently an F16 instructor at the Spangdahlum Air Force Base in Bitburg. They have a beautiful home and I was privileged to stay with them for part of my trip. My room was on the top floor, with its own balcony, overlooking green rolling hills and grazing pastures. In the surrounding area are fields covered with the bright yellow rapeseed flowers used in making canola oil, interspersed with the wild red poppies indigenous to that area. No matter which way you look it is picture perfect; suitable for framing.
I took Gretchen’s advice and spent a week with her and Alan recovering from jet lag prior to heading for Norway. Alan drove us to the Frankfurt airport where we boarded a Luftansa flight to Oslo. We were met by Lisbet, the RN who does the garment fittings for lymphedema patients in the Oslo area. She accompanied us on another flight to Haugesand on the west coast of Norway and the location of Rolf Davidsen’s Helseagenturer retail store and distribution center. Rolf is my CE representative for the European Union and was grateful I was prepared to do a JoViPak in-service for his staff the following day. The Norwegian lymphedema school is actually in Oslo where Rolf had made arrangements for me to do a presentation for the local Physical Therapists. So rather than get on another airplane, we all piled into Rolf’s car and headed East. It took nearly a full day to travel from one coast to the other, but what a trip! . . . .and I thought Germany was beautiful! Wow! We followed one of the Fjords, stopped to enjoy the unbelievable waterfalls along the way, then it was up through the pass past the glacial fields and down into Oslo. My grandfather was born on the West Coast of Norway and a trip to that country had been on my “bucket list” for many many years. It was such a thrill to be there. I have to say it will remain on my bucket list, as I can’t wait to go back. A boat trip along the west coast exploring the many fjords would be nice!
From there it was back to Germany for a week of rest, sight-seeing, relaxation, and . . . you guessed it . . . . . reading nutrition books. Alan did a lot of the cooking for us (what a guy!) and introduced me to the Jonny Bowden health food books which I will be writing about. Toward the end of the week, he drove us to Luxemborg where we took a LuxAir flight to London for another adventure. As a U.S. military officer’s wife, Gretchen was able to make reservations for our stay at the Victory Services Club. It is close to the Marble Arch and an entrance to the underground rail system (“the tube”) which enabled us to cover more ground in record time. You can’t go to London without seeing a play. As it turned out we were able to get tickets for the musical version of “Billy Elliott”, which was the greatest stage production I’ve ever seen. ( I understand it is currently playing in New York and Chicago. I am hopeful it will come to Seattle as I definitely want my grandchildren to see it.) While we were in London I did get a chance to meet with my London distributor. (Email me, joann@jovipak.com, if you would like his contact information.) He was kind enough to explain their national health care system as well as the type of products that work within this system. This was extremely beneficial as it helped me better understand how to prepare for the inevitable challenges we will be facing within our own changing health-care system.
My trip was focused on business but it was also quite a pleasure. I am extremely grateful for all of the friends and business associates who made my entire trip so enjoyable.