Greetings from Munich Germany.
I made it here without too much trouble. Significant tailwinds blew us across the Atlantic in short order. That made for a short flight, and sadly only a few hours sleep. I got a decent night’s sleep last night though (wait… how long have I been here?). Anyways, I feel sufficiently recharged and ready for Day 1 at the ESC.
I went to a ‘team’ meeting last night with theHeart.org reporters. They are really nice folks. It reminded me a little of those pre-race gatherings we used to have before big crits or road races. I have my assignment. Thank goodness my role is small.
I’ll be attending a session on CRT devices–special multi-lead pacemakers and defibrillators implanted to help patients who have both impaired heart function and dis-synchronous electrical conduction. I like implanting CRT devices because they often change people’s lives for the better. Plus, the implant procedure itself is fun; getting leads into the variable venous anatomy in human hearts requires skills.
Well, I had better get back to preparing for the meeting.
Here are some images and commentary from arrival day.
As I arrived hours before check in, I decided to practice getting around Munich on the trains. A cab would have been much easier, but heck, I wanted a challenge. Two issues arose immediately: First is that German is hard to understand, and second, iPhone maps only help you when they connect to the internet wirelessly. I should have got a real map at the airport. That nice gentleman helped me out, though I got the feeling he wasn’t impressed that I was navigating sans paper map.
You walk up from the train station at Marienplatz to a bustling courtyard surrounded by buildings such as these. This is no suburban strip mall.
I’ll talk to you soon. I’m going out to try to find the same bakery that I had the most amazing vanilla-filled croissant yesterday.
JMM