Friday, February 09, 2007

How Many More Miles, Mommy?


Today Donica and I both fly back to Atlanta, she from Amsterdam and I from Hannover. That's approximately 4,894 miles (7,876 km) one way.

Ever wonder how far it is from Hannover to, let's say, Auckland, Ms. DreamWalker?



Or how about from Hannover to Vancouver, Ms. Expat Traveler? Or to Amsterdam, Mr. James?



Hey, wait a minute. Is this right? Someone please help me out here because I thought it was 500 miles from Hannover to Amsterdam, so 300 km cannot possibly be right. And how can it be the same distance to Vancouver as to Atlanta?! Where's Christina/Donica when I need her!

Anyway, you get the point. This "sundial" of sorts is on the sidewalk in City Center, near the outside exits of the underground Kroepcke tram station. Christina and I had fun last Friday looking at all the cities. It has a way of making everyone seem closer together on this shrinking globe of ours, doesn't it!

Ciao for now. See you next from Atlanta.

(BTW, if you didn't see my postscript on my last post, please take a look. Stacey from Runaway Rubber Duckie sent some needed levity!)

9 comments:

  1. Hmm. I just checked on a web route calculator and, without giving any specific address, it told me that it was 233 miles (by car) from Hannover to Amsterdam. If you multiply this with 1.6 (Land miles) you come to 372.8 km and x1.8 (air/water miles) you get 419.4km. My guess is that they used a beeline as reference.

    Wishing you and Donica safe flights back home :)

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  2. He-he distances are tricky.
    If you go by car, I mean drive the car, all the way from Gilbratar to Alger, I think that would be a longer distance than by boat. Huh. So, why go by car.

    I think the sundial in Hannover must have been constructed by someone than in one moment thought about km, the next in miles and then in air/water miles or cablelenght. You know, people comes from all part of the globe today.LoL.

    Hope you've had a safe trip back home.

    =^.^=

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  3. Hope your flight was great. I love this sun dial. I know flights were about 5500 miles, so I guess that's about correct...

    Very cool indeed!

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  4. CS: Wow. I like that system of calculation. I'll have to remember that! I found out from Donica that her Delta account, from where I got the number of miles, counts 500 miles for any distance less than 500. So that explains that. So your figure sounds about right for at least the Amsterdam destination. Thanks for the heads up.

    Tor: You are so funny! And probably right! :) It's definitely a fun concept. And yes, it was a very nice, uneventful trip home. Thanks.

    ET: Good flight. Thanks, Jen. Yes, the whole concept is fun, isn't it!

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  5. And to Oslo it's 842 KM or 523 Miles:-)

    Wishing you a safe trip home!

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  6. This post is fitting right into my thoughts lately about place and home. Don and I are reading the Swedish emigrant novels by Moberg, and it's fascinating to think about these distances (across the Atlantic, for instance) in terms of the 1850s and compare that to now. The speed of travel and communication now has changed things so much, and I don't think we even comprehend it. Just thinking of you and Donica crossing the ocean sometimes four times a month, and emigrants took 8-10 weeks to cross it one time in a ship!

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  7. Renny: Well, then. I think we're all getting our education. I like that.

    I am now safely home. Thank you!

    Ruth: Most interesting! It really behooves us to remember where we've come from...and where we're going! Thanks for the reminder!

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  8. Welcome back to this side of the Atlantic, I hope the jet lag doesn't bother you too much.

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  9. Thanks for your welcome back, Ex-S. We both do pretty well with jet lag, surprisingly. After the first night/day, we're usually pretty much back to normal.

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