Ahhh, that long-awaited trip that we have been talking about since before we married and have been saving for since 2012 finally arrived: Europe!
While originally we had only been dreaming of Italy, when a friend moved to Germany last year, we felt that the opportunity was too good to be missed and added that to our list. Then, I decided I really wanted to take the train and take our time getting to Italy so that we could maybe, just maybe, see another country or two on the way. After all, once you pay the astronomical airfare (and pay physically with jet lag) to get to Europe, you might as well see as much as possible. Of course, we wanted to balance that need with it being a vacation, not a trip that we would need a vacation to recover from. (That being said, I wouldn't mind having to "recover" from a European whirlwind tour...There are worse things to have to recover from.)
As a(nother) side note, I can't believe I haven't used a travel agent before! Lori Visser, an agent in Rockford, sat down with me one day for a couple of hours, found out what we were looking for in terms of entertainment, tours, accommodation styles, etc. and set up a complete itinerary for way cheaper (and much more quickly!) that I could have on my own. What a way to make life easier for me, and support a local business while I'm at it!
Anyways, the plan was to fly to Frankfurt, Germany, via Washington DC, spend a few days there and then take the train to Salzburg, Austria. After a couple days there we would hop on the train again and head to Bologna, after which we would stay in a villa in the Tuscan countryside for a few days and catch our breath. (Ok, and maybe drink a LOT of wine.) Florence was next on the list, then a quick flight back to Frankfurt before catching our flight home the next day. Two very full weeks and we couldn't wait!
Well, wait we did. In Washington DC. On a plane for many hours, although after a bit we got sick of waiting and decided to spend our time in the wine bar adjacent to our gate. Six hours after we boarded the plane, the flight was finally cancelled due to a lack of available crew members when the mechanical issues took too long to repair. (It all began with a toilet...)
The bartender at the wine shop had advised us earlier to split up, one person at the customer service desk at the end of the terminal, the other at the gate to find out if the flight was a go or not. After the announcement, Chris got a text from me advising, "RUN! The flight is cancelled!" He managed to be the first in line, which allowed us to get a hotel voucher, booked on the next flight the following day, and generally made pretty comfortable. By the time I met him down at the desk, the line stretched 4 gates back. Thank you, bartender!!!!
We found out just how much we owed her when speaking to some other passengers the next day on the hotel shuttle. Apparently those further back in line had hotel reservations booked for them by the airline but when they reached the hotel, found out that there were no rooms available, so they ended up spending the night in the airport. Others who had been booked on a later flight to Frankfurt had their new flight delayed because there was no actual plane to take them. What a mess, and we were so grateful we weren't part of it! (Hey, we paid our dues in January in Chicago. Don't ask.)
Finally, FINALLY, we landed in Frankfurt and were able to enjoy starting our vacation!
Hopefully Chris will post pictures of our time in Germany.
While originally we had only been dreaming of Italy, when a friend moved to Germany last year, we felt that the opportunity was too good to be missed and added that to our list. Then, I decided I really wanted to take the train and take our time getting to Italy so that we could maybe, just maybe, see another country or two on the way. After all, once you pay the astronomical airfare (and pay physically with jet lag) to get to Europe, you might as well see as much as possible. Of course, we wanted to balance that need with it being a vacation, not a trip that we would need a vacation to recover from. (That being said, I wouldn't mind having to "recover" from a European whirlwind tour...There are worse things to have to recover from.)
As a(nother) side note, I can't believe I haven't used a travel agent before! Lori Visser, an agent in Rockford, sat down with me one day for a couple of hours, found out what we were looking for in terms of entertainment, tours, accommodation styles, etc. and set up a complete itinerary for way cheaper (and much more quickly!) that I could have on my own. What a way to make life easier for me, and support a local business while I'm at it!
Anyways, the plan was to fly to Frankfurt, Germany, via Washington DC, spend a few days there and then take the train to Salzburg, Austria. After a couple days there we would hop on the train again and head to Bologna, after which we would stay in a villa in the Tuscan countryside for a few days and catch our breath. (Ok, and maybe drink a LOT of wine.) Florence was next on the list, then a quick flight back to Frankfurt before catching our flight home the next day. Two very full weeks and we couldn't wait!
Well, wait we did. In Washington DC. On a plane for many hours, although after a bit we got sick of waiting and decided to spend our time in the wine bar adjacent to our gate. Six hours after we boarded the plane, the flight was finally cancelled due to a lack of available crew members when the mechanical issues took too long to repair. (It all began with a toilet...)
The bartender at the wine shop had advised us earlier to split up, one person at the customer service desk at the end of the terminal, the other at the gate to find out if the flight was a go or not. After the announcement, Chris got a text from me advising, "RUN! The flight is cancelled!" He managed to be the first in line, which allowed us to get a hotel voucher, booked on the next flight the following day, and generally made pretty comfortable. By the time I met him down at the desk, the line stretched 4 gates back. Thank you, bartender!!!!
We found out just how much we owed her when speaking to some other passengers the next day on the hotel shuttle. Apparently those further back in line had hotel reservations booked for them by the airline but when they reached the hotel, found out that there were no rooms available, so they ended up spending the night in the airport. Others who had been booked on a later flight to Frankfurt had their new flight delayed because there was no actual plane to take them. What a mess, and we were so grateful we weren't part of it! (Hey, we paid our dues in January in Chicago. Don't ask.)
Finally, FINALLY, we landed in Frankfurt and were able to enjoy starting our vacation!
Hopefully Chris will post pictures of our time in Germany.
No comments:
Post a Comment