Trip to Germany, August
2004
WOw as one who just got back, take these tips to heart
- 1) PACK LIGHT
- 2) use a bag that stands out...... black is a popular color
right now, and they all look alike. I saw some folks had tied
colored ribbons, or crocheted doo dahs to their bags for easy ID
- 3) did I say "pack light"?
- 4) allow time between your connections........ a lot of panic
there too. Especially if you are coming BACK to the US, and
remember YOU HAVE TO CLEAR CUSTOMS and allow time for connecting
to other flights.
- 5) put your name, phone, and email in and on your luggage in
case it DOES get lost
- 6) get used to "no ice" and avoid drinking tap water, even in
Europe (the good news is constipation is not a problem)
- 7) then remember, you will have to clear security about a
zillion times, so be prepared to shed
- shoes and jewelry at a moment's notice. The good news is they
don't get excited about metal in your bags, so long as it doesn't
look like a bomb.
Having said that, I had an odd experience. No one said a beep
about a can of sardines I smuggled back from Germany in my purse. If
I were a real mad bomber, that would be how I would disguise my bomb.
A can of exploding sardines.
The good news is most airports are pretty organized, people are
willing to help, coffee and food is plentiful (as is booze) in
airport restaurants. The Euro is pronounced "OOO roe" and use the ATM
to get them, as they charge about 3.50 to exchange Greenbacks.
Exchange rate Dollars to Euros is about 1$ to point-8 [.8] Euro
One more item: don't take babies and pets if possible. I heard a
lot of squalling babies on the International flights (the poor little
things, they can't handle stress like we do, or plugged ears) and I
saw one family get bit by a dog with more brains than they had. Poor
thing did NOT want to go into that pet carrier, there in line in
Frankfurt..........
AND be kind and help your fellow travelers. I helped one mother at
customs who had a toddler escaping while she lugged a newborn in a
carrier........ I grabbed him and took the little guy through the
scanner for her......... the little s*** after I had listened to him
whine all across Newfoundland! Oh well, he was just a little tyke.
Just remember to be nice to one another out there. A smile goes a
long way.
best regards, from the jet lag capital of the
world....................
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Pat: Hey here I sit on Saturday night my time.......... I
still have to type up my adventures, and probably will tonight if I
am still jet lagged and up prowling.
It was a good thing I went on through early, as there were
about 3 more checkpoints beyond that first one! and I had to wind
down through a maze of rooms and shops. Weird thing happened, there
was a shop I made a quick pass through in there, and I found a 3 disc
set of Gregorian music! would you like some music? (if not I'll be
hoggy and keep for myself!) I hope the desktop did not walk away at
the USO.......... knowing you, you went back to Doha and are spending
time toasting your toes on the beach.
My back hurts like hell from sleeping against weird things on
planes, and I'm feeling whiney so I shall sign off, but please write
me soon and let me know you are ok.
Christie sue
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Life is not like a video game, there is no great flashing light
proclaiming "You are now on your Trip". No, nothing easy…….. what
usually happens in an alarum goes off at an ugly cow milkin' time of
the morning, when even the BATS are asleep, and off I go weaving in
my little Ranger, trying to make the first connection. In this case,
it's the Kitsap Airporter, which picks up locally at the
Silverdale
Red Lion. I'm just thankful I actually got some sleep last night.
There is a sizable airport crowd at the Red Lion! Surprising
considering how avidly the ticket agent tried to talk me out of that
early morning pick up. Ride uneventful, dropped at the airport
actually a little early. Like 3 hours before my take off! (well they
have us all terrified by security these days……… ) SEA-TAC has a HUGE
parking lot, which I had never seen before. My God you could house
the entire US Army in there. Remind me to never drive my car to this
place!
My luggage is already proving to be far too much and 'way too
heavy. Eventually I would dub the big red wheel-along suitcase
(kindly loaned by my Dad) with the name "Godzilla" so from here-on,
that be the name of my luggage……. Anyway Godzilla got checked in
early, so I killed a little time roaming around the airport……. Saw
the Voyager on static display. This is the aircraft that
allegedly flew around the world on one tank of gas, it's all long and
lithe and pretty……… there she hangs at SEA-TAC. I also found these
charming little junk machines, which live inside a glass case on the
way to the concourse. They were so cute! They rolled on wheels and
sprouted junk heads of old dolls…… really a treat when they turned
on.
I hate flying…….. always feel like I'm in a cattle chute when I
board the plane. The only fun thing is meeting and watching people…….
I meet a cute little girl with a "Barbie" walkman which lights up……..
the kid is a delight and is thrilled to death with her toy. I wish we
could all see life as simply as a child does. This time I'm sober
when I board, for a change, try reading and crochet a bit. Seat mates
are always a treat; this time I'm next to a nice looking man who is
into electronics…… he watches Hellboy on his laptop most of
the way to Atlanta. I think this was the leg I first saw Shrek
II, which was a kick and just as good as the first one. I give
the pilot a C- on landing because he practically stands the thing on
end! Ugh……. It was better than the time I landed in Adak, in a
crosswind, going backwards, but just barely.
I'm sure by this time my film is all fogged from the x-ray
machines, but they tell me Not… anyway I have a little left from the
last roll on the old AE1, so I see this hilarious sculpture in the
airport…. It's an ear of corn, peeled back and looks like a plane. Or
it looks like a flying yellow gnarly dick, whichever your dirty mind
finds in the sculpture. It is very funny and gives me my first laugh
of the day. I also start encountering German speakers. The plane will
turn out to be just as full of Germans as it is English speakers,
which is interesting and actually speaks ill of Lufthaunsa.
My seat mate this time is a young woman who works security for the
US Army (so young she didn't know what the
Tailhook
scandal was!). She is a real jabber-jaw, and very amusing. We
talk through the take off, which is good as my anxiety drops right
down…. The engines start up on the 767 (?I think) and they are some
ENGINES. Woah! Some power under us this time! Off we go, above the
clouds with nary a bobble and we are on our way to Germany. Pat told
me that airplanes are sent across the Water in "blocks" that is as a
group so they can keep touch with each other and stay awake. I
believe it, when the Sun came up, we had a wingman in the clouds,
that was nice too.
My seatmate showed me how to run the controls on the arms (funny
all the planes I flew with Delta all had different telly and movie
controls!) but oddly there wasn't anything that great on, except
Shrek II again. Which I watched a few more times. I tried to
sleep, it was such a long flight and I lost track (somewhere between
13 and 9 cramped hours) of where and how long. Someone had a kid who
was at that "singing" age where they go Da Da all the time
(and of course, she was wide awake, so we all were too!). We were
right next to the bathroom and there was a little area near there
where people started hanging out and talking, making an all night
party of it. I tried drinking, it was no good, no sleep. All my
anxieties about meeting Pat stated coming out, and as we flew into
the dark, over Newfoundland, Labrador, Iceland, Greenland…… it was
like we slid into a dark, cold time warp, filled with singing whales
and chattering Cthulhu demons. Water and air had no difference……… it
was all cold and dark………
Then mystically the sun came up, and we were over the Emerald
Isle, Ireland, our ancestral homeland. The clouds covered the Land of
Green Shadows like fluffy faery vanilla frosting. It was approaching
midnight by my body clock, but I didn't feel like sleeping now. The
tracker showed us flying over the English Channel, then over Germany,
Koln, and yes, Frankfort. He landed it well (B+). We debarked, and
followed a maze of security checks, passport stampers and bored
German police who of course, never smiled. Ah such a friendly
place……… well, I'll give them a chance, since I came all this way.
Godzilla made the leap across the Pond with me, and we met at
baggage claim. I had been given the intelligence by my garrulous seat
mate that Rhein
Main, the US Airbase was on the other side of the airfield, and
you "can't get there from here" not easily anyway. I had arrived on
Saturday. I managed somehow (after roaming the Very Large
Frankfort
airport up and down escalators!) to find American military
greeters, and they directed me to a shuttle headed to the Other Side.
Trundling Godzilla, I went with them, and thanked my foresight in
having a valid military ID on me (the only thing Retirement has done
for me so far).
>>>>>>>>>>>>go
on to the Second page and read about
Germany<<<<<<<<<<