My journey to be reunited with Mom began, as many of you who have flown out of LAX recently can attest to, frustratingly. The amazingly, horrifically long lines at check-in were overwhelming. It took me an hour 20 to get to the front counter. While I was in line it was suggested to me that perhaps because I wasn’t checking a bag (my plan was to take my small suitcase as my carry-on and my backpack as my personal item) and that I had already printed my boarding pass that perhaps I didn’t need to be in this long line. So I went to ask. It turns out everyone had to be in this line for passport check anyway, but the airline rep told me that “things had changed” and I wouldn’t be allowed to take my suitcase on with me after all and I’d have to check it. So back to the line I went, and the kind gentlemen in line behind me let me have my place back. When I got to the counter I hurriedly filled out several luggage tags as I hadn't put any on the suitcase, thinking I didn’t need them as I was planning to keep the bag with me. I told him that my TSA Pre-check # didn’t print on my boarding pass. He tried to add it but was ultimately unsuccessful. :( He weighed my bag (8 kg on the dot for their limit for a carry-on, according to their website, thankyouverymuch) and said it was fine to keep it with me. Ha! Take that other rep who chad caused me much anguish and distress!
So, off to TSA I went. The line could’ve been worse. It wasn’t as great as Pre-check, but I was just happy to keep my suitcase with me that I didn’t mind the line. Off came the shoes, the iPad came out of my backpack and I sailed through with no mention of the hair gel, hair spray or any other toilets in my carry-on. I had gone to great lengths to make sure I met all the requirements.
The rest of the trip was uneventful. My seat was the 1st row behind 1st class, a bulkhead type row with no built-in screen because there was no row in front of us. Instead our screens were tucked into the armrest between us. I read a bit and dinner was served shortly after take-off. An unobjectionable penne pasta with red bell peppers and mushrooms (gross) with a small salad, roll and butter and some brownie/fudge hybrid that was not to my liking so I didn’t finish it.
The woman next to me was on her way to India as her father-in-law had just passed away and she was going to be with her husband. She had only purchased to ticket the day before! She would be traveling for 29 hours, she said. Yikes! The man on the aisle was going to meet his brother in Barcelona for a couple of weeks as he does every summer.
I had put my allergy med (which knocks me out) in a Ziploc along with earplugs so I could try and go to sleep earlier than usual. I took it about 7:30 pm PST and tried unsuccessfully for the next 3 hours to go to sleep. In the end I estimate I got, less than 2,5 hours sleep before I was aware I was awake and too uncomfortable sitting upright to get back to sleep. After going to the loo the cabin lights came on and “breakfast” of an egg salad sandwich on bagel thins with fruit salad arrived shortly after.
After landing and debarking I ended up in the wrong passport control line, found the right one, waited an immense amount of time (2 reps working was certainly not sufficient), found the train ticket machine and bought a ticket, got to the train station and had 90-ish minutes to wait. When I realized I was getting sleepy and needed to make sure I didn’t fall asleep or I’d miss my train, I went to the nearby snack shop and got a croissant-like sweet and a banana. Shortly after it was time to go to the platform and get my train!
A woman spoke to me in German and when she saw the incomprehensive look on my face and before I could stammer out Ich nicht sprecken Deutsch she spoke in English and asked if my flight had been cancelled, too. I said no and we had a nice conversation until our train arrived shortly after. Finally on my final leg of the journey to be reunited with Mom! The countryside was gorgeous and green and the high speed train took only 51 minutes to go the 110 miles.
I saw Mom shortly after getting off the train and it was so amazing to hug her again after 3.5 weeks! Anja and Herbert (her husband) came shortly behind. She is the daughter of Mom’s German AFS sister, who passed away about 4 years ago. At the car I was asked if I wanted to sit in front or in back with Mom. Fearing we’d be taking the Autobahn, and having previously been in a car with Herbert driving on the Autobahn I chose to sit in back. It turns out we were taking a back way back because it was rush hour and the Autobahn was too crowded. Phew! seeing the sights of the city of Koln (Cologne) was nice but we eventually did get on the Autobahn once we had passed the slow section. Herbert got the car up to 160km but evened out at 130km. Yikes! I closed my eyes and prayed.
We arrived safely at their new home (they’ve been here 3 years after leaving Anja’s childhood home following her mother’s death. I was immediately introduced to Naila, their Belgian Shepherd, who barked furiously at me until reassured by Anja that I was ok and welcome by them. Anja prepared dinner of chicken breast, sausages and a lulu-like mixture in a kebob form. The meats all went on the grill and I was shown their induction cooktop and they explained how it works. We also had roasted potatoes and a salad with items from their garden along with a carrot salad. It was so very fresh and delicious!
I went with Anja to take Naila for her final walk of the night and we afterwards got a tour of the backyard and garden. I finally went to bed at 10:30 pm, hopeful for a long night’s rest. However, I was not surprised to wake up at 3 am, unable to get back to sleep, so I decided to come downstairs and write my 1st blog post about this journey25+ hour journey.
My journey today has been one of excitement, trepidation at not having traveled alone since 1994, relief to have this part behind me, and as every Mom is familiar with, a lack of sleep. How I’ll recover remains to be seen. Perhaps a journey into a nap later today…
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