Okay so there was a slight moment of panic once boarding the
international flight, but not for the reason you may think. I was trying to get
my barrings and looking at all the snappy adjustments on the seat. I decided to “try
it out” the seat went back and my body started sliding downward as a foot rest appeared, it
was a strange type of carnival ride. The other two anxiety provoking situations
– the flight attendants waited until the plane was in motion to close the
overhead bins; I was overly concerned about them being closed, why, I have no idea, and the last was
that my personal item bag with my medications and other goodies was in the overhead bin.
Curtis remedied the later as soon as the crew allowed movement within the
cabin. The good news is that by the end of the flight, I had mastered all the seat settings.
The 7-hour layover in Vegas turned out to be just fine and went by quickly, before we knew it, we were boarding the plane bound for Germany. So, as it turns out, I actually have the ability to travel
on a 10+ hour flight without my anxiety lifting me out of my chair. Admittedly,
this ability to travel may be an isolated event due to being in premium business class with lay
down seats, fluffy white pillows, snugly blankets, headphones, free movies, a
window seat, hot towel prior to dining, my husband dutifully beside me, free
beverages, and LOTS of delicious food. What was grossly uncomfortable was the language barrier! It
was quite funny; I am wearing my mask, so all anyone sees is my eyes – the blank
stare of these green eyes when the German rolls off the tongues of the flight attendants.
Quickly, they learn that I am English speaking; Curtis on the other hand
learned how to say “I don’t speak German” my mouth is still trying to master
those sounds!
The amount of food the Condor Airline fed the passengers was
crazy! In hind sight, photos would have been even better than a photo of the
menu – I will try to remedy this on my flight home. They kept bringing food,
rolls, and drinks; when looking at the menu you get a plate with ALL the appetizers, one main course, cheese plate, and desert.
Then there are the croissants, breads, and, rolls they continue to try to temp
you with. When it came to a beverage, I asked for ginger ale, I was told they do
not have that but they do have bitter lemon. In my mind, I was thinking this
beverage would be close to ginger ale…it was not! After over-stuffing myself with food, I took some medication and went to sleep. I awoke to the smell of
breakfast about six hours later – I chose not to indulge in breakfast, I was
still stuffed from dinner.
Before we knew it, we were landing in Frankfurt,
Germany and heading to baggage claim, we were briefly stopped to show our
passports, the not so friendly man asked me if I was Arabian, I was a bit
puzzled and said no. He then snapped, well I need to see your face – his weird way
of asking me to remove my face mask. Now we wait at baggage claim, I was getting concerned that our bags had
been forgotten, but alas, they appeared, the last bags to drop on the
roundabout. After collecting all our luggage, we connected with our driver who
was holding a sign with my name on it.
We drove from the airport to our apartment, the driver
noting that Germany is an “ugly city”! He spoke pretty good English, which was
a welcome change of pace. He helped us get our bags into our apartment, that is
on the top floor, provide rapid instructions on how to use the keys – which is
interesting how locks work here, and then he was off. What a relief to find
that our apartment was not the one with the large photographs of people on the
walls – that would have been too odd. I began to unpack all the bags we
traveled with and got us settled in. We were hungry and thought we would take
to the streets to find something to eat. Here is the thing, we can’t read a
damn thing – it’s all in German – even the prepared food displayed in windows
left me unsettled! I was hungry, tired, and cold – it’s really cold over here. It
is pretty uncomfortable to not know and understand the language! We ended up
going to a place called something Pizza – a word we knew. We sat and watched
this older gentleman hand make the most delicious fresh pizza; we asked for it
to go. When we arrived back at our apartment, I decided I needed to take a hot
soak. If you are wondering, yes, I was eating my pizza while I was soaking in
the tub- it felt divine. When I came out, I had my towel wrapped around me. I
was standing at the windows enjoying the amazing colors of the sunset when I
hear a voice yell out “take it off”! LOL oh boy, the surprise that awaits this young man, under the towel, I am confident he is not prepared to see. I closed the
blinds.
Curtis and I are now lying in bed, watching a spot of TV and
talking about tomorrow as we plan a visit to a small local fresh garden market we
happened on earlier tonight. I too have my eye on some fresh flowers for the apartment. Still
not sure what breakfast, lunch, or dinner will look like tomorrow, but we will have
the energy to figure it out a bit more. Until next time.
Today, I am hopeful