Life: Idiotropic

Today Kirk and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary! Yay us! And the weather here started what would be a week of absolutely nonsensicalness that peaked curiosity and drove the kids crazy. Storms of rain shifting from side to side, snow flakes the size of duck feathers coming down like the world's largest pillow fight had begun, hail, sleet, rain, sun, beginning, ending, melting, changing... I had one night of pillow fight snow in Brussels before my flight on Saturday and that was enough. But even as I went to sleep with the world outside coated in white, by morning a couple hours later, it was just cold, dark, wetness.

1500 in Germany (0700PST) on Friday, we left for Brussels. 1.5 hours later we were at the tiny hotel by the airport that offered a complimentary breakfast at 0600 and free shuttle service at 0700. We were in the lobby by 0500 with the taxi waiting after watching the Good Friday service at the Vatican with candlelight, black crosses, mournful Italian, and tears... falling asleep around midnight (1600 Fri PST). Up at 0400 (2000 PST Fri). Painful.

FYI - The Brussels airport can be horrifically busy on early Saturday mornings. So two hours isn't necessarily enough time. We arrived to discover lines wandering down the hallways so far that they weren't recognizable as lines and finding the end of them gave me twinges of panic. I think we stood there an hour in a mass of luggage and people - some who were calm, some who weren't, and some who cut into line right where the ropes began as if by royal right. Airports do bring out the ugliness of people, but it was humorous to observe the glances of eyes and the silent camaraderie as people packed closer together to block out those would-be line cutters.

Security wasn't horrible, thankfully. We could keep our shoes on and while they did recheck and dismantle both of my carry-ons, it went quickly, so we made our 0650 (2250 PST Fri) flight to Frankfurt that lasted only an hour.

Then it got really painful. Frankfurt is an ok airport, but it's no San Francisco. No beautiful shopping, no fancy restaurants. Tired from our early morning, Tiara and I stumbled into the first cafe we saw and ordered sandwiches. Could have ordered spaghetti bolognese or curry chicken, but somehow those didn't quite seem appetizing at 0800 in the morning (Midnight PST Sat morning). A women sat at a table near us typing madly on her laptop with one shoeless foot resting on the chair near her. She kept wiggling her toes. It was distracting. A large group of men sat in the corner talking loudly in a NY Bronx accent. They certainly stood out there. Two Americans sat near us. One from Portland and one from Seattle.

We killed an hour. And then what? We had 5 left.

So, FYI - 6 hours is too long for a layover unless you have no carry-ons and there is a spa in your terminal of the airport, which, if any of you are wealthy enough to invest in such things, could be a fantastic idea! Forget shoe shines! I want a massage and pedicure! (along with my high end coffee and posh book store)

We wandered, read the departure boards that only showed flights and gates 2 hours out... it would be while to wait. Wandered some more. Saw a flight to SF departing at 0915. It was 0900. We started to run... and followed the signs... still running... then gave up realizing that the terminal was forever away and we wouldn't make it. Sat and people watched. Then brilliance. I asked an airport employee if there was a Starbucks in the airport. "But their coffee is always cold..." And then the answer I needed. YES. It was directly below where we stood (I was secretly wishing I had laser beam vision and could cut a hold in the floor right then and there to fall through landing in a comfy sofa with a freshly brewed latte) IF I was allowed to leave the area and IF I had time. I told her I had 5 hours. OH... yeah. You have time.

Quickly out through the passport control. Down the stairs and to the right to a beautiful little 24-hour Starbucks stand that sold at least 15 German City mugs. Tiara and I both ordered fancy Venti beverages - a good $16 in coffee. And it was TOTALLY worth it! Best money I could have spent those 6 hours. Sat contentedly for over an hour in a row of chairs against a wall where the flow of people was constant and people watched picking out the Americans in their college sweatshirts and white sneakers and the American military with the trademark haircut and defined gait.

We'd finally killed enough time to be at that 2 hour window when we could find our terminal (not our gate). This was the first time ever Tiara and I were excited and thankful (probably delirious too) that we had the opportunity to go through security again. How fun! We were only disappointed that it only took 5 minutes. At our terminal, we had to wait longer... sitting in a long narrow hallway/room with stark white walls and round ship style windows looking out to the planes. It was the waiting area. Our gate wasn't announced until within 30 minutes of our departure time. Why is it that in the US, I can find my terminal AND exact departure gate 24 hours before the flight and now in Heathrow and Frankfurt, I have to wait until just minutes before take-off? That's aggravating.

Then the 11.5 hour flight began. FYI: This is painful. Really painful. And ever so much worth than two flights equaling the same time. Not recommended in conjunction with a 6 hour layover unless you are traveling with a lot of heavy medication and a personal masseuse.

Couldn't sleep. Couldn't relax. Couldn't get comfortable. And United served one too-small-to-really-be-considered-a-meal meal just one hour after take-off and then a bite-sized bagel sandwich just one hour before landing. Translation: 9 hours between food and a lot of tired, hungry, tummy rumblers pacing up and down the airplane aisles. Also translated into one fairly drunk lady that I'd met in the waiting area who drank bloody Marys to overcome her fear to fly. She ended up sitting on the lap of the poor young man who sat next to me for over an hour of the flight repeating herself and breathing veggie breath into all three offended noses in our aisle. The upside... a lot of laughter and enough conversation to make the time go fairly fast.

Landed at 1730 local PST time. Arrived home around 1900. 37 hours of travel from my house to my dad's.