Monday, September 10, 2012
Frank and I got up at 5:45 after only about 4 hours of sleep. We had to get to the airport since we had a rental car to return. Frank took our Outback to Barb Karlinger’s on Saturday since she graciously offered to let us store it in her garage. I rented a car on early Saturday morning so that I could go to Aunt Carol’s funeral in Cheyenne France Europe by tomorrow as planned. They sent me to Washington Dulles and said that the following afternoon I would have a flight to Frankfurt and then on to Pristina getting me into Kosovo just before noon on Wednesday. United Airlines was not very customer-service oriented. They didn’t offer me anything when I was informed of these changes, and I was frustrated because the first ticket agent who weighed my bags gave me a boarding pass for a flight that had already been cancelled. If I would have known, maybe I could have found a flight to Pristina on Tuesday, but by the time I found out, all of the flights to Europe were booked. We couldn’t print our boarding passes the day before because the computer said we needed to show a passport. I ended up getting to fly on Frank’s flight to D.C. thanks to an efficient United worker (who said she was really Continental) named Michelle. Frank and I didn’t get to sit together and when we arrived in D.C., Frank had to rush off for his flight to Frankfurt . I followed him since he said he didn’t have a green scapular and I wanted him to carry one in his passport folder. We kissed goodbye and I took the long exhausting walk to the baggage area since they had checked my carry-on on the D.C. flight. I found my baggage even though I was late and it was just put with a bunch of bags next to the carousel. I also went to Lufthansa to try to get a boarding pass. After a hassle with an inexperienced agent, a really nice ticket agent approached me and asked if she could help. She ended up giving me my boarding pass for the following day and provided me with an aisle seat which ended up being primo since no one was seated right next to me on the flight and I had the use of two seats. I also had to go to the United ticket agents to get a voucher for my hotel and dinner. They gave me a hotel voucher and only $15 for dinner. The shuttle ride to the hotel was quick, but the hotel – Dulles Marriott - was not very nice. It was a huge maze and to get to my room I had to take an elevator to the lower level and walk down three very long hallways nowhere near the lobby area. The room was okay, but the hotel was disappointing. Since the room service seemed too pricey, I ventured to the hotel restaurant and it was just as pricey. I had a couple of $10 vouchers from Michelle, so I ordered a pasta dish with chicken parmesan for $18. I also ordered a martini for $10, but the United voucher could not be used for alcohol. Ultimately, United’s change of itinerary cost me a lot. I also had to pay $12.95 for internet access which I absolutely needed and tips to the shuttle drivers who handled my luggage. I talked to MT during dinner then went to my room and sent emails regarding my changed itinerary. Then I took a nice, long hot bath and called Chrissy. I went to bed around midnight and set the alarm for 8:30.
Tuesday, September 11
I got up earlier than my alarm and got ready to go to the airport. I still had two $10 vouchers from United that had to be used within 24 hours. At the airport, I bought a muffin and coffee at Starbucks. I also bought a huge bottle of water, but ended up giving it to an airport worker when I realized that I couldn’t take it through the security checkpoint. When standing in the security line, I suddenly realized that I didn’t have my Santa Fe Opera sweatshirt with me, which I knew I had at the hotel. It is white and probably looked like a bath towel when I left the hotel. I just didn’t think I could lug my backpack and carry-on suitcase all the way back to the hotel even though I definitely had the time. After going through security, I called my sisters, Jeanne and Mary, who had left messages on my phone. Then I called the hotel, and the women at the front desk convinced me to try to get my sweatshirt. My only other option was to have it mailed (at my cost) to Elise. We decided that the shuttle driver could bring my sweatshirt to the airport and then I wouldn’t have to go all the way back to the hotel. Everything worked out fine….I got my sweatshirt and it only cost $2 to tip the shuttle driver. I still had a $10 voucher to use, so I got a couple of burritos (rice only, no beans). I thought I’d eat one and take the other on the plane. I ended up throwing the second one out in Frankfurt since I never felt like eating it. The vouchers are tricky because you don’t get any voucher or money back, so you have to try to spend the entire amount at one place. I had the whole day to wait for my flight – it didn’t leave until 3:00 p.m. I just read and relaxed. I was ecstatic to find out that I had an aisle seat in the center row of 4 seats. The only other person in the row was a guy in the other aisle seat, so we each had two seats to stretch out in for the entire flight. The flight was long, but Lufthansa had excellent service. The food (a chicken and rice Asian dish) was okay, but they offered free wine with dinner – I had two glasses of Spanish red wine. After dinner, the attendants came around and offered brandy or Bailey’s Irish Crème – I opted for the latter. We were also served a light breakfast before we landed at 5:10 a.m. I didn’t sleep on the entire flight. There were several 70-something couples seated near me, and they were quite noisy and unaware that others were trying to sleep. Once when I was just about to doze off, the guy in front of me yelled, “I can’t get out of this thing!”. Mind you, this is in the middle of the night, the lights are out, and everyone is quiet or sleeping. I agree that it is difficult to get the tray to stay up on those German planes, and the space is tight – I usually just swung my left leg over the armrest to get out. The man’s wife tried to quiet him down and help him get out. A while later, a guy one row behind me and to my left yelled, “I can’t get the damn thing off!” This probably sounds rather interesting to you all, but I knew he was just talking about the light. The light above was too high to reach, and it was confusing to figure out how to turn it off. I had discovered that there was a light bulb button you pushed on the armrest controls to turn it off and whispered to him and his wife what to do. He continued to grumble and ended up pushing the “Call Attendant” light, which ended up solving his problem.
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