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We got home around 1am. Unfortunately, Meri was up at 3am, and every hour thereafter, wanting breakfast. *sigh* Westbound wasn't as easy as usual. The layover messed us up.
However... I'm about to start the TR!!! I've already got the first four days typed up, and I plan on working on the rest today and tomorrow! Update to follow soon!
I already gave a pretty full update of our first travel day, so I'll start with Wednesday.
Day 1 - Wednesday, May 24, 2012
I had to work today from Chicago, so I woke up around 8am, and logged on. We checked out of the Holiday Inn at noon, and my friend Mari met us to have a bite to eat at Bar Louie – the restaurant / bar in the hotel.
We threw our bags in her car and then had lunch. For an appetizer, we got the chips and three dips (guacamole, salsa and queso).
Then for our meals, I got pot stickers, Meri got chicken tenders, mom got tuna steak, and Mari got a bacon and egg sandwich.
After we finished eating, Mari dropped us at the airport. We checked our bags and headed over to the gate – C18. We were there five hours early, so we just got settled, and then Meri and I went for a walk over to the E gates, to Johnny Rockets so I could get my requisite chocolate milkshake. Afterwards, we stopped at Edy’s ice cream to get some soft-serve for Meri and mom. We had to go through the underground, which is, of course, Meri's favorite area (and mine, too).
This dinosaur is in one of the terminals, and I just love it every time I see it.
Back at the gate, we had our snacks, and I did some work. After a time, I took Meri back over to the E/F gates, to get some Chili’s (that’s her favorite) for dinner. Then we came BACK to the gate again, and by this point, they were preparing the plane, and getting ready to board.
We still hadn’t gotten seat assignments. I knew there were enough open seats, and we were 3, 4 and 5 on the list, but I was incredibly nervous that Meri and I wouldn’t get seats together, and that I’d have to then rely on someone good-hearted to change seats with one of us. The gate agents were absolutely wonderful, though. Mom had spoken to them already about the situation and about my worries, and they were amazing. Mom was assigned a business class seat, initially, but just before takeoff, they paged her and asked her to come to the entry-door (which freaked me out, because I had this fear that they were going to boot her from the plane in order to accommodate a late-arriving passenger). It turns out they were just relocating her to first class. Lucky lucky lady!!!
As for myself and Meri, they put us together, in row 21 (economy plus – woo hoo). Two middle seats in the middle section (the rows in economy are 3-4-3 across). To my right was a man that looked so much like M Night Shyamalan, I kept sneaking peeks at him. Had we been in first or business, I would have considered it might be him, but obviously I don’t think he’s going to sit in coach, lol. On the other side of Meri was a nice, handsome young gentleman, probably in his 30’s. Meri adopted him right away, and proceeded to begin talking his ear off about Germany. He was a good sport, though I’m sure it wasn’t high on his list to talk to a 6 year old on his flight. I managed to distract her enough that she left him alone most of the flight, though she did draw him a picture, lol.
We took off somewhere around 645pm, I guess. Meri watched Scooby Doo for about 45 minutes, and then we took a bathroom break, and she got her Benadryl. They started the dinner service, and she got chicken in a bbq sauce, with rice. I got pasta (a white sauce lasagna which was quite good). About 15 minutes later, Meri was asleep. I watched One For The Money, and then watched (but didn’t listen to) the Channing Tatum / Rachel McAdams movie, The Vow. That one made me a little teary, so after that, I tried to doze. It was difficult because my left hip and knee were sore, and Meri was draped half across my lap. I did what I could, but truth be told I didn’t expect to sleep much.
After The Vow, they showed some How I Met Your Mother episodes, I think, and that’s when I dozed. Then they showed Hugo, and finally they began We Bought A Zoo (which cut off when we were coming in on approach, but I wasn’t paying much attention).
I didn't take any photos on the plane this time, which was unfortunate. I wish I'd taken pictures of the food, lol, but honestly I was distracted with trying to keep Meri busy, plus trying to deal with my discomfort, and I wasn't thinking!
Up next: Landing in Germany, and driving to France!
Sorry you had an uncomfortable flight, and that was a long wait at the airport, but at least you got seats, the food wasn't bad, and there was half-way decent entertainment. It's when you started to list the entertainment (2 1/2 movies and some sit-coms) that the flight started to sound VERY long! I've forgotten what those long flights are like.
The flight attendants turned on the cabin lights somewhere around 8:30am Frankfurt time. People started stirring (those that actually got to sleep, anyway) and the breakfast service (such that it was) began. They gave out little plastic bags with a tiny loaf of banana bread, and a cup of blueberry yogurt. Meri woke up and was unsurprisingly perky. Of course, she’d also gotten about 6.5 hours of sleep, the lucky dog.
We watched the map a bit, and saw that we were so close to landing. I stayed true to my promise and let Meri have a ring pop for breakfast. I figured what the heck. She was SO good, and I didn’t have anything else for her. We had one last potty break before landing, and then before we knew it, we were on the ground! Frankfurt is a huge airport. We didn’t even get a gate! We parked in the middle of what I called “the plane parking lot” and got to go down the stairs and take a bus to the terminal. It was endless!!! I wish I had thought to take some photos, but honestly I was exhausted and a little overwhelmed.
We found mom immediately (she had been on a different bus) and headed through customs to baggage claim. The guy at customs was adorable, and thought Meri was hilarious because Meri was so excited to hand him her passport for her very first stamp.
Our bags were very easy to find at baggage claim, and then we were following the signs to car rentals. I will say the signage is all very clear, and I can’t imagine getting lost in this airport, even as huge as it is.
At Avis we were informed that they didn’t have the type of car that we had reserved, so they upgraded us (for free) to what I like to call “the beast”. I love this car. It’s so smooth, and it’s huge. Lots of little storage places, and it’s very comfortable.
The guy walked us through the garage to the car, and my gosh, I thought we were never going to get there. I swear we walked a mile to get to the rental!!! It was at the very far end of the parking garage, of course. We inspected it with the guy, and then hopped in! We took a little time getting settled in, and mom investigated the car a bit and set it the way she wanted. Meri claimed the third row, and settled herself in back there. She had her own set-up going, and utilized every holder back there. Funny kid! Then we set the GPS to the hotel address in Strasbourg, and headed off!
There's a funny story about this that will come up shortly...
We love the GPS – I have to say. Mom wanted to name her Camilla, because she has a British accent, but we’ve taken to just calling her “Duchess”. As for the drivers… I love this place, lol. These people MOVE! I’m a lead foot, but these people are crazy. And I say that with the utmost affection! I just love being on these highways!
Along the way, we decided to stop and get something to eat, and I said we should do Burger King since it’s on the GPS as being close to us. First, though, we had to find a bank to get some Euros. I punched “bank” in to the GPS, and found one close by, so we popped over there first. It was in a cute little town (I didn't get the name).
Then we headed back to find Burger King.
Well, that was the beginning of an amusing, if a little annoying, adventure. The GPS wanted us to go one way, but the road was under construction and closed, and no matter what we did, we couldn’t get to where it wanted us to go. Then we got lost and the GPS couldn’t get us to where we wanted to go because of construction everywhere. Finally we gave up on BK and started back on our heading for Strasbourg. All told, that excursion wasted nearly an HOUR!!!
While we were on the highway, trying to find somewhere to eat, we kept seeing signs that said "Ausfahrt", and we kept saying to each other, "Why is it that every road leads to this town called Ausfahrt?" I didn't even remember that I'd taken a picture of that sign in the parking garage, and we were so tired and confused, and FINALLY after about 15 of these signs, we realized... DUH - it's saying "Exit". LOL! We were so dopey, and we laughed for hours about it!
After 15 minutes of driving on the highway, we came across a McDonald’s, and stopped for a drive-thru snack. I got coffee, and oh my gosh… I forgot how strong it is over here. Three coffees and eight sugars made it somewhat tolerable, but I prefer weak coffee myself, lol… phew! It sure woke me up!
We continued driving, and found a station playing American music (though the DJ’s were still speaking in German, of course). We were singing along and hanging out, when we realized, we must have missed a turn! The GPS volume was lower than the radio volume, so we never noticed that she gave us new directions! We had to double-back about half hour (oops!) but then we were back on the right path. After that, we turned off the radio and paid close attention to Duchess, which we turned up QUITE loud, lol.
The scenery was lovely on the drive, I have to say. Everything was just so pretty, everywhere you looked.
The speed limit signs looked like this:
I became obsessed with windmills on this trip - and whenever Meri would see them, she would yell, "Mommy! WINDMILLS!!!" I loved it!
I never got tired of seeing these little towns throughout the countryside!
At one point the road really narrowed (not that the lanes were really wide to begin with but...) and we got stuck behind this truck. Mom just wasn't willing to try to pass it in The Beast, so we got behind it until the road widened.
The French border surprised us – I guess I knew that there’s no real fanfare between borders, but honestly if the GPS hadn’t said “Border”, I wouldn’t have even noticed it. I just barely had time to catch the sign!!!
Meri slept for the last hour of the trip. Lucky her!
It was easy to find the hotel, but we couldn’t figure out where to park. So we pulled up in front of the hotel and then mom popped in to ask. Turns out we were to do just that, and then they would “valet” it for us at the local parking garage in town for 12 euros per day. Sounds good to me!
We got settled into our room (they upgraded us at no charge to a “family suite”) and while mom showered, Meri and I unpacked, and I got us onto the free internet. Then Meri and I took our shower, and, refreshed (a little, anyway), we headed out to explore.
Our first stop was at the bakery on the corner, so I could get a croissant and a juice.
We stood by the river, and just people-watched, and snacked a little. I will say, the river was pretty brown and gross looking.
We meandered around just a little, window-shopping and enjoying the views, but we were so tired and hungry that we weren’t up for much. We ended up stopping at a Subway for Meri, because I really wanted her to eat something decent before we tried to fight with her about eating French food. She got a tuna sandwich while mom looked at the map, and I rested my eyes. Then we popped over to a cute little café.
Most people were eating outside, but I felt like sitting inside. No one else was in there, except one man at the bar, and I was kind of in the mood for some quiet.
Mom and I each got Quiche Lorraine with a salad, and then mom and Meri got limonade and I got a fanta.
I love this photo
It was exactly what I needed. Light and delicious! As is typical in France, we sat for ages, just waiting. There was only one guy working, and I counted nine full tables outside. No one cared in the least. People are happy to just sit around. I would have been more content had I not been so absolutely drained by this point. We got our ticket finally, and it was 27 euros for dinner.
We made it back to the hotel, where mom plopped on the bed and was snoring before we knew it! I uploaded photos and then fell asleep myself, somewhere around 9pm local time, I think.
Unfortunately, I woke up sometime in the night with a migraine. I wasn’t surprised. I was dehydrated, and should have been smarter and drank more water, but alas… no common sense to be had. I took my migraine pill and amazingly fell right back to sleep. I have no idea what time it was when this happened. A while later I woke up again, and was just wide awake. No matter what I did, I couldn’t sleep. I finally got up and grabbed my laptop, and went into the bathroom, so as not to disturb anyone. I got some work done, and played around online a bit. Finally I thought I was tired enough to sleep, so I logged off and climbed back into bed. I do know this was somewhere around 2am. I think I laid there another hour or so before finally drifting off, and next thing I knew, it was 830am.
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Sorry you had an uncomfortable flight, and that was a long wait at the airport, but at least you got seats, the food wasn't bad, and there was half-way decent entertainment. It's when you started to list the entertainment (2 1/2 movies and some sit-coms) that the flight started to sound VERY long! I've forgotten what those long flights are like.
I was really glad they were movies I hadn't seen before. It really made the time pass. Of course, sleep would have made it pass even faster!
Yay, you've started! And you're giving us two updates in one day! Woohoo!
I'm so glad you got on that flight out. Good thing your mom was able to relax in first class so she could rest up before driving!
Love the pics...everything's quaint, just like I expected. Love that you enjoyed a cafe...quiche...a perfect taste of France! I love the Fanta, too!
Sounds like Meri did great on the flight! I hear you about trying to sleep when you've got a youngster lying across half of you, lol! I'm glad you were able to get some rest after you took care of that migraine. Yikes!
Looking forward to the next installment!
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I posted after the first update and almost missed the second! That was a VERY long day. I love the photos taken during the drive of the villages, very green grass and very blue skies. Meri is looking very grown-up these days. Very six, not five any more! Every picture taken of her is, as usual, wonderful. The one of her and your mom toasting is very sweet and a perfect first-day-in-Europe photo. Sorry about the migraine, but glad you could fall back asleep!
Yay, you've started! And you're giving us two updates in one day! Woohoo!
I'm so glad you got on that flight out. Good thing your mom was able to relax in first class so she could rest up before driving!
Love the pics...everything's quaint, just like I expected. Love that you enjoyed a cafe...quiche...a perfect taste of France! I love the Fanta, too!
Sounds like Meri did great on the flight! I hear you about trying to sleep when you've got a youngster lying across half of you, lol! I'm glad you were able to get some rest after you took care of that migraine. Yikes!
Looking forward to the next installment!
Quiche was exactly what I was looking for, and just didn't realize it until I saw it on the menu. You're absolutely right, it was a perfect taste of France.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Glad you've made it to Strausburg! Love the pictures!
Thanks - it really was such a pretty drive - though really all of our drives were beautiful. Everything is just so pretty there.
Quote:
Originally Posted by emvenable77
Great start to your trip! I can't wait to read more!
I will post another update tomorrow for sure!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
I posted after the first update and almost missed the second! That was a VERY long day. I love the photos taken during the drive of the villages, very green grass and very blue skies. Meri is looking very grown-up these days. Very six, not five any more! Every picture taken of her is, as usual, wonderful. The one of her and your mom toasting is very sweet and a perfect first-day-in-Europe photo. Sorry about the migraine, but glad you could fall back asleep!
It really was an incredibly long day. Worthwhile, but very long. I expected the migraine, honestly, but still managed to take zero precautionary measures (like drinking water and taking my migraine pill early, before needing it). Duh. :P
Love the story about Ausfahrt and all I'll say is I did try to warn you about how easy it is to go across the border and you probably wouldn't even notice it...
Oh this is starting off as a great trip. Aside from the lack of sleep and headache, of course. The towns are so cute, I so hope to see them some day! So very picturesque. What kind of car was "Beast?" I also have a lead foot and can imagine how relaxing it must be to drive among some speedy friends... Looking forward to more!
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I've already got the first four days typed up, and I plan on working on the rest today and tomorrow! 
Melanie
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and all I'll say is I did try to warn you about how easy it is to go across the border and you probably wouldn't even notice it... 
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