Let the travels begin!

June 25, 2010
*I wrote this on my computer but am just getting a chance to post now.*

What I like about traveling is the excitement. For as much as one prepares not to rush before leaving for a trip, one always finds a way to be late. I woke up today and put the final touches on my packing. My bag is WAY too heavy. I rushed out the door and to the bus. Once on the bus we got stopped because of fire trucks. We waited and waited. I began to get the first stages of panic-sweating. Our bus driver was a rock star and made it through some parking lot and back in business. It ended up being fine and I was on my way to O’Hare.

It was a good sign standing in the ticket line at Lufthansa when the nun took her spot behind me. A huge smile took its place on my face and I giggled a little. I’m sure she is coming with me to help “solve a problem like Maria.” Did I sing the song in my head at that moment? Of course I did! Once I got to the ticket line, my ticketing took only 2 minutes. The ticket agent must have thought I was cute because he placed a yellow “HOT” sticker on my bag. ; ) No explanation was given so I’m sure that is it.

I made it through security in 5 minutes with plenty of time to spare when an older gentleman approached me. He spoke no English and showed me his ticket for Minneapolis. I couldn’t find his departure gate anywhere on the screen. We went to customer service, which was only phones, and I knew that wouldn’t help him, so I finally found the gate where his plane was supposed to depart. It was gone or at least the doors were closed. He showed me something written in English that said he was going to Minneapolis to teach. I think he was from St. Petersburg, Russia. I finally found an agent to help him. I hope he makes it and I hope my help is good karma for the trip.

The flight to Frankfurt was smooth, leaving on-time and landing on-time, although the technology on the Lufthansa flight was circa 1990 and the monkey sitting behind me bugged. Seriously, kids, in this case a teenager, should not be allowed to travel without parental supervision. My seat was kicked and tugged on the entire 7 hours. I seriously thought there was a monkey sitting behind me. The last straw was when she kept putting her foot on my armrest and it kept touching my back and arm. Good thing seemingly clean feet don’t bother me. Overall, for an international carrier, I expected more. Lufthansa-airline fail!

I helped a lady on my flight to Salzburg carry her bag. Sometimes I can’t get over what a nice guy I am. ;)

I have complied a list of things you want me to find out.

For Kristin, I will try my best to discover “how to solve a problem like Maria.”
For Jessica, it will be at the top of my list of things to do in Rome to find out what exactly they mean by, “when in Rome.”
For Jen, I will create a “sting-like” operation in Rome to catch the gypsies perhaps using the time-tested method of a deck of cards in the back pocket as if a wallet.
For Jeremy and Rob, well, you know what I will try to do for you. ; )
For me, and the reason I am heading to Salzburg first, is to discover if the hills really are “alive.” 11 years ago I missed the opportunity to travel to Salzburg and I said then that the next time I’m in Europe I will take the Sound of Music Tour. I’ll keep you all posted.

Happy Travels!