A Long Flight and Long Day Home

Hotel Schwann

I had another sleepless night. Hotel Schwann is located along the highway and the constant noise of cars is disruptive. I was also checking and re-checking my packing. At 6:44 a.m. Marianne and I were off to the airport. The reason for staying in this area is that it is an easy and fast drive (38 km) to the Frankfurt airport. When you get on the autobahn, you just have to follow the signs showing a plane (an international symbol). Driving towards terminal 2 (for American Airlines), I make a quick right turn into the rental car garage. Everything goes smoothly. I say “goodbye” to Marianne and stand in line to check in my luggage and get my tickets. After standing in that short line, an American Airlines rep says “ma'm, next time you can go to the priority check in since you are platinum”. I had Steve's card out and visible. Because of that special status, I checked in my luggage for free. Maybe they didn't see the name on the 2 million mile card. Thanks, once again, hubby! I requested a middle of three seats and asked that the others be blocked. Yes, that can be arranged. She told me no one ever requests the middle seat.

I'm here very early, however, I find some fellow travelers (they were on my flight to Frankfurt) to share our experiences of the past two weeks. An electronic/computer glitch delays our 11 hour flight. However, my layover is 6 hours so I should be fine gathering my luggage, going through customs and transferring to another terminal.  

The international terminal at the Dallas airport has been renovated.  Unfortunately, there must have been several international planes that just arrived because the passport check line was extremely long.  It was a 45 minute wait and they were not letting connecting flight passengers go to the front of the line.  Luckily, I had a long layover.  

I gathered my large, check in luggage and proceeded towards customs.  Why I walked past that cute little beagle I will never know.  He needed to be avoided!  Yes, he sniffed out my salami and I was requested to open my bag and find the three Santa Salamis I was trying to bring back as gifts.  Oh, well, I guess I should have put them in zip-loc bags.  I had no problem bringing back my hard cheese and my vinegars.  

The flight into Orange County was exhausting.  However, that's a small price to pay to be able to enjoy a vacation in Europe.  I already miss it.