We took no time in getting settled-in and unpacked at the Hannon homestead. The girls immediately went for their corner of toys at Grandma's house, while the suitcases went to the bedrooms. Colby was not so sure if we were really staying or not, so it took him a few hours to warm up to us again and then he did not know who to follow around the house.
Eric also called to say he arrived in London for the party late Saturday afternoon, but getting to the party would just be the initial climb of the mountain of his week in getting around Europe. By the time he finally landed in the US, he has spent the past 7 days in an airport. Since he followed the snow storm around Europe, his travels at one point became an adventure. His tale is as follows:
Thursday -Dec 16: (Copenhagen Airport) I was booked on an earlier flight as my later flight was already canceled. However, it is now 3 hours later, this flight was cancelled and I will be spending the night back in Malmo, Sweden since there are no rooms left at the Copenhagen airport.
Friday- Dec 17: (Copenhagen Airport) It is 5am and I am back for the first flight to Frankfurt airport. After boarding, deboarding, reboarding, and waiting to be de-iced, we are now leaving 6 hours later.
Saturday- Dec 18: (Frankfurt Airport) My flight is the only one that is not canceled to London, so I am on my way to London this morning. Due to snowy conditions, we circle London Heathrow for 1.5 hours, hoping to land, only to land in Standsted. Standsted, which is about the size of Flint airport, had these huge 747s also lined up on the tarmack. We wait for over an hour for a stairway and then the bus to come and take us to the terminal. Inside, I wait for another hour in the passport control line and watch the chaos as the escalators kept going even though there is no where for people to get off of them at the top. When I made it by train into downtown London, there was maybe 1 inch of snow covering the ground. The taxi drivers will not even drive in it. Where is my shovel, I think to myself.
In the evening at our holiday party, I am one of 3 others from my office that made it out of Frankfurt due to the snowstorm. Needless to say, the party was not filled with attendees as planned. I still had a nice dinner and listened to the loud DJ.
Sunday- Dec 19 (London Heathrow) My flight is cancelled this morning and the earliest our travel agency can get me out of here is Tuesday evening. I cannot buy a ticket on the Eurostar train to Paris as they are sold out as well. My colleague and his wife have worked out a plan for them to get back to Frankfurt, so I am in on it as I just bought one of the last seats on the plane to Germany.
First, we take a local train to Manchester. Catching the train is a free- for- all in London, not orderly like the German train stations. When the display board in the communal hall announces what gate it will be at, there is mad rush out of the area to jump on the train when it finally comes to a halt and the doors open.
Second, we board the plane and are seated in the last seats in the last row. I do not even fit in these seats, so we will not be flying Air Berlin anytime soon.
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| Our street on Sunday evening |
Thirdly, we land just outside Hannover for our late evening drive home in the snow. I am texting Adrienne with status points along the way, so she knows where I am, as she just keeps informing me of the bad weather conditions she is hearing about back in the US. My colleague drives us safely back to Frankfurt.
I arrive at 4am (Monday morning) in our apartment to quickly unplug the electronics, repack my bags for work, and catch a quick nap.
Monday- Dec 20- (Frankfurt Airport) It is now 6:45am and I am back at the airport to catch my flight to Copenhagen for work. Everything seems to be on schedule again.
Tuesday- Dec. 21 (Copenhagen Airport) My evening commute to Amsterdam is a breeze and I am thankful not to be going through London to get back to the US.
Wednesday- Dec- 22 (Amsterdam Airport) My flight back to the US takes off and I am now on my way to finally see my family and stay out of the airports for a few weeks.
Wednesday afternoon after appointments and visting, us girls arrive back at our quarters to find a napping Eric.
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