September 9, 2015

September 9, 2015

This morning we checked out of our hotel, and caught the train, following the Main River downstream to our starting point of Frankfurt am Main.  At the airport check-in, we are asked if we are willing to be bumped off our flight. Aimee and I both respond ‘yes’ enthusiastically.  We are hoping for a future plane ticket credit and an extra day in Germany.  Since Lufthansa is on strike (again), I am thinking we have a good chance.  We won’t know until boarding time.  Fortunately we are travelling light and not checking bags; we can be flexible.

In the meantime, we go through passport control.  This time when I practice my limited German on the inspector, he corrects me and says my pronunciation is the Berlin dialect.  No wonder I have been getting smiles from southern Germans.  Nobody told me until now, when we are ready to leave.

 

Once our plane starts boarding, the gate agent calls us up.  Yes! We got it.  At the podium the agent says our seat assignment was changed. I mutter, “what, no bump?”  She shakes her head, and then I look at the seat.  Row 7.  Then it sinks in; that is First Class!  Aimee and I run onto the plane.  I am trying to act like we fly those seats all the time.  Hard to do, when my wife is dancing in the aisle with a huge grin our her face.  First Class on an international flight is a true luxury. Instead of being crammed into a sardine can, we can stretch out, even lay completely flat like a bed.  We are greeted with a Mimosa drink, and an hors-d'oeuvre plate.  Later it is salad and a mixed drink, followed by a delicious entree served on real plates.  No foil covered mush for us.  I had to laugh when the pilot announced that we were going to arrive early.  Aimee yelled, “Noooo!”.  She didnt want the flight to end.

After a very long travel day, we arrive in Chicago. We are happy to be back in the US, the home of free toilets.  Despite the need to always have coins in your pocket when nature calls, we had a great trip.  The Swiss countryside was outstandingly beautiful.  If we were billionaires, we would have stayed there longer.  Germany was full of history and outstanding royal palaces and castles.  By sticking to only German speaking countries we delved deeper into the local culture and cuisine. While Switzerland was over-reliant on cheese and potatoes, German food was surprisingly diverse and tasty.  It wasn’t all sausage and sauerkraut.

 

While it is dangerous to generalize, we did find that Germans meet a lot of the stereotypes we read about.  They are hard-working but after a long day, they like their beer.  Biergartens can be found everywhere and steins come in two sizes, large and extra large.
 
Germans also seem to willingly follow orders.  Most of the local transportation and parking is on the honor system.  We were never checked to see if we paid for our parking or for our subway ticket. Nobody jaywalks either, no matter what the level of traffic.