MIKE AND JESS' TRAVEL DIARY
Germany and Austria Trip
Day 1 - December 6 2016
Thankfully, the airport was slow. However, I was lucky enough to have the full TSA rub down and bag check experience! After going through the cat scan thing (scientific name), they detected an issue with my “crotchal region” (TSA agents words). After getting to know the agent a bit too well, they also unloaded my backpack because our various (and many) snacks were apparently suspicious. The TSA agent started pulling every family-sized bag of snacks out of my backpack, saying “Gummy bears-gotta have those. Goldfish- well sure. Two kinds of jerky- well one of these is going to have to stay here!” At least we gave them a laugh.
The first flight out was delayed an hour. No problem. Thankfully, we had a cushioned 4-hour layover between our next two flights. The only baby on the plane was right in front of Mike and he was rather grumpy. The baby was too.
The slightly shortened layover went by quickly after we got some food and did some wandering.
Our long flight was quite empty and many rows, including the one in front of us, were empty. Once the doors closed, everyone scattered to the empty rows, including me. This gave us much more leg room and allowed us to sleep some. After the long flight and one more quick plane change, we were finally on our last leg to Germany.
After landing in Munich, the customs and immigration experience was quick and efficient. Before long, we were headed for the train platform within the airport. It was a bit of a test of faith since we bought a ticket from the kiosk in English, but the ticket that printed was completely in German. Nervously, we just boarded a train that arrived at the time our ticket indicated and hoped for the best. 45 minutes later, we were assured we took the right one as we pulled up to our stop. Whew!
We weren’t done, though. The train took us into the city center, but our Airbnb was still a subway ride away.
We exited the subway onto the streets at 9 pm and were rudely greeted with cold air like I’d never felt. Mike equated it to hunting with his Dad before dawn during the winter in the Midwest. Within minutes my hands felt like ice cubes even with double-lined gloves on. What should have been a 200 meter (look at us using the metric system!) walk turned into a 600 meter walk since I decided to make an executive decision which put us in the totally wrong direction. After begrudgingly letting Mike take the lead, we made it to the apartment! Thankfully, the Airbnb host patiently waited for us, even though we were checking in at 9:30! The flat was perfect and straight out of an Ikea catalog. As soon as our heads hit the pillow, we were out cold.