It started out with a chat with my cousin Ann, who lives in Germany. At first we were discussing a visit from her to my house. Then the more we talked, she said that I should visit her in Germany. She live in Aachen, Germany with her two daughters. Anna and I first met in 1998 when I visited her family in Poland. She came to the U.S. a few times and we have kept in touch over the years. I also have kept in touch with her brother Pawel, who lives in Poland.
After chatting online with facetime, the trip to Europe began to take shape. It was decided that in July my daughter Heather and I would make the trip. We would visit and stay with Anna in Germany, and then we would travel to Poland and stay with Pawel and his family in Poland. Then we decided we would end our trip by going to Paris for two days.
The next few months involved the planning for the trip. I made plane reservations for the first leg to Germany and Heather made the reservations for the flights from Germany to Poland and from Poland to Paris. We were going to make this trip! We were both very excited!
Fast forward to July. All flight reservations have been made. Hotel reservations have been made too. We're ready to embark on a great journey and experience.
Our first flight was from Boston to Dusseldorf, Germany. My first oops was going through security at Logan airport, We were told to take everything out of our pockets. I thought I had done this. Heather went through without any problem but when I was my turn I was pulled aside, I forgot to take out a small piece of paper. So I had to get searched by wand while Heather just shook her head.
We landed at Heathrow airport in London for a connection to Germany. When we landed we were informed that there wasn't a gate for us to go to so we would have to go down stairs to a waiting bus to take us to the terminal but at first there was only one bus. After waiting on the plane another bus arrived and we were taken to the terminal. For some reason, we had to go to security again. Heather then noticed that our connecting flight was boarding and we had to get to it's gate. We had to run through the airport, cutting through lines to make it. We were the last two passengers to get on the plane. The flight was good and we landed in Germany where we met cousin Anna and he daughter who drove us to their home in Aachen.
We stayed with Anna for two nights. I had another oops there. My first time using the toilet was confusing. I went to the bathroom (standing) and then pushed a lever that I thought would flush the toilet. But that didn't happen. A stream of water hit me and the floor. I had pulled the lever for the bidet. I didn't make that mistake again!
To be continued....
