I. Take-off
I’m sitting on the plane as I write this. The morning so far has been completely mental. And I do mean completely mental. Woke up bright and early while it was still dark, after catching, what, one and a half hours of sleep? No, I wasn’t too excited or anything. I just wasn’t finished packing till I hit my bed.
Dad insisted on driving to the airport, convinced he was sure of the way there. Translated: He didn’t want my help. He’s so stubborn. But then again, so am I. Anyway, I dozed off in the car.
Woke up to find he had missed an exit. Almost took to the wheel but we found another one that longer but got us there. Breathe.
At the airport, Mom and I went in first with the luggage while Dad parked. Check-in was hell: My luggage was so over the weight limit, I had to repack four times. FOUR times! Breathe.
Finally settled everything. Took pics, said my goodbyes. Parents appeared somewhat irritated at my lack of excitement. I’m just tired, I insist.
And then I left.
II. Touchdown
I arrived 9pm (or 21:00 as the Germans would say) after a total of 16 hours flight and transit time at the München Flughafen (Munich Airport) near Freising. Of course, the good people at the airport lost my luggage. Breathe.
When I finished the damned paperwork, I went outside to the arrival area to meet my guide, a sprightly German girl (of Austrian-Italian parentage) who introduced herself as Maria. She had a wonderful laugh, the hearty, uninhibited sort.
She helped me get tickets for the trains that I had to take to get to my lodgings in the city. Apparently that’s far from the airport. But we had a pleasant time on the train just chatting and getting to know each other so time passed real quick.
Helps if you’re completely exhausted and had not much sleep before a 16-hour flight and not much during either.
When we got out of the trains, we had a fine time looking for my lodgings. Maria wasn’t familiar with the place it seems, but ran ahead in high spirits anyway. The wheels of my suitcase were making an unholy din in the dead of the night. Then she found the place.
Finally, I can breathe, for real.
So now I’m in bed and closing my journal and falling aslee…