The main challenge with flying east (at least from any time zone of GMT – ) is the loss of time. In our case, it was nine hours that effectively vanished in the blink of an eye. Or not, as the plane flight takes the same length of time regardless of what the clock might be telling me.

As I mentioned, we were a bit late in taking off. As it turned out, the plane was a 747 that had obviously been recently upgraded. Our seat were on the upper deck When I thought about it, it was obvious why first class is not the upper deck. There is a rather narrow stair case that connects the upper deck with the main passenger area. It is not even remotely accessible to anyone with mobility challenges. But it was quiet and the food was good. 

But that nine hours, just gone. My body was telling me in no uncertain terms that it was 0200 in the morning when we landed. Not that anyone around me would have agreed. I voted for the lounge, coffee and maybe a snack before we headed to baggage claim. Taking that break was followed by one of the longest terminal walks it has been my misfortune to experience. before we finally arrived to a completely empty Passport Control. I got my stamp, George pulled out his visa and was waived through. From there it was just a short jaunt to baggage claim. 

In spite of my delay, our baggage wasn’t yet on the carousel. From there, it was out the door, across the street, up an elevator and another walk before getting to the long distance train station. Not sure why I was surprised at the markedly increase in train prices. Perhaps I am just used to the relatively low price of BART as a senior. Anyway – jammed ICE to Mannheim, local train to Heidelberg. Taxi to the hotel. 

I crashed, George went to Aldi….

And tomorrow we will visit with friends, hand over yarn and fiber, find some DHL boxes to mail off fabric to the Netherlands and pass along a book to a friend. 

Sounds like a fun day.