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Paul Simon or bust… Our Dublin getaway! Part ten

Monday morning, we woke up bright and early for our trip back to Germany.  Bill had scheduled a wake up call for 7:00am, but we were already wide awake by the time the phone rang.  He’d also ordered a cab for 8:00am, but we were ready to go at about 7:30am.  In retrospect, I wish we’d had one last breakfast at the marvelous Merrion Hotel, even though it would have added another 60 euros to our bill.  I had forgotten that the lounges at the Dublin Airport are all purpose and kind of suck.  Our last visit to Dublin was in November 2016 and I had forgotten about the lounge, which is kind of grubby and crowded.

I had prepaid for the room with the plane tickets.  I booked the trip through Expedia and I think it came to about $3,000, including four nights in a five star hotel, business class flights on Lufthansa, and trip insurance in case we couldn’t go for some reason.  When we checked out, we paid another 438 euros for food and bar.  That was actually less than I was expecting.  Could we have done it cheaper?  Of course!  But I wanted this to be a really nice experience, and it was.  The Merrion Hotel certainly deserves all of the accolades it gets.  I’d stay again… if I can afford it, that is!  Seriously, if you’re going to Dublin and want to splurge, the Merrion Hotel is a great bet for that.

We had yet another entertaining ride to the airport with cab driver who told us he was one of eleven children.  He said back in the 60s, there was no TV, so what else were you gonna do with your time?  He was a very nice fellow who bid us a sincere farewell.  I think Ireland is one of those places where you have many friends you haven’t yet met.  It’s got to be one of the friendliest countries I’ve ever visited… and at times, I felt like I was back in the USA.  Lots of Americans were in Dublin, too.

Obviously, other people wondered if that all purpose lounge was seriously the only one…  Oh well.  It had free WiFi, fruits, cheeses, drinks, and limited seating space.  In the morning, there’s no beer to be had, but they do stock it later.  Don’t ask me how I know.

 

Our flight to Munich was populated with a lot of Italian teenagers.  I guess they were in Ireland for the same reason the Spanish teens were there– to learn English.  This, even though English is Ireland’s second language.  It’s easy to forget that Irish is a language, too.  The flight was trouble free and pleasant, complete with food…

The flight attendant seemed nervous about giving me this tray of food.  It wasn’t bad.  The cookies were extras from coach because she was afraid I wouldn’t like it.  There was burrata, a shrimp with asparagus slices, wurst with pickles, and some kind of vanilla mousse that was pretty tasty.  I also got hot bread and white wine.

 

We had a two hour layover at Munich’s fabulous airport.  Given a choice, I think I’d take Munich over Frankfurt.  It’s just a nicer place to spend time.  The guy who checked our passports at passport control seemed confused by the concept of the Status of Forces Agreement.  But, to his credit, he figured things out quickly and sent us on our way.  We hung out in the Lufthansa Business lounge for an hour, then got our rinky dink flight back to Stuttgart.  It took about twenty minutes and yes, they fed us.  Actually, it was a nice snack consisting of part of a wrap, a brownie with nuts, caramel, and cherry filling, and grapes.  Seems crazy to wait two hours for a twenty minute flight, but it is what it is.

A couple of sky shots I took.  I think I got these on the first flight from Dublin.

When we got to Stuttgart, our bags were the first ones off the plane.  We grabbed them, got to our car, and drove to Max’s just in time to hit Stuttgart rush hour traffic.  Zane and Arran were delighted to see us and Max gave us the lowdown on what we need to discuss with their vet.  He really does take excellent care of the boys and they love going to see him, although sometimes I leave his place feeling like a negligent dog mom.  But I’d rather it be like that than worry that my dogs aren’t being taken care of and I know he does take great care of them.

I don’t know when our next trip will be.  I’m hoping to visit Armenia in the fall, if we can get enough time off and Max has availability for the dogs.  But we’ll have to see if we can pull it off.  For now, I’ll get back to blogging about restaurants and local fun stuff.  Stay tuned!

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Paul Simon or bust… Our Dublin getaway! Part two

We left Stuttgart on the morning of Thursday, July 12th.  I was pretty ready to go, since it had been awhile since our last foray out of Germany on an airplane.  It’s not that I like air travel.  It’s more that I’ve kind of been itching to go somewhere besides France or Switzerland.  The last time we went outside of France or Germany was in February, when we hit the Czech Republic for a long weekend.  Because we often travel with the dogs, we are kind of hindered in where we can go.  Also, it’s taken Bill some time to build up enough off time to go somewhere beyond the immediate border countries.

We got up early on the morning of our departure, loaded up the dogs and all of their junk, packed up our suitcases, and headed off to Leinfelden, where the dogs would spent the long weekend with Max at Dog Holiday and we would board our first plane to the Emerald Isle.  I don’t usually accompany Bill when he takes the dogs to Max’s, but in the interest of not looking like a negligent dog mom, I went in with him this time.  Max and his wife, Chris, always take great care of our dogs and they love going to see them.  It’s comforting to see my dogs greet Chris with much affection.

After the dogs were dropped off, we headed for the airport.  Bill dropped me off with the bags, parked the car, and joined me as we found our way to Lufthansa’s check in desk.  There was a family of Germans doing some business with the business class agent, holding up the line.  Several people were ahead of us and finally got so exasperated, they went to the line for economy.  Bill and I weren’t particularly in a hurry, so we waited and another agent came along and checked us in.  The German family with their many, many bags were still being helped when we finished checking in.  I don’t know what the issue was, but clearly it was a big and time consuming problem.

With our bags dropped, we headed for Lufthansa’s lounge, which like all the other lounges is on the second floor of the airport.  I didn’t bother to take pictures of it this time, mainly because I’ve taken pictures in previous posts and nothing has really changed.  It’s just a big room with comfortable chairs, free WiFi, televisions, and snacks.  I have become accustomed to using lounges when I fly and I’ve found that they do make the experience somewhat less stressful on a multi-leg journey.  The lounges are usually quieter and less obnoxious than the main airport and “free” beer is always a good thing.

Our first flight took us to Frankfurt, which is a huge and kind of old airport.  The flight to Frankfurt from Stuttgart is super short– maybe twenty minutes or so.  Nevertheless, they still fed us.  We had maybe ten minutes to scarf down a snack of bread, fruit, and cheese, which came with a side of chocolate.  I saved the chocolate for later.  Business class on Lufthansa is kind of boring, but you do get a few perks, like an empty seat next to you.  The seats are otherwise just like the ones in economy class.  You get a snack or a meal and free booze, and supposedly “priority” handling of your luggage and a quicker security check, as well as the right to check two bags without having to pay extra.  If I can afford it, I try to go business class.  I find it makes the trip more pleasant for everyone.

“Freiraum” is always welcome on airplanes… especially when you have wide hips.

“Special” accommodations in business class.

In Frankfurt, we had a four hour layover.  It’s good that we had so much time, since besides having a long walk to our gate, we also had to go through passport control.  Ireland is not part of the Schengen Zone, which is an important thing to remember when you’re planning your flights and don’t come from a European country.  If you go to the United Kingdom or Ireland or anywhere not in the Schengen Zone, you will have to wait in line.  Sometimes the lines are pretty obnoxious, which was the case on Thursday, when it backed up all the way past the food court.

We were standing behind a nice looking Mexican family, who appeared to be grandparents with their grandson.  They were very well-dressed and civilized, even when the abuelo reminded a veiled Muslim lady that she needed to wait in line like everyone else.  I couldn’t help but feel a little sad about the current state of affairs between the United States and Mexico right now.  To be honest, the current state of affairs in the United States was a constant topic of conversation on this trip, although no one was overtly unkind to us because we’re from the United States.  Still, Trump’s policies did have an affect on our travels if only because people we met were asking “WTF?” a lot.  Believe me, I ask the same thing on a daily basis.

We got to the window at passport control.  The guy who checked our passports looked all of about 18 years old and had no sense of urgency.  He paged through our passports, looking for evidence that we’ve been in Germany legally for the past four years.  He finally found our SOFA cards at the back of the passports, smiled, and sent us on our way.  I was kind of relieved that he knew about the Status of Forces Agreement.  It’s been my experience that some folks at passport control have never seen the cards and we have to explain.  That was kind of what happened to us yesterday in Munich, but I’ll get into that story later.

Anyway, once we got through passport control, we spent our lengthy layover in one of Frankfurt Airport’s many Lufthansa lounges.  It was a pretty boring afternoon until I started singing Monty Python songs to Bill.  That never fails to crack him up.  And again, there’s free wine and beer, of which we took full advantage.

A common sight in Lufthansa lounges.

Our flight to Dublin was trouble free and by 5:30pm local time, we were picking up our bags.  Although we flew business class and our bags were supposed to be offloaded first, we happened to be on the plane with a large group of Spanish kids.  The hilarious cab driver who took us into the city explained that Spain and Italy send a lot of young people to Ireland so they can learn English.  It appeared that a fresh group from Spain arrived with us last Thursday.  They were kind of fun to watch.  It doesn’t seem like that long ago that I was that young and awkward.  Now, I’m just awkward.

I enjoyed the helpful signs in baggage claim.  I don’t know how many people this sign has helped… are you ever thinking of driving when you’re picking up your bags?

Our bags were probably the last to make it off of the plane.  Consequently, we ended up in the cab line behind another American couple who had been on our flight.  I knew they were American simply by looking at them, but there was another big clue hanging off of their luggage.  The male half of the couple was a consular officer in Milan, Italy.  The tag on his wife’s luggage gave his name, address, phone number, and job title.  I noticed that he had positioned his tag so that it faced down, but hers was face up, revealing a lot of information about them.  Bill noticed it, too.  My good deed of the day is to remind all of you out in Internetland to be careful about what you reveal to people when you travel.  I suppose I could have been really obnoxiously outspoken and said, “Hi Patrick!” to the guy in front of us, leaving him to wonder how I know him.  But despite popular belief, I’m not really that brash.

I liked this sign, too.  I think we should post a few of them in the United States.

 

The cab driver who took us to Dublin was hilarious.  He started out kind of quiet, but was soon warmly welcoming us to Ireland, complete with dropping the f-bomb several times.  We got caught in rush hour traffic, you see.  Every other word was “fookin'”, which I thought was pretty funny.  The cab driver was telling us about how Ireland has been experiencing a drought and all of the grass is scorched, which is a rare thing in the country known for being the most green.  Like other chatty Irish cabbies, he also told us about how safe Dublin is and how much he loves the city, even as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s recent visit caused significant backups downtown.

Before too long, our driver had delivered us safely to the Merrion Hotel, where a man in a top hat was quick to rush over and grab our bags.  He offered his hand to take my backpack and I shook it, which caused a moment of awkwardness for us both…  I guess that’s a sign that I’m not used to posh living!

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Paul Simon or bust… Our Dublin getaway! Part one

Going back to Ireland for a stop on our year of concerts…

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about how Bill and I have dubbed 2018 as our year of concerts.  Bill and I aren’t usually concertgoers, but we’ll definitely drop some cash on tickets for certain shows.  On June 30th, we both saw The Rolling Stones for the first time and were absolutely blown away by the experience, obnoxious as it was.  Although the Stones was the first show we’ve seen so far, it was not the first concert I bought tickets to.  I think that honor probably belongs to Elton John, who announced his farewell tour.  Bill and I haven’t seen him either, but he’s coming to Stuttgart next year.  I bought tickets to his show, then got on a roll buying other tickets.

And then James Taylor announced on Facebook that he and Bonnie Raitt would be joining Paul Simon for a few dates on his Homeward Bound tour.  Now… as a child of the 70s and 80s, of course I like Paul Simon’s music.  I couldn’t get through my childhood without hearing his greatest hits with former musical partner Art Garfunkel.  My dad was a big fan of theirs.  I have always liked Paul Simon, although at least prior to Friday night’s show in Dublin, not quite as much as I did James Taylor and Bonnie Raitt.  Of the three on the bill, I was the most excited about seeing James play again.  This was my third time seeing him play live.

The idea of seeing James, Bonnie, and Paul appealed, as did going to Dublin in the summer.  Last time we were there was my first time– back in November 2016.  The weather wasn’t exactly stellar.  We spent three nights there before we moved on to the west coast of Ireland.  The hotel I chose that first time was nice, but not in the part of the city most conducive to seeing Dublin.  Plus, our time there was eaten by trips to Kilkenny to see the Smithwick’s Visitor’s Center and doing the Guinness tour.  Bill had also never been to Dublin during the summer, although he has been to Ireland once more than I have.  With his blessing, I ordered us tickets in February… and promptly lost them by June.

We don’t usually lose things at our house because Bill and I are both hoarders.  But we’re also getting old and forgetful.  Somehow, the tickets to the show I was most looking forward to got misplaced.  I had to call Ticketmaster Ireland to get new ones issued.  Fortunately, that wasn’t as onerous a task as online reviewers had led me to believe.  We just called them on a Saturday morning and a young woman with a charming Irish lilt verified my payment details and sent duplicates.  I’m so glad we went to the trouble.  The show was absolutely incredible– as good or probably even better than the Stones’ show was.  It’s too bad Paul Simon says he won’t be doing any more big tours.

I decided I wanted this particular trip to be as comfortable as possible.  I used Expedia to book us a room at Dublin’s Merrion Hotel, which is reputed to be the best in the city.  I also got us business class tickets on Lufthansa with flights laying over in Frankfurt on the way to Dublin and Munich on the way back.  We booked the dogs for four nights with Uncle Max and Bill arranged for the time off, so we could leave last Thursday morning and come back today.  Four nights made for a nice break, and gave us the chance to see a few places we missed the first time we visited Dublin.

As usual, this will be a series.  That means there will be several posts, along with lots of pictures.  I hope those who read this first post will follow along as I write up the whole weekend, although I know not everyone will be interested.  My travel tends to be very adult oriented and full of stories about people we meet and things we see, rather than stuff we do.  However, if you’re interested in reading about the hotel, restaurants we tried, and our activities, I highly recommend staying the course.

This is a concert I will never… ever… forget.  It was just awesome.  As amazed as I was by The Rolling Stones, I was even more blown away by this show, for which tickets cost me significantly less money.

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Celebrating 14 years in Ireland! Part two

On the morning of November 11th, we dropped off Zane and Arran at Dog Holiday.  Zane and Arran have stayed at this dog hotel several times and always have a good experience there.  I had left some medication for the dogs, along with peanut butter to help them take it.  At first, Max the proprietor didn’t want to use the peanut butter because he says it’s too messy and full of sugar.  I will admit I got a little pissy, mainly because I use peanut butter that is all natural and contains nothing but peanuts.  Whitley’s Peanuts in my hometown of Gloucester, Virginia sells amazing products that are very high quality.  Max was under the impression that I was giving my dogs Peter Pan or Jif.  No way!

I was on edge as we were leaving Stuttgart.  Zane just had surgery to remove a mast cell tumor.  I hadn’t been expecting the news that his lump had been cancerous, so I was upset.  Having someone imply that I feed my dogs junk didn’t sit right with me, but I’m sure Max meant well.

Having dropped off the dogs, Bill and I made our way to the airport.  We were there very early for our flight to Munich, which was set to leave at 12:50pm.  We did the self-check in at a kiosk, which sort of confused us because I think it might have been for people who weren’t checking luggage.  Because I booked business class, Bill and I were entitled to check two bags each at no extra charge.  We had planned to check one bag each, but I decided I’d rather not lug around the bag I usually use as a carry on, since the only thing in it I would need was an iPad.  It turned out to be a good decision to check three bags between us.

The very helpful Lufthansa agent pointed us to a dedicated security line for first and business class passengers, as well as the Lufthansa Lounge.  Since I was a bit hungry and we were in no hurry, we decided to stop for something to eat before we went through security.

Salmon tapas and a croissant!

 

We had a quick bite at the Italian cafe in Terminal 2, which I paired with some prosecco.  The salmon and shrimp salad was great for boosting my blood sugar a bit.

The priority security lane…  there was even a red carpet there!

 

Even though our security line was supposed to be “priority”, it was crowded.  It took some time to get through the process, made slightly more annoying because I was having trouble understanding instructions.  One of the agents said something to me that I couldn’t quite hear.  Even if I could hear it, I wouldn’t have necessarily understood it.  I finally said, “Sorry, I’m American.”  She switched to English and I finally got what I was supposed to do.  A sharp eyed agent spotted that my car key fob had fallen out of my purse.  When I went to claim it, he asked if I was sure it was mine.  I was sure, especially since it was apparent that no one else in the security line drove a Mini Cooper.

Once we got through security, we made our way to Stuttgart Airport’s Lufthansa business class lounge.  The lounge is actually in two parts.  There’s the Senate Lounge, which I guess is for very high priority passengers with first class tickets or many Lufthansa miles.  And there’s the Business Lounge, which is for business class passengers and fewer Lufthansa miles.  This was the first time either Bill or I have ever accessed the Business Lounge for any airline, so it was a new experience for us.  To access the lounge, show the agent your ticket.  It will be scanned and you can then go in and enjoy peace, quiet, comfortable seating, food, and drinks.  The lounge offers light snacks, including fruit, soup, and salads, as well as what looked like Chex mix.  They also have wine, beer, whiskey, schnapps, soda, water, coffee and tea.  It’s all included in the price of your ticket, so you can help yourself.

WiFi is free in the lounge and easy to access.  There are also computer desks, free newspapers, and a couple of TVs tuned to the news.  There’s a bathroom right outside the lounge that is clean and quiet.  You can even charge your phone up there without even entering the lounge.  That’s handy information for anyone who’s running low on juice and can’t find an electrical outlet.  I must admit, it was a pleasure to spend our time in the lounge.  It was probably one of the nicest of the business class “perks” we enjoyed on our flights to Dublin.

Bill enjoys an Italian red wine while he reads the paper in Lufthansa’s lounge.

 

I had been a little apprehensive about out flight to Munich, since I wasn’t able to pre-select our seats.  I needn’t have worried, though.  Bill and I were given seats 1A and 2A.  Although I’m sure no one would have minded had Bill sat next to me, another Lufthansa perk is that the seat next to you stays empty.  Since there were only two seats to a side of each row, he was seated behind me instead of next to me.

“Free space”

Peek a boo!

Our flight from Stuttgart to Munich was running late, but it was only scheduled to be only thirty minutes, anyway.  Nevertheless, I was very impressed by the service on that particular flight.  The flight attendants were excellent, not just to the four of us in “business class”, but to everyone on the flight.

We were even served meals, though I opted not to eat mine.  This was Bill’s meal.  Note the real silverware and plates.  He said the food was pretty good.  As for me, I enjoyed two beers in thirty minutes.  They were small ones, though– 25 ml. each.

 

We landed in Munich and had just enough time to rush to passport control, where there was a pretty good sized line.  Actually, we got there just in time, since the line got much longer minutes after we arrived.  The passport agent asked me if I had a European passport after she noted how long I’ve been in Germany.  I mentioned SOFA; she found the card; and we were on our way.

Our flight to Dublin was set to last about two hours.  The one thing about that flight that I liked was that we had a separate entrance that served the six of us sitting in business class.  Other than that, I can’t say the business class experience from Munich to Dublin was that special.

We were served a meal not long after takeoff.  This was a light chicken and shrimp salad with mango.  It was surprisingly good for airplane food.  There was also a berry crumble, hot roll, and Swiss chocolate.  I usually don’t eat airplane food, but I did eat some of this.  I think the people in economy class got sandwiches.

 

Not long after we were served our meal, some guy toward the back of the plane had a medical problem.  The flight attendants asked for a doctor.  I’m not sure if anyone was able to help; but whatever the problem was, it was evidently handled onboard.  I think in the course of helping the person with the medical issue, the lavatory in economy was temporarily blocked.  Consequently, lots of people from economy class were using the lavatory in business class.  Technically, they weren’t supposed to do that, but the flight attendants did nothing about it.

I know it sounds snobby for me to mention this; I mention it only because some people will be reading this actually wanting to know about business class service and I want to give full disclosure for those who care.  In any case, because of all of the people coming up to business class to use the toilet, it wasn’t as peaceful and quiet as it could have been on our flight.  I know this wasn’t necessarily a usual thing, since at the beginning of the flight, a man seated in economy asked if he could use the business class lavatory before he sat down.  The flight attendant directed him to use the toilet in the back.  Later, I saw him up front standing in line for the lavatory like everyone else.

Another issue I had that made our business class experience less special was the fact that I was sitting in the last row in business class.  Some guy with long legs was sitting behind me and he kept sticking his feet under my seat and kicking my feet.  Even the free middle seat between us was a little annoying, since there is a place to put drinks there that is fixed.  You can’t raise the arms on the seat or necessarily stretch out much.

Fortunately, since we were at the front of the plane, we were able to exit quickly once we landed in Dublin.  Our bags were among the first to arrive in baggage claim.  And within minutes of our arrival, some guy came up to me and apparently assumed I was a local.  I think he was speaking Irish to me, though, because I didn’t understand him.

With the flights behind us, I was eager to get to the hotel and rest.  It had been a long day and I was tired and hungry.  Off we went to the taxi stand, where we met our first local.  More on that in part 3.

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Celebrating 14 years in Ireland! Part one

Bill and I are currently in Ireland, celebrating our 14th wedding anniversary.  This trip has been a long time coming, since Bill has Irish ancestry and last visited Ireland in 1984.  I think I visited Ireland when my father was stationed at Mildenhall Air Force Base in England, but if I did visit, I was much too young to remember it.  I’ve been wanting to see Ireland for a long time, especially since I also have a little Irish blood, though it got to me by way of Scotland (I assume, anyway, having examined genealogical research done by people in my family).

I’m not sure when we decided, once and for all, that this anniversary would be spent in Ireland.  Originally, I was thinking about a trip to Baden-Baden, of all places, because I love spas and Baden-Baden is chock full of them.  For all I know, I decided on Ireland after we bought tickets to the recent whisky/whiskey tasting we attended at The Auld Rogue in Vaihingen.  In any case, we’re here and it’s good.  I tried to make this trip as first class as possible.

Business class on Lufthansa and Swiss Air (as well as Austrian Airlines)

 

As is my habit when I start planning a trip, I turned to Expedia.com for the initial planning.  I do that mainly because on Expedia, I can see prices for multiple airlines at one time and pair them with hotels.  I know everybody has their favorite travel site.  I’ve tried and used Travelocity and I’ve looked at Kayak.com, too.  For some reason, I just happen to prefer Expedia.  I also have a lot of rewards points there that I’m saving for a big splurge sometime.

When Bill and I fly, we usually opt for economy class because it’s often difficult to justify the extra money it costs to fly business class.  For this particular trip, we ended up booking business class seats.  Although business class was a bit more expensive than economy class was, it wasn’t prohibitively so.  I also wanted to try business class so I could write about the experience.

We ended up paying about $840 for two business class tickets from Stuttgart to Dublin.  Our first leg took us from Stuttgart to Munich to Dublin on Lufthansa.  On the way back, we’ll fly Swiss Air to Zurich to Stuttgart.  We have a long layover in Zurich and I looked at possibly taking a train back to Stuttgart.  Unfortunately, I didn’t find one that would get us back home sooner than the plane would.  I guess I will get to write about Zurich’s airport and maybe Swiss Air’s business class lounge.

The Marker Hotel in Dublin 

 

The Marker Hotel is a very contemporary hotel located in the Docklands area of Dublin.  It’s located in the center of town, making it a good place from which to explore.  As it’s turned out, so far we haven’t explored much of Dublin yet, because I bought us tickets to the Smithwick’s Experience in Kilkenny.  Yesterday, we took a train to Kilkenny to use our tickets and that took up the whole day.  Today, we have plans to visit the Guinness brewery for a tour and a connoisseur beer tasting.  Hopefully, we’ll get to see some of Dublin today, because tomorrow, we’re headed to the west coast, where I’ve rented a cottage on the water for five nights.

Nectar of the gods?

The Water’s Edge in Aughris

That is the name of the cottage I’ve rented.  I found it through Booking.com.  It’s located in County Sligo.  I had originally wanted to find us a place in County Donegal, but was unable to find anything that really pulled at the heartstrings.  The Water’s Edge is located steps away from a well regarded beach bar and is literally right on the beach.  I look forward to seeing the area around there because it looks absolutely beautiful!  Best of all, the price was right.  Just 440 euros for five nights.  I haven’t seen the house yet, though, so we’ll see if it was really a bargain.

We will come back to Dublin on Saturday, November 19th and stay a night at the Clayton Hotel, which is right next to the Marker Hotel.  I didn’t know they were so close to each other when I booked.  I was simply looking for an airport hotel.  Now I know to check locations more carefully!  On November 20th, we will fly back to Germany.

Now that I’ve outlined our main plans for this trip, it’s time to write about what’s happened so far.  Stay tuned for part two.

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My review of our flight on Lufthansa…

So now that we’ve been in Germany for nine days, I’m ready to write about the long-ass flight we took from Houston, Texas to Frankfurt, Germany.  Although my husband Bill and I lived in San Antonio, we flew out of Houston because we had our two dogs with us and we wanted a direct flight to Germany.  A direct flight means fewer opportunities to lose baggage and live animals.  If we had flown out of San Antonio, we would have had to change planes at least once.

We also chose to fly out of Houston because Houston has more international carriers than San Antonio does.  Since we had our dogs, we couldn’t use Delta Airlines, which is usually our carrier of choice.  Delta won’t fly pets from May until September or when the temperature anywhere along the route is higher than 85 degrees.  In fact, all of the American carriers had restrictions.  We could have flown on United, which is the airline we used last time we moved to Germany, but we would have had to use their Pet Safe program to move our dogs.  It’s a cargo service and costs a whole lot…  and frankly, I’m not sure it’s any safer or more convenient.

Having done my research, I determined that flying to Germany on Lufthansa was our best bet.  Lufthansa has special areas for pets that are kept temperate and well lit and they take care not to put animals on the plane until the last minute.  The Frankfurt airport also has a pet facility that was built in 2011 that is supposedly pretty awesome.  I didn’t expect we’d need to use the pet facility, since we were going to be on the same flight with our dogs.

Aside from taking care of our dogs, I was kind of excited about flying on a European carrier on a transatlantic flight.  It’s been my experience that European airlines are better than American airlines are in terms of comfort.  Since we had to pay for our tickets (which means we have to reimburse Bill’s employer), we were able to book directly with Lufthansa.  Had we been flying on military or government orders, it’s very likely we would have been forced to fly on an American carrier.  I don’t know if this is still the rule– it was when I was a Peace Corps Volunteer and last time we moved to Germany– but if you fly on the government’s dime, they make you take an American carrier for as far as possible.

Anyway, we had a really decent flight on Lufthansa.  The only thing I didn’t like about it was having to pay $35 each for two seats together.  We could have let fate determine where we’d be sitting, but Bill and I wanted to make sure we were together.  So we spent $70 so I could sit by a window and Bill could sit in a middle seat.

The guy who checked us in at Lufthansa had never dealt with pets before, so a co-worker came over and trained him as he got our dogs set up.  Then he walked us to the oversized baggage counter so the dogs could be checked by TSA.  Let me just say right here that the two TSA guys at the Houston airport were great with Zane and Arran.  I wish all TSA encounters were as pleasant.  Zane and Arran each weigh about 25 pounds and in their carriers, they weren’t too much heavier.  So though we were originally quoted $800 when we asked about how much it would be to fly with them, we ended up paying only $400.

The boys wait patiently in the airport…

Loaded up and ready to fly.

The Lufthansa flight itself was very pleasant.  Our flight attendant was terminally sweet and chipper and was happy to check for us that the dogs were checked in safely.  She brought us a before dinner drink and the wine flowed freely throughout dinner.  The dinner was some kind of chicken with vegetables and mashed potatoes.  It wasn’t great food, but it was edible.  The wine helped.

The seat was reasonably comfortable and there was a monitor on the seat in front of us which allowed us to watch movies or listen to music.  I used my iPod and watched the progress of the flight; Lufthansa had kind of a cool Google Earth feature that showed a simulation of what was under the plane.  I liked seeing the names of places as we flew, too… especially as we got closer to Germany.

The carry on baggage bin above us was full of crew equipment, so we ended up having to stick our bags under the seats in front of us.  My bag was sort of full, so I ended up with less leg room.  Good thing I have short legs.

I didn’t try the breakfast.  I think it was some kind of omelet.  The thought of eating a pre-made omelet was too weird for me, so I passed.  Bill tasted his and said it was okay.  I ate the bread and fruit instead.

The guy who sat on the aisle with us was upset because his monitor quit working.  He summoned a flight attendant who did all she could, short of moving him to business class, to make him happy.  He ended up staying in his seat and the monitor eventually worked again.  I was impressed by how kind and efficient the flight staff was.  It really was a nice flight– especially since the guy in front of me didn’t recline.

The dude in the aisle seat wasn’t as lucky and got stuck with some American jerk’s head in his lap for most of the flight (he actually had to be told to sit upright for the meal service).  As we were sitting in the last row before the exit, we didn’t have anyone sitting right behind us, so for once I felt alright about reclining and also didn’t have anyone’s knees in my back.

The dogs were in great shape when we picked them up.  They weren’t real happy to be in the carriers and they were thirsty, but otherwise they came through the flight just fine.  It sure beat paying thousands for them to fly cargo or using a pet shipping service.

We need to go back to the United States in November, so I look forward to using the other half of that  round trip ticket.  I don’t like long haul flights, but on a European carrier, they are somewhat more bearable.

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In Germany now…

We arrived in Frankfurt at about 8:30am local time.  It’s now 6:00pm.  Bill and I arrived in the Stuttgart area (Mohringen) at about 1:30 or so…  I was intensely irritable, tired, and hungry, even though our flight was pretty decent for a transatlantic on a commercial airline.  It took us awhile to get our bags, though the dogs were waiting for us in baggage claim like last time.  They were locked in their carriers, which were reinforced by zip ties.  Since we didn’t have access to anything sharp at that point, I had to leave them in there while they cried a bit.

I gotta hand it to the dogs.  They were very good at both the Houston and Frankfurt airports.  In fact, they were utterly charming in Houston.  In Frankfurt, they whimpered and whined a little, raising the eyebrows and the concerns of a few passers by.  They were nothing like Flea and MacGregor, though, who accompanied us on our last German tour.  Flea, in particular, was very vocal at the airport.  Come to think of it, MacGregor was good…  he just happened to be accompanying the very loud and obnoxious (yet lovable) Flea.

We had no issues whatsoever going through customs.  We were told we’d have to pay a fee, but when the customs people heard we were from the United States, they told us just to come on through.  Awesome.  Also, we thought we’d have to pay $800 for the dogs, but it turned out we only paid $400, because they went by their weight instead of the size of their carriers.  So things are off to a good start.  Incidentally, I have to hand it to the Houston Airport TSA, for being so good to our pups, and to Lufthansa Airlines, for just being way better than any American carriers I’ve been on.

After securing a car, which wasn’t quite large enough for our luggage and the dog carriers, we took off from the airport, then stopped at the first nasty rest stop off the autobahn.  I let the dogs pee and Bill took apart their carriers, which were eating up a lot of space.  No one at the car rental place bothered to help him set the GPS, so he was trying to fiddle with that.  I got increasingly bitchy as we rolled down the highway because my blood sugar was in the basement and I was struggling to stay awake.  Although Lufthansa’s food wasn’t bad for airline fare, it was still airline fare.  I didn’t eat much of it, so I was hungry.

We are at Hotel Flora, which is a small place in a residential area of Mohringen, the town nearest to Kelley Barracks.  That is where Bill will be working.  Last time, he was in Vaihingen, which is where Patch Barracks is.  I am familiar with Patch and Panzer (everyone is), but Kelley is pretty new to me. I think I only went on there one or two times when we were in Stuttgart.

After we checked into the hotel, I took a shower, brushed my teeth, and crashed for about four hours. I was awakened by the sound of a family playing together after Sunday dinner.  I guess that’s preferable to the sound of a hysterical woman screaming into her cell phone, which is what Bill heard when were at the hotel in San Antonio.  It’s hard to believe we’ve only been in Germany for ten hours and we were just in Texas yesterday.

Tomorrow, Bill goes to work for the first time since April.  We also start our housing hunt.  Wish us luck!

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Paying for a seat reservation…

So I asked Mr. Bill to check out seat reservations on our Germany flight.  There were none, so he decided to make them.  But it turns out Lufthansa charges for seat reservations made more than 24 hours in advance.  A lot of seats were taken and he didn’t want to risk us being seated apart.  So he paid $70 for us to be able to sit together.  Considering one of the seats he reserved was a middle seat, I kind of think it sucks.  But I’d rather pay the $70 and know we have seats together than not, I guess.

If you don’t want to pay the money, you can risk reserving your seat 23 hours before you take off.  It probably would have worked out if we hadn’t reserved our seats, but this move is stressful enough as it is.  By this time next week, I expect to be comatose in some German hotel.  Bill will be preparing for his new job and I will be entertaining the dogs and looking for housing.  Should be fun.

I’m getting pretty sick of all the nickeling and diming on flights these days…  I hope we enjoy Lufthansa, though.  I bet we’ll like it better than United.  At the same time, shame on Lufthansa for charging $70.  Or maybe shame on us for paying it…  I did laugh when Bill said our seats are near the latrine.

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