One Post to End them all

So, it has been a few weeks since I got back. It took em forever to get all my pictures up on the internet, move out of my apartment on campus etc. And after reading so much or our good friend Mark's blog, I have been inspired to create one last post to epically follow my trip home.

I awoke early to the travel alarm, informing me of my need to awake, as well as the time and temperature. After tearing the batteries from its innards, I proceeded to as quietly as possible, open the locker, which screamed as the metal scraped metal. After some bleary eyed looks from my roommates, I crept into the shower, so as to not offend my fellow airplane passengers later. A little ahead of schedule, I proceeded to the lobby to check out. Upon arriving, I discovered Adam, returning from a quest for breakfast. I followed our quester back up to their room to hurry them along. Some last minute packing later, we proceeded downstairs again to request a cab to take us to the airport. A few minutes later, a champagne colored Mercedes Benz pulls up, and a tough looking woman steps out. She hurriedly asks how many people, to which we respond 4, and then hurries to clear out her bag to make room as we stuff our bags into the trunk. Angela's bag would not fit, so Adam volunteers to carry it on his lap. Having already collected the money to pay for the cab, I took a seat in the front. This gave me a prime view of the crazy Viennese traffic, and to our driver's curses at the other equally reckless drivers. We arrived at the airport, and before I could realize what was happening, the cab had come to a rest in a handicapped spot as the driver jumped out and proceeded to through our bags to the ground. Obviously, you are not supposed to unload in the handicap spots. So after dodging a bit of traffic, we were into the terminal. All we could see was Austrian Air check in places, which extended the entire length of the terminal. After a little investigating, i found that i had to check into my Lufthansa flight at the Austrian check in area, while Alex's check in for British Airways was a little ways down. Angela and Adam, having the earliest flight, bid us goodbye before running off. So Alex followed me as I found an Austrian Air person to guide me in checking in, whom took my passport and did the whole process for me at a computer kiosk, the kind we have to operate on our own in the States. She then directed me to the place to check baggage. After waiting in line for a little while, we noticed that Angela and Adam were in line, about 10 people back from us. Turns out the check-in for them was also with the Austrian Air desks, thus explaining why there were so many due to everyone actually checking in there. The Austrian baggage checker took one look at my backpack before slapping a tag on it and directing me to the oddly sized baggage area. After dropping my pack off, Alex and I proceeded down to the British Airways check in. Upon arriving, we noticed a line, and a lack of open desks. Turns out we were too early (her flight was even later than mine), and the desk would not open for another 15 minutes. So we joined the queue (it is British airways...). A few minutes later, an agent walked up to begin setting up the desk for check ins. We then noticed a computer kiosk, which people had only begun to start using as another agent started directing people. So Alex went over to investigate while i saved her place in line. I quickly realized that there was a new line forming to drop off checked bags where people using the computer kiosk were heading into, so I jumped into that line. After Alex successfully dropped off her backpack, we headed down to the shopping area for some last minute Euro usage. I grabbed an Austria shirt, with the totally bad ass Austrian/Hapsburg eagle. The shopping area in this area was limited, so we proceeded through the first security checkpoint, taking a small break to gawk at the cellophane wrapping service, where they completely enclose your bag in cellophane. After the first checkpoint, there was a little mall area, with plenty of shops and restaurants. We wondered around a bit, scoping out a place for lunch, before settling into a star bucks to wait for hunger to catch up with us. After tapping into the wireless network with my iTouch, we headed back towards a cafeteria thing we saw in the beginning. I grabbed one last toast (ham and cheese panini). I could barely get half of it down, as I was becoming anxious/excited to be getting back home (I can blame my Dad for training me in the art of pacing before traveling). So I gave myself an excessive amount of time to go through the second line of security and get to my gate. Alex was in a different terminal from here on, so we parted ways. I made my way down, passed through the metal detector, and found my gate with 45mins to go before boarding was supposed to begin. So I cracked open my copy of the hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy and worked on finishing the last book. About 10mins after we were suppose to start boarding, a couple of agents and a bus pull up to the gate. So everyone packed into the bus like a can of sardines, before taking the bumpy ride out to the tarmac where our small regional jet awaited us. The blistering sun beat down upon us, as we waited in line once again, this time to climb the stairs and into the plane. Upon entering, i was greeted by some light classical music, and with my limited knowledge of classical, I could only assume it was Mozart as he is Vienna's favorite son. The light music was then broken by the ear splitting scream of a baby. This would seem to be a long flight. This was only complicated further by the man sitting next to me, who seemed to have a fear of flying if his constant figiting is any indication. After a 20 minute taxi, we were on our way to Frankfurt. An hour and an in-flight meal later, we touched down and began our arduous taxi to the plane's place on the tarmac. I believe the combined taxi times may have been greater than the actual flight time.

After exiting the plane, we were once again crammed onto a bus, but this time the bus was larger, so the packing was not so tight. We were then dropped off at the main terminal, and greeted by a "Welcome to the Non-Smoking Frankfurt International Airport" sign. We proceeded through a number of escalators and hallways before reaching a giant screen displaying the other flights. My flight was only designated by a gate "C", so I proceeded towards the terminal C. 2-3 miles of twisting and turning later I found myself having to go through customs in order to exit the country. After being questioned about when I entered the EU (and the German customs guy exclaiming his distaste for the Italians after I told him about their non-stamping), I was off for another mile hike to the gate for my flight. Upon arriving at the gate, I was informed that I must wait in a line to have my passport scanned. It was only 5 people long, so I thought it would be quick, but it turned out to be 40mins, due to the agents talking on the phone in between helping people. So I apparently got upgraded to Economy plus, so that meant an extra 6 inches at this point, which only was discovered upon finding my seat on the plane. The plane was so humongous, that 1st class got it's own entrance to the plane, away from the unwashed masses. This time we were treated to some soft Enya before take-off, so i quickly jacked into the techno XM station on the plane's audio system. As I sat there waiting for departure, I noticed as it slowly began to drip and then pour. As we taxied to take off, the engine's roar caused the water on the tarmac to fly backwards in great waves. During the flight, I watched a few movies. The first was Drillbit Taylor with Owen Wilson. It was pretty crappy, due to the poor concept and script. the next movie was Flawless with Demi Moore, which proved to be pretty good with a good twist at the end. The final movie was Stop loss. It was obviously a propaganda piece against the Iraq War, and after the first 30mins, it just dragged on.

After those, it was finally time to land in the USA. After touching down, I once again traveled through the miles of halls, stairs, and buses to get to customs. Upon making it through and picking up my backpack, my bleary-eyed self was greeted by the jubilant cry of "STEPHEN!!!!" as I see Cassie leaping up and down in excitement. As I make my way over to her, she bursts into tears after such a long absence of my awesome presence. She then directs me to the other side of the exit, where my Mom is hiding with her camera. And then I was directed to my Dad at the end of the exit way. So I was finally back in the USA. The first thing we did was head to TGIFridays to get some American in me (FREE Refills!!) Hurray!