“Wenn einer eine Reise tut dann kann er was erleben” (The traveler has stories to tell). That was true for our latest trip around the world to attend a wedding in Madurai, South India.
The flight from Austin to Chennai via Houston and Frankfurt had some high lights, though none of the usual stuff like lost luggage. On the way to Chennai, I experienced the hardest landing I’ve ever witnessed in a commercial airliner. The 747 literally stopped flying at 20 ft and fell onto the runway with a big bang. I was worried about the landing gear coming through the wings, but the bird is built tough. It needed it that night, while landing in heavy winds with rain.
During our landing at Frankfurt we landed on the new runway in the north of the airport, only to wait for 15 min before we were allowed to taxi to the terminal, due to some mysterious new night operation regulation for Frankfurt – odd and annoying.
On our return flight, the surprise was again fetched by Frankfurt ground operations. After a taxi marathon that took forever we finally deplaned to a bus! That bus then brought us to the connecting terminal for our next flight. It was cold and rainy, and as passengers flying from India to Texas, two warm places, we were utterly unprepared for the onslaught of European winter. Next time we’ll opt for Dubai as our connecting hub. Frankfurt just isn’t worth the trouble any more. The airport is a maze, little support for families, pathetic ammenities, and all facilities are too small in international comparison for the passenger volume. The German “friendliness” doesn’t help the experience.
After we were on our way from Frankfurt to Houston, we flew a very southerly route to avoid severe weather over greenland and Newfoundland. We departed via Paris and hit US mainland again at Washington D.C. – a route I’ve never experienced. This added about 45 min to our flight and made MrsM and Ro miss their tight connection in Houston. So we had to for the next flight to Austin, were I could only get a standby seat. Everything worked out fine in the end, but the added drama after 20hours on the road is unwanted.
Immigration also refuses to have priority lines for families with kids, so standing in line for 40min with a toddler who’s inner clock points to 3am isn’t exactly fun.
After boarding our plane for the short hop to Austin, we were stuck for 70min on the tarmac without access to bathrooms or service – the delay was due to weather. We finally departed 1:15min late. The remainder of the trip was uneventful – the luggage had arrived, only MrsM’s suitcase had lost a wheel which made pushing it harder. We finally got dropped off at our car and paid the $102 parking bill over Thanksgiving with a smile – who said travelling was cheap?
It was good to be home after having travelled around the world. The dogs greeted us warmly and now I’m sitting here at 4am CDT wide awake – It’s 3:30p according to my inner clock!