Flying Spaghetti and Meatballs!

When we told people we were moving to Germany, one of the most common responses we got was, "Wow, that's going to be an adventure!" Little did we realize how BIG of an adventure it was going to be before we'd even landed!

The picture above is of our flight route that one of the girls decided looked like "spaghetti and meatballs."

We took off from NY City's JFK Airport, as scheduled, only to be told an hour our so into our flight that a door had not been properly closed, and we'd be returning. We had to circle around for a few hours first to get rid of enough weight in order to land safely on the runway. When we were greeted by several ambulances, police cars, and fire trucks, some accepted it as normal protocol; others speculated we were being left in the dark about something. I guess we'll never know. I'm just glad we were fine.

After taking quite awhile to fix the problem and refuel, they announced that the crew would be going over time if they took us back. (By this time, we could have landed in Germany). After a few more hours, we got to sleep in a nice hotel and wake up to a great breakfast. The girls started referring to our fellow passengers as "our friends," and shared their toys with a crying toddler. We met the neatest people from Greece, South Africa, Germany, Brazil...

The next day, we stood in lines for several more hours again to repeat the whole process. One of the girls commented, "We've been here before." Yes, it kind of felt like Groundhog Day!

Poor Carly could not fall asleep on our overnight flight, so she was exhausted when we finally landed. The trains after the plane were nice, but very crowded. A saint of a woman gave up her seat so all three girls and I could pile on hers and the one next to hers. On one of the elevators, we heard a voice making an announcement in German. Carly said, "We can't understand that!" I said, "It's German." She said, "We're in Germany?" We'd traveled for so long, it didn't occur to me that she didn't realize that we'd finally arrived.

At the train station, after experiencing our first pay-to-use-the-bathroom experience, we had to try our first crepes! (Banana and chocolate. Ham, cheese and onion).

When we finally made it with all of our luggage to pick up the keys to our apartment, the office was closed. Myles asked someone if they knew why. They said, "Oh, maybe they're out to lunch." A while later, someone else tried to get into the office, but couldn't, and let us use their phone, but nobody answered.

Robyn said, "We look like we're homeless out here," yet nobody walking by made any eye contact. Myles left to see if he could find a different phone number. I said a little prayer that we could get the keys. Not 2 minutes later, a woman that I'd seen walk by earlier stopped and asked me something in German. When I didn't respond, she said, "Oh, you speak English. Are you, by any chance, trying to get into that building?" She said the woman who usually worked there was sick, but she could help me. Then, Myles showed up, and it was all worked out. She was very friendly, and brought water to share, which was exactly what I'd been wanting.

Before Myles could even finish bringing our luggage up to our 4th floor apartment, someone else was over to welcome and help us.

The girls were ecstatic to put their things away in their own dressers and make a list of what we needed at the store.

We have had a wonderful month visiting friends and family from coast to coast (more on that when I get a chance).

Now, it's good to be home.