Finally !! We Arrived !!!

Thursday March 19, 2009

After many twists in the tail, then group srrived in Dusseldorf, Germany --
but not without a certain amount of aggravation. The Washington - Franfurt connection went smoothly, while the Chicago - Munich one made up for it.
The St. Louis departure was first delayed in the terminal, as the plane had a mechanical problem. Soon came the announcement that we would be taking a different plane -- moree delay (it had not even shown up yet ?). Then, after boarding that plane, it was determined that it was not running just right -- more delay, frustration and hope. WE were told that if we did not take-off by 4:30m that we would miss our connectionn to Germany. Fortunately, a little after 4:15 we were building up steam and awy wwe were. Kudosn to the pilot for getting us to Chicago in 40 minutes - TOPS !!!

Once we landed in Chicago, our next plane to Germany was already boarding. No wasted time and we made it to thgen gate in time and boarded -- thenn waited 45 minutes for a pet (a dog) to join us. Then we were off for a smooth ride - long but smooth.

Then we arrived at Munich and our plans were to travel the last leg on Lufthansa Airlines. We got to the ticket counter to get our boarding passes only to be told that we were not in the system !! After numerous interactions it was sorted and we completed the flight to Dusseldorf, arriving on time --- unfortunately our luggage did not !!! 19 of us were without luggage -- albeit the carry-on version. FINALLY, 5 HOURS LATER, MOST OF THE LUGGAGE ARRIVED AT OUR HOSTEL --- minus luggage of 5 people. The remaining missing luggage was located and will reach us on Friday -- the day we keave here at 8 am for a full day in Amsterdam anda professional game at night.

The group of Washington-Frankfurt also had aa lost bag, but it will arrive with the others on Friday.

After settling in, we had sandwiches and fruit and took a walk into the village.
Now it's off to dinner and a big day tomorrow.

So far, we are glad to bwe here and looking forward to each dayt's experience.