The thought of travelling is much more glamorous than the actual trip itself. The beginning of our three-month journey was no different. Alex, Garrett, Drew, and I arrived at Dulles International and had trouble almost immediatley. First, we could not get electronic tags for our backpacks because of our paper tickets (Thanks Bernard). Already, the likelihood that our bags would make it to Frankfurt was quite low.
After some fancy footwork, Christine was able to get us through the staff security checkpoint and right onto the plane. It was at this point that I decided I would most likely marry a flight attendant...the perks are unbelievable.
Stepping on board we encountered our second problem...this one was a bit larger. Drew and I were assigned to the same row but not next to eachother. Realizing that having someone sit between us might be cause for suicide, we decided to ask the third person to either take the aisle or window. Now, we consider ourselves blessed to have such a wonderful trip handed to us...but the massive Indian woman who insisted on taking the aisle seat was certainly a bump in the road.
Since man is, by nature, selfish, I asked Drew to sit next to her which he did without complaint. The only problem for Drew was that she refused to get up during the flight and had a loose interpretation of what was considered her personal space. This meant that every time Drew and I wished to go to the bathroom or get something from our bags, we needed to jump over her. She also had more drapery on her than (can't think of a comparison). Worst of all, she frequently disobeyed the unwritten airplane rule of keeping your shoes on, and keeping your feet from touching other passengers. Drew was frequently forced to lean closer to me than expected due to not only the exsesive drapery but also the moldy crusted feet that would rub aggresivly agaisnt his legs.
The only saving grace on this flight was Marc the flight attendant (on steroids). Christine had emailed the crew and told them to take care of us boys (reason #2 for marrying a flight attendant). Drew ran into Mark on the way to the bathroom and introduced himself. Mark's only response was, "what are you drinking?" The rest of the flight consisted of him handing off barf bags full of mini bottles of Absolute vodka. As we drank, we became less concerned with the Indian woman damming up the aisle and more concerned with getting excited about the trip.
We landed in Frankfurt after what seemed like a short 8 hour flight and immediately turned to finding the main train station. After a few short subway stops, we were there with time to spare before our series of trains to Geneva. The four of us found the trains extremely easy to navigate (Bernard would not send us on anything that wasn't idiot-proof). After about four hours of trains, we arrived in Geneva and took the bus straight to the house of Simon and Micky, our extremely generous hosts during our stay in Switzerland.
We all needed rest and woke up to a tremendous dinner prepared by Micky's mother. Having been in Geneva for only a few hours, we had already had a tremendous culinary experience (one we won't be able to recreate soon given our budget). We then spent the rest of the evening watching the Euro Cup match of France vs. The Netherlands in Simon's home theater. We dozed off early, as we had big plans for our first full day in Europe.
After some fancy footwork, Christine was able to get us through the staff security checkpoint and right onto the plane. It was at this point that I decided I would most likely marry a flight attendant...the perks are unbelievable.
Stepping on board we encountered our second problem...this one was a bit larger. Drew and I were assigned to the same row but not next to eachother. Realizing that having someone sit between us might be cause for suicide, we decided to ask the third person to either take the aisle or window. Now, we consider ourselves blessed to have such a wonderful trip handed to us...but the massive Indian woman who insisted on taking the aisle seat was certainly a bump in the road.
Since man is, by nature, selfish, I asked Drew to sit next to her which he did without complaint. The only problem for Drew was that she refused to get up during the flight and had a loose interpretation of what was considered her personal space. This meant that every time Drew and I wished to go to the bathroom or get something from our bags, we needed to jump over her. She also had more drapery on her than (can't think of a comparison). Worst of all, she frequently disobeyed the unwritten airplane rule of keeping your shoes on, and keeping your feet from touching other passengers. Drew was frequently forced to lean closer to me than expected due to not only the exsesive drapery but also the moldy crusted feet that would rub aggresivly agaisnt his legs.
The only saving grace on this flight was Marc the flight attendant (on steroids). Christine had emailed the crew and told them to take care of us boys (reason #2 for marrying a flight attendant). Drew ran into Mark on the way to the bathroom and introduced himself. Mark's only response was, "what are you drinking?" The rest of the flight consisted of him handing off barf bags full of mini bottles of Absolute vodka. As we drank, we became less concerned with the Indian woman damming up the aisle and more concerned with getting excited about the trip.
We landed in Frankfurt after what seemed like a short 8 hour flight and immediately turned to finding the main train station. After a few short subway stops, we were there with time to spare before our series of trains to Geneva. The four of us found the trains extremely easy to navigate (Bernard would not send us on anything that wasn't idiot-proof). After about four hours of trains, we arrived in Geneva and took the bus straight to the house of Simon and Micky, our extremely generous hosts during our stay in Switzerland.
We all needed rest and woke up to a tremendous dinner prepared by Micky's mother. Having been in Geneva for only a few hours, we had already had a tremendous culinary experience (one we won't be able to recreate soon given our budget). We then spent the rest of the evening watching the Euro Cup match of France vs. The Netherlands in Simon's home theater. We dozed off early, as we had big plans for our first full day in Europe.
1 comment:
Gentlemen,
This trip sounds SICK!! From turkish slopfests to Drew's infamous voice imodulation -- I can't get enough. Hope you guys are having a great time and having to much fun for your own good, keep us all posted here on the boring shores of the U.S. Much love and added jealousy...
-Alex Meck
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