Departure Day
Departure day has finally arrived. It is 5:30 am. Cathy and I are heading to the airport in our car being driven by our chauffeur, Dave (also known as Cathy's husband).
I tried to check in online yesterday. No luck so I called Westjet. In a round about way, I was able to speak to a human but only after being on hold for over 30 minutes. If you have to call Westjet, make sure you aren't in a hurry. If you call and have booked through a travel agent, don't follow the instruction to press 1. Instead press the number to speak to someone as if you booked directly with Westjet. The online check in site was telling me my passport info with Westjet didn't match what KLM had. It did but that didn't matter to a computer. Also, I manually put Cathy's passport info in. Got a message saying it had to be verified at the airport. When I finally spoke to the person on the phone, she said that online check in isn't easy especially when you are flying with different airlines. We are! Fortunately, she was able to confirm that she has our correct information and our flight will be leaving at 10:25 am. She stressed that we need to be at the airport three hours before departure because we're on an international flight. We still have to check in at the airport but at least I know there shouldn't be a problem doing that. The clerk will make sure our passport info is the same on all airlines we are using.
We packed food to take with us. I have yet to travel and not be served a rubbery piece on chicken in a terrible tasting hickory BBQ sauce. Hence, making chicken sandwiches to eat on board. Cathy is bringing food too. We're going to make people jealous.
While waiting to board our plane, we met a couple on the way to Puerto Vallarta. We were asked where we were going. We told them. The woman said she's been to Germany many times and love the Christmas markets. She has family there as well. After talking for a bit, she asked if we were mother/daughter!!! We didn't ask which one of us she thought was the mother. haha
We boarded the puddle jumper from Victoria to Vancouver. I stood up so someone could get in her seat. Banged my head on the overhead luggage compartment and said out loud "Oh, I must taller than I thought I was." Cracked the passengers around me up. Then, the male stewart went by. I said "Oh, now he smells good but I don't want him. It's too much trouble." People cracked up again. I tried to keep my conversation to a whisper after that.
I didn't take any pictures during our travels through the Vancouver and Amsterdam airports. There wasn't time to stop and be a photographer. I always plan at least two hours layover when I travel. This time, except for the Vancouver airport, the distance from one gate to another was so vast, that it was a marathon. We walked and walked and walked. Kept stopping to look at the departure board to make sure our flight was listed and leaving from gate B26. By the time we got to the gate and with a wait time of two hours and 15 minutes, there was only enough time to go find a washroom and a seat before our flight was called. I have to say that it was very surprising how quickly the plane was loaded and the door shut. When the announcement said that you have 15 minutes after your flight is called before the door is shut and if you miss that window, you're SOL (they didn't really say that), it was fact. We are back in the land of efficiency.
The flight was long and long!!! Sore butt syndrome set in within a hour. I sat on two pillows but that didn't help. I was the princess without the pea. Cathy was a runner up. Have you read those stories about people who sit behind a person on a plane and end up making someone mad? Well, I had that experience for the first time. After several hours of this woman crossing her legs back and forth which made the back of my seat shake and then having her knee pushing into my seat which I could feel in my back, I told her what she was doing. I was civil but didn't have the voice with a smile. She was surprised and said sorry. C'mon, she had to have been aware that her knee was digging into my seat. Anyway, after that no problems. I appreciated it.
The food on this KLM flight was DISGUSTING! It was chicken parm with rice. I need to teach someone to cook. The chicken was rubbery and the rice couldn't be identified as such. I thought all is not lost, I can eat my bun and brownie! Oh what a fool. I broke the bun in two and some unidentifiable purple vegetable (I think) fell out. Looked like a worm. Nope, not eating that. Next the brownie. I managed to swallow one bite. Cathy felt the same way. It is a darned good thing we brought sangies with us. They were our meals.
We tried to sleep using our new neck pillows. Researched the top neck pillows for 2023. Decided on this one. Bought it on Amazon for $79 plus tax. It worked well. It did get a little warm but it worked so that's the main thing.
Now I'll tell you a story that you might find funny. It's a little private but who cares. After hours of being on the plane, I had to toot. I thought it'll be quiet and no one will know. I let it out and within seconds, Cathy leaned over to me. In a quiet and serious voice, said "Oh my God! Someone farted and it stinks." I smiled and held up my index finger admitting to the aroma and said "Me.". We both killed ourself laughing.
We landed in Dresden on time. It was snowing and cold. Thank goodness, we planned for snow so we have clothes for cold weather. When we walked outside of the airport, it was cold! I was so tired that I couldn't be bothered to take the train into the city. Of course, at the time, I had no idea our hotel was across from the train station. I wasn't in the mood to figure out the train so we took a taxi into the city. 22 minutes later, we arrived. The cost was $59 Euros. I was thankful for the cab driver's help so ended up tipping him 10 Euros. Also, was too tired to do the math. He was appreciative.
Our hotel is amazing!! Good size clean room. Comfy beds. You need a card to get to all but the first floor so it's secure too. The hotel has a grocery store, a kitchen to cook meals in, a lounge and two restaurants. That's a bonus. I wasn't aware that there is a fully equipped kitchen. We plan to cook some meals in it. We bought frozen breaded schnitzel as the grocery store. Might have it for dinner tomorrow. We also bought Brotchen and Lyoner. Our breakfast is planned for tomorrow. So far, I highly recommend this hotel. Friendly staff and you don't get charged for a glass of ice like I was in Kopenhagen. Also this is a cashless hotel. You have to use a credit or bank card. Quite a change from when I first traveled to Germany over 15 years ago. At that time everything was pretty much cash only.
We went to bed not long after we arrived. You know the nausea you feel when you haven't had enough sleep? We had it big time. I slept until 11:13. Cathy woke up shortly after and asked the time. I told her. She got up, opened the blackout curtain and said "It's still dark outside!". I said yes because it's 11:13 at night. She thought it was morning. We had a good laugh. It's now 12:33 am. I'm feeling better. I'll probably attempt to go back to sleep for a while.
We're also planning what we'll do on our first day as tourists. I bought tickets for the hop on hop off bus ahead of time. Much more convenient than trying to buy them here. Also got a great discount of 50% off of both tickets by buying them through Booking.com. That's the company I used to book all of our hotels. If you're booking online, I highly recommend using them.
In my first blog entry, I mentioned having to book tickets for tourist attractions online. Wow, did I learn how important it is to do that long before you want to see something. Cathy wants to go to Ann Frank House in Amsterdam. I went to their site to order the tickets. Pretty much all of November is sold out. Fortunately, we want tickets for December so were able to choose a date and time that will work for her. I've already been to Ann Frank House, so she'll go in and I'll roam around the area of town it's in. I didn't do that the last time I was here.
The rooms in the hotel have different themes. Ours is disco. Record albums are on the wall. The headboard is records. We even have a disco ball on the ceiling. It doesn't rotate but lights are pointed at it so you get the mirror effect. Maybe we'll put on the tunes from Stayin Alive and have a dance? haha
Well, that's it for our first afternoon in Dresden. All electronics have been set up and our Fitbit watches synced so we can start tracking our steps tomorrow. We're unpacked and ready to hit the sights tomorrow.
This next bit is for Barb Turner. Here's my setup for working on the blog. I have my trusty tape measure with me. The seat I sit on is great! 15" x 16". The bottom fits on it well unlike that time in Amsterdam! haha
Steps today - 9,000 Told you there was a lot of walking in the airports.
I finally got on after many tries. I was like you and Cathy and killed myself laughing at the fart. I think your father thought I was nuts. I enjoyed all that you are writing about and will look for it the rest of the time.
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