Christmas Markets on the Danube

So the adventure begins!!! My dear friend Katie Volz has bitten the bullet to travel with me pre- Christmas! We departed Syracuse by 8am Monday to drive to JFK. You all know by now, why I choose to do this. I worked my magic to get Skippy into the Business class lounge and my contact said "just ask for Freddy, he'll take care of you". He will regret this for the next 10 years. Katie tried to upgrade to business class and it was a done deal, but he couldn't process her card and then the rate was unavailable. Skippy just held her ground, talked to at least 3 different reps to facilitate her upgrade (by then Freddy had left the building). My seat was 4 F and hers was 10 E. Some schmo offered to switch and we ended up sitting next to one another. Not sure this was a great choice! : ) Our flight departed from JFK at 4:30 which is a bit early for an oversees flight. It's hard to get sleep when one needs to fall asleep by 7pm. We managed. We were on AirFrance and the pods were great, but the food was less then par, which was surprising.   The layover at Charles De Gaul was easy and uneventful. (Interesting fact: the gate location isn't announced until 20 minutes prior to departure)

We arrived in Nurenburg on a short commuter flight When we landed we just followed the crowd, walked fast and ending up in the arrival area, where one greets their transfers, taxis etc. Somehow we had missed baggage. Clearly we are idiots. It turns out we were not the only idiots.   We stopped in Lost and Found and asked where "baggage was?" and were told it's back there, but you can't go there"    Wait, what? Can't we go through security? "no"  long pregnant pause.... "but if you give us your baggage tickets, we can get them for you!"

We found our transfer driver Helmut who proceeded to march quickly to his van. As I am running behind him with my suitcase, carry on and bag muttering under my breath "no worries, I'm fine, you just go ahead". Are you kidding me???? We were blessed to meet Richard Hickey and Joe Maloney, who are the big mucky mucks providing this amazing opportunity.

We unpacked, had a quick bite, took a short nap and joined the other agents on board for a introductory presentation and then a lovely dinner.   True to form, Katie (Skippy) has become best buds with Joe. They are both avid skiers, know Lake Placid and many of the same people. I KNEW I brought her for a reason.   Now it's bedtime.

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