Just before the beginning

By this time you’ve probably asked yourself the following questions:

-Didn’t Tom and Savannah promise to regale us with tales of their travels by updating this blog regularly?

-Where are they now?

-Are they even still alive?

The answers are yes, Vienna, and yes. As our excitement for this trip begin grew, we found that our excitement to sacrifice precious time in country for the sake of self-assigned homework did not. Suffice it to say that by the end of each day we are both thoroughly exhausted and slightly more informed on how to balance actual travel with travel blogging. So let’s start just before the beginning.

Two weeks prior to our departure we discovered that our house was to be sold and that everything inside it must be stored, sold, or relocated by the time we intended to fly to Munich on September 15th. Having just returned from Kodiak, Alaska I found my time limited and my days long. With Savannah working 12 hour night shifts up to the 13th, we were up to our gills in to-do lists. So much so that we were 10 minutes late in leaving for the airport for last minute to-dos: managing the sale of a few last pieces of furniture, mailing off letters, pulling out cash, backing up hard drives, and dropping off final donations. Craig, Savannah’s father, was kind enough to see us off and spare us a bus ride by driving us to the airport.

We said our fond farewells, breezed through security (unheard of for DIA), and found our gate. To the dismay of many, we were informed that the German government requires masks to be worn for the duration of the ~10 hour flight, but I’d have worn 3 masks if it meant 5 more inches of leg room. You’ve never seen such a crowded international flight and we did not pack lightly. It felt as though my knees were at my neck. At least I had Savannah next to me as opposed to the usual gamble of a human my luck has furnished in the past. We ate the typical C- microwave dinner, then did our best to sleep. Savannah did okay. I’m always too excited to even try.

Our Arrival in Germany

As our plane descended beneath the low-hanging cloud cover blanketing the red roofed Bavarian homes on the outskirts of Munich, it felt as if we had taken off in summer and were landing in autumn. Droplets of rain raced each other down the aircraft’s windows as two by two we gathered our things and filed off like animals on the ark after the flood. Two things struck us immediately: 1. The airport was so clean we weren’t absolutely sure it was an airport. & 2. The omnipresence of German signage and wording plastered about brought us face to face with our underestimation of the language barriers we are sure to encounter. Customs was effortless and by the time our passports were stamped, our bags must have circled the carousel twice. The German’s are nothing if not efficient and the speed with which they are able to return checked luggage to you should be used as the benchmark across the planet. I don’t know what’s going on at LAX but they could stand to sprechen some deutsch. Unlike the US, the airport was a comfortable, friendly, sociable place with good food, activities, and amenities on both sides of security that travelers (dare I say) enjoy. Just beyond the threshold of it’s exit sits a charming public square littered with restaurants, beer gardens, the train station, and a 3 story tall ropes course for children and childish adults alike to kill the time. We checked into the Hilton Munich Airport who understood our reservation to be for our honeymoon as it was booked with the repurposed credits from our intended one. The concierge gave us detailed instructions on how to reach our room, stopping just short of drawing a map. Savannah, with her innate sense of direction promptly lead us to a service elevator where a maintenance worker chastised us in German. Upon entering our room we discovered a bed decorated with rose pedals and towels folded to resemble kissing swans as well as an end table with offerings of complimentary wine beside “Mr. & Mrs.” chocolates.

For a moment we discussed venturing into Munich city center to find food but concluded that a 55 minute train ride was 54 minutes too many after such a long day. We settled on a local beer garden called Airbrau where the food was hot, the beer was cold, and that was all that mattered. Full of pork, pilsner, and a dish that‘s tantamount to german Mac and cheese we sat there empty of energy. I called for the ticket when Savannah started nodding off at the table and then called it a night.