We get up at 4 a.m. German time - that's actually 10 p.m. the night before in Canada. Now go figure that out!
Shower, get dressed - no curling of the hair - the curling iron rests somewhere in the garbage dump in Stadtkyll! David checks the computer one last time - eyes rolling - then packs it up for the flight.
The taxi we have ordered is waiting downstairs outside the hotel. David always loves talking to taxi drivers - find out where they are from, what languages do they speak, what's the best thing about their town... Me, it's just too early in the morning to be that sociable.
The taxi driver is not German. We say what a lovely city Cologne is - he hates it. He would have liked to immigrate to Canada. Too bad - not sure he would have fared any better there.
The airport is quiet - we check in. The plane gets loaded up - amazingly there are quite a few passengers. When did they get there? Maybe I was dozing - although I doubt it.
Somehow when David and I go to an airport there is a certain amount of stress - on both our parts. Me, I'm usually scared - David, he hates waiting around. This trip David spends a lot of time in airports searching for the internet access. I try to read.
The flight from Köln-Bonn Airport to Munich is uneventful. Thank goodness for that! One down, one more to go.
We have a long wait in Munich. We find a place to buy a coffee and some breakfast. The hotel we stayed at overnight did not even have their breakfast room open when we had to leave.
We spend the time after breakfast as we always do in airports now - David finds the internet access and goes on line. I pace back and forth - washroom, read book, back to the .....
We notice that at the counter to the Air Canada flight there is a long line forming. We already got our boarding passes in Köln-Bonn. I try to find out why people are waiting in the long line - nobody seems to know.
Finally, 30 minutes to boarding time, an announcement is made. Everyone who did not get their boarding pass in Munich, line up over here. Another different line forms. David and I join it - well, we got our boarding pass in Köln-Bonn. They only put one staff person on that line. It moves at a snail's pace. We keep looking at the clock. People are starting to board.... My anxiety levels are rising to a feverish pitch!
Finally we get to the front of the line. The Air Canada staffer says, Oh this didn't apply to you!
Believe me we are just not amused! When we get on the plane, we are at the back, next to the bathroom. Might be bad - might be good!
The plane is fully loaded. There do not seem to be any spare seats. We take off.
It is a long flight - long enough for David to watch three whole movies. He's in luck - two of them are movies he wanted to see and couldn't on our trip to Florida, Revolutionary Road, and Last Chance Harvey. The third, Yes Man, is a comedy. He laughs uproariously - earph
ones on. I just smile!I listen to classical music while I try to read the book Fritz-Peter and Brigitte have given me. It is a murder mystery - a novel about a woman who returns to the Eifel to look for her father's family. Wow - did he know this was the plot line?
Sleep catches up with me and I doze a bit. Will have to return to the novel when I get home and can concentrate better.
We are about two hours out of Toronto when David looks out the plane window - he has the window seat - and notices all the ice and snow below us. It is a clear, beautiful view and David tries to capture it with his camera.
We start our descent. Weather in Toronto is stormy - rain. How appropriate - I'm feeling a bit rainy and teary eyed myself. The landing is not smooth, but we all survive. My watch stops - exactly 3:15 p.m. and won't go again!
Surprisingly our luggage is on the carousel very quickly - must have been the last pieces on. Customs is a breeze - we have little to declare, gifts, a couple of bottles of German Schnapps we bought in the duty-free in Munich - but we have the most valuable gifts of all, which no one can tax - lots of love from a wonderful, new family.
The airport limousine - well, van, really - from Brantford is there waiting to take us home. The driver recognizes David. Aren't you the former mayor, she asks. Oh God, I think.
Now don't get me wrong, I am very proud that David was the mayor of Brantford for seven years. But I have found from experience anyone that begins the conversation with this question, usually has an opinion to express - and being in a van, you are a captive audience.
She begins to talk - all her views about everything that has happened in Brantford and area in the last week. The little girl from Woodstock, who had just gone missing when we left three weeks ago, is missing still. She feels the mother had something to do with it - it says so on Facebook..... I am beginning to feel pain for a mother who does not know that her name is being bandied about by total strangers.
I just shut down. It is hard to be polite, but I am Canadian, and it is hard to be
rude. So I close my eyes, and wait for the ride to end.Finally, at 5:15 p.m. we arrive home. Luggage out, open the door, Maggie the dog is wiggling her whole self in joy, Marc gives us a big hug. We are home!
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