Tag Archives: flights

When Things Go Wrong (9/18/25)

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(Day one of our Wedding & Boston trip.)

Anyone who travels knows that one has to be prepared for things to go wrong. I accept that. I say I’m ready. I acknowledge that I am not in control.

And then a plane is delayed.

Okay. Fine. I can deal. Just tell me when we will board.

But sometimes they don’t tell you for a while. So you sit. And wait.

This is what we did on our trip to Vermont. We had a flight scheduled at 6:20 in the morning. Ugh. But this was a more affordable flight and it would get us to our final destination at a fairly decent hour.

We got up before 3:00 AM so we could drive to the long term parking lot. We arrived in plenty of time, enjoyed a short moment in the United lounge, and headed to the gate, where we saw that people were already lined up to board. But then someone said something about a delay. Ah well.

Turned out that the Boston airport was only allowing a limited number of planes to land each hour, and that’s where we were headed. So we went and sat down. The next reported boarding time came and went. It took slightly more than two hours, but eventually we did get on that plane and headed to Boston.

The flight itself was uneventful. Getting a shuttle to the rental car place was fine. The car was gotten, and we headed out. But that was a bit of a challenge: following the guidance on the iPhone, which we never could manage to connect to get sound in the car, was just a bit unclear. But out we (eventually went), and then it was a ton of turns before we got out of Boston.

At some point I had a thought, “What if we can’t check in as late as we will arrive?” I’m so very glad that hit me, because I called and, sure enough, we were arriving too late. Thankfully they could tape our keys (my sister was traveling with us) to the door of the place.

Meanwhile, we had nearly 3 1/2 hours of driving to do. Or Dan did. I navigated a bit. And it was long and we were tired!

And then it was dinner. But could we find anything right off the road? Nope! Finally we resorted to getting to a somewhat nearby McDonalds. We don’t do fast food, but we had very little choice in the matter so whatever.

More driving and we did make it to our lodging very close to 11:00 pm Vermont time.

So hello, Bennington, Vermont!

Hello Lisbon!

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So here we are … in Lisbon once again. When we were here last we had such a lovely time, so it seemed a good place to start our Portugal journey.

The flight from Munich to Lisbon was quite uneventful. I had a window seat so I did enjoy the view. I will post photos when they finally appear on the iPad. (It seems to take a while for them to get in the cloud. No clue why.)

Disembarking from the plane we then had to get a shuttle to the terminal. We were at this airport on another trip and I sure didn’t remember that … but I forget things easily. That is one of the big reasons for this blog, in fact. It’s very helpful to look back at entries!

Getting a ride to the hotel wasn’t entirely uneventful: Dan ordered a Bolt, and while we were charged he then got a message that there was no internet connection, so we hadn’t a clue what car was coming (IF it was coming), so I had to order an Uber. But after a bit of a wait we got our car, with a very talkative driver from Bangladesh who is here to eventually get a Portuguese passport if I understood him correctly. He got us to our hotel after midnight. But of course we aren’t on Portugal time so it doesn’t feel all that late to us. Our room is typically small, with barely a spot for luggage, but hey, it’s Europe and we are more than happy to be here!

Stay tuned for photos at a later date … hoping soon, but we’ll see. UPDATE: Done!

Funny side note: while I’m a stickler about hanging up clothes at home, the person now unpacking and hanging up clothes is Dan. We seem to switch roles on vacation. Go figure!

And We’re Off

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We headed to the airport on the early side. Okay, the too early side! But since we thought we might hit traffic we had opted for our departure time. So be it.

We checked luggage, rapidly went through security, and headed to the Polaris lounge where we made our dinner reservations. It took a while to get in, but eventually we got there. Dinner was … well … it was fine, but nothing to rave about. The portions are pretty tiny, which was fine since we knew our flight would also have a meal. From there we went back to some seats and sat. And sat. And sat. (Below is Dan, being a good boy with his alcohol free beer. And yeah, that’s my wine.)

We haven’t flown Lufthansa for a long haul flight in eons, and back when we did it certainly wasn’t in business class. So here we are, lay flat seats, fancy devices (there’s a tablet you can pull out of it’s holder plus a usual monitor in front of you), a blanket, pillow, and even a mattress pad. (And it has now occurred to me that on United you are putting your head down on a seat where so many others have slept and I wonder how carefully they clean things.) Oh … and important news … we can heat our seats. Go figure.


Prior to take-off I noticed we had a plane camera, so I did take some videos. I love it!

Dan was served dinner before I was. It took them quite a while to get to me, in fact. I guess they like him more. Understandable! I opted for a green and white asparagus appetizer, which came with a small salad and a dinner roll. Since we’d had drinks at the lounge and one small drink after boarding it was sparkling water for me.

Then it was sleep time. It was a restless legs sleep, but eventually I managed to doze off. Upon waking I saw that Dan was already upright and reading. Event it was “breakfast” time (despite the fact that it was dinner time in the country we were flying over and soon to land in. I figured an omelette could be for any meal, so I opted for that, although I really couldn’t finish it. These flights usually feed us more than I can handle, and having a lounge before and after a flight means we could eat even more.

After a bit under 11 hours we landed

… hello Munich! Or, really, hello Munich airport because that’s as much as we would see.

Then we had to head to another gate, which required a shuttle ride. A woman who had been on our first flight chatted with us a bit. Turns out she is from Los Gatos and she and Dan have a friend in common. Gotta love our small world.

From the shuttle we verified our next gate, and then went to spend an hour in the Senator’s Lounge. For this year — and possibly only this year! — we are Star Alliance Gold members which gets us into these lovely, quiet spots. Food is available, but having eaten so much I opted for a cappuccino (yes, I know the Italians would shake their heads if they saw me do that in the early evening!) and water (planes really cause dehydration).


Finally, back to a gate we went. This time for just a short hop, really. Stay tuned for the final destination!

(I’m quickly posting this, despite not having time to really make sure things are done properly: we have about 15 minutes so it’s either now or when we get to our hotel, and I’d rather it be now!)

Still Here

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Yes, I’m here. Yes, I’ve not blogged for a while. No, that doesn’t mean I haven’t been planning trips.

You read that correctly … trips. Three, in fact. We have our walking holiday, a wedding trip, and a visit in a city here in the United States with my brother Greg and sister-in-law Jan, who will be coming in from Germany for a trip here. So tons of planning is going on, and lots of possibility for confusion.

Thanks to my spreadsheets, though, everything is clearly on the page. So it might not be clear in my brain, but I can check those spreadsheets easily. Much has been taken care of with two of the three trips.

Flights and trains? Well, sort of tricky sometimes. Spain and Belgium trains still aren’t available. I wrote to Renfe and they said they still didn’t know when my trains would be available because they are waiting for the permits. Belgium made it clear it’s not worth trying until a month before. Flights in the states are ones I wait a bit on: too early and you pay a lot. Too late and you pay a lot. So timing … it’s tricky, but I check in occasionally to see how things are going.

Oh, and one more trip that may or may not include me is on the calendar as well. I’m still waiting to see what my work schedule will be, but Dan has a reunion to attend!

Fun times here on the Emerson-Mitchell planet!

Here, have a photo from a time in Florence (or shall I say Firenze?) quite some time ago.

Watermelon Bike, 8.28.16

Home

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Our flight was a bit bumpy (the pilot had warned us before we even took off), but otherwise uneventful. Toward the end he told the flight attendants to go to their jump seats and told us the final service wasn’t going to happen. That really was no biggie since I’d already decided I would tell them I didn’t want anything.

And so we landed. Got outside. And met up with my sister. (THANK YOU, Carolyn, for picking us up!)

Once home I did my typical unpacking. Has to be done immediately or I don’t rest well. Things got put away, and then mail was opened. I don’t open everything, but I open personal mail and packages, and that meant mostly Christmas cards (and even one birthday card), a book about Maria Callas (sent for free so I can read and review), and a few other things.

Dan wasn’t feeling great, so he hit the hay early. I’ve now managed to stay up until 10:35 our time and, to be honest, it does not feel like it’s 1:35 AM, which is what it would be in NYC. So I guess that’s a good thing. Maybe I’ll adjust easily.

So it’s over ‘n out for our wonderful adventure.

I guess it’s time to plan the next. 😊

Many thanks to readers who went along on our journey!

April 1 means Going Home

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We began our day (once we got out of our room) with a bit of breakfast right across the street. They had lots of healthy things, and great vegan options for Kelsey.

Speaking of Kelsey, it’s her birthday! Happy Birthday, dear daughter ‘o mine!

From there we went back to the hotel so Kelsey & Mel could get their luggage, check out, and head home. We said our goodbyes, and Dan and I, who asked for a late checkout, hung around the hotel for a time.

Lunch was across the street, at the same spot where we ate when we arrived on Saturday. Then it was time to catch a Lyft to the airport.

Turns out the airport was quite close, AND it was nearly deserted when we arrived so there was no line for security and we got to the United club lounge in no time.

Question: why did we not just get lunch at the lounge and save money?
Answer: because we simply weren’t thinking!

Oh well.

We sat for a good long time, enjoying a few drinks and snacks, and then boarded the plane for a very non-eventful, direct with no issues

After the flight home we picked up the car from the long-term lot, and got home with no traffic. Realizing we had no food for dinner we went to Halal Amigos for dinner and of course, while “only” ordering a burrito, I ate too much!

I’m sorry, but I neglected to take any birthday photos of Kelsey. Rats! I guess my brain was on disconnect.

Nothing new, right?

Traveling Home

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We woke up this morning and said goodbye to the rest of the family. They were in a hurry to get out the door since they have long drives and borders might be crowded. We didn’t even manage to get a photo. Rats!

I did take a few shots of our rooms at the villa though …

After packing, cleaning, and sitting around for as long as we could, we took a taxi to Trogir and spent time at a restaurant, getting breakfast and killing more time.

Then it was another taxi to the airport. With still MORE time to waste, we sat in the lounge and relaxed. For over two hours. So it goes.

Travel days are often a lot of sitting around and doing nothing days.

The flight was uneventful, but I shot a few things through my dirty windows.

I had no choice but to take two photos in the bathroom stall at the airport. First, the “Dan” guy, and then the fact that they want us to clean the toilet seat. Heh. Made me laugh.

We then had to walk to the shuttle and after that walk to the airport hotel. Again, nothing thrilling. But the woman who checked us in said we had a room with a great view. Um. Okay.

Then it was a restaurant at the hotel and now we are going to try and get to sleep early because … ARGH! … United gave Dan his boarding pass when he checked in, but they wouldn’t give me mine. I don’t know if I’ve been flagged randomly or if something was wrong, but it’s the same info I used to check in when we came to Europe so my guess is a random flagging. This means we have to get to the airport a bit earlier just to be sure there are no problems. Or maybe Dan will fly home and I’ll spend a week in Paris. That wouldn’t be too bad … would it? 😉

Oh … and prior to writing this I wrote to my students to say we could start lessons this week. Heigh-ho, heigh-ho, it’s off to work I go.

And now goodnight.