Our Return Trip to Romania

Our trip back to Romania was anything but boring.  It began with us and our luggage…..all 10 pieces.  Dennis had 2 duffle bags and 1 keyboard to check in, while I had 2 bags; but we also had 2 backpacks, 2 carry-on items (one of which was a bass guitar), and a bag with 2 cowboy hats.  We were a site to behold!!!

The shuttle driver came to hotel to pick us up, along with 4 other passengers, in a small van.  We had told the clerk at the hotel that we had LOTS of luggage, and some pieces were quite large, but apparently they didn’t think LOTS was as many as we actually had.  Anyway, the driver pulls up and the first thing he does is try to put the keyboard case behind the back seat…..nope.  It won’t fit!  And that was just the 1^st bag.  So he decides to take the van and exchange it for a people mover……much better plan.  Now we were able to fit everything, and everyone, inside with room to spare.  Thank goodness we were the last terminal for drop off. 

Getting everything out and onto the curb was fun…..looked like we were moving……again.  Fortunately, DFW has curb-side check in.  Now all we had to do was check in….. separately (someone has to stay with the non-checked in bags to make sure no one tampers with them).  Dennis takes his 2 duffle bags and heads to the scales….both bags under 50 lbs and he gets his boarding passes right then.  Now my turn.  Well, I’m not so fortunate.  The 1^st bag weighs in at 52 lbs.  So I quickly open it and remove a 3 lb bag of chocolate chips (they now become a part of my already heavy backpack).  Now that this bag is under the limit, I’m waiting for the gentleman to take this bag off and let’s weigh the next one.  Nope.  Apparently I can’t check in at curb-side.  Not a big deal, except there are more bags than we have hands available.  So, how do we take them all to the check-in counter?  The decision was made that I would take my 2 bags and check in upstairs, as well as get my boarding passes; Dennis would stay on the curb with the other bags.  Since I had already removed 3 lbs from one of the bags, there wasn’t a problem with weight on either one.  Check in went without a hitch, but took longer than I expected.  With boarding passes in hand, I head back down to the curb to help Dennis bring up the rest of our stuff, including this very large (2’x5’x8”) keyboard case (thank goodness it had wheels!!!).  Now it’s time to check this baby in.  Back at the check-in counter (with the same person I just dealt with), the case weighs in at 79 lbs, 4 lbs over limit.  So, here we are again, opening the case to see what we can remove to lighten the load.  Keep in mind that whatever we unload, has to be loaded into another bag.  Thank goodness I kept my carry-on weight at 45 lbs – just in case!!!!  So, out comes some clothes that we used for packing protection, and hope that the case holds up to the baggage handlers.  Now that that’s settled, the paperwork begins.  After 20 minutes of paperwork, now it’s time to pay for an 3^rd checked-in bag, as well as oversize.  Another problem.  Dennis has already checked in 2 bags and the system has double booked him with the 3^rd checked in bag.  More paperwork LL  Thank goodness we arrived at the airport 4 hours before our flight left!!!  Another 30 minutes of trying to figure out how to delete the duplicated booking, we were able to pay the hefty fee and head to security.  Security……..gotta dump out all the electronic equipment (which were my cameras, who had found their way to the bottom of my backpack), plus the baggie with the 3 oz limits, plus removing all the jewelry and shoes……..all for a quick 3 second walk through the scanning machine.  Fortunately, there were no problems there J

Our flight went from Dallas/Ft. Worth to Atlanta.  With a short layover, we hurried to our next gate.  Here we waited about 15 minutes before they began boarding for our next journey.  While waiting, one of the airport personnel came and asked me if I wanted to check in my carry-on (free of course).  I didn’t hesitate one minute….take it…..one less bag to drag around.  That now left us with 2 backpacks, one bass guitar, and a bag with 2 cowboy hats.

From Atlanta, we headed to Paris, France.  Exciting you say…….yes it was, but not for the reasons you’d think.  Seems like the turbulence began at 10,000 ft.  Ok, just some rough clouds until we reach flying altitude…….nope!  We rocked and rolled the entire flight!  Meals were a bit tricky……your fork would be heading for your mouth, but before it reached its destination, the plane would drop and now your fork is heading towards your forehead.  Drinking was even harder.  I’m surprised that they didn’t pass out bibs for us to wear…..we certainly could have used them.  I’m not sure the “fasten seat belt” sign was ever turned off (it was a 9 hr flight).  Thank goodness that most of the flight was in the late evening, so everyone tried to sleep.

Then we arrive in Paris.  Our next connection was in an hour.  De Gaulle Airport is not difficult to maneuver around, but it is quite large.  I knew that we would need to exit the plane quickly and head straight to the gate.  Unfortunately, we weren’t able to pull into the assigned gate….apparently the plane ahead of us had mechanical problems and was unable to leave.  We were told that it would take about 5 minutes to get the situation taken care of.  Nope.  After 15 minutes of waiting, we were told, again, that it would take about 5 minutes to push the plane away from the gate.  Nope.  Our next message was that ground personnel were waiting for a tractor to move the plane.  Now we’re getting antsy.  We’re 20 minutes into our hour layover and we’re still sitting on the tarmac.  After another 15 minutes, we find out that we are being redirected to another gate.  Nope.  Twenty minutes later we are heading to a parking lot to be bused from the plane to the terminal…..a different one than where we were supposed to be.  By now, we’ve decided that we’re gonna miss our connection.  That wouldn’t have been too bad, except we had someone who would be waiting for us.  After 75 minutes of sitting on the tarmac, moving to the parking area and waiting for a bus to shuttle us to the terminal, we finally arrive in a new location.  Now it’s time to find the reservation counter to re-arrange our next flight.

When we finally get all our stuff and get to the Air France counter, there are 60-70 people already in line L  Dennis decides to try and Facebook someone in Tarnaveni to get a message to Gabi, letting her know that we missed our connection and would not be arriving at the scheduled time.  Because internet time is limited at the airport, he sends a message and hopes that someone sees it soon.  Now more waiting.  When we finally get to the Air France representative, the first thing he asks is, “what kind of guitar do you have?”  Ok, here we go again…..a situation with carrying the guitar on board.  Not this time.  The man was a bass player and wanted to look at Dennis’ guitar.  So he unzips the gig bag and they chat about the type of music each likes to play.

Meanwhile, we ask about our luggage……….don’t worry, it will be transferred to your new flight.  Let’s hope so!  After an hour of waiting in line and then discussing the pros/cons of guitars, we have our new flight to Bucharest.  Off to the gate to wait.  Oh, but before we go, the rep comps us a free dinner for our hassles.

Once we arrive at the new gate, we realize that we actually have about 1 ½ hours before we begin boarding, so off we go to find a place to eat.  We found out that there are only 2 places that honor the free dinner passes, and the one closest to us was a sandwich shop.  Ok, not exactly what I had in mind, but I wasn’t real hungry anyway.  So, we’re looking at our choices when a very unpleasant woman asks us what we want.  When we ask about what is covered with the meal, she points at what’s available.  Ok, gives us a minute please.  Once we decided, she put our stuff on a tray and turned away…..no “thank you”, no “have a nice day”, nothing but a scowl on her face – guess she missed her connecting flight too.  At last, we can sit down for a few relaxing moments and enjoy some food.  Nope.  The sandwich bread could have been used by David to slay Goliath, and there was NO hint of mayo.  I pulled the little piece of meat and tomato out and rolled it up and ate it.  The dessert she put on my tray was not the one I pointed at…..guess that one didn’t come with the meal.  No Pepsi, so I opted for a Sprite….not a good choice.  So we basically chunked the meal down the trash and headed back to the gate.

Three hours later, we arrived in Bucharest.  So glad to be home!!!!  Now let’s grab our bags and head to the house.  Bags………..hope they’re all there.  Nope.  After searching all the baggage claim areas, we were short 2 bags…….one being the keyboard!  Now what?  We met with an airport official, who led us into an office to fill out more paperwork – woo hoo!!!!  Ok, the guy tells us that the bags are on the next plane in and will be there in another 3 hours (11p).  Now we have a problem……..we can’t wait another 3 hours for our bags to arrive, because we have to be home for a workshop on Friday at noon (it’s a 6 hr drive from Bucharest to Targu-Mures).  The guy says that our bags will be delivered to our house by Friday afternoon.  Dennis reminds him that we live 6 hours away…..no problem, we’ll get them to you.  The brightest part of the whole return flight home, was the fact that Air France had our 2 bags to our doorstep by noon Friday!!!!  Kudos for you Air France!

Ok, so what time did we make it back to the apartment?  2a.m.  You would think that we’d drop everything inside the door and hit the bed.  Nope.  I started unpacking one bag, then another, then another, until all the bags were unpacked and everything put away.  It must have been jet lag, ‘cause I have no other reason for why it was important to take care of that at that particular moment.  3a.m. we’re finally in bed…..plumb tuckered out!  But more than that………we’re finally home!!