Our Delayed Journey Home

Waking up a bit later and fully rested this morning, we packed and headed to the train station across the street where our bus would pick us up.  The whole time we were in the station, we stayed on the north end, where the metro was.  We had no idea that further along there was a mini mall full of food.  It was perfect for this morning though, as we were able to grab breakfast before getting to the airport. I found the sandwiches I really liked, and this time had one with mortadella (a first for me and so good). And just in time for us to finish, our bus arrived.

We got to the airport about 3 hours early, and the security line moved pretty fast.  Although, I got patted down and Pedro's hands got tested for drugs.  I think it was our jewelry, which we were told to leave on. I have a bunch of piercings, and Pedro had on watches and rings which they made him send back through the detector. Oh, well.  We were early and got through eventually. We found our gate just in time for a message that we were delayed. But, no matter, we've learned.  We had a connecting flight in Germany with a five hour layover, so a 40 minute delay was no problem at all.  No more repeats of the journey to the UK with delays and missed flights.

Plus, Pedro provided us with entertainment. 

We landed in Germany with plenty of time for our next flight to Glasgow. Also, Frankfurt airport is huge!  It's smaller than Orlando, which I've visited half a dozen times, but the way it's structured creates this sense of never ending terminals.  The gates were so far apart, and we took several moving sidewalks and elevators just to get from gates A to B. At the entrance to the B gates, we hit border control.  I was asked where I was going, and I believe my response was, "Home- uh, Scotland."  I got a funny look, but a stamp nonetheless.  Pedro was asked where we was coming from and where he was going, which he responded Rome and Glasgow, and was asked if he had another passport (since we went through with our American ones.  He had to explain about his residency card, but they waived him through. 

When we finally got close to our gate, we found some food. And of course, why not German? Yum.  Once we got to our gate, we found an outlet and set up shop, playing Mario Cart as we waited for our plane. 

At 8:30pm, 25 minutes before we were supposed to board, our plane was not at the gate and I was getting worried. I checked my app, no updates.  I checked the board and we were at the right gate and 'on time'.  We even asked around and we were not the only ones there for Glasgow. People were gathering near the desk at the gate, where no one was at the computer. Cue anxiety. I went so far as to check the flight before ours (where our plane was coming from) and saw that it was delayed, even though our flight was still showing on time, so we were a bit more certain it was just delayed, but still confused.  Then, just before we were supposed to start boarding, a woman finally shows up at the gate desk.  She was swarmed.  We waited a bit, thinking surely there'd be an announcement (plane delayed, cancelled, or whatever), but nothing.  Pedro went to ask what was going on while I watched our stuff.  As he was walking back, she finally made an announcement that our flight was delayed and was due to land in another 20 minutes.

The complaints were instant, and so British that we had to laugh. "We don't mind the wait, just tell us the information", "Sorry to bother, but we just don't know where to board, we thought it was time", "Just tell me where to queue, I'll wait", "There isn't even a queue."

Of the many things we've learned in Scotland, near the top is respect the queue. But we all got on a bus eventually that took us to our plane.  I'm glad we had a good breakfast and lunch because on both flights we were informed they had limited staff and therefore could only provide a free water and a pillow mint. Not that we completely rely on airline snacks anyway.

We landed at Glasgow around 11pm, and we were so glad to be back in familiar territory. We went through border control, where we showed our residency cards and chit chatted with the officer. *sigh* So nice. Even Pedro remarked that Glasgow was the only airport he's never had trouble in, and everyone is so friendly. 

We beelined it outside toward the taxi station, and got in the queue.  There were a lot of us waiting there, with taxis trickling in, but the drivers were nice enough to tell us they'd sent out a message to other drivers that there was a large group of us waiting here. Soon enough, they were pouring in. 

This time we did much better with the instructions to our home, knowing the area better, and guided our driver with ease. And, at last, we were home just past midnight. We were reveling in the cool air and quiet of our little cul-de-sac. It's really lovely to realize we think of this place so much as our home, that we missed it so dearly while we were away.  It's definitely our home away from (home) our family in The States.