The hubby decided to come to the world’s largest industrial convention on the planet located in Hanover, Germany. He and I have never taken a real holiday together, just he and me, in all our thirty years of marriage. He asked me if I’d like to come. I was hesitant at first as I got thinking of all the travel restrictions of the last three years … masking, proof of vaccination and needing negative covid-tests … the thought of that was too stressful for me. To my delight, Germany is opened up like Canada in where even public masking is no longer required. Conclusion is I signed up to come with him. We decided to spend three or four days at the convention and the the last three to four days we planned to travel back to Berlin and spend time there – I even booked a tour in Berlin that I will share about later.
It was an anxious thing for me, planning for an overseas trip. The last time I ‘crossed the puddle’ was forty-two years ago where my parents used travel agents – now it’s pretty much all online. Travel back then was quite different to now. Passports are scanned now. You see QR codes for things everywhere. You can do self check-ins for your flights via online or electronic kiosk. Then there is the goo restriction for carry-ons – so different from travelling in the 80s. What a world we live in now.
We departed from Edmonton International Airport at noon on April 15, 2023 – got there three hours early which was awesome as we got through security quite quickly as there was few people there at the time. We got through security easily enough and with all the extra time the hubby and I had, we decided to charge ourselves up with caffeine from Tim’s.
We got on our flight which was about four hours and arrived in Montreal where we had about a two-three hour layover. We decided to get ourselves something to eat as we hadn’t eaten since the day before. We asked if there was a steak place in the airport and were directed to that – can’t recall the name of it. We ordered hangar steaks – expensive for the amount we got, but, I have to tell you, it was one of the most delicious steaks I have ever eaten. Some things are just worth experiencing. The hubby ordered us poutine (which I didn’t eat due to my aversion to wheat product – the gravy) – but it sure looked good!
Our next flight was booked economy, we decided to see if we could get business class as you get more space for those seats – but they were sold out. Even boarding is different now – they assign you to zones and then announce when you can board. As we enter the aircraft for our long trip ‘over the puddle’ … I have to say I have never before seen such a cramped seating arrangement in all my life – even the aisles were ridiculously narrow – what a cramped flight. The flight was packed as well and once you got to your seat, you couldn’t ‘walk in’ to take your seat, you stumbled into it because there was no room to ‘walk’ into – our knees were up against the seat in front of us and there was no room for me to cross my legs which meant my tailbone was going to suffer. This became unbearable over this 7+ hour flight. Furthermore, no air to blow on you and the heat made it impossible to sleep, also meaning more frequent hot flashes making me a sticky hot mess. This flight offered a meal – but we decided to not eat and we drank little to avoid having to use bathrooms – our seats were in a row of three, we were the window and middle seats, with a fellow Canadian sitting in the aisle seat. For us to use washrooms, we would have to get him to exit his seat for all of us to get out and back in. So, when our fellow passenger got up about two thirds into the flight to use the facilities we opted to take the same opportunity at that time. Because we opted to not eat and refrain from drinking anything, this bathroom break was done only once during the entirety of the flight. The aisles were so narrow that you cannot avoid butt rubbing with other passengers. Honestly, who designs these aircrafts?! This design may be okay for short flights but for these long flights, the hubby and I thought them to be inhumane. My tailbone was screaming by the time we got off that flight. During this flight, the hubby and me agreed that if we ever travel overseas again – it’s business class/pod or nothing which I highly recommend for the mature traveller. Cramped seating is hard for everyone but especially the mature traveller and a person who is larger than a size 9! (I am not exaggerating here.)
During our travel – because I am inexperienced in the new way of travel – I told the hubby, that when we are traveling home, my purse will go in the suitcase and I will put everything I need in the backpack and will make sure to pack light. A word to the wise, don’t heavy up your backpack because carting that all over the airports wears on you. Try to put everything in your suitcase if you can.
We arrived in Munich, Germany and deplaned at 10:35am local time. Boarding time for our next flight to Berlin was for 11am – cut off to boarding was 10:45am – we had ten minutes to get to and through customs and get on our next flight. Customs was very fast and efficient on getting us through and we ran to our next gate and managed to catch our flight. Running is not fun for a mature person. Once we got on our flight I had this nagging suspicion that our baggage was not on this flight.
From Munich to Berlin was only an hour flight – we arrived just after noon sometime – we went to collect our baggage, and wouldn’t you know – I was right! Our baggage was not on that flight! To Baggage Claim we go – we were told that our baggage would arrive on the next flight ‘two hours later’. We sat down and had Cappucinos and then went to a place at the airport to change our seat reservation on the ICE train as we were not going to make our current one. We were told when the second flight was and where we could collect our baggage – it wasn’t there either – so back to Baggage Claim we go. Their computer indicated that they had our baggage in the basement but took them awhile to find it apparently – we didn’t get our baggage until 5:00pm! By this time – there was no way we were going to get our new seat assignment on the ICE train – so back to the office to change it yet again. Thankfully, to change the reservation was in the ballpark of about €10.00 for both of us.
We took the train from the airport to get to Berlin Central Station which was a half hour ride, arriving at about 5:55pm where we then went to see where we need to board for the next train. At Berlin Hbf or Berlin Hauptbahnhof (Central Station) we caught our ICE train to Hanover Central Station at 6:33pm – quite honestly, the train rides were the highlight of our trip so far. I had never been on a high speed train before – this train would travel up to and over 217kmh and what a smooth and quiet ride (we were also in the quiet car). By the time we boarded this train my angst slowly subsided. At this point we had been awake for about 24 hours with virtually no sleep. I was exhausted and when I get exhausted, I get emotional and weepy – it’s how my body releases it. I loved that we opted to take the train to Hanover – it was an experience I had not experienced before and it was relaxing and enjoyable. I loved seeing the countryside which we wouldn’t have seen if we’d have taken a plane. The ride was so quiet and scenic – what a great way to travel and de-stress at the same time.
On the train ride, I was amazed at the amount of wind turbines and solar panel farms there are on the way to Hanover from Berlin – the wind turbines are extremely huge!
On the train the hubby decided to order what I will call weiner soup with a bun – when it came is smelled delicious and he said the bun that came with it was nothing short of awesome, which didn’t sit heavy in his stomach. (This was our first clue that the bread is different here.)
We got to Hannover at about 8:30pm and the sun was setting. Our hotel was quite near to the station so we opted to walk to it in the dark – good thing I had a google map to follow. We checked in around 8:50pm. We were exhausted even though the scenic train ride really eased our tensions so we could crash as soon as we hit the mattress.
Tomorrow is the first day of the Convention.
Risé Brette
The Weary Traveller 