The Trip Part 2

We got into Dusseldorf right on time, but it really wouldn't have mattered, because our layover was about 4 hours. We went through border control, and I got to pull out my shiny new passport for the first time. They didn't stamp it. Boo.

We had no idea which gate to go to, because our flight was so far away it wasn't even up on the board yet. That's never a good sign. :)

When we got off the flight, our stroller, which we had checked at the gate, was not waiting for us. M asked about it, and the flight attendants sort of shrugged and said, "Maybe it'll go through to your final destination." Gee, that's comforting.

We finally figured out where we were supposed to be going, and we headed for the gate with about three hours to kill. There was absolutely nothing by the gate, but we figured Mini-Minion would fall asleep again soon. The funny thing was, just our little gate section was guarded by border control. We had to have our passports looked at again before going to our gate.

Now comes M's favorite part of the day. The border control agent came up to us after about 10 minutes and says, "What time does your flight leave?" in German. I stared blankly, because I'm pretty sure my mind was like those eggs in the drug-free commercials of the 80s at that point. M said, "Sorry, we don't speak German." Theeeen, homeboy in uniform said, "She's German, no?" and points to me. Yeah. Yeeeah. M started laughing, and I launched into my embarrassing spiel. Guardman laughed it off, and explained he's closing down the area and asked if we can come back in an hour or two. So we exited and sat down at a cafe right outside the area.

We were all pretty dead at that point, but Mini-Minion passed out within 10 minutes of me turning on a movie on my iPad for her. We were in a booth, so it was pretty comfortable for her. I told M to take a nap for the hour or so we had left after eating, and Mr. A and I just hung out for the rest of the time.

While we were eating, I thought about our luggage situation and how we were going to get everything to the hotel. I'm glad I did that, but I'll get to all that later.

Finally it was time to board the plane. Mini-Minion stayed asleep not only through boarding, but also through the whole flight. So I slept, too. It was the first hour of uninterrupted sleep I'd had in two days.

We landed at Stansted, and clearing border control was a breeze. There was no line, and our luggage was waiting for us as soon as we got the carousel. So was our stroller. With a bent wheel. Bummer. We filed a claim, and I've got to call them about it. Apparently we've got to buy a new stroller, and they'll reimburse us for it? It's still a pain. The stroller is workable, but it's definitely got a little wobble to it now.

When I came back from filing the initial claim, M was staring helplessly at our bags with a bungee cord in his hands. "This is physically impossible," he said.

"No, it's not," I said. I was actually excited to see the bungee cord, because it made my plans even easier. I tied two of the bags together with the bungee cord, and two of the other bags together with a strap from my swimsuit (whatever in a pinch, right?). Thankfully we bought suitcases with the four swivel wheels. Mini-Minion stayed in her stroller with her backpack underneath, and I slung my purse and two carryons over the handles of her stroller. I dragged a suitcase behind me while pushing her, M pushed the two connected bundles of suitcases, and Mr. A pulled the carryon that wasn't hanging from the stroller. M had his backpack and laptop bag. It was hard, but it worked.

I booked a trip on Terrevision into Central London, and it was pretty great. The buses were nice and clean, and the trip only took 50 minutes for pretty darn cheap. Besides, they didn't limit our luggage, unlike some of the other buses.

I was pretty stuck on what to do when we got to London, though. My idea worked great for the airport, but I knew it wouldn't be ok on the tube. M said he remembered hearing about minivan cabs in London, so we decided to go that route. After a few minutes of trying to find one, we finally got someone to take us. It only cost 10GBP or so to the hotel, so I'm not complaining.

We made it to the hotel in one piece with our 10 million bags. It was really nice to sleep in a comfortable bed and to finally be done with the traveling part.