So, you want to be begged...LOL. Yes, we want all the rest of the story.

I really didn't want to be begged. It is nice to know that someone is interested though

I know...just teasing you. So...get on with it!!!!!!!! LOL

Day 27 - Saturday July 15, 2006

The day was really calm and we met Y's girl friend for lunch. I arose early and wandered around the area taking pictures. There was not much open and we had been out fairly late. I forgot to tell you a few things. Across the river and down a ways is the main factory for AirBus, a manufacturer of airplanes and Boeing's competitor. The factory is huge and brings in employees from all around the world. When we had arrived back in Blankeneser Y had wanted to stop in to say good night to a friend who ran a little bar. There were several guys surrounding one woman and we sat down next to them on the end. Some of them were competing and flirting with Inga in English, although most of them also spoke German. Four of the guys were AirBus employees and one of them was speaking quite loudly as he made reference to one thing or another in the United States. I couldn't help but join in the conversation although I had no interest in Inga and pretty soon they were buying everyone drinks and we were conversing back and forth. Y ended up with Inga's phone # and I believe the rest of the guys struck out but who knows what happened on another night at the bar because we never made it back.

Meanwhile we wandered around Hamburg after lunch and saw a few sights before returning to Blankeneser to rest up for the night. This was to be the club night and Y was going to introduce us to his friends in Hamburg. About 8:30 or so we began to sample some of the things in Y's bar. He had a new item that he had just picked up from someone who worked at Corona called Champagne in a can that I didn't care for but we tried. Then came some sort of strawberry liqueur. Next was some Schnopps. And last he began pouring out shots of single malt scotch. This was something I had never had before and had never understood what the attraction was. You are supposed to sip it but it went down so smoothly that I started downing them.

Now I am usually perceived as being fairly reserved and under control and people tell me that they can't tell when I am rattled or upset or scared etc... After several shots of scotch I was looped. I hadn't been this looped in 30 years and even I didn't realize it. My daughter was also feeling no pain and I believe Y and N were in pretty good shape as well. We started out to go into the city by way of the metro since none of us were in any shape to drive and Y didn't want to worry about the drive back either. By the time we got to the metro entrance and Y was buying the tickets I began to feel very dizzy. At some point I dropped something and when I leaned down to pick it up I went face first into the pavement. How I managed to do this without breaking my glasses is beyond me but I took a full facial and came up bleeding from the top of my nose. I couldn't feel a thing and told them that I was alright but I obviously didn't look it. Y realized that we had to go back and we turned around and returned to his flat. I barely remember any of it. I was in no shape to do anything and I soon passed out. My daughter S was experiencing something similar without the face dive and lied down on the couch after I was pronounced alright. The other two went back out and found one of Y's favorite clubs. After four weeks of being in command and in charge and finding our way and watching other people lose control I had lost it. I wasn't there to look out for anyone.

More in a minute.

Baldworth!!! I was out of town yesterday, so just got caught up on your trip report this afternoon! Don't you dare stop now, LOL. That would be like reading a fantastic book and than having it ripped from your hands before one was able to read the last couple of chapters!!

Oh YIKES! I hope you were alright. Mixing drinks, and no doubt being tired from the long trip made a bad combination baldworth!!

I have read the whole thing and got really sad at the part where I was supposed to come in but didn't. This is a really awesome trip report and I am really impressed at houw thorough and patient you are, John. Sounds like a mixed bag of amazing places and people.

What happened next is very bizzare in some ways and in others exactly what I had been preparing everyone for. After going to the club and being only Y and N, and meeting some of his friends, they got separated! Instead of sticking around N left the club and wandered. Then he couldn't find his way back to the club. Y stayed around the club for three hours and finally came back to the flat about 4:00. N didn't show up until after 8:00. When he did he told a tale that included being picked up by a gay biker and sneaking away from him after the former went to the bathroom. He was given a ride at some point by a car full of what he said were "Soccer Hooligans", he was all over the city and the area around where the flat was, etc... He couldn't remeber the name of the area where Y lived but he did finally manage to get there about sunrise. It took him two hours to find the flat after that! He had to manage by his wits and did manage to get home. I was totally unaware of the circumstances until I woke up at 8:00 when he came in. I guess he learned something wandering all over Western Europe. The strange thing is that I would have trusted anyone with Y. He had been leading tours for about 8 years whn he finally stopped doing it full time and he had never lost snyone before! N got lost because of two things: first, he didn't pay any attention to where he was when he arrived and second, he didn't stay where he was and wait for Y to get back or show up. He never should have been lost in the first place. He ended up with a great story but it could have all been a lot simpler. Wouldn't you know something like this would happen the only time that I am incapacitated.

I had slept hard and was ready to find some coffee so I wandered out again about nine. Y said that the only thing open was oly a few blocks away and that was enough for me. It was a bakery, probably part of a chain and not quaint like everything else in this area, and it was doing good business on this Sunday morning. I probably looked like I had been in a fight but it either didn't matter or I was too out of it to care because I wandered in and ordered coffee. I then noticed something I hadn't seen in four weeks, someone was bringing their cup to the counter for a free refill of coffee! In my state, my face hurt and I might have broken my nose, it was a wonderful sight! I drank my first cup and took my cup back for the second. It was so great that I bought pastry as well and took enough back for every one else when I was full. N slept most of the day and I napped off and on all day as my face began to hurt more and more. Y had some work to do but managed to prepare some pasta for lunch with fresh basil and pesto.

We needed to find a good place to eat dinner and watch the Queen Mary 2 leave port that evening about 9:00. We found a decent restuarant up on the hill and had a great meal consisting of different kinds of fish, appetizers, and wine all from Hamburg. I picked up the tab as a show of appreciation for Y putting up with us for the weekend. The ship moved slowly out to sea and filled up the river as it passed. It was awesome!We had brought Y's girl frien with us and we walked slowly back to the flat afterward.

The next morning it was hard to believe that we were leaving. We packed our bags and left for the airport at 9:30. Traffic was bad and we ended up not getting to the spot until 10:15. We said goodbye to Y and went inside to find that all of the passengers had to get in the same line. There was a group of Indians who were coming back from somewhere and they couldn't seem to make up their minds who was supposed to be in line and who wasn't. I watched them switch palces and mutter back and forth to each other as they gathered passports and dispersed them only to gather different ones. It was a bizarre scene to watch as the clock ticked away and we didn't know if we were going to make our flight in time. We finally got to the front of the line about 20 minutes before the flight was scheduled to leave and the lady at the counter was concerned that we wouldn't make it. Maybe that is why she didn't issue us tickets or boarding passes beyond Copenhagen. I have already told the ending to this story but I'll give you a few details to go with it.
We got to Copenhagen just fine but when we checked in at the counter in the airport for the connecting flight to Washington D.C. the attendant looked at me strangely and said, "You don't have a ticket!" They were already having booking problems and were looking for people to voluntarily not fly to compensate. We were just what she needed. For the next hour we sat and stewed and watched as she moved from the check-in desk to the loading zone and back and forth over and over again. Even though I was churning on the inside I thought that patience was the best way to go and finally after the flight had left she came over and said, "You have been so nice and so patient that we are going to give you a voucher for 1200 euro." Apparently this was more than they usually issued. We could not get a flight that day and they were going to put us up for the night in the company hotel in Stockholm, the airlines hub. The next day we would go to Atlanta by way of Newark.

Our stay in Stockholm was surreal. WE shouldn't have even been there and the airport actually sat in Arno, twenty minutes outside the city. S hadn't been feeling very good and was having motion sickness issues. We were all tired and basically out of money so there wasn't much we felt like sampling in Stockholm. Besides, we hadn't been able to get hold of anyone at home except just to leave a message and say that our plans had been rearranged for us and we wouldn't be home that day. We ate dinner, on a voucher from the airline, and went to our rooms to rest, watch Swedish tv, and try to call home.

Resting was difficult as we were too off schedule to actually sleep, the tv was mostly American tv with Swedish subtitles, and we couldn't catch anyone at home. I finally got hold of my wife on her cell phone as they were shopping and we settled in for the night.

The next morning we went down to breakfast expecting not much more than we had the night before, average at best. How wrong can you be. We were treated to the most elaborate breakfast I have ever seen. There were waffle irons, pancake batter, ten different meats including caviar, seven different breads, eggs in several prepared ways, caooffee machines, cappucino machines, etc... It was a feast! With our bellies full and smiles on our faces we checked out and made our way to our gate. As we checked in we had another issue. My daughter, world traveler and very dependable S couldn't find her passport! We looked through everything she and I had as she thought through what she might have done with it. After about ten minutes that seemed to be hours, I looked in the upper part of the compartment of her carryon and there it was. It had slid into the upper part and she ahdn't looked there. Whew!

We got on the plane and actually all sat together. This would be the only time this happened on our return. We had movie screens in the back of our seats, good food and free Baileys liquers. It was a good flight. We watched Syriana and V is for Vengeance and N played video games. Life was good again. When we got to the good ole US of A it was like being in the most foreign place we had been in yet. The people at the security checkpoints for our next flight were rude, brusque, and spoke much worse English than I had heard in any European country. We had been treated well in almost every place we had been and the only real issues had come from behavior within our own group (the group of 50). Now we were subjected to loud, gruff, insensitive behavior as we got home. All I could think of is that this is how we are seen by anyone coming in through this airport. This place is the first impression of America for many foreigners. If this is what I first saw when I came I would be tempted to turn around and go home. I felt ashamed.

The other thing that happened at this airport was that we were supposed to be able to cash our vouchers here for dollars instead of either Swedish or Danish money. All that we got was a card with the address of the place where we could apply for our cash. She was pleasant but offered no real explanation. We found out when we got home that she was actually supposed to have cashed them for us and just didn't. Newark still leaves a bad taste in my mouth and I still haven't gotten the cash.

The flight to Atalnta was uneventful and dull so I finished my Daniel Silva novel. We arrived in Atlanta and filed a claim for the luggage with a very nice and helpful Continental Airlines employee. Then we almost ran out to the shuttle area to see if we could catch the 7:00 shuttle to Chattanooga, TN. We missed it by about 2 minutes. We waited around and talked the next shuttle driver into sqeezing us in. The only reason it worked is that we had no luggage except for what we had carried with us. We arrived at the shuttle office at 9:45 and were met at 10:00. Our adventure was over except for the five day chase for our luggage. I have to say that everyone that I talked to on the phone was very nice and helpful right up until we actually got our luggage the following Saturday. It was nice to finally be able to give out souvenirs to my other two daughters and my wife and see the things we had bought for ourselves again.

THE END!!

Baldworth

Baldworth,

In a proper novel, the Drama Queen would have gotten what was coming to her -- but this was still one of the most enjoyable trip reports I have ever read.

Thank you,

:-)

Ah badlworth, I am now taking a big breath, lol! You did make it home (well of course you did or I guess you wouldn't have written this trip report) and your luggage finally arrived.

I am sorry you were not able to meet with LaClaire, that would have been so much fun. But next time? And I hope there is a next time..so you can have another European trip and we can have another fantastic trip report! Best regards with wishes that the coming school year will be pleasant for you.

Here I thought that I had pretty much been through the wringer after being mugged by a gang with butcher knives in Johannesburg, having to race away from a group of Bedouin kidnappers at Wadi Rum, and watching a visible crack appear on the Lao Aviation Yunan-11 in which I was flying from Luang Prabang to Vientiane during a thunderstorm -- but Baldworth makes Europe seem just as exciting.

The whole adventure is an "Amazing Race" of it's own! Thanks so much for the fun!

OK. I finished it. That was just a bad ass trip report if I have ever read one.

Thank you!

Baldworth

I couldn't believe you were able to get up and actually have coffee and pastry the morning after your night before!!LOL What a guy!!!!! I'm afraid I would have been talking to the "porclin god". Great report and thenks for finishing it.

Read every word - thanks for sharing!!

This was an amazing report! Thank you!

If this works and I have figured out the way to post this, my pictures should begin to show up. Here goes:

Pictures from London, Amsterdam, and Cologne - http://tinyurl.com/lsd58

Pictures from Heidelberg, Munich, and Innsbruck -http://tinyurl.com/qstg8

Pictures from Venice - http://tinyurl.com/nglgv

Pictures from Rome - http://tinyurl.com/ofzlt


Pictures from Florence -
http://tinyurl.com/n6kh9


Pictures from Lucerne, Switzerland -
http://tinyurl.com/p6vzr

Pictures from Alsace/Lorraine, France -
http://tinyurl.com/nyrz6

Pictures from Paris -
http://tinyurl.com/ojtjg

Pictures from Madrid, Spain and night train - http://tinyurl.com/pmf3a

Pictures from Barcelona - http://tinyurl.com/qbb8j

Pictures from Hamburg, Germany -
http://tinyurl.com/lact3

I hope you enjoy my pictures.

Baldworth

Hi baldworth, I was hopping you would post photos!! I am saving this to enjoy later this evening when it is quieter here but just wanted to say "thank you"..I love looking at photos!!

I will also savor the pictures this evening, baldworth. Thanks so much - I love pictures!

Thanks for sharing the pictures, Baldworth! I will take an imaginary trip via your photos tonight!

:)

%%-

If you are curious about anything after you look at the pictures, just ask. Thanks for the interest.

Baldworth

Has anyone actually looked at the pictures yet? What do you think?

Baldworth

HI, Baldworth!! I have looked at the pictures, and I really appreciate your sharing them- the group shots waiting for transportation are all too familiar to me! :)

I have been contemplating a February break trip to Spain, and seeing Barcelona and Madrid has really helped! Thanks!!

Thanks to the girls, too- it really does look like you had a wonderful trip, bumps in the road and all.

%%-

Thanks for the pictures. I'm going to go through them later today.

I looked at the pictures from Venice, Rome, Paris, Madrid and Barcelona and the thing that comes through to me the most is that these kids were really having fun.

I was fascinated by your observations of the people with whom you traveled. Sounds like the world aboard the bus was as fascinating as the world outside.

I get the feeling you would happily stand in Hyde Park's Speakers Corner on a box and proclaim the virtues of seat rotation on bus tours..... ;)

I think we must have met the sister of the manager of the Hotel Crystal at a BandB once. I should have photocopied the bandb's rule list. It included, I am not making this up, the instruction to eat the breakfast provided. When I saw that, I wondered if I'd find a dungeon in the basement....

Hi there baldworth, I love your photos..and the kids look like fun although obviously you had a "few" problem kids!! I just had a chance to finally enjoy your photos this morning.
Thanks for sharing your trip with us. You have more stamina than I do, lol!
Have a good school year.

"problem kids?" I'd say the daughter/college student of the leader behaved worse than the 'prom queen' baldworth complains so much about. The whole group sounds totally dysfunctional. Interesting that, aside from one person's protest about allowing teenagers to drink, no one has a problem with that. did the kids' parents know they'd be allowed to drink? Just asking, it seems incredible to me, but i'm not a parent.

2tired2night - Did you actually read any of what I wrote? My daughter was a great help and the reason we were able to find our way home in Rome as well as other times. She overdid one night and was a great help otherwise. You might consider rereading or rethinking. Besides, I never even mentioned a promqueen only a drama queen who wanted to make everything about her and create issues where there were none. I was there and you don't know what you are talking about.

Baldworth

By the way, thanks for all the other comments. Crefloors, LoveItaly, Katya NY thanks and I am glad you enjoyed the pics and story. I didn't mean to ignore your responses. The last one just flew all over me.

Baldworth

Baldworth,

Maybe 2tired2night is too tired tonight to comprehend the many details of your great story.

Archaic drinking-age laws in one country don't necessarily have any real meaning in other countries.

MvK

Thanks MarkvonKramer and AMEN!

Baldworth