What Would You Like To Drink?

Landed safely. And the trip was soooo smooth.

I had much anxiety over this trip. In general. There were just many things leading up to this trip that made me anxious about it. Or I just let it all get to me: the preparations and shopping were going too slow. My brother and sister-in-law were moving all their stuff into my house just few days ago. She is leaving for a year-long trip to India and it's sad she won't be here for that long. My brother would not be here for the first few days of my trip to take care of Ciro, so I had to make other plans for her (Thanks Gils!) Trying to get Ciro all well and eating good before I leave. I could get my packing down to allowable weight limit and had to selectively leave stuff out. Since I was driving myself at the airport, I couldn't just take things out of the suitcase during check-in and leave with someone. A hurricane was in the path of my flight and there was a chance the flights might get canceled. Last minute issues at work popped up.

So, I had lots on my mind these weeks.

But then the day came, and it all went smoothly. I dropped Ciro off at Norma's, and he seemed to like his new environment right away. I drove to the airport, found a parking, shuttle, and was at the terminal with plenty of time to spare. My big bag was only 2 lbs over weight, and no one complained. They didn't weight my carry-on that was 12 lbs over the weight limit. My flight to DC was on time and I even had an empty seat next to me to lay down. The girl closest to me was a praying Catholic, which just warmed my heart and reminded me to do the same throughout these long and uncertain flights. They showed us an animated movie Rio that seemed to be just for me, about a people-friendly FLIGHT-CHALLENGED PARROT who got separated from his RED-HAIRED female owner. Notice the similarities!

There was just a little turbulence before we landed in DC, but we were ahead of the schedule. The next flight was also on time, also had empty seats, and they again didn't check my bag which was now double their allowed weight limit. I again had to seats just for myself, and their dinner service was something different: before dinner they served vodka, gin, and scotch. During the meal they walked around with bottles of wine. Afterwards they offered cognac and baileys. All for free! I spilled some wine over me while settling in to sleep, but there were no other alcohol related incidents. Most Europeans drink moderately I guess.:) Maybe it was to calm the people for flying over a hurricane or just to use up the liquor intended for first/business class since the plane had many empty seats. Maybe people switched their flights because of the hurricane. But we didn't feel anything. The pilot took us a bit more north and around the storm, and we really could only see the clouds as usual.

And the third flight went without a glitch and my bag arrived with me to Sarajevo around noon. By 4 PM I was all unpacked, we had coffee, lunch, and were enjoying our time on the balcony. (right now it's a different story - it's 4.30 am and I've been up for two ours because of the jet leg)

The weather here was in the mid 80s but in the evening it cooled down nicely and invited us out for a walk.

Let the vacation begin!

Into The Storm I Go

Well, not really, but it's close.

I am leaving tomorrow to go to Bosnia, and I am flying over Washington DC. And, this weekend a historic storm is also approaching the east coast, Hurricane Irene. Right now it's category 2, by the time it gets to north-east coast it should be cat. 1. So now, I am racing with the storm.

My flight is still scheduled to leave Dulles airport at 6.45 PM, at which point the eye of the storm should be some 250 miles south from there. Flights from NY city airports are already being canceled starting from tomorrow afternoon. They are even shutting down the amtrak, subways, and evacuating part of Manhattan. Crazy!

Many US airlines have waived the fees to reschedule the flight ahead of the time. Not Lufthansa. So, I am hoping we'll take of, safely, before the high winds reach the path of my flight to Munich, and I won't be stranded in DC. I will feel like my vacation really started when I am on that plane going toward Europe.

I hope and pray everyone is safe in the path of Irene.