Germany: Day 7

The last one! Finally!

I thought we had planned enough time in to get to the airport and board our 9:50am flight with time to spare.

Yeah. I didn't. (Spoiler alert: we did not miss our flight. Obviously. But it was still way stressful.)

The train ride up to the airport took waaaaay longer than I thought it would so we didn't actually arrive at the airport until 8:30. Then we got lost trying to find the Delta check-in desk. Then when we finally found it and got in line, every single Delta employee except for one decided they were going on break. Seriously. Then we got in the long line to turn in our tax-free reimbursement form (since I spent tons o' money at one particular shop on a nativity for myself and presents for others.)

My feelings about it are thus: 1. My family. 2. My nativity. 3. Everything else.

Then they wouldn't take our form because we had forgotten to go to customs first. So then we had to go get in the customs line, then return to the tax reimbursement line. Then we had to get in the passport check line. Then we had to get in the security line.
Did you count? Altogether we waited in 6 lines for an hour and a half. And if you don't know it already, waiting in line is about the worst possible thing to do if you are stressed about getting somewhere on time. Especially if it meant you could be stuck in a foreign country for who knows how long.

On the train on our way to the airport

But we finally made it back to our gate at 9:30 - 20 minutes before we were scheduled to take off. Luckily the gate was just beyond the security checkpoint and there was still a long line waiting to board (another line!), so we were able to get right on the plane without having to run through the airport.
Needless to say, by the time we got on board we were frazzled, but the 9 hour flight was fairly enjoyable. I'm telling you, regional flights should do things the way international flights do.

We arrived in Atlanta about 1 and promptly went and bought McDonald's for lunch and rejoiced at being back in the good ole USA.
Our next flight was quick and we arrived in Raleigh about 7pm - (1am in Munich.) We originally planned to drive straight home (a 90-minute drive) but changed our minds at the last minute and decided to stay over at Seth's parent's house in Raleigh. Probably a wise decision, since we were barely awake enough to make it to their house.
Although T was very happy to see us that night, she spent the next few days punishing us for leaving her for a week. Refusing to nap, waking up 5 or 6 times a night, temper tantrums all day long. It took us a rather long time to get back to our routines.

Other things we wanted to remember about Germany that didn't quite fit in anywhere else:

All of the sidewalks were created for both pedestrians (the square side) and bicycle riders(the smooth side). I think I forgot to stay on the correct side of the path almost 50% of the time we were there and probably made a few Germans annoyed with me. Whoops. Luckily I never got run over.

The Hauptbahnhof - the main train station of Munich. This area is for the regional trains that go from city to city. This is the platform we came in on when we traveled from Stuttgart to Munich, and it's also the main platform that you have to walk through to get to the more local trains.

This is more what a platform for a local train looked like. By the end of the week Seth and I were old pros at figuring out where to go.

Munich has statues of lions everywhere. It's sort of their "thing." This particular one is from a set of four that lined a street right outside the Munich Residenz. See the shiny gold part? You are supposed to rub it for good luck.

Each lion represented something different - love, wealth, good weather, and something else I forget. (This is the one for good weather.) Our tour guide also claimed that it was the German tradition to only rub three of the four. To rub all four meant you were greedy and would get nothing.

Seth in our hotel room watching his new favorite German tv show. As best he could figure out, it was about two rival gangs of teenagers. Very dramatic, lots of fighting. I usually napped while he watched this.

Other items I took note of:
Everyone dressed very well. Lots of scarves and skinny jeans and nice shoes. I don't know if this was more of a German vs. American thing, or a big city like Munich vs. redneck Fayetteville thing, but I always felt slightly under dressed in my jeans and sweatshirt.
It's very rare to see someone jaywalk. You do not cut across the street, you use the crosswalk. Also, if the pedestrian signal is red, no one walks across. You wait till it's green. Apparently Munich is the 4th safest city in the world and the policemen are bored so they even go after jaywalkers.
The amount of people that smoke. HOLY COW. I must have breathed in more smoke during that week in Germany than I have in the past year here in America.
If you ever go visit Dachau memorial site, go to the little cafe and order one of their chocolate croissants. It was hands down the best chocolate croissant I've ever had. I ordered 2 or 3 more from other places in Munich to try and find one that was similar, but nothing could compare.

Oh Germany. It's only been a month but we are already wishing we could go back. You were the best.