Along with the paperwork I had to take care of with the school for my classes to transfer, I also had to actually get to Poland. Getting home and buying and packing wasn't so difficult, but actually getting to the plane and my experiences within the airport were quite funny.
Being cheap, I noticed that if I flew from Toronto, Canada my ticket would be $150 than if I flew from my hometown Rochester. We have family there, so why not? It'll be an excuse for my mother to visit some family that we don't see to often. Cool, so driving to Toronto wasn't too bad, except for the fact that the thruway was going 50 mph (speed limit 65 mph) because of freezing rain. Already we were worried because we only got 2 hours of leeway, apparently that's what you need for an international flight. Turns out it wouldn't have mattered anyway.
We get to the airport about an hour later than expected, check our bags with LOT Airlines and rush into the security check so we can make our flight. It was only a 10 minute wait, which was fantastic. For sure we will make it! Except... I had to bring a DJ controller with me, because I refused to put it in my luggage, because I thought they would then look through it. Well, I was pulled aside and "randomly searched" and the controller was taken in for testing for explosives. This is eating into my time mind you. After 15 minutes I'm cleared and proceed to run to the terminal, only to notice my flight is delayed by and hour. I was not even mad, it gave me time to relax. Toronto also has the best International flight terminals ever, iPads, bars, comfortable chairs, and cafes everywhere. I definitely recommend Toronto airport if you're going International, but only the part after the security check, so go early.
Next hour rolled around and I go the terminal... It's delayed another hour. Fast forward the next hour: delayed another hour... so what gives LOT? "There is a mechanical issue, it'll be done within the next hour." Okay sweet, and they brought us food, because they are obligated to on an international flight delayed longer than 2 hours. I have 2 servings of food because 'Murica and there was extra, and then comes the next hour, this will be around 12:30 AM or 0030, the flight is "actually" delayed because of weather.... Meanwhile we see a plethora of jets taking off without hesitation. Even though the weather was kind of bad, to their credit, this was BS. One guy was so mad that he kept pressuring the people at the terminal to explain why he was going to miss the connection to miss his mother's funeral in Poland. No body was happy at this point. It got so bad that police were actually called into the terminal; police not security. We were the only people left in that entire terminal, only our flight, and the Duty Free girl who had to stay until we left, I felt bad for her.
Finally after delaying 2 more hours they cancel the flight... I am convinced the world is against me.
We had to go back and pick up our luggage, get new itinerary, and hotel vouchers (after some arguments) all from one teller, who had to answer to 200+ angry to-be flight passengers. I got a couple people who could speak Polish a lot better than I could and made this plan: I would get their luggage from the carousel downstairs, one would be able to reschedule our flights, and the third person could get our hotel vouchers. We were done so quickly that we ended up helping many other people. We were among the first to leave the airport to the hotel... at 0500.
Wake up, have breakfast, blah blah blah, take a charter back at 1300, and hang out with people from the previous day until my flight at 1800, or 2000. Stopped again at security for bombs and a "random search" because of DJ controller. Not even mad, better than yesterday.No delay (thank you Air Canada), and I fly a Boeing 737-200 LR towards Munich, Germany. The flight was amazing, especially since the plane was only half full, and there were no crying babies. I had the whole middle row to myself, which would be amazing in normal circumstances, but this was the middle row in the very front of a section and therefore the hand rest wouldn't raise. It was the most awkward sleep I have ever gotten, but otherwise, food was great, and I was very satisfied!
Meanwhile I'm scared that I didn't put on my Polish VISA that I'd be arriving in Germany, because how would I have known. No problem, wasn't an issue. Arrive in Germany, go through another security checkpoint (no idea why), and again get searched for bombs and get my controller tested for bombs; I'm used to it at this point.
Go to Lufthansa terminal and they take you via bus to the plane, neat. Sit in plane, blah blah, guy snoring a storming behind me on this hour long flight to Krakow. I had a picture too, because me and the group around him just couldn't stop laughing! But that picture is on my unactivated Verizon iPhone that is now useless since I tried putting in a different SIM card. I'll never buy from Verizon again. Anyway, get to Krakow with no contact with anyone, and under the impression that I would be getting picked up and taken by AGH by a son of my mother's friend's sister. Didn't happen. Took a cab to the wrong building, walked 2 kilometers with luggage to where I was staying and got to a room reserved for me, only to find someone else in my bed. It's fine, it can't really get worse. It got figured out really quickly. I will probably expand to this post later and add pictures, but for now it's just a small update.My first few days in Krakow and my first impressions will be talked about in the next blog post. It's about time you stop hearing about me and start hearing about what a travel blog is really about: the placed traveled to, and the experiences.
No comments:
Post a Comment