Sibylle and I had a fantastic trip to the East Coast to see Ted, and a Genesis concert, and then to Germany to see her mom, and Stuttgart.
Flying Our flights were by and large good. We had a longish layover in Charlotte on our way to Hartford, but we were able to pass the time by browsing in some of the shops and by splitting a sandwich from Quiznos. Our overseas flight was only about two-thirds full, and we had a three-seat row to ourselves, which was very nice. Neither of us slept much or very well on the flight but we enjoyed sharing it with each other.
Amsterdam was chaotic and seemingly disorganized both going there and coming home. We will avoid plane changes there in the future.
Our return home yesterday covered over 5000 miles, took 26 hours, and visited 5 airports. We were very grateful to reach our own door at the end of the day. Getting back into the US at Bradley International airport was a lengthy, trying process. There were only two customs agents for the nearly 300 passengers. We stood in line for an hour before getting our turn. After collecting our luggage we discovered, much to our amazement and dismay, that the international arrivals terminal is not connected to the main domestic terminal. When we left the country 12 days earlier we didn’t have to leave the main terminal so we were unprepared to be nearly a mile away from the terminal we needed for our domestic flight home. Fortunately we were able to talk a long-term bus in to shuttling us to the main terminal.
Genesis Our visit with Ted and his family was wonderful. The Genesis concert on Sunday evening was spectacular in every sense of the word. I’ve been fortunate enough to see Genesis in concert 5 times and this show was by far and away the best. The band played for nearly three hours, and included a number of very old songs that I had never heard in concert before. Outstanding.
Germany Sibylle grew up just outside of Stuttgart Germany, and lived in Stuttgart for a time before moving to the US. We toured the entire Stuttgart area, taking in medieval ruins, the Wilhelma Zoo and Botanical Gardens, forests, trains, cafes, and people.
Stuttgart is a beautiful city, now that I’ve been there I can see why Sibylle loves it so much. We made extensive use of the train system to get around, and enjoyed a number of days exploring different parts of the city or surrounding area. I am already looking forward to returning there to revisit some parts, and to explore more of Germany, and Europe.
Great The best part of the trip was sharing it with Sibylle. We had a wonderful time together. Being able to see the places she went to school or worked while living in Germany was fantastic. Exploring together and sharing the sights and sounds was marvelous.