Monday sped by quickly with all the last minute "to-dos" being checked off our list.
George Olds collected us in front of our apartment building just before 4:00 PM, and we were walking into terminal one at Pearson Airport by 5 o'clock.
Even though we were booked with a Luftansa flight number, we discovered, after waiting in line at the Luftansa counter, that our flight was really on Air Canada, so we made the trek to that counter and inched our way through that check-in line. Even though we were some of first travelers to check in, we were unable to be seated any closer to one another than 20 rows apart. Then we are told that our luggage (one is allowed only one checked bag per person on all flights now) was over-weight. The weight limit has dropped from 25 KGM to 23 KGM. If a bag is too heavy, the charge is $100.00, however additional pieces of luggage are $70.00 each, and since we packed an extra bag, we shifted some of the packed items from each of our suitcases and paid for and checked in a third bag.
At the gate, we were able to change one of the boarding passes and get to within one row of one another. Once on the plane, a Boeing 777, Gabi made a seat switch with the person seated next to me, and we were able to travel side-by-side even though Air Canada had other plans for us. After dinner and a frustrating try at the onboard entertainment (it kept freezing up and wouldn't follow commands for everyone, so the pilot had to reboot the system a couple of times), we decided to lay back and get some sleep.
I awoke just before dawn as our plane was approaching the western coast of Ireland, and from my window seat, I could see a bright orange band of colour across the horizon and the jagged coast of the Emerald Isle. It was as sight I'll never forget. What a great welcome to Europe!
We arrived in Munich and quickly cleared customs. The airport there is unlike any I have ever seen, as there is a huge plaza outside it with buildings and a partial cover over the expanse. There is even an old airplane turned into a diner. We checked our carry-on luggage and caught the train that leads to many places away from the airport, including downtown Munich. Time considerations stopped us from going all that way, so we opted to travel to a nearby Bavarian village, Ismaning, that had been recommended to us by a friend, BrianHawkins, who lived in Germany for many years. The village was a delight, and we strolled the streets and went into some of the shops and then had lunch from a wonderful delicatessan, then we ate in the almost deserted town square. Everything was spotless, the gardens were pristinely maintained, and some of the men even wore lederhosen. Well walked, well fed and ready to continue our journey, we caught the train back to the Munich Airport to catch the final leg of our journey to Romania.
Friends Dorin and Cristi met us at the Timisoara airport and delivered us to apartment here in the city, where we had a pleasant visit, unpacked, put our things away and turned in early.
Getting here was a lot of unexpected fun.
