Luxembourg September 14 -16, 2019
Saturday September 14 - We awoke at 3:30 AM for our 5:00AM taxi ride to the airport. After arriving, we checked in with Olympic Air, which is the smaller regional carrier for Aegean Air. We checked our bags to Frankfurt, so no worries about fighting for overhead space!! It sure is nice to have real tickets!! The boarding area was comical. It was very small, with limited seating. The boarding process was chaotic. No real line, just kind of push your way to the front. Since we didn’t have to worry about putting any bags in the overhead bins, it was not as stressful as it could have been. Have I mentioned that it was REALLY nice having real tickets!! Once we arrived in Athens, the experience was much more organized and relaxing. We had a great flight to Frankfurt and arrived at 10:15.
We rented a car and drove to Luxembourg, stopping in Tralfang to have lunch. In Tralfang we found a pizzeria owned by Demetrio Trotta and his “woman” Ava. Demetrio was an interesting guy. He spoke pretty good broken English, which he says he learned from watching TV. He was born in the Calabria region of Italy, but came to Germany when he was about 16. He said he’s been in Germany now for 50 years.
After lunch we got back on the road and arrived at Evan and Jess house around 3:00. They had a party at the park with some friends at 4:00, so after they left Blaine took a nap and Jeri took a walk. We had told Evan and Jess that we would watch the kids while they went to dinner that night so they headed to the restaurant right outside their apartment. It is a french restaurant and in the 2.5 years they’ve lived here they had not had a chance to eat there. That’s what happens when you have kids!! After Lila went to bed Jeri read books for Jude until he fell asleep.
Sunday September 15 - There is a wine festival in the Moselle River valley this weekend. We drove to Remich, Luxembourg, on the Moselle River. The river is the dividing line between Luxembourg and Germany. After finding a parking spot we walked along the riverfront to the town center where there were lots of restaurants and activities for kids. There was a band playing and kids running around. Jude had his scooter so he got to ride around on it. It was lunchtime and we were all hungry so we found a nice outdoor cafe to eat. The service was not so good. The waitress was pretty disorganized and it took awhile to place our order. When the food starting coming out, she didn’t know which table it was for. She tried to deliver the pizza for Jeri and Jude to the table next to us. I saw her bringing my tortellini prosciutto to another table and after they said they hadn’t ordered it I held up my hand and waved her over. She gave us the bill for another table. All in all a pretty crazy experience.
Since we had taken separate cars, Evan and Jess decided to head back home to put Lila down for her nap. Evan had told us that we should keep driving to the town of Gravemacher. We passed a couple of other towns which were really packed because of the wine festivals. In Gravenmacher, right along the road and across from the river sits the Carole Schlink winery. We got a table overlooking the road and river, and after about 20 minutes we see Evan and Jess drive by. I put up my hand to wave them down, and Evan saw me so he pulled in. Apparently, there was a minor accident on the road they were taking back home, and along with all the cars parked on each side of the street for the wine festival, the road was blocked. The roads in those small towns are pretty narrow anyway, so it’s easy to see how that can happen. Evan and Jude sat with us while Jess and Lila slept in the car.
Jeri and Evan went to the store to buy food for tonight. None of us were really that hungry since we had a late lunch. Evan made a chicken caesar salad, complete with his homemade dressing. It was delicious and just right.
Monday September 16 - Today we drive to Frankfurt for our flight home tomorrow. Jeri wanted to stop in Bernkastle for lunch so we did. After a nice lunch we got back on the road with out trusty GPS and started for Frankfurt Airport. 2.5 hours later we had not traveled more than 5 kilometers, or should I say we traveled a heck of a lot more than 5 kilometers, but were only 5 kilometers closer to the airport. Every road we took to get to the airport tried to get us the route 50, but every road to route 50 was blocked and shut down with construction. It was frustrating beyond belief!!! We finally decided to go back toward the autobahn that we turned off to get to Bernkastle, even though we knew it wasn’t taking in the direction of the airport. We figured if we got on the autobahn, eventually it would connect up with another route to the airport. Before getting on, we stopped at a gas station to ask directions to the airport. They told us what to do, so we followed their directions. It took us right back to where we had been blocked many times before!! This time though we kept driving and eventually came to another gas station. Blaine went inside and was given directions once again. The woman in the gas station just laughed and said, yes it was a big mess!! A man who had just filled up with gas said he was going that way, and to follow him. We did and eventually he led us to the right highway.
Tuesday September 17 - After a well deserved night of sleep at the Frankfurt Airport Sheraton we awoke early and made our 8:35 AM flight to Chicago. Even got business class!! Yeah!! The 12:45 flight to Portland was full so as I write this we are awaiting the 7:45 PM flight to Portland. Fingers crossed!!
We made it on the 7:45 flight. Last 2 seats!! It will be good to get home and sleep in our own beds tonight!!
