Strange Travel Stories

Over the past six months, we have travelled A LOT!  Here are some weird, but we thought entertaining, things that have happened to us on some of our trips:

Story Number 1: Last October I flew from London to Austin for work. About halfway through the flight, a man got up to go to the bathroom. Well he must have forgotten that the door opens IN. After he finished his business, he kept trying to push the door out but it wasn’t opening, so finally he yanked as hard as he could and the door opened in… to his face! He started bleeding everywhere from a deep gash in his forehead. I heard all this going on because I was only sitting about 2 rows from the back of the plane. Almost immediately the flight attendants came over the intercom system and called for a doctor. I’ve only seen that done in movies! Unfortunately for the bleeding man in the back of the plane, there were no doctors on this flight. So then they called for “anyone with medical training.” The man in the seat in front of me was an army medic back in the day, so he volunteered to help out. He ended up wrapping his head in a ton of napkins and bandages and put him back in his seat. When we landed, there was an ambulance waiting on the tarmac and before anyone could de-plane, the EMTs came onto the plane to escort the man off. Back in December, on our flight to Egypt, David and I experienced another medical emergency and a doctor was called for again, but this must not have been that serious because we didn’t hear or see any commotion and there were no ambulances or EMTs when we landed.

Story Number 2: Each time I travel to Bratislava for work, I stay at the Crowne Plaza. It’s a nice hotel, but not that nice. It is across the street from the royal palace, though. In December, the King and Queen of Norway were visiting the same week I was in town. I checked in and headed upstairs to drop off my bag before making my way to the office. When I stepped off the elevator, I was greeted by 3 men in dark suits standing outside a hotel room down the hall from mine. The hotel room’s door was wide open and the guest inside was walking around brushing his teeth. At first I thought they were just businessmen waiting for their coworker to finish getting ready so they could go to breakfast or the office all together. But later that evening when I got back from work, the hotel door was wide open again and there were even more men standing in the hall. The guest was relaxing inside, lying down (and I only knew this because I glimpsed his feet dangling off the end of the bed). So then I figured this guy must be some super-important Norweigan official and the men in dark suits were his bodyguards ordered never to let him out of their sight, hence the open door. The next morning he came out of the room at the same time as a coworker. He was dressed in full military uniform and his guards refused to let my coworker in the elevator with him, even though there was plenty of room! We never did figure out who this guy was, but we assume he had something to do with the King and Queen of Norway across the street in the palace.

Story Number 3: As part of normal procedures, flights into the UK from Middle Eastern or African countries have to be de-bugged. So on the way back from Egypt, our plane was sprayed down with insecticide. This can only be done after the doors are sealed so nothing that’s flown or crawled in last-minute survives. But this also means all of the passengers are onboard when the chemicals are released. David and I had no idea this rule existed and were very surprised when the announcement was made. One of the flight attendants came onto the intercom to explain the policy and cautioned us that “although the spray is completely harmless to humans, you may want to close your eyes and cover your mouth and nose.” Really?? If it’s not harmless, why even say that?? So we closed our eyes and held our breath as an attendant came down the aisle spraying near the overhead luggage. Just when we thought it was safe, she ran back down the aisle toward us for round two! Well it’s been a few weeks since that flight, and on the bright side, David now has super-human hearing due to the third ear that’s growing in on his forehead!

Story Number 4: All of this travel does have its benefits! In November, I became a Silver Elite OnePass Member of the Star Alliance. David was crazy jealous because he has been a member of Continental’s frequent flyer program for 14 years and he didn’t get status until late December, but it only took me 6 months! Some of the perks of being Silver Elite include free seating upgrades on any flight, automatic upgrades to first class on domestic flights (when available), priority baggage check, and discounted lounge passes. David and I also received two free lounge passes, which we used to relax after dropping Kirby off at Cargo during our Houston – London flight in November. The lounge was great! Free food, free drinks (including top-shelf alcohol), and free Wifi. They even had a movie theatre. David and I hung out in the corner of the theatre watching Modern Family on hulu.com. On my way to Austin from Ireland in December, I was upgraded to first class… on the last leg of the journey – Houston to Austin. Even though it was only a 30 minute flight, it was wonderful! The chairs were big and comfy leather. Each seat also had its own screen, where I was able to watch live TV. I enjoyed some good ol’ American programming watching ‘Throwdown with Bobby Flay.’ Hopefully I can maintain my elite status this year! But I don’t think that will be a problem with my upcoming travel schedule…

And there will be plenty more stories to come, I’m sure!

Winter Visitors

This summer, our schedule is full of visits from family and friends in the states coming to see us… and maybe a little bit of Europe too!

It’s pretty cold and cloudy here at the moment, so I can understand why London is not the most popular destination for winter travel. But over the past couple of weeks, we have been busy entertaining guests!

Two weeks ago, my old roommate, Cristy, stopped by on her way home from Stockholm, where she spent the week attending company meetings. She was due to arrive Friday evening, but unfortunately a certain airline starting with a B and ending with an A (BA, I’m looking at you!) lost her bag. So she spent most of the evening at Heathrow trying to track down her lost luggage. She eventually made it out to our flat, where we caught up over some Indian delivery and a couple of bottles of wine.

On Saturday morning, we were planning to head out to Notting Hill to walk through the Portobello Market, but Heathrow called around 10 letting Cristy know her bags had just flown in from Belgium. Belgium? Don’t ask me… So unfortunately there was way too much time spent riding the tube back to the airport, going through security, picking up the luggage, and travelling back into the city.

When she did make it back home, we quickly got ready and headed to Portobello. It was not nearly as crowded as the last time we walked through Notting Hill in August… that must have had something to do with the chilly weather. I enjoyed a dark chocolate waffle and Cristy had the best falafel of her life! David also had falafel, of course. I also picked up a cute purple hat, but since that day I can’t seem to get it to fit right. :(

It started getting dark around four, so we headed to Harrods. Cristy’s neighbor on the plane told her she had to go to the Pet Kingdom in Harrods. Embarrassingly, David and I didn’t even know this place existed! Well in case you’re wondering, it’s on one of the top floors right next to the designer kiddie clothes (which explains why we have never ever seen it before). Even if we had kids, we would never have visited this section. Who buys their growing children D&G outfits?? The Pet Kingdom was awesome! And we totally plan on bringing Kirby to the “Barkery” to pick out some treats for his upcoming 4th birthday (my baby’s growing up so fast)!

After grabbing some delicious snacks from the Food Hall, we walked across town to the Victoria Palace Theatre to pick up our Billy Elliot tickets. We still had about an hour until the show, so we hopped into the pub next-door for some pre-theatre ciders and beers.

Billy Elliot was really amazing. Those kids can dance! David gets very nervous when he watches children on stage (he thinks it’s too much pressure to put on a little kid and he could barely stand watching Lil Simba during the Lion King) so when the lights dimmed and a 5-year-old walked onto the stage, he shot me a “look.” But all of the kids were really professional and didn’t mess up once! Whew!

Cristy and me inside the theatre waiting for Billy Elliot to begin

With only about 10 minutes left of the musical, during a very serious scene, we started hearing some rustling and noises coming from one of the upper balconies. Seats started going up all over. Poor Billy tried to keep going, but his costar realized something strange was happening and walked him off the stage. Then someone yelled for a doctor and all of the lights came on. The stage manager came onto the set to apologize for interrupting the show, but there was a medical emergency and they would have to stop the show until the situation was resolved. It was then that we saw some paramedics trying to lift an elderly man out of his seat. He got up and started walking out the door, with assistance, but then he fainted again. So he was carried out with his wife following closely behind. David thought he must have fainted because of the horrible, horrible language he heard coming out of the children’s mouths. So, by the way, if you don’t like cursing, DO NOT SEE BILLY ELLIOT! Those kids were saying things I didn’t even understand!

Sadly, the next morning Cristy had to head back to Dallas. But we had a great time with her and we are very glad she was able to arrange her business trip to come and visit us!

A week after Cristy left, my cousin, Dieter, had some time off of work and took the Eurostar from Germany to London. Dieter’s mother was born in Germany and her family still lives there. After Dieter graduated from college in Minnesota, he decided to go to brewery school to become a brew master. And where better to go to brewery school than in Germany?

After we picked Dieter up from St. Pancras station (or as David likes to call it, St. Pancreas near Kidney Cross and Spleen Square), we took him out to the pub for some traditional fish n chips. And he was genuinely surprised when the waiter brought him fish and French fries, not a bag of chips!

The next day David and I had to work so Dieter explored the city on his own. I usually wouldn’t just throw my guests out into the city with a guidebook and wish them luck, but I figured that Dieter has lived in Europe long enough to understand the train and subway systems. And he did great! He went on the London Eye and visited the British Museum to see the famed Rosetta Stone. He even managed to find a German restaurant and stopped in for a midday snack.

I was able to take the day off on Tuesday, so Dieter and I first stopped at Big Ben for some photo ops, then walked around Westminster Abbey, then through St. James Park to Buckingham Palace. We stopped for lunch at the Texas Embassy for some Tex-Mex (and I use the term Tex-Mex very lightly).

The Embassy is literally right around the corner from Trafalgar Square, so after taking more photos on the lions of Nelson’s Column, we hopped on the tube to the London Dungeon. This is David’s favorite tourist attraction in London. It is really fun and we had a great time, especially since the line was nonexistent. The last time I was at the dungeon, the line was out the door. Finally, we walked from the Dungeon through Borough Market and then along the Thames past Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre and the Tate Modern. We crossed Millennium Bridge so Dieter could see St. Paul’s up close, and then we finally headed home for dinner.

How many pence did it take to call home to Minnesota??

On Wednesday, I had a conference in the city at Microsoft’s office so Dieter and I had a traditional pub lunch of chicken and mushroom pie and a cheese and bacon jacket (or “baked potato” in American). Then Dieter discovered Westfield Mall and went on a shopping spree while I attended my conference. After work, David and I met Dieter at Tower Hill and went on the Jack the Ripper tour through Whitechapel. This was an area David and I have never been to before, so we discovered some markets, cobblestone alleys full of cute boutique shops and restaurants, and 17th century churches reminiscent of the steeple churches we saw last summer in Charleston.

On Thursday Dieter headed back to Germany. So now that the house is empty again, the invitation is open to anyone else who wants to come and visit us! :)