Journey Home

Trips like this are always whirlwind affairs with too many activities and too little time.  In spite of our best planning efforts, we always go away wanting more and needing to return.  That is certainly true for all four of our stops on this trip.  We also found ourselves a little tired after two weeks of active traveling and touring.

The trip home started with a 4:30 am wake-up call Saturday morning in our room in Salzburg (that was 9:30pm Friday night at home in Houston!), with a 5:30 am departure in a van for the 90 minute drive to the airport in Munich.  Arriving in plenty of time for our 9:30 am departure, we had some time to relax and have a coffee before boarding.  The flight from Munich to Charles de Gaulle was uneventful and when we checked in for our flight to the US, we had a wonderful surprise at our departure gate.  We were upgraded to Business Class on Air France!  That was really a treat and made the long flight to the US much more enjoyable.  The seats reclined to horizontal for a more restful sleep, the space was generous, and the food was terrific.  Air France does a great job with food anyway, and Business Class was really good.

Our return was through Minneapolis, as the only non-stop from Munich to Houston left much too early for us to catch.  So, one more leg and we walked into our house at 9:00 pm Saturday evening, 23 1/2 hours after  our wake-up call in Salzburg!  It was a very long day, even with the Business Class perk.

This was another wonderful trip and we really enjoyed sharing it with our longtime friends, Paul & Vickie Pitts.  This was our first time traveling internationally with friends, and I know it will not be our last.  It was great having another couple along on the trip to share the experiences and memories.

Thanks to those of you who have followed along with this blog as well.  I am finishing this last post a week and a half after returning home, so I have not kept up as well this time.  But, I have enjoyed writing about our experiences and working with the photos.  I hope some of you have enjoyed this as well.

Jim