Traveling to the Continent: disappointment, exuberance, and stress fevers

Armed with all the essentials:

I was on my way from the Halifax airport to Frankfurt. I ecstatically checked into my flight at the Halifax International Airport (which only has one liquor store that only opens when international flights are departing..it’s super cute) for my BUSINESS CLASS non-stop overnight-180-degree declining seat with gourmet 4 course meal. As a mere, insolvent student who hasn’t worked a day in 11 years, I feel this deserves some explanation….

Originally when looking for flights I had already planned to fly to Europe from Halifax, NOT Alberta or BC. Air Canada boasted the low rate of 2300$ for a one-way ticket to Budapest from Halifax which would ultimately backtrack me to Toronto first….no no NO!

So through some poking and prodding I found Condor Airlines. They fly direct to Frankfurt from Halifax three or four times per week which would leave me with two less days in Nova Scotia and two extra days in Frankfurt before I could check into my airbnb in Budapest.

Red flag #1: Condor Airlines is an economy airline. Previous experience with Air Transat made me leery to consider an economy airline for an overnight, overseas flight… cause I’m fancy like that. I checked customer reviews for Condor and they came up with similar ratings as Air Canada, who I actually don’t hate probably much to the surprise of many of you. In particular, Condor’s  first class was touted to be of “great value” and the gourmet meal “excellent”. Also, the simple fact that it is run by Germans convinced me that it was probably okay; you know, with their high quality work ethic, standards, and long history of efficiency. I did the mathematics with my little lady brain and calculated that flying first class on an economy airline combined with a stay in Frankfurt, with airport luggage storage, and taxis and accommodations and food in EUROS (the value of which seems to be incredibly optimistic right now much to my poor little Canadian dollar’s detriment) and the subsequent flight to Budapest from Frankfurt (also business class) was still cheaper than Air Canada’s ridiculous price. Just as a point of reference, I recently paid 900 CAD RETURN from Vancouver to Rio on Air Canada…so I’m not sure what is up with them and the Euro flights.

ANYHOOOO… so I checked in and the first disappointment came my way: due to technical problems with the airplane they USUALLY use they needed to switch aircraft and as such no longer had first class and I was involuntarily downgraded to ‘Premium class’. This is basically what seats used to be like on airplanes before they got super greedy. I was then informed that, in lieu of the shitty seat I’d be involuntarily receiving, I would be refunded. However, in this age of internet and banks being binary code online, they couldn’t just give me a refund to my credit card right then and there but I’d have to fetch my own refund via the MAIL after filling out some paperwork. They were basically banking on the ubiquitous laziness of human kind to NOT ever follow through with this chasing down of their money. “I WANT MY MONEY BACK NOW!” was basically all I could think of the whole flight to Europe. Oh yes and we also received 70 Euros worth of vouchers to use for on-board shopping! Wow! Such a great deal! My first thought was that I needed more ‘things’ like I needed a hole in the head…especially in the wake of a complete purge of all my things!(Ps. I acutally ended up with a blue tooth speaker from that shitty on-board shopping catalogue that I’ve come to love dearly)

With the diagnosis of disappointment due to downgrade, I found myself at the bar in the Halifax airport only to learn that the flight was delayed for just about four hours (now it was disappointment due to downgrade and delay– had me a sad case of the DDDDs). So what was going to be a nice sleeping overnight flight upon which I arrived in Frankfurt fresh and well-rested turned into a red-eye, 15 degree reclining seat flight in which I would arrive to Frankfurt desperate for slumber and chiropractic medicine.  In perfect German style, and from what were obviously highly embarrassed German pilots, we received multiple apologies for, and I quote, “the lack of service and punctuality”, which appeased a small fraction of my seething anger-demons.

With that, we arrived in Frankfurt and the experience got even better as one of my pieces of luggage did not emerge on the carousel…but there was a suspiciously similar looking piece of unclaimed luggage left over. My powers of deduction concluded that my  luggage, containing my expensive winter gear/conference professional gear, had been hauled off by ‘someone’ who had mistaken my luggage for their Air Canada-brand luggage.

I am unable to describe my stewing stress and frustration while having to describe my luggage to this incompetent airline.

After filing my missing baggage report to seemingly unsympathetic Condor staff (oh gawd I hate them so much even telling this story now)  I took a taxi to my airbnb. I figured I’d just check-in and have a good frustration/anger cry and sleep. However, I slept for a few hours, showered and went for a saunter around downtown Frankfurt; evidently just the medicine I needed to soothe my poor damaged rambling soul. Surprisingly, no actual tears were shed in the making of this episode!

**please watch the following video for two reasons: a) a good laugh and; b) so you know I’m WELL aware of the white people problems I’ve just described**

Unfortunately, Frankfurt is one of these cities that, according to others I’ve talked to, isn’t really super spectacular. But I went to the spots Lonely Planet recommends anyways and I would argue for the contrary:

I also checked out the Kaiserdom, Frankfurt’s most famous gothic catherdral:

From the top of the tower you get a great view of the city:

Oh and just as a little icing on the cake, I went inside the cathedral and lo and behold there was a random piece of art by Anthony Van Dyck, one of the Belgian fathers of oil painting:

What a gift! Random happenstance to come upon a work of art by a master housed in some cathedral I had never heard of before….but also not a super uncommon chance occurrence here on “the continent”.

I went to dinner at a place called Dauth-Schneider, sat on the patio, ordered a beer, and watched people receive their traditional Frankfurter and Regional entrees of heaping mounds of beef tartar and massive pig knuckles. I myself skipped these particular delicacies and had a delicious meal of “cheese with music” (rough translation of this traditional Frankfurt appetizer of cheese in oil and vinegar and onions (?) that you put on buttered bread) as an appetizer and pork schnitzel topped with chantarelles in a cream sauce. All of this was chased by a glass of Frankfurt’s apple wine crazy craze. They are WILD for apple wine here! I felt re-settled. Re-grounded. I was satisfied that, after my “tumultuous” experience journeying to Europe, I hadn’t made the wrong decision.

The following day, my German airbnb host, who’s name also happened to be Adrienne and who’s father was also Hungarian, joined me on my river cruise of the Main River and showed me around town.

I’d like to add here an observation about how different this trip feels than the Euro-backpacking trip I took some 13 years ago. The difference? Having a more adult-sized chunk of change to travel with! Who knew??!

The next morning I awoke in Frankfurt with fresh bakery smell wafting in my open window and alas this was the day I was off to Budapest! I turned on my phone and it notified me that I had received a message from Condor. They had retrieved my lost bag and they had it at the airport and, because their incompetent staff had not really followed my instructions, were not sure what to do with it. I packed my shit as fast as possible and hopped a train to the airport where I was sent on an hour-long goose chase through the Flughafen to finally collect my bag and take it through customs.

Positive spin: The airline saved me 28 Euros on airport luggage storage during my stay in Frankfurt. That’s like a million dollars Canadian!

By the time I checked in with Lufthansa for my “business class” seat to Budapest (again, I only booked this because otherwise I would not have been allowed to check two pieces of luggage) I was breathing heavily–not like the breathing after a cardio workout but the “my heart is going to explode out of my chest in anger and frustration” kind of breathing– my skin was clammy, drenched in sweat, and my face was feverishly red…probably dehydrated.

I made it to the oasis that is the Lufthansa lounge and showered for the second time in three hours to wash off the clamminess. Then I sat for an hour eating cucumbers and drinking chamomile tea to cool myself off, emotionally and physically. And I know the descent from my heightened state of stress was serious because the lounge had a ton of all-inclusive drinks and food that included frankfurter sausages and all I ate was cucumbers. Even as I sat there, easing myself into cool-down mode, the stress rashes began to appear and I chuckled about how quickly years of a mindfulness practice of equanimity can fly straight out the window. Stress is real, people!

After flying over the Austrian and Hungarian countryside:

…I was finally in Budapest. I was here. The long awaited adventure had begun and I could finally settle into it for a time.

I made it to my my home for the next 45 days, an airbnb apartment in a 19th century building with fully renovated interiors:

When I arrived, the owner of the apartment and career astrologer, Regina, was there to greet me. After she acquainted me with the apartment, she asked: “your last name… that is Hungarian yes?”.

“Yes”, I said… “yes it is”.