As I preferred going for a swim and ba(s)king in the sun and a last dinner al fresco with my folks in a nearby beergarden to spending the hot day packing it was clear that the night would be pretty short. And how right I was! It was way past 3 am when I was finally done and done for it - I really hate packing! And once more I failed in my aim to travel light, well lighter than usual anyway... But the scales revealed that at least I wasn’t pushing the limit yet, so what the heck...!
I set the alarm to 7 am, which would leave me with a good 2 hours before the arrival of the shuttle van to Munich airport. Plenty of time to make the last adjustments to the luggage and leave the flat in a superficially clean state. Just when I was left with nothing else to do, the driver gave me a holler 20 minutes early. Nevermind! And it took some time to pick up the remaining passengers, but at 10:30 I was standing at the self check-in machine, printing out the baggage tag which I then stuck on the bag before it finally disappeared. I was really hoping our paths would cross again tonight...
| Object in background are larger than they appear... |
18kg lighter so to speak and left with a bit of time to kill I ventured to the supermarket for some last minute shopping and then had breakfast while watching kids practice their surfing skills.
The security check was straight-forward and soon I was having great views of the scorched, sun-burnt golden fields of Southern Germany, that reminded me of Central Spain’s »Meseta«. The flight was a bit bouncy, which was possibly the reason for some passengers to enthusiastically give the pilot a big hand...
Not quite on time I reached Frankfurt and after an endless bus ride across the apron I reached the terminal - but on the far end, and so I spent 40 minutes transversing the extensive, chaotic building and clearing police and security checkpoints. Finally I arrived at the right gate and not all that much later boarding started in a less than orderly fashion. Anyway, after yet another bus ride - on which a young and drunk Colombian doctor struck up a conversation and made me help her with her many bag, but wasn’t drunk enough to swap seats with me - she travelled first class -, we reached the plane and left soon after everyone had finally found their seats and some space for the massive carry-on luggage... Weren’t there some restrictions as to size and weight?!?
The flight was rather uneventful and boring, but I honestly think the latest seating arrangements are not in accordance with the Geneva convention... How many more people can one squeeze into a plane? Apparently an impressive number...!
| And it got worse when the woman in front of my started reclining her seat all the way... |
At least the food was quite OK - Spaghetti Bolognese and lemon pie. To let my hair down and forget about the next to unbearable seating position I indulged on red wine and Bayley's, but unfortunately it didn’t do the trick at all and the longer I travelled, the stronger my headache got (not alcohol-induced, I swear!). If only I could fall asleep like normal people... But even the longest flight comes to an end, either because the plane runs out of fuel or because you reach the destination. In my case it was the latter... We arrived almost on time and then I found myself in Bogotá’s new international terminal. Immigration was straight-forward and cordial as always. And after some waiting my xxl-bag arrived. It’s always such a relief to see the bag drop appear on the belt, isn’t it?!
Outside in the cold I went to the ATM to stock up on Pesos and then found my airport pick-up. In no time I got to the hostel, was given my room and went to a corner shop to get a lavish dinner: chicken empanada, can of Club Colombia beer and a bar of chocolate. That’ll do!
And now it’s time to call it a day and treat myself to an early night. Buenas noches desde Bogotá, Colombia, Suramérica!
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