Coming Home

I have to say, it was a pretty hilarious situation coming back. On the way in to Frankfurt, at the start of the trip, going through customs took minutes. All you had to do was go up to the agent, give them your passport, and tell them where you were going. That's it! Admittance to Germany. Coming back, wow that was that fun. First, the passport check was "over-capacity". Now, I had never flown outside of the U.S. before, so I really had no idea what to expect from the passport check area. Imagine my surprise when we exited the hallway (LIKE HALF AN HOUR LATER) to a sea of frustrated travelers, all funneling into the declaration area between two pieces of nylon webbing. A perfect monument to american efficiency. After entering the gauntlet, we snaked through the sweaty line for what seemed like an eternity. At the end of the line, you wait until a computer station is available to declare your "articles" and take your mugshot or whatever. After this, you get herded yet again to some other destination. I actually didn't get to experience this because I  got "randomly selected" to go through additional screening! Oh boy!

Coming home was a sharp reminder of what I'll be missing from this trip. The undesirable "feel" that everything just sort of fits together doesn't exist back over here, really. We don't have the incredibly efficient rail systems, that make sense even if you don't read the language. Nor do we have the awesome waiters that leave you to your meal and let you enjoy it, rather than badger you with "service" every five minutes, then shove you out the door as soon as you finish your meal. We don't even have rotary trumpets for God's sake!

The thing that I'll miss the most, however, will be all the fun I had exploring these countries with my friends. It's an experience I'll never forget in my lifetime. Thank you all for such an amazing trip.