Nuremberg: Day 0 (Travel)

Travel day was only slightly Home Alone-esque. I got most of the way to the airport before realizing I didn’t have my passport. Luckily, it’s a 15-20 minute drive, but we only had a bit over an hour once we got through security.

…I like being at airports early. Sue me. Better to chill at the gate than chill at home and have to do the backpack run through the airport.

Anyway, the new (?) United wing of the Charlotte-Douglas airport has added some cool digital mural art that we ogled:

The flights themselves were pretty easy. Charlotte to DC ran late, DC to Zurich was smooth. Dante’s joy at being on a plane as large as the trans-Atlantic one was adorable.

I’m not immune to that joy, but my mind is definitely more on the logistics (especially since Dulles is boring and cramped): is there anything I should grab from my case before it’s checked? Do I really want to drink more water on this flight? The layover in Zurich is short–can I get the gate info yet to see how much we’ll need to hustle? I don’t know any German and Dante is less inclined to be… urgent/focused/assertive than I am. How long will it take for us to find our shared stride?

I’d planned to sleep the entirety of the DC to Zurich flight, and in fact took a prescription sleeping pill to do just that. Unfortunately, I got woken up twice to be asked about shitty airplane food and goddamn ice-cream, and missed the window of this drug’s best effectiveness. Monday is going to be a little rough if I’m working off of 2.5 hours of drugged sleep. I don’t have to drive, but there’s a lot to juggle.

So I’m writing the bulk of this over the middle of the ocean, half hoping that a little rant will help me clear my mind enough to go back to sleep. 😇 Welcome to my burning-eyed internal monologue.

The flight from Zurich to Nuremberg was easy and short.

We got our passports stamped in Zurich, not in Nuremberg, but we did go through a “nothing to declare” tunnel upon arrival in Nuremberg… Honestly, I don’t understand customs stuff enough to remember/know why I didn’t get stamped in Nuremberg. Or, since I got stamped in Zurich, why I don’t have a stamp from Munich since we stopped there on the way to Russia in 2014.

Maybe it’s country by country, but I like collecting stamps. Is this how Pokémon players feel?

Anywho. They made me check my bag in DC, and said bag didn’t make it to Nuremberg.

Sad times. Unwashed times. Worried times.

The lost and found person was nice, and the whole process seemed routine without seeming like they didn’t give a fuck. And! when my luggage arrived on the next flight from Zurich–turns out my layover there was probably just too short–they even delivered it to my apartment!

Do they do that in the US? I was worried I’d have to get back out to the airport to pick it up.

So by the end of day 1 (which happened while waiting for said luggage), I have clothes and toiletries and other home comforts.

Preview of day 1: