recap

okay, so it's been omg... i just realized. it's been one week exactly since i've come home. and what a way to come home it was too.

let's say being awake for 30-4o hrs to try to get home is NOT an ideal way to end a fabulous vacation. actually, i find it hard to call my vacation a 'vacation.' it seems like such a trivial word for the adventures i had. okay let's call it my adventures. so it was especially painful to get home, but my original flighth plan was vienna to london, london to vancouver. i was suppose to get to london from vienna on the same day that the plane to vancouver was taking off. well the vienna to london flight got cancelled due to fog at heathrow. that threw a huge tail spin into everything. basically, i sat in line at the ticket office for 2 hrs to try to get an answer. i walked away with a BA flight number and was told to go to the check in counter to get on it. at the check in counter i was told i needed a ticket from the ticket office and had to go allll the way baack and line up yet again, but couldn't leave until i got a plane ticket. HASSELLLLLL. yea okay so i ALMOST freaked out, but didn't b/c a nice french man that i was talking to was behind me in line.
anyway, i finally got a ticket to london, but no ticket from london to vancouver. i had to square that up when i go to heathrow. well the flight to london from vienna was delayed by 2 hrs, so i was in that airport for about 7+ hrs before i could get on a plane!
by the time i got to heathrow, i had missed my flight by about 30 mins! oh how i was hoping that the flight was delayed b/c everything else was. no such luck. at the ticket counter, i found out i could catch a plane, that evening, to NY, and then in the early AM catch a flight to vancouver. there were no direct flights the following day, eveyrrthing full, the next direct flight was 2 days later... this was definitely an option i was considering. i had already spoken with alex, we both thought it would be awesome to see each other one last time before i left... but i felt so... so stressed and under pressure, tired from trying to get home, that i said okay fine i'll go with the NY flight. plusi think i would've had to pay extra for the direct flight 2 days later.
O M G never again, am i doing a inter connected flight like that. i'll pay the extra and leave the hassel. i still can't believe i had to go to the states to get h ome! PONY. states is freakin' bollocks.
so when i got to NY, my bag was lost! it didn't make it with me, how horrible. i got hasseled at the exit of baggage b/c i had no address on the customs form, well maybe b/c i'm leaving in 5 hrs for another flight asshole!! and i had to line up at a BA counter to get my voucher to stay overnight at a crappy holiday inn, and then another line up to file a missing bag... gahhhh by the timei got to my overnight hotel room, i had 4 hrs to nap before waking up to catch the flight home.i twas not a restful 4 hrs, it was a sleep 30 mins, wake up, sleep 30 mins wake up... was worried i would miss that flight!
i finannlllyy made it home, luggage less, sleep deprived, and with cankles like you wouldn't believe. it looked like someone had stuck a balloon under my skin it was gross!
luggage finally arrived 2 days later. i called the delivery man my santa claus. i hugged my bag and lovingly unpacked all my souvenirs and gifts...

sigh. so horrible way to end it, only regret was not staying with alex longer, but my god what a fantastic time we had. not to discount vienna where jayme took the time out of his crazy, insane schedule, to show me vienna, definitely appreciate that.

all in all, it was fab. absolutely fab. i really miss that euro vibe... that culture, that history. i was talking about this with one of my bosses who's european and she understands how i feel. she said when she comes back from visiting home, when she's back in vancouver, she feels... empty inside, like no depth etc, vancouver is a wonderful city, but it's soul is not old enough for me to feel as deeply entrenched in it as i could be. especially after haering how jayme lives in linz, the cultural and creative innovation he gets to have every day, the creative muses that alex has at his disposal in the UK... i need.... i need i want something bigger than what i can find here in vancouver.

i guess... this is my last post, unless i decide to post some photos here.... but until the next trip... ciao.

xoxoxo