D.C., Frankfurt, and finally, "Home"

After yesterday's Flypocalypse fiasco, we put on a strained happy face and headed to the Sheraton Hotel, $42 of vouchers in hand. 

I'd like to take a minute and praise the sweet United customer service rep. Yes, United often frustrates us, but this time they went above and beyond. The flight control tower problem wasn't their fault, so United didn't have to give us a dime. But they gave us a hotel, took three hours and figured out all our flights, and gave us food vouchers that made breakfast and a bunch of snacks free.

My awesome mother-in-law and her boyfriend drove all the way back to Cleveland (an hour trip each way) just to pick us up, eat dinner, and take us to Target for supplies to get us through the snafu. We grabbed a cheap hairbrush, a clearance dress for me, undies, a Circo outfit for Boo (by this time she had spilled milk all over her clothes, so new ones were needed), and a few travel toiletries. Fortunately, I had a toothbrush, deodorant, and shampoo/conditioner so I was set to be freshly showered and appear put together for the long day ahead of us. Unfortunately, my thyroid medicine and Boo's vitamins were in the carry on I ended up checking. Blasted hindsight. We turned in for the night around 10:30 or so, and though I woke up a few times, I slept better than I thought I would. 

Bleary eyed, we awoke around 3:45am, took quick showers, and walked over to the airport. Doing so was easy because we only had backpacks and neck pillows. 

Boo was dead asleep, and is typically the crankiest crank there is if she doesn't wake up naturally:

I dressed her for the plane while she was still asleep. Completely dead weight. Cute rainbow shorts on clearance, though.  

However, she really rallied and turned over with a gigantic smile on her face:

Okay kid, you're forgiven for not letting me see the Lincoln Memorial up close. 

We whizzed through security in 5 minutes, tops. I'm telling you, if you fly domestic at least 1-2x/year, TSA pre-check is worth every single penny, which is $80 for five years of shorter lines, not taking out liquids or laptops, and leaving your shoes on. Sure, you may get this here and there even without pre-check, but now I'm spoiled and am never going back to the peon way. *Fun fact: only John actually purchased pre-check, but if a couple/family is flying together and the owner of the pre-check is the person who checks in, everyone gets the designation on their ticket! I don't know this to be an official thing, but it has happened every time John checks in for us. #winning

By 6am, we had eaten a quick breakfast, slurped down our coffee, and had already hit 4,000 steps. We boarded the flight without incident, and decided we were going to take advantage of our time in DC, take the metro, and visit a museum or something. After a few hours of sleep, I was feeling a little less sorry for myself and more ready to make some lemonade out of these annoying lemons.

Happy Boo at Dulles. She thought her rolly backpack sounded funny on the walkway. 

But what to do with John's backpack and laptop, and Boo's annoying roll up dog blanket we are hauling everywhere? Museums aren't going to let us take all that in, plus, it's heavy. Dulles Airport doesn't have lockers, so we got on The Google and determined that Union Station has a luggage-sitting service in its Amtrak area for a small hourly fee. Cool. Another advantage is that Boo and I did not make it to Union Station a few weeks ago, so now we would.

We grabbed some fare cards for the Metro and headed out. Eventually, I'd somehow drop my damn card and have to buy another one. I was so mad at myself. 

After dropping our bags, we headed toward the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. Along the way, we spotted the International Spy Museum and decided to check it out. This museum is one of the few that are not free in DC, but we got a military discount and Boo was free so it wasn't too bad for us. 

The museum was pretty cool. It had all kinds of tools and weapons used by spies from all around the world, such as a lipstick gun, and models of ciphers the Confederacy used. There is also a huge section devoted to a Bond villains. We went through more quickly than we would have liked, partly due to the museum being a little too text-heavy for a Boo, and partly due to our four-hour limit on exploring DC.

Time for lunch. No pictures, but we got Shake Shack, which is conveniently next to the Spy Museum. John and I each got a single Shack Burger, and Boo got a hot dog. I think hot dogs are totally disgusting, but I'll admit that I took a bite of hers and it was actually really good. So there's something. The burger wasn't anything special, but it was tasty. I did really like their crinkle cut fries, as they were thick and very crispy. Yum. The shakes were just okay in my opinion. 

After our refuel, we walked to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. By this point we had already reached about 13,000 steps by 1pm, and I was waiting for a meltdown. I'll spoil the suspense and let you know it never came. Boo actually explicitly told me that she was going to be happy in Washington, D.C. this time, and kept her word.

Everything we wanted to see in the hour we had at the museum was on the second floor (as opposed to the ground or first): the Hope Diamond, bones and mummies, and butterflies. Boo is on a real death kick. That sounds morbid (and I guess it is), but she is pretty interested in skeletons, cemeteries, and zombies. I just say she's prepping for med school. Anyway, the Hope Diamond was for me. Boo was a bit antsy so I didn't get to see all of the gems like I'd have liked, but it appears to be an excellent exhibit:

Then, time for skeletons:

The live butterfly area was packed and cost money (I think like $6 for adults and $5 for kids), so we steered on past and checked out some dinosaurs and artifacts before heading out. There was an exhibit on Korea, but we have been to museums in actual Korea so it wasn't all that interesting. Cool Indian American section, though!

Boo and her spirit animal. 

White rhino photo op

On our walk back to the Metro, we walked through the Navy Memorial to take a picture for Boo's Grampy, who served.

When we first started using the Metro that morning, we realized that there was construction going on and the gaps between trains were pretty big (20 minutes on one line). This wasn't looking so great for our need to be back at the airport by 3:30. No Metro line goes straight to Dulles yet, so we had planned to take a line to where we could grab a bus. However, the bus only runs every hour and we weren't going to make it. Change of plans: get as close to the airport as possible via Metro and order an Über for the last bit. 

Now let me say that I am pretty outspoken in my dislike of the company. Too many women have been raped and assaulted by drivers for me to be cool with how things are run. But at this point, we were kind of out of options and needed a fast pickup and ride. 

So I downloaded the app and Thomas in a Mercedes was supposedly on his way to us. It soon was obvious Thomas didn't know what he was doing and kept making U-turns (you are able to monitor a driver's arrival in real time on a map that must use his phone GPS to track). What was supposed to be a five-minute wait started turning into 17-20 minutes, which we really didn't have. I was starting to panic a little. John randomly decided to go look downstairs for a cab (this is a newer, less busy stop so cabs don't hang out there), and voilà, a bus to Dulles was leaving in 3 minutes. Nothing we had Googled helped us know a bus was there, so pretty lucky, eh? And only $10 total, as opposed to who knows with Thomas, who I promptly canceled. Bonus: I can still say I've never used Über.

We got to the airport about 3:45 and were greeted by an enormous line at Lufthansa. The only reason we were even in a line was because Boo's and my tickets wouldn't print. We (re: I) were a little nervous, but then realized everyone in line was for the same flight as ours, and relaxed a bit. It took like 35 minutes for the ticket people to get our tickets handled (it appears they were all booked under John's name or something stupid), but we made it and got through security just in time to board after grabbing a cold drink for the plane. 

The plane was a Boeing 747, and super nice. We were in Premium Economy and it was pretty sweet.

Oh hai, foot rest and extra leg room.

Boo settled in and watched one episode of some cartoon, and passed out cold. I had reached almost 18,000 steps (John was at 20,000 from walking with her while I watched our things), so she was dead to the world. 

The guy next to her was the sweetest man ever. He was actually happy to sit next to her and was so nice. 

Out.

Boo stayed asleep until the last 45 minutes of the 7.5 hour flight. I couldn't have asked for better luck. John and I watched a movie (I've finally seen "Taken" now), ate our dinner (salad, penne pasta with olives and marinara sauce, bread with Brie, and a brownie), and even had a glass of wine in peace. They were pouring pretty generously but I was so tired one was enough and then I attempted to sleep for about three hours. I was a little delirious at this point.

Boo woke up super happy and watched some cartoons until it was time to land in Frankfurt, where we had 1.5 hours to get on a plane to Luxembourg. Sounds like a lot, but it was close. We had to have our passports scrutinized, I got a full patdown in security because I had small sewing scissors (they laughed and let me keep them), and there was a decent walk to the gate because Frankfurt Airport is HUGE. It felt more like Fall, overcast and maybe 65° max. It was a nice change from sweltering D.C.

We boarded for a 25-minute flight to Luxembourg, disembarked without incident, and went to retrieve luggage. Everything but one suitcase made it from Frankfurt, which I thought was pretty good. In that bag are all of John's toiletries, my hairbrushes, and Boo's summer clothes, so it is inconvenient but not the end of the world. 

Once we contacted the Lost Luggage section and walked through Customs without incident, it was time to find our ride. And what a ride it is:

Thanks, Vanna.

The car comes with a navigation system, so once we loaded up our suitcases and punched in the coordinates, we were on our way. I only snapped a few (terrible) pictures. Again, delirious.

It took about 15 minutes to get to our apartment. Luxembourg is lush and green coming into the city, but our neighborhood is mostly apartment buildings with little green space. Still, a positive first impression, with pretty buildings and clean streets.

Boo fell asleep for another two hours.

I'll save the apartment tour for another post. We are dying to go to bed, but took a short nap and are now staying up to try to get on the time ASAP. Also need to find food!