Sigh. Glorious. Before I go on, let me just say that I'm a little loopy from traveling for 15 hours and also confused into thinking that it is 11AM when really it is almost 9PM--oh excuse me--20:00 here.
No problems with traveling at all. No delays, no cancellations, no frisky pat-downs at the airport, and best of all, no lost luggage. We endured a painful 10hr flight here from SFO to Frankfurt. Let me just say that before this morning (was it this morning, or was it yesterday?) I had never flown on any airline except fro SouthWest...I'm super classy. When I stepped on board United, I was filled with joy when I saw the super fancy space bubbles with immense amounts of leg room. I was certain that the space bubbles would incase us and a harmless sleeping gas would dispense into our lungs letting us enjoy a 10hr flight in peaceful slumber. I let myself believe this until we advanced towards the back of the plane...too good to be true. Economy class is CRAMPED! Not to mention that I am a pretty tall girl traveling with pretty tall men who are carrying musical instruments and other carry-on bags....But, nothing that a little Tylenol PM couldn't fix.
We made it to Frankfurt and were immediately swept into the hustle and bustle of a busy, industrial airport. It was cut-throat traveling through customs; those folks give you no mercy. Somehow everyone could that we were Americans. It might have been my Cal Berkley shirt, or Brett's mixed up Chicago/North Carolina accent. Or maybe it was because Aisea never took off his sunglasses and the loud obnoxious way that we would all laugh at our own jokes...I'd like to believe that everyone around us was just extra intuitive.
After standing in lines during our two hour layover, however, we finally boarded the small aircraft in the runway and were on our way to Innsbruck. Of course, this couldn't happen without a little spending in the airport. Brett and I bought water bottles which cost about $8USD and Aisea grabbed three sandwiches, which he shamelessly ate in one sitting. If you know Aisea, this is normal and perfectly acceptable. I practiced my German with a vendor, who laughed heartily at my attempt, and bought a Käse-Brezel (cheese pretzel), which later tied my intestines into pretzels.
The little aircraft held about 50 people at most. It was cozy and the legroom was much more comfortable than what United gave us. The flight was only one hour, complete with...just a little turbulence.
But talk about a view. MOUNTAINS!! They peaked upwards to an infinite space with dramatic edges and grooves that make you feel sentimental enough to write poetry. The snow on top of the mountains sat nervously idle ready to give way as the whips of cold air and condensation formed smoke-like clouds; it was something like the breath that rolls out of God's mouth after He whispers wonderful promises to creation.
We landed and it took everything within me not to do a Maria impression--it was that beautiful. We stood on the runway in compete awe of the magnificence of creation. I mean really, whose airport looks like this?!
So now, here at the hotel, all is well. I know I'm leaving out a lot of details, but you can ask me those questions later I suppose. The hotel is pretty beautiful. We're literally higher than the elevation that planes fly at. 100yards away are the ski slopes too! Mom, you'd absolutely love this place. The hotel's design itself is stuck in the 1970s which is kind of charming in that thrift-store, cat lady, Napoleon Dynamite way. We are holding club for the kids in the hotel's discoteca, which has cougar den written all over it. It's going to be so epic. My room flashes the orange, blue, green, and pink neons of the enormous sign out front. Oh, and people can smoke inside here. Good thing I brought my inhalers. I think the hotel will redeem itself once the sun comes up and the mountains are visible once again.
Tomorrow's adventure awaits! We will spend the afternoon in downtown Innsbruck. I can't believe it's going to be Christmas Eve already...Ciao Ciao!
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