Day 1-2 - Crossing an Ocean

I am combining the first two days of my trip for a simple reason: I'm not really sure where one day ended and the other began.

Cedar Falls, Cedar Rapids and Detroit

I began my trip on Monday the 30th, 9:30 am Central time. While I had packed most of my things the night before, there were a few items that still needed to be rounded up and put away. I fed my geckos, loaded up my car, unplugged everything, did one last sweep around my house, and then, with only a small look back, I left.

I-380 South

The trip to Cedar Rapids from Cedar Falls is one I have made so many times that I've lost count. If I would have started counting at all. My mom so graciously offered to drive me to the Cedar Rapids airport, but I needed to get to her house, first. After a quick lunch at A&W, we made it to the airport by noon.

I had arrived two hours early to make sure we had time to sort out any problems, but it turns out that there were none. A trend I was hoping to continue throughout the trip. Security was also not an issue, and I would have been worried if I was unable to find my gate (CR airport only has 13).

Upper Level of the CR airport

The plane ride to Detroit was also pretty uneventful. I had an aisle seat, but was unable to take advantage of the theoretical extra leg room due to the flight attendants' constant cart pushing. 

 For those of you who have never been to Detroit airport, there is a tunnel connecting the concourses that is pretty neat. A sort of smoky glass that has several beautiful shades of green.

I wish I would have had time to get a better picture. I'll try to on the way back.

Amsterdam to Luxembourg

The plane to Amsterdam was an Airbus 330. My seat was on the right side of the plane, directly in front of the bathroom. While it's good that I wouldn't have some random child kicking my seat, it does mean that I got to see a good portion of the people on the plane while they waited in line for it. After dinner (pasta with spinach and cream sauce), two glasses of a very dry chardonnay, and a sleep aid, I was ready to attempt sleep.

I fell asleep somewhere near Greenland, and woke up over Dublin. I'm still not sure how many hours I ended up sleeping, but it was interrupted a few times by the searing pain of a leg or an arm regaining circulation. I know most of you are well aware of the lack of any sort of leg room in economy class, so I will spare you any further explanation.

We arrived in the Amsterdam airport at around 7:20 am local time (12:20 am central), and I set foot on continental Europe for the first time. I didn't have much time to appreciate this, however, as my departure gate was on the very opposite side of the airport from my arrival one. I walked quickly past shops selling perfume and liquor towards my gate and customs. Snippets of conversation passed my ears in many different languages, and while I'm not used to this, I was expecting it.

I reached customs, passport in hand. I had been warned about Amsterdam customs officials by a couple of people, but the guy at the counter looked at my passport and asked where I was headed to. No further questions followed and I was free to go...through security. I passed through the metal detector with no problems (I had no metal on me anyway), but my bags were pulled aside for searching because of all of the electronics I had stashed in there. After my bags had been poked through, I was allowed to continue my speed-walk to my gate.

My Gate

The wait at the gate ended up being about 45 minutes, and I spent most of that time blankly staring into space. I was extremely tired by this point, so I wasn't absorbing much information anymore. We got on a bus to take us to the plane, boarded, and proceeded to Luxembourg. The flight only ended up lasting 30 minutes or so. I looked out the window at the miniature landscape for as long as I could, before the cloud cover became too thick to see.

We landed at Luxembourg airport and were driven on another bus to the terminal, where I was relieved to see my bag come out with no apparent damage. 3 somewhat intimidating-looking officers stared at me as I walked by them, but they didn't stop me. Charel (my boyfriend) was waiting for me right outside the exit door.

1st Day in Luxembourg Town

As we drove through the city back to Charel's home, I tried to take in as much of the surroundings as my sleep deprived brain would allow. I also tried to listen to my boyfriend's verbal tour, but I eventually warned him that I would not retain much of the information.

I was able to see, however, that Luxembourg is built very differently than the towns that I am used to in the US. Lots of buildings are combined together and colorful, the streets are winding, and of course I saw signs I had no idea what they meant. I saw lots of things that I plan to take pictures of, however.

After we returned to his home, I met his mom for the first time in person. I had talked to her on skype two times previous, so she wasn't a total stranger to me. We took the bags upstairs, and then ate a light lunch. I went to sleep for 4 hours.

I was given a tour of the house and garden after I awoke, and I am already in love with it. I can't wait to see more. Tomorrow, we plan on seeing parts of Luxembourg town, the capital city and the town I am currently staying in. Tonight, however, I plan on taking it easy.

It's like a movie!