The Long Road Home

We got up at 8:00 today to put the finishing touches on our packing and get a good breakfast before heading out to the airport. Larry made us scrambled eggs, which were good, and then we piled our stuff into the car for one last ride in Brussels. We got to the airport in good time, and thanks to Larry's extremely frequent travel, we had the inside info that the road to the departure lounge is under construction, so we parked in arrivals instead and rode the elevator up. I think this saved us half an hour of waiting, at least! We waited in line to check our bags, and while we were waiting, we ran into some friends of Larry's from customs back in the US (they were actually on our flight!) and learned that once again, we have been upgraded to economy plus. Woohoo!!!! We said goodbye to Larry, went through passport control, and headed immediately for the chocolate store to get some souvenirs. Yum! We went through security and sat in the lounge for a while before we realized that our flight left in 45 minutes but no one was near the gate, so Ashley checked, and lo and behold, the gate had changed. Traveling!!! Anyway, we got on the plane no problem and settled in. The movies were thoroughly sub-par for the ride back, and coming back from Europe always takes longer than getting there (damn that jet stream!), so we were all exhausted by the end. We landed about 20 minutes late and ran into a huge delay getting on those obnoxious buses from the terminals to customs. Ugh! Anyway, long story short, Joe was there to meet us after we got through customs, and we battled the toll road and the Beltway to get back to Silver Spring.

The trip was great. I loved seeing all of the little Belgian towns, and of course Paris was fabulous. I could definitely spend more time in Paris. Being in Europe made me want to work on my German and do more traveling in general. I was surprised, as most Americans must be when they visit Europe, at the differences between here and there. I was pleasantly surprised by how nice the people in Paris were. Because I was staying with friends, I didn't do a lot of research about Belgium before I got there, so it was a new surprise every day. This was a pleasant change from my usual travel style, which anyone who knows me knows includes lots of planning.

We learned that once again, we have been upgraded to economy plus. Woohoo!!!!