We began the day staring out the window, at the blowing snow outside the hotel, wondering if our flight would still take off or be delayed. But we could hear other planes leaving the tarmac and The Husband seemed sure that things would go smoothly – and they did.
By 2:05pm, when our flight was scheduled to leave, there was not a speck of the white stuff to be seen. I managed to find a matcha latte (!!!) at the airport for 6 euro. I think they used a decent powder, judging by the price and taste.
The flight was short, so Business class was non-existent. The turbulence was the only thing that didn’t make me feel like throwing up. It would have been quicker to fly direct to Germany, but we used a booking agent who secured cheaper tickets this way. I think I’d prefer paying the extra to go faster, to be honest.
We stopped over in Sweden’s major airport in Stockholm with only euro in our wallets and no SEK. I was the first to notice the different currency on the price tags. Still, I managed to use my credit card.
Another short flight (80 minutes to the previous 60 minutes), another bout of fighting nausea, then we were on the tarmac in Berlin.
First, two buses had to show up and take us the terminal, then we were smooshed through a narrow entrance so an Inspector Rex-like sniffer dog could check us out…and then the waiting began. It took over 40 minutes for the belt to even start moving. Our bags showed up, allowing us to head off to our hotel. The Husband credits the ease of his conversation with the taxi driver to my meticulous, printed itinerary which has hotel addresses in large text (in the local language as well).
So! It was easily figured out where we needed to go, everything was going great – until we arrived at the hotel. We were first asked to wait – and wait we did, in lobby chairs. Then came the offer of a free drink. Hmm.
The service manager came out (his name is David) and admitted that the hotel had overbooked! It was due to some sort of system error, but that didn’t change the facts. There was no room at the inn.
“This is not okay,” I moaned.
So we sat down for a free dinner while David rang around the nearby hotels. He got us a place at a five-star hotel for one night only. Sigh, okay. We kept eating. Then – miracle of miracles! – someone had checked out early. From a junior suite! We were delighted. David wanted to send something alcoholic to our room as an apology, but we’re not big drinkers. He did agree to our request for Coke Zero.
So up we went, us with suitcases and David with a champagne bucket filled with ice and 4 glass bottles of Coke Zero, surrounded by small lollies!
What an evening! We watched Resident Evil on Netflix (through the TV with an HDMI cable) and just generally enjoyed ourselves.
All thanks to David’s tireless efforts.
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