We're off to Portugal and Spain! con't

I had considered taking an Ambien but thought I had better to be alert in case we nose dived into the Atlantic. Of course Anne’s advice was “take it, you’ll sleep through the whole disaster”! Thanks! Next came the passenger altercation. The guy across the aisle from Dave had a bad attitude from the start. Seated behind him was a rather large handicapped woman. Apparently he was not able to put his seat back due to her size and he became rather irritated as the night wore on. Next thing I know a very stern flight attendant is trying to get him to take his seat, he refuses, she asks the woman to swap seats with him, she refuses at first and so it goes on for a few minutes. He insisted that he must sleep and needed a different seat, she was in tears. It was 3am! I was exhausted! But of course I’m glued to the whole drama. Finally she relents. I keep looking back to see if the guy really is sleeping – he’s not.


We touch down in Frankfurt. I am avoiding mirrors at all costs. Especially the ones on the plane with the florescent (think dressing rooms) lights. No amount of makeup could make me look better at this point. We had a 3 hour layover to make sure that luggage was transferred and we could grab a bite to eat. WRONG again. After going through another set of checkpoints (btw, no removing of shoes, plastic bags w/ liquids and no long lines) and immigration we stroll down to our gate looking for real food. Afterall, we are in a major International airport. NO SUCH LUCK! What do we find – another snack bar next to the gate. And this was the only option (or Chex Mix). However, being in Germany, they did have good beer. So, that became our carbo loading lunch. Somehow I could not jack myself up for a hotdog and potato salad. So beer it was - it never tasted so good. We get to the boarding area and what do we find, not 1 but2 screaming toddlers! Holy crap, it’s a 3 hour flight! They SCREAMED the whole 3 hours! I had my head on the tray table. The one consolation – the guy in the seat next to me was gorgeous! And probably 23-25. Vanity kicks in for a brief moment until the harsh florescent light of reality comes on. One, I could be his mother; 2, I look like death warmed over and probably smelled that way too! Oh well….I am happily married but we all want to feel attractive. He probably would have called me “ma’am” if we had spoken. Two hours after landing we arrive at the hotel, bags in tow, take a quick nap and head out to dinner. We found a beautiful little outdoor restaurant near the hotel but the menu is in Portuguese. I talked Dave into trying it - we can get Italian anywhere. It turned out to be some of the best food and wine we have had and cheap! We toddled back to our hotel and 29 hours after we started we popped an Ambien and slept like babies for 11 hours. Let the adventure begin!