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woodfaceI am home... and I keep trying to type qwerty instead of azerty. Rarrr.
Anyway, home after a rather uneventful flight back. I came home, tried to watch some telly and promptly fell asleep for half an hour after which I felt just sick so I ended up sleeping through most of the day. Then had new year's dinner with my aunt, uncle and niece.
Colorado was pretty. Boulder is lovely. Getting there is a completely different story. It all started great actually. When we checked in, they offered us an upgrade to business for very cheap. Which we, of course, didn't resist. It was just awesome to fly like that. The minute you sit down they offer you champaign and you get plenty of refills. The food is actually good and you have plenty of room to spare for your legs. So yes, we lucked out.
Of course, karma always comes back to bite you in the ass. When we arrived for our transfer in Washington (DC), we headed for customs only to find a huge line in front of us. Knowing we only had an hour for our connection, this didn't bode well. It really didn't because any of the personnel we talked to basically told us 'tough luck' and it wasn't their problem. So yes, after an hour of customs, our flight was gone. We weren't the only one. They put us on the list for the next flight, which turned out to be overbooked by about 20 people and then already had about 30 more on the same standby list. Suffice to say we didn't get on the next flight.
After a lot of badgering and some help from other stranded travellers (one guy had been on standby the whole morning because he missed his flight by five minutes), we were basically told that realistically we weren't getting out of Washington until Friday morning (this was Christmas' Eve). They gave us a deduction on a hotel while our baggage had already been transferred to Denver on the flight we were on standby on (nice). So with our new boarding passes, we considered our options and finally decided there was no point to stand by on Christmas as those flights were as overbooked as the rest of them and we would just be standing by for nothing.
Probably a wise decision, but it was lucky that we decided to get some more information the next day as the person at check-in informed us that the passes we had weren't actual passes, but they had merely put us on the standby list again. She instantly gave us actual seats and confirmed that when you are on the standby list, that's basically what you do all day. The whole organisation of the flights is just one huge mess there. It's seriously something we can't comprehend as it doesn't happen anywhere else and the system just blows. They also assume that you know how it works, because if you don't you just get sent around the airport with no information and no clue of what the hell is going on.
Other travellers were helpful however as one guy explained the whole system to us and gave some good advice on how to proceed. Another guy had overheard our story and came up to us, offering his cellphone so we could inform our sister of what was going on. Which really is another thing you won't see happening in Europe, but then in the positive form. The hotel we were placed in was rather nice and thanks to the coupons not all too expensive. My sister managed to retrieve both our luggage and our rental car in Denver so at least we didn't lose that.
After that, there was nothing more to do than to wait until our plane on Friday. So we went to Washington along with the rest of the non-catholic tourists. Washington is lovely, sadly enough it was the one day of the year that the Smithsonian was closed. We walked the mall, visited the WWII memorial, the needle, Lincoln memorial and proceeded on to the White House. Our luck had it that they had found a suspicious package at the White House and so secret service had closed off the entire area. Finding food was another problem as pretty much everything was closed. We finally ran into the one restaurant that seemed to be open and had a pretty good lunch. After which we headed for The Capitol and went back to catch the bus to our hotel.
At least the weather had been nice (but cold) and we ran into another couple who had been stranded and were waiting for their connection as well. Fun at the airport, yo.
Either way, it was time to catch our next plane. Wearing my newly bought Obama t-shirt (I had to wear something as we were all rather smelly thanks to the whole lack of suitcases thing), we took the first flight out of Washington and on to Denver. We were about mid-way when one of the passengers had a heart attack... So we made an emergency landing in Indianapolis and then arrived an hour late in Denver. Finally. Only after 72 hours of travelling.
Boulder is gorgeous, even if it refused to snow for us. Well, it did snow higher up in the mountains. We ended up going to Estes Park one day and it was just so beautiful. Several passages were closed off due to the storm, but it got us some great views. We also went to the Denver Zoo and did a whole lot of shopping. And I mean a whole lot. That and eating. I got a new coat an jacket from REI, a Timbuk2 backpack (omg, been wanting one for ever), Merrel shoes and lots of t-shirts.
And 5 zuni fetishes. Which I just fell in love with. I have a fox, two coyotes, a deer and a wolf. The wolf was way expensive, but my sisters are evil enablers and I love him.
Basically, it was just a great, but short, trip. It was great seeing my sister again and seeing where she lives. The Rockies are gorgeous and impressive. The weather was actually nice when we left. The wind was horrible for a day and the first two days was colder, but then it was just mild and warmer than it is here. I didn't really want to leave. Either New England is very different from the rest of the US or maybe Boulder is, but I seem to be enjoying the US more after each trip. There's a certain type of mentality that we could use over here.
Anyway, home after a rather uneventful flight back. I came home, tried to watch some telly and promptly fell asleep for half an hour after which I felt just sick so I ended up sleeping through most of the day. Then had new year's dinner with my aunt, uncle and niece.
Colorado was pretty. Boulder is lovely. Getting there is a completely different story. It all started great actually. When we checked in, they offered us an upgrade to business for very cheap. Which we, of course, didn't resist. It was just awesome to fly like that. The minute you sit down they offer you champaign and you get plenty of refills. The food is actually good and you have plenty of room to spare for your legs. So yes, we lucked out.
Of course, karma always comes back to bite you in the ass. When we arrived for our transfer in Washington (DC), we headed for customs only to find a huge line in front of us. Knowing we only had an hour for our connection, this didn't bode well. It really didn't because any of the personnel we talked to basically told us 'tough luck' and it wasn't their problem. So yes, after an hour of customs, our flight was gone. We weren't the only one. They put us on the list for the next flight, which turned out to be overbooked by about 20 people and then already had about 30 more on the same standby list. Suffice to say we didn't get on the next flight.
After a lot of badgering and some help from other stranded travellers (one guy had been on standby the whole morning because he missed his flight by five minutes), we were basically told that realistically we weren't getting out of Washington until Friday morning (this was Christmas' Eve). They gave us a deduction on a hotel while our baggage had already been transferred to Denver on the flight we were on standby on (nice). So with our new boarding passes, we considered our options and finally decided there was no point to stand by on Christmas as those flights were as overbooked as the rest of them and we would just be standing by for nothing.
Probably a wise decision, but it was lucky that we decided to get some more information the next day as the person at check-in informed us that the passes we had weren't actual passes, but they had merely put us on the standby list again. She instantly gave us actual seats and confirmed that when you are on the standby list, that's basically what you do all day. The whole organisation of the flights is just one huge mess there. It's seriously something we can't comprehend as it doesn't happen anywhere else and the system just blows. They also assume that you know how it works, because if you don't you just get sent around the airport with no information and no clue of what the hell is going on.
Other travellers were helpful however as one guy explained the whole system to us and gave some good advice on how to proceed. Another guy had overheard our story and came up to us, offering his cellphone so we could inform our sister of what was going on. Which really is another thing you won't see happening in Europe, but then in the positive form. The hotel we were placed in was rather nice and thanks to the coupons not all too expensive. My sister managed to retrieve both our luggage and our rental car in Denver so at least we didn't lose that.
After that, there was nothing more to do than to wait until our plane on Friday. So we went to Washington along with the rest of the non-catholic tourists. Washington is lovely, sadly enough it was the one day of the year that the Smithsonian was closed. We walked the mall, visited the WWII memorial, the needle, Lincoln memorial and proceeded on to the White House. Our luck had it that they had found a suspicious package at the White House and so secret service had closed off the entire area. Finding food was another problem as pretty much everything was closed. We finally ran into the one restaurant that seemed to be open and had a pretty good lunch. After which we headed for The Capitol and went back to catch the bus to our hotel.
At least the weather had been nice (but cold) and we ran into another couple who had been stranded and were waiting for their connection as well. Fun at the airport, yo.
Either way, it was time to catch our next plane. Wearing my newly bought Obama t-shirt (I had to wear something as we were all rather smelly thanks to the whole lack of suitcases thing), we took the first flight out of Washington and on to Denver. We were about mid-way when one of the passengers had a heart attack... So we made an emergency landing in Indianapolis and then arrived an hour late in Denver. Finally. Only after 72 hours of travelling.
Boulder is gorgeous, even if it refused to snow for us. Well, it did snow higher up in the mountains. We ended up going to Estes Park one day and it was just so beautiful. Several passages were closed off due to the storm, but it got us some great views. We also went to the Denver Zoo and did a whole lot of shopping. And I mean a whole lot. That and eating. I got a new coat an jacket from REI, a Timbuk2 backpack (omg, been wanting one for ever), Merrel shoes and lots of t-shirts.
And 5 zuni fetishes. Which I just fell in love with. I have a fox, two coyotes, a deer and a wolf. The wolf was way expensive, but my sisters are evil enablers and I love him.
Basically, it was just a great, but short, trip. It was great seeing my sister again and seeing where she lives. The Rockies are gorgeous and impressive. The weather was actually nice when we left. The wind was horrible for a day and the first two days was colder, but then it was just mild and warmer than it is here. I didn't really want to leave. Either New England is very different from the rest of the US or maybe Boulder is, but I seem to be enjoying the US more after each trip. There's a certain type of mentality that we could use over here.
