On The Road Again

A momentous occasion on Tuesday 2nd May 2023 as we bade farewell to Helen's cottage. 

All going well, it will be soon sold to someone else who will love it as much as Helen has over the last 52 years. 

And how does Helen feel about all this? 

As you can see, Helen is well settled at Stretton Hall, made very happy by Mary's frequent attendance, especially Mary's decorative touches with photos, furniture and memorabilia. Helen was made even happier by a large bottle of Tio Pepe dry sherry... 

The next leg of The Tour brings us to Germany, specifically to Hamburg via Frankfurt. 

Sadly, our flight was delayed leaving Manchester so our stopover in Frankfurt was reduced to scampering through the terminal just in time to make our connecting flight with only moments to spare.

What was even sadder was that the first food outlet we scampered past was a hot dog stand. It would have been great for our first meal in Germany to be a frankfurter in Frankfurt.

Once on the plane, I glanced out the window seat to see Mary's luggage being loaded just in time as well - whew! 

On arrival at Hamburg we were impressed by the speed and efficency of the airport. By the time we arrived at the baggage carousel there indeed was the luggage already circulating. Very slick. 

Unfortunately, while Mary's bag was waiting, mine was not.... 

Again, full marks to the Hamburg Airport efficiency. I wandered down to the Lost Luggage counter and literally in seconds Hamburg Airport had found my bag - in Frankfurt.

I was advised that it 'should' be on the next flight which 'should' arrive in an hour, and I was welcome to wait. 

The other option was that I was equally welcome to continue my journey and the airline 'would' arrange a courier, in which case it 'would' arrive at my accommodation mid morning the next day. 

Noting the specific use of the words 'should' and 'would' in those two options from the Lost Luggage staff, I elected to have the bag delivered to me rather than hang around the airport with a possibility the bag might shortly arrive and a possibility it might not. Best leave it to the airline to sort out etc.

 In hindsight, that was a mistake. 

That evening I got an email to advise that my bag had arrived, approximately half an hour after I left the Lost Luggage counter. In other words, it arrived just after our train left the airport! 

Lesson 1: I should have waited... 

No problem, they now have the bag in Hamburg and it won't be far behind me. Sure enough, soon after the first email I got a second confirming that the bag had been handed over to the courier company for delivery in the morning, exactly as promised. Excellent! 

Only problem, it's now early afternoon and I am still waiting.

Lesson 2: Not everyone is as super efficient as Hamburg Airport... 

Never mind, as the saying goes 'it's all part of life's rich tapestry'. 

We are staying with Louise and Alan, friends from our Dairy Flat days, and last night they took us out to dinner at their local restaurant, which was excellent.

It was very tempting to make our first meal a hamburger in Hamburg, but that seemed a bit too cliché. 

So we had wiener schnitzel instead....