Day 18 - Coming Home Isn't Always Easy

Day 18 – Wednesday, Apr 8 – Coming Home

Anyone who has been on an international trip – or any trip that involves air travel – knows that things can go wrong. You may recall it took 5 grueling days for Steve and the Browning family to get home from Africa 3 years ago.

At 6:00am we left the very nice Selys Hotel in Liege in a large bus that could carry all seven of us and our luggage (we did pack economically, I must say). We were headed to the Brussels international airport to catch our flights home: Steve through Dublin, Don/Laureen and Mark/Carol through Amsterdam and Kurt/Mary through London (take note of this). The bus ride was easy and took a little over one hour. Our flights were on different airlines, but all left between 10:30 and 11:00 so we had plenty of time; the only slight problem was that we were too early for check-in. We went to the food court for some breakfast and Kurt ordered a large coffee … which came in a soup bowl! No kidding!

 

  

Now, FOR THE MOST PART, there were no travel issues … for the most part. When Mary and Kurt went to their check-in, they had to fill out a (somewhat) new piece of documentation – the Electronic Entry Authorization (ETA). They had never heard of this. I had never heard of this. But sometime in the last few years the UK has this requirement for visitors to fill out the form, EVEN IF YOU ARE JUST FLYING THROUGH AN AIRPORT IN THE UK! [Note: Luckily, Steve did not have to do this since Ireland is part of the EU whereas the UK is not!] So, Mary fills out the form and the system responds immediately … APPROVED. Kurt fills out the same form at the same time … PENDING FURTHER REVIEW. Apparently, Kurt’s long tenure in clinical research for the pharmaceutical industry was flagged as a possible shell company for an international drug trafficking syndicate. [Note: We all know it was actually a shell company for printing money.]

So, Mary goes through security/passport control and Kurt is stuck on the other side! That set off a string of events that fall into the category “you can’t make this stuff up” which had become the theme of our trip. Travelers Beware! They told Kurt it could be 2-3 days before his application was reviewed and approved. So, the enterprising Google traveler that Kurt is led him to book a train to Paris, a hotel to spend the night, and a US flight from Paris that didn’t go through the UK. OK, that was a simple sentence to write but I will let the reader ponder the nightmarish details involved. It all worked according to the plan, except when Kurt got to Philadelphia, his flight to KC was cancelled, necessitating another night’s stay in Philly and a flight home the next day. Just in case you are not keeping score … all of us got home on Wednesday evening; Kurt got home on Friday afternoon.

As a side note, on Steve’s flight home (direct flight from Dublin to Indianapolis courtesy of Lilly’s business travel to and from their ultra-large manufacturing facility in Kinsale, Ireland), on two separate occasions he was asked if he was Steve Sterrett (for those who don’t know, he is the owner of the Old Oakland Golf Club, where Steve belongs). After brushing off the insult and a denial like Peter in a Roman courtyard, I realized that (a) the flight attendant had been using my name Steve and (b) I was wearing a pullover with the Old Oakland logo, which is familiar to those who live in northeast Indianapolis. Actually, it did generate some pleasant conversation with some travelers sitting nearby who also lived near my home.

In summary … we each had four vacations: pre-river cruise; river cruise; Amsterdam; Belgium. Each generated an incredible experience. I recall having discussions about when to travel and how to put the pieces together. Mark made the wise suggestion to build the trip around the Keukenhof Gardens since they are only open for a short time during the blooming season. We decided to do the Belgian part of the trip last since we anticipated it would be a stirring family event to culminate the trip. We also had to plan around many family First Communions, Confirmations, graduations, etc. We decided to incorporate the Easter season into the trip and attend Mass on Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday at incredible cathedrals/basilicas. It is amazing how the pieces all came together -  our diverse paths to Basel, the tours in Amsterdam (despite the botched dates by Steve), the incredible journey planned by Vincent and Severine, whom we now consider family friends!

You just can’t make this stuff up!

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