Thursday, August 07, 2008

Nothing to Declare

Day: 316
Denver, Colorado USA to Krakow, Poland
Time: Too long
Distance: Too far

We left Denver yesterday at 10:30 am. Leslie’s family put together the going away caravan and shuttled us out to the airport. DIA was a breeze except for the liquids I forgot I had in my bag. The TSA people were nice and just took a look at them and let me on through security. You would think I had never done that before. We got to the ticket counter early and the United clerk was kind enough to bump us up to economy plus for free all the way to Munich. I always can use an extra couple of inches for my legs. We switched planes in Washington DC and flew through the night to Munich. I couldn’t sleep so I caught up on my movies. We landed in Munich 7:30 am local time and tracked down a little breakfast and coffee. Those thoughtful Germans had free coffee stations all over the place to help us get a little more caffeinated. After a three hour layover we boarded our last leg to Krakow. The flight was a little rough and the landing was a two hopper. It didn’t seem that windy, but if I were flying it I would have crashed and burned so I can’t complain. After landing and waiting for our luggage I learned my first Polish phrase: Moj bagaz zostal zagubiony. It translates to ‘my luggage has been lost’. Yes, for the first time on our trip we became detached from our luggage. The office for lost baggage had a very helpful lady working who took our information and promptly figured out where our luggage was. Our bags zigged when we zagged in Washington DC. They are supposed to be on a flight to Frankfurt and then on to Krakow tonight. We are keeping our fingers crossed. We did luck out and arrived in Krakow with a change of clothes, a desire for a little adventure and just in time to catch a professional bicycle race in the town square. We hung out there most of the evening watching a crit around the cobbles. We caught three wrecks in the corner we were in. One guy took a little while to get up and get moving. The others bounced up and headed back to the vans. I can’t imagine sliding across cobbles at 30 kph feels too good. I think I would have bailed as well.
We are looking forward to seeing our bikes and bags soon. Hopefully the airlines share our feelings.
CK

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