Almost home...

I've got a few more good stories to blog about from my last few weeks in Berlin but am currently in Hour 40 of my journey home... a journey that was supposed to be only 26 hours long.

I left my apartment at 04:30h on 22 December to take a taxicab to the airport. My 07:35h flight to London-Heathrow was delayed one hour because of heavy fog in London... of course, we boarded on time and then waited in the plane for the extra hour. I was worried getting to Heathrow because that cut into my time to make my connection. I rushed through security and made my connection with about an hour to spare. Boarded the plane for an 11:35h departure and waited about an hour on-board for a spot to take off during some incredibly heavy fog. The fog was so heavy that it was difficult to see the end of the plane from the terminal!

At about 12:30 we finally started to push back from the gate and then all the power failed on the plane. Suddenly the plane was surrounded on the ground by an assortment of fire engines, police vehicles and ambulances/rescue trucks. One of our engines had caught fire and was being extinguished by ground crews. Despite being only 20 meters from the gate, we had to wait about 30 minutes before we were told to evacuate back to the terminal "for a few minutes" as a precaution while the mechanics checked out the engine. The captain explained that a "slight technical malfunction" had occurred and the power system failed, throwing sparks in the engine that ignited the jet fuel. Oh boy!

After another 45 minutes, we were allowed back on the plane in small groups to retrieve our hand luggage but advised to stick close because we could be getting a new plane soon. A couple hours later, we were told we had a new plane but it was at the opposite end of the terminal... so off we all headed, hoping for the 16:30 departure. After waiting another hour or two at that gate, we were told that due to "airport congestion" (and probably the still dense fog) our plane was rerouted to another gate... back on the original (and opposite) end of the terminal. Oh, and a new departure time of 17:50...

This time we actually boarded the plane for a one hour wait on-board for a slot to take-off. Finally, at about 19:00 we took off for Chicago... only 7.5 hours delayed from our original time.

Very bumpy flight but no one complained because we were all so fortunate to just be on our way. By the time we took off, I knew I would miss my 8:00 PM connecting flight home but figured there'd be others later in the night. We landed at 9:00 PM in Chicago (rather than the scheduled 2:00 PM). After a long wait through passport control and Customs, I got to speak with a customer service agent... who gave me the news that I wouldn't be flying any more that night! They gave me a hotel voucher and two meal vouchers at the Westin near the airport. I waited about 30 minutes in the very windy and snowy cold Chicago air for the hotel shuttle and finally got to my room at about 11:45 PM. The hotel restaurant was closed by then but my voucher was also good for room service... a turkey BLT and bottle of water filled up the $30 voucher.

This morning I started the day with another room service-delivered and British Airways vouchered pastries and fruit. I left for the airport at 8:00 AM for a 10:00 AM flight to St. Louis and then a transfer on to Nashville. While I waited in a seemingly never-ending line for the ticket counter, my flight's departure got pushed back to 10:40... which made for a very tight 25 minute window to make my connection. At 09:15, when I finally reached the ticket counter, the woman was very nice but didn't want me to even try for the 25 minute connection window. She told me my bags certainly wouldn't make it and if I missed, I'd have to wait until 9:00 PM for the next flight from St. Louis. I explained my "sob story" about the plane catching fire and the agent called someone who miraculously found a seat on a direct flight to Nashville. It was originally supposed to leave at 2:20 PM but they just announced our crew won't arrive until 2:45, which probably means a hopefully 3:00 PM departure. At this rate, I could care less so long as I'm out of an airport ASAP! I'm so tired of traveling and just want to be home. Ugh.