2023-8-22 Europe Here We Come
8-22-2023 - It is 4:30 in the afternoon and we are sitting in Chicago O’Hare airport waiting to check-in for our 9:45 flight. Arrived here way early and we could not check into our flight. I guess you can arrive at the airport TOO early.
Why are we here? We are going to Europe! The plan was to do this trip in fall of 2020 but as we all know travel was not recommended or for that matter very safe at that time because of Covid.
Our original plan for this summer was to drive to Alaska with the camper. But after learning that Alex and Monica were planning an extended stay in Romania in the fall of 2023 we flexed and changed our plans to go there when they were there.
We will be starting our trip by taking a 15 day Eastern European tour starting in Prague. We are going about 4 days early and staying at the home of Jan and Alexandra Gal. Their daughter Sandra is a pro golfer and we hosted her and her dad at our house when KOHLER hosted the 2012 Women’s Open golf tournament at BLACKWOLF Run. We were invited to stay with them at their home in Prague if we ever made it to Europe.
At the end of our 15 day tour we will be going to Bucharest in Romania for 6 days and rendezvous with Alex and Monica. We have booked an Airbnb just outside of old town and are excited to explore some of Monica’s home country.
We splurged on business class seats and while waiting for our flight were able to hangout in the business class lounge. Was that nice! There was a selection of salads, snacks and drinks including beer, wine and hard liquor. We are flying Lot Airlines to Warsaw then another short flight to Prague.
Our flight to Warsaw was very nice. Just a few spots of mild turbulence. It was nice to have lots of room and seats that adjusted to beds. At the Warsaw airport we deplaned onto the tarmac and took a bus to the terminal. Same process getting on. This was a new thing for us. We also had to go through security again. I guess because we were going on to another country. We arrived in Prague on time around 5:30 on August 23. I had scheduled transportation to the Gal’s house with Welcome Pickup. The driver spoke English and was very courteous.
Sandra, Jan and Alexandra (Sasha) welcomed us and showed us to our accommodations. They have a separate apartment in the lower level of their house that they used to rent out which was where we stayed. We then joined them for a delicious supper of steak, potatoes and salad. After chatting for a little while Dennis and I headed to bed. It was a long day.
