one hundred and eight. the finale.

I set two alarms for 4:50 am. I got up, threw everything in my bags, drank some water and headed for the train station. I put on my backpack, threw the camera over my back, grabbed both suitcases and wrestled them down the steps.

I walked to the train station, waited 10 minutes, and then boarded for the airport. I arrived to the airport. Checked in my two bags, weighed my backpack and then grabbed a doughnut from the cafe and went through security. Once through, I waited for about 40 minutes and then boarded the plan. The plan set out on time and I was in Munich before I knew it. I had a 40 minute layover in Munich, which was pretty difficult because I was bored, tired, and had no alarm/cell phone just in case I dozed off. I read, listened to music, and wandered aimlessly around the airport until it was time to check in. We boarded the plane, in which I grabbed a window seat, even though I was truthfully stuck in the middle between the window and aisle. The woman who had the window seat came along and quickly scooted me over to my proper seat. I tried.

The flight went really well, and didn't seem as long as I assumed it would. They gave us a ton of free drinks including some alcoholic ones, which was pretty unusual I thought. I drank a German beer, some white wine, and some Bailey's. Dinner consisted of roast, veggies, and mashed potatoes. It was decent enough. I knew things were going wrong when It said we still had 40 minutes to fly before reaching Washington, and my flight was scheduled to depart in 1 hour. I arrived, went through customs and then had to wait for 30 minutes for my bags to come through so that I could take them through and recheck them. I then went through security and dealt with this woman who obviously hated her job and had no reason to be in an airport screaming when people are already stressed enough by missing their layovers. I digress. I stripped down to hardly anything because of the lady screaming at everyone. No belts, no shoes, no jackets, no scarves, no hats... no problem.

Because I missed my connecting flight (which would have had me home by 7 pm) I had to wait 3 hours and fly to Charlotte then connect again to a flight into Cincinnati. I waited, had some subway, and waited some more. I was exhausted at this point. I was finally able to board the plane and ran into Carly who I went to SACI with. She was connecting to Florida in Charlotte. I remember boarding the plane, and I fell asleep immediately. Then I remember descending to land. It was pretty awesome. Once in Charlotte, I had to wait another hour and a half to catch the Cincinnati flight. I finally did, and arrived home at around 12:30 am. (At this point, I had been traveling for nearly 26 hours straight). I made it home, walked down the long terminal hallway and met Mom and Greg. It was great seeing them again! However, my endeavor hasn't ended yet. I waited around for my bags to come through, and of course they hadn't. I talked to the lady at the desk and arranged to have it delivered to my house. We went home. They bought a bottle of Chianti and we each had a glass to toast my arrival back to the states.

I went to sleep in my oh so comfortable bed.