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| Abigail in her bag on the right, my carry on and two purple bags on the left. |
I didn't get nearly as much done as I wanted to. All the boxes I wanted to mail to myself are in my living room. I didn't get to clear out the closet under the stairs, the hutch, or most of the kitchen. Really, all of those just need to be put into boxes. Everything left in the kitchen just needs to either be thrown out or sent to me. I cleared out the food and gave it to my brother and sister in law. I figured they could use the various spices and 5lbs of rice. I also had a surprising amount of beans in my pantry.
So, when I left my house, there was still work to do. I know my oldest little brother is going to hate that so my Mom and probably my "baby" brother will go finish up what I just couldn't. My baby brother drove myself and Abby to Baltimore-Washington International (BWI) with my two huge purple LL bean bags (46 and 48 lbs each!), my blue ll bean carry on, and Abby in her soft sided bag (27 lbs). I know the blue bag was slightly more than Abby.
I got to the counter quickly only to be told that my flight to Newark was late (knew there would be a problem because it's me) and they were going to put me on a completely different flight to Venice, leaving from Dulles. For those that don't know the DC area, Dulles is roughly an hour away from BWI in no traffic. Since it's DC, there is always traffic; and it was 1:30 when I left for Dulles, about a half hour before rush hour starts.
I was very worried about the flight itself though. I purposefully booked with United because of Abigail. As long as the pup can comfortably fit (ie, can move around a bit) in a soft sided pet carrier that fits beneath the seat in front of you on the airplane, she was fine. United partners with Lufthansa which doesn't allow animals more than 8kg (17.6 lbs). Abigail is more like 11kg on her own. The second leg of our journey would be on Lufthansa now, rather than United all the way. Still, I realized that being stranded in Frankfurt- where the new flight stopover would be- wasn't exactly the worst thing in the world and I could find about ten different ways out of there and down to Italy. Also, Abigail's paperwork was only good if we left the US on the 21st. So, as long as Abby left on the 21st to go to Europe, we were good. Otherwise, it was another $300 for her paperwork alone and three or four days of waiting to get that paperwork back from the USDA.
The drive to Dulles was uneventful. However, the driver left me and my bags right inside the door - no cart. One of the big purple duffel bags has wheels so I had Abby on one shoulder, the blue duffel on the other, and kicked the other purple duffel into the line so I could check in. Once checked in, they took the two purple duffel bags, of course, and ticketed Abigail. Having the ticket stapled to Abigail's bag proved important at one point in the journey. For the rest of the trip, I had to carry Abby on one shoulder and the blue bag on the other. Basically, I was running around various airports with ~60lbs (27 kg) on my shoulders. Yes, my back and shoulders HURT today from that.
Security was actually kind of awesome. Since I had Abby, TSA didn't want her near the bomb sniffing dogs, understandably, so I got to go through the fast track lines. Also, since I had the pup, I carried her through the metal detector since TSA had to screen her bag. It was all pretty easy and Abigail behaved wonderfully. We left Dulles from gate C2. C2 is all the way down at the very end of the terminal....and the pet relief area, as I learned once I got to C2 was all the way back to the middle of the terminal. I wasn't about to have Abigail get on the flight without some sort of bathroom break so I huffed it with Abby one one shoulder and the blue bag on the other back to the middle of the terminal. Near gate D2 is a small room which has astroturf and a fake hydrant with a tiny gate at the entrance. Abigail found this all completely weird but quickly figured out what I wanted her to do. Once the pup is done, you are supposed to push a button on the wall that "cleans" the floor under the astroturf. All and all, it wasn't a bad pet rest stop.
We made our way back just in time to get in line. Abby and I ended up with a great seat - I had an aisle seat but there was no one in the middle sea; just one guy at the window seat. The only issue with the flight really was the turbulence. It was so bad at one point, one of the overhead storage units popped open. It was like going over a dirty road with potholes in a beater car without 4 wheel drive at points. Most of it was just the remnants of former hurricane Jose but the turbulence and the people in front of me constantly chatting made sleep pretty much impossible. I think I got an hour of sleep in. I did watch Pirates of the Caribbean and Star Wars on the way to Frankfurt.
Frankfurt- we had to come into a "outside" terminal which meant we had to walk down stairs and take a standing room only bus to the actual terminal. So, with Abby and my carry on (and my purse), I tried my hardest to make sure that Abigail would not get crushed in all the people around. That was not easy. It wasn't that anyone was trying to crush up against anyone else, it was that the bus driver had to take some crazy turns around the airport. This, of course, made it not fun. I had to balance the close to 30lbs each bags on my shoulders plus hold on for dear life to a pole and try to make sure I don't accidentally crush my dog if I do fall.
Once at the terminal, we had to go through customs. I now have a stamp to prove I've been to Germany! :-) Okay, so I'll probably got to somewhere other than the airport at one point during my living in Europe but, hey, it's a stamp in my passport! Really, customs was pretty surprisingly quick. They didn't ask for Abby's papers (I had them in the blue bag) and just wanted to know how long I'd be staying at my final destination. I pointed out my visa and...then I got the stamp. After that, I made my way to the departure gate for our flight to Venice.
I already had the boarding ticket - I got that at Dulles from Lufthasna. I decided that, if I didn't point out Abigail, maybe they wouldn't notice and I could just hide her under the seat. So, we got in line at the boarding gate - it was already loading- and...I put her under the seat in front of me. No one questioned her being there and we didn't have any issues. Really, there was some slight issues with the overhead baggage as there wasn't enough room. I had to put my blue bag ten rows in front of me. However, that I could deal with.
We got to Venice in one piece! My purple bags came quickly and they have WONDERFUL large carts at the Venice airport to use. I found my station at the airport I was supposed to check in with. The guy there was quite nice and let me leave my big bags there so I could go to the cargo part of the airport and go get Jasper....
Now, Jasper's story: I left Jasper with PenderAir on the 20th with his paperwork and his food. He had his kennel/box/cage thing and I wrote his name on it. After paying $1300 (€1088), they promised an uneventful journey for him. I am NEVER doing this to him again. Ever. I may grumble about the idiot constantly, but he had anything BUT an uneventful journey.
The lady at flight information in Venice told me my cat was already at Cargo and I just had to go through a tunnel and around a roundabout to get to him. I took at taxi and ended up walked the entire length of the cargo place three times. He wasn't there - I spent €30 on a pointless taxi ride to get a cat that hadn't arrived yet. All I really learned was, where the cargo was (it was NOT walking distance) and what office to go to get my cat (I went to five different ones!). I carried Abby with me the entire time.
Eventually, my parents came to pick me up and take myself and Abigail to Lunch. We went into Venice somehow only to turn right around and end up at McDonalds. ...I would try to explain this one but it was pretty typical for my family. :-) After that, we went to go get Jasper who did show up at 2pm.
Paperwork. Remember, no one cared in the least about Abigail coming into the EU, however, Jasper was a completely different story. His paperwork was copied in triplicate, stamped, and copied again. It took a half hour just to get the paper work done. When that was done, there was MORE paperwork when I got down to the actual cargo area. I also had to pay €60 for taxes or something - I didn't really care at that point and I'm sure they were taking advantage of that. All I knew was I was tired and I wanted my cat.
Poor Jasper! When I finally saw his very taped up cage, it smelt horrible. I mean, it completely reeked. On top, there were tons of stickers and taped up plastic bags - his food, divided out for each day he would be flying out. Each bag had a date and time (like Sept 22/AM or Sept 21/PM). In other words, he hadn't been fed since the 20th. I was so angry when I saw that. My poor cat was starving! It looked like he did have water though.
We had the car windows rolled down the entire journey home because he stank so badly. Once in the hotel room, I yanked out the blankets from the carrier and hosed down the cage in the shower. The blankets are now wrapped up in a plastic bag and I'll wash them on Monday. I gave Jasper food and more water - which he was grateful for. Abigail had plenty of food and water - I'd give her a bit of my bread or whatever else I was eating and the stewardess was always kind enough to give me a cup of water when I asked for it for the pup. Also, Abigail had a couple of chicken nuggets and French Fries at McDonalds before we got Jasper. Not the best food for a dog but it was food.
Right now, both animals are fine. Jasper is nervous about everything except for me. He slept on the bed last night with myself and Abby and he's been trying to climb in my lap.
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