Germany to the Retreat

We awoke to a cool morning, only in the mid 50’s and breezy. We spent the morning sorting through our stuff and packing up. Our hotel rooms were more than just a room. Each one came with a kitchenette, and we did have some large windows we could open. Ours were helpful as we came back with some wet clothes that we needed to air out overnight. Abigail wanted to get a run in and Mark needed to work after his morning run. Becky and I played with Jamie at the park for a bit while she ran. Mark would be staying in Karlsruhe for the next couple of days before he traveled off to his next race. We did not need to check out till noon, and then we made our way down the street a bit and got some Mediterranean food for lunch. Then we said goodby to Mark and we got a tram that took us to the train station.

We rode a train down the line twenty minutes to Baden-Baden Germany. From there we were going to take a bus to the airport, but there was no bus to be found, and we needed to get to the airport. We just hired a taxi and rode there. We had to check the stroller, which was no problem, but security was a long, almost 45-minute wait. We eventually made it through security and customs and then waited for our next Ryan Air experience. They have priority boarding for people with small children, but in reality, half the plane was considered priority for one reason or another. We first had to wait on a bus to be taken to the plane. Jamie soiled his diaper while on the bus and so Abigail did an amazing job of just changing him right on the tarmac before we boarded.

The flight was uneventful, except for once again Jamie never stopped wiggling. Abigail again got a very good workout, but Jamie never cried or screamed. The plane was very full this time and all three of us were crammed in the row. Once at Stanstead Airport we of course were herded through customs and security. No problems coming back into the UK, but we did get separated and it took a bit to find ourselves and then find Fiona who picked us up.

Jamie was very happy to get out of the car seat and after a quick dinner he headed to bed. We then all had some dinner and shared our travel stories. Finally, we all headed to bed, very much exhausted, but so happy we had this amazing experience traveling to this grand and wonderful countries and being able to dip our toe into each culture. We all have some fond memories to hold on to now.