Globetrotter Granny

09/07/2024

We started off our time in Europe this year with a brief stop over in Colmar, France, an enchanting Unesco World Heritage village in the Alsace region of France.

Below is an updated video of our time in Colmar. New content, music, and explanations of what we did and experienced.

Colmar, France was our first experience with France. What a great introduction to the country. The Alsace region is a lovely and friendly area offering delic...

08/31/2024

We thoroughly enjoyed our time on our Rick Steves Tour of Switzerland. This was one of my favorite evenings on tour. We celebrated one of the tour member’s birthday, learned how to cook risotto, drank delicious wine, and just enjoyed each others’ company.

08/31/2024

We left Bern, Switzerland at 5:45 am to begin our travels home by taking the train to Zurich. Our flight took off nearly on time at 11:45 am (Zurich Time) / 5:45 am (ET)/4:45 am (CDT)—Swiss efficiency. We arrived in Philly about 9 hours later at 2:30 pm (ET)/1:30 pm (CDT).

We enjoyed some relaxing time in the business lounge until our flight to Chicago was scheduled to depart and while we were there we began to receive notifications of multiple gate changes. We realized at that point it was going to be a potentially long night.

We got to our gate on time only to see that our plane was not on time or even at the gate and no airline personnel was at the gate to answer questions. Then our flight to Chicago was officially delayed by an hour (it would ultimately board nearly 2 hours late). Then we were notified that our connecting flight in Chicago to home was delayed by an 1.5 hours also so we thought okay we can still make it home just later than originally planned.

Our plane finally arrived and we boarded our plane. I informed my son that we would most likely miss our connecting flight in Chicago and he started driving to Chicago from Madison. We then started taxiing out to get in line to take off. Two and one-half hours later, we were still in line to take off with numerous planes still in front of us when our pilot came on the intercom and informed us that we would be returning to the terminal and that our flight had been cancelled as he and his co-pilot had timed out—apparently LOTS of other flights had the same thing happen to them. I quickly informed my son that we were not going to be making it to Chicago that night and he turned around and headed home.

We arrived back at the terminal and proceeded to customer service only to find that the line was nearly a full concourse long (for those of you who know about airports, that’s a VERY long line). I immediately got on the phone and secured the very last available hotel room at one of the airport hotels (turned out to be a very nice hotel). I then called American Airline customer service (while we were still in line at the airport) and was informed that the wait time was over one hour.

We decided to leave the customer service line as it would be at least 3 hours in that line, and we caught a shuttle to our hotel (while I was still on hold with the airline). We then checked into our hotel, got ourselves ready for bed (all while I was still on hold with the airline). My hubby went to sleep and I was still on hold. Finally around 12:30 am (ET)(after being on hold for well over an hour - probably about 1.5 hours), I realized I was falling asleep so I selected for the airline to call me back. I got that call back around 1:30 am (ET). They were able to get us a direct flight home at 8:15 am (ET). YEAH! I didn’t care that I’d only be able to enjoy our very nice hotel for such a short time - neither did my hubby.

We got a few hours more of sleep and then proceeded to the airport to catch our flight home. PTL, it was mostly on time and we arrived at our final destination Madison around 9:15 (CDT). So while we should have arrived home by around 10 pm (CDT) Thursday night, we arrived at our home nearly 12 hours late at about 9:45 am (CDT) Friday morning. Total travel time to get home was approximately 29 hours.

Moral of the story - always expect the unexpected when traveling and do your best to never let it ruin your time. Go with the flow and deal with the unexpected the best you can. Once you get through the “adventure” you’ll have a memory that will last forever and that you will look back on both fondly and with some remembered frustrations. It’s all good.

08/31/2024

We started off our time in Europe this year with a brief stop over in Colmar, France, an enchanting Unesco World Heritage village in the Alsace region of France.

08/30/2024

There’s no place like HOME at last!

08/30/2024

Fun times! After multiple delays, gate changes, and sitting on the airplane on the tarmac for over 2 hours in line to take off from Philly … wait for it … the pilots timed out and we are returning to the terminal!

08/29/2024

Landed safely in Philly. Comfy flight. LOVE business class for international flights!

08/21/2024

This morning as we travel to southern Switzerland, we will have a stop in Vaduz, Liechtenstein (3rd country of our trip) and then touring the castle in Bellinzona, Switzerland before ending our day in Lugano!

08/20/2024

Our trip is definitely helping me get my steps in!!!

08/19/2024

08/16/2024

Now to catch the actual train that will take us to Colmar, France!

08/15/2024

Apparently Facebook does not like me sharing info! 2nd time to remove a post that breaks zero rules and is not offensive. Good grief! The censors are obviously not happy people.

08/05/2024

Ep.108 We didn’t have a million dollars in the bank, but we saw a chance to retire early while we still were healthy and we took it. After almost 2 years of ...

07/19/2024

Mackinac Island day! Been waiting for this experience for over 40 years! BEAUTIFUL day!

07/16/2024

Double rainbow off my deck!!

07/04/2024

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!

05/30/2024

Globetrotter Granny d/b/a Globetrotter Granny's Hosted Tours specializes in creating custom itineraries for individuals and small groups, multi-generational families, those who seek adventure, and folks who want a small-ship or river cruise experience. We have begun hosting small-group tours both internationally and domestically several times a year. We promise to get to know you and customize a travel experience that will create memories you will treasure for a lifetime.