It was once again time for our yearly India trip. Not that I was already home-sick, it had been just over half a year since our last visit. I was just due for a vacation, the last few months had been quite stressful at work. So a relaxed journey, comfortable stay and reenergized return was what I was looking forward to. The beginning of our onward journey however turned out to be anything but relaxed.
The Frankfurt International Airport, out of which we were to fly is around 180 kms from our home. For convenience sake we chose to drive, park and fly this time, instead of taking the train. Especially with an active one year old to transport, this alternative would be ideal. There would be no need to plan large time buffer, no anxiety of missing train connections and no strain of loading and unloading luggage multiple times. So the travel plan to the airport was – start off from home at 4 pm, reach the parking area in Frankfurt around 6 pm and have sufficient time for airport shuttle, check-in and security check until the planned departure at 9:15 pm. It seemed a realistic plan with reasonable buffer for the Friday evening traffic.
Driving out of our garage, Google Maps predicted our journey to take a little over 2 hours. As we got onto the Autobahn (motorway) A81 there was quite heavy but moving traffic, as to be expected just before weekend. In less than an hour, a storm started brewing up in the direction of our travel. The clouds got more ominous by the kilometer and as we changed onto the A6, the floodgates of heaven opened. Thunder, lightning and the heavy downpour presented us with a 4D movie of sorts. Our car shuddered under the metallic clinks of huge rain drops and no mode of the windshield wiper was good enough to give us reasonable visibility. Traffic slowed down to snail’s pace and eventually came to a complete halt.
The peak of the storm was however short-lived and rain subsequently reduced to a drizzle. But apparently the damage had already been done. The subsequent stop-and-go traffic started initially with more go than stop, reduced quickly to some go with yawning stops in between and finally ended in no-go, just-stop! We heard on the radio that the storm had brought down an electricity cable, which had completely blocked the Autobahn. The clock seems to tick that much slower when stuck in a traffic jam. And here seconds turned to minutes and minutes to a couple of hours.
Sitting in the car with a kid getting more restless by the minute, we went through phases of impatience, frustration, anger and finally desperation. “Why us?!”, “If only we had left earlier!”, “We should have taken the train” were some highlights of our post-match analysis! I scolded my wife for giving up all hope and sermonized the virtues of positive thinking to her, while brushing aside my inner voice telling me that she was right! Being stuck between two Autobahn exits, we had no escape route, unless we decided to abandon the car and flee on foot in this miserable weather!
We finally decided to pull ourselves together and do what we could under the circumstances. We would have plenty of time later to think about what to do if we missed the flight! So we abandoned that chain of thought and worked mentally on how to catch the flight. Online check-in did not work via mobile phone. I luckily reached the Air India check-in counter number and negotiated with the gentleman in Hindi for check-in latest at 8:30 pm, instead of the normal 8:15 pm. Time would definitely not suffice to drop the car off at the parking area and take the shuttle as planned. So I pleaded with the contact person, who finally agreed to pick up the car at the drop off point of the airport. So the plan of action was quite meticulous – we had to reach the drop off point latest at 8:20 pm, the parking person would be waiting, ready to take the keys and drive off, we had to unload and hurry to the check-in counter latest by 8:30 pm. It would be touch and go!
But back to the Autobahn, we were still waiting for the GO to start execution of our optimistic “how to catch the flight” plan. As the clock ticked past 7 pm, it was looking more and more likely that we have to soon start working on the “what if we miss the flight” plan. At 7:15 pm like an oasis in the desert, we saw a glimmer of hope when the traffic moved a couple of hundred meters and stopped again. An opening had been made for construction vehicles in the Autobahn railing and the mud road beyond seemed to lead to some asphalted road. As we had long since lost hope of this blockage clearing up, we were willing to jump at any damn alternative! On taking the illegal exit, our navigation system suggested a route which would lead through a small town and rejoin the A6 at a point just after the blockage. With around 140 km to cover in little over an hour, a race against the clock was on!
The blockage had freed up the Autobahn for the stretch after it and I pushed our new Ford Mondeo to its limits on the rain drenched roads. In spite of a reality show of “Fast & Furious” with peak speed of about 200 kmph, I managed to hit the drop off point only at 8:27 pm. As per our last mile plan, my wife jumped off the car and sprinted to the Air India check-in counter, juggling our baffled son in her arms. I hurriedly handed over the keys to the parking guy, threw our 4 bags onto a luggage cart and raced with it like a madman in the direction of the check-in counter.
We were JUST IN TIME!!! As promised, one of the Air India staff was waiting for us and hurried through the check-in formalities. Then an Air India staff escorted us swiftly through priority security check, arranged for us to jump the queue at passport check and dropped us off at the departure gate. As the reality of having made it in spite of the odds sunk in, high-fives between gasps for breath marked a short moment of our celebration. Then we both fell into a trance, as the hell of a ride starting with us leaving our garage that evening, seemed to float around us like a dream.
Maybe it was those two critical phone calls, maybe it was the illegal Autobahn exit or maybe it was just the positive thinking. Whatever did the trick, we were just super relieved to be on our way home!
The Frankfurt International Airport, out of which we were to fly is around 180 kms from our home. For convenience sake we chose to drive, park and fly this time, instead of taking the train. Especially with an active one year old to transport, this alternative would be ideal. There would be no need to plan large time buffer, no anxiety of missing train connections and no strain of loading and unloading luggage multiple times. So the travel plan to the airport was – start off from home at 4 pm, reach the parking area in Frankfurt around 6 pm and have sufficient time for airport shuttle, check-in and security check until the planned departure at 9:15 pm. It seemed a realistic plan with reasonable buffer for the Friday evening traffic.
Driving out of our garage, Google Maps predicted our journey to take a little over 2 hours. As we got onto the Autobahn (motorway) A81 there was quite heavy but moving traffic, as to be expected just before weekend. In less than an hour, a storm started brewing up in the direction of our travel. The clouds got more ominous by the kilometer and as we changed onto the A6, the floodgates of heaven opened. Thunder, lightning and the heavy downpour presented us with a 4D movie of sorts. Our car shuddered under the metallic clinks of huge rain drops and no mode of the windshield wiper was good enough to give us reasonable visibility. Traffic slowed down to snail’s pace and eventually came to a complete halt.
The peak of the storm was however short-lived and rain subsequently reduced to a drizzle. But apparently the damage had already been done. The subsequent stop-and-go traffic started initially with more go than stop, reduced quickly to some go with yawning stops in between and finally ended in no-go, just-stop! We heard on the radio that the storm had brought down an electricity cable, which had completely blocked the Autobahn. The clock seems to tick that much slower when stuck in a traffic jam. And here seconds turned to minutes and minutes to a couple of hours.
Sitting in the car with a kid getting more restless by the minute, we went through phases of impatience, frustration, anger and finally desperation. “Why us?!”, “If only we had left earlier!”, “We should have taken the train” were some highlights of our post-match analysis! I scolded my wife for giving up all hope and sermonized the virtues of positive thinking to her, while brushing aside my inner voice telling me that she was right! Being stuck between two Autobahn exits, we had no escape route, unless we decided to abandon the car and flee on foot in this miserable weather!
We finally decided to pull ourselves together and do what we could under the circumstances. We would have plenty of time later to think about what to do if we missed the flight! So we abandoned that chain of thought and worked mentally on how to catch the flight. Online check-in did not work via mobile phone. I luckily reached the Air India check-in counter number and negotiated with the gentleman in Hindi for check-in latest at 8:30 pm, instead of the normal 8:15 pm. Time would definitely not suffice to drop the car off at the parking area and take the shuttle as planned. So I pleaded with the contact person, who finally agreed to pick up the car at the drop off point of the airport. So the plan of action was quite meticulous – we had to reach the drop off point latest at 8:20 pm, the parking person would be waiting, ready to take the keys and drive off, we had to unload and hurry to the check-in counter latest by 8:30 pm. It would be touch and go!
But back to the Autobahn, we were still waiting for the GO to start execution of our optimistic “how to catch the flight” plan. As the clock ticked past 7 pm, it was looking more and more likely that we have to soon start working on the “what if we miss the flight” plan. At 7:15 pm like an oasis in the desert, we saw a glimmer of hope when the traffic moved a couple of hundred meters and stopped again. An opening had been made for construction vehicles in the Autobahn railing and the mud road beyond seemed to lead to some asphalted road. As we had long since lost hope of this blockage clearing up, we were willing to jump at any damn alternative! On taking the illegal exit, our navigation system suggested a route which would lead through a small town and rejoin the A6 at a point just after the blockage. With around 140 km to cover in little over an hour, a race against the clock was on!
The blockage had freed up the Autobahn for the stretch after it and I pushed our new Ford Mondeo to its limits on the rain drenched roads. In spite of a reality show of “Fast & Furious” with peak speed of about 200 kmph, I managed to hit the drop off point only at 8:27 pm. As per our last mile plan, my wife jumped off the car and sprinted to the Air India check-in counter, juggling our baffled son in her arms. I hurriedly handed over the keys to the parking guy, threw our 4 bags onto a luggage cart and raced with it like a madman in the direction of the check-in counter.
We were JUST IN TIME!!! As promised, one of the Air India staff was waiting for us and hurried through the check-in formalities. Then an Air India staff escorted us swiftly through priority security check, arranged for us to jump the queue at passport check and dropped us off at the departure gate. As the reality of having made it in spite of the odds sunk in, high-fives between gasps for breath marked a short moment of our celebration. Then we both fell into a trance, as the hell of a ride starting with us leaving our garage that evening, seemed to float around us like a dream.
Maybe it was those two critical phone calls, maybe it was the illegal Autobahn exit or maybe it was just the positive thinking. Whatever did the trick, we were just super relieved to be on our way home!
Nice one again, Anil! I am glad you guys made it.
ReplyDeleteGood one!!,Alls well that ends well :)
ReplyDeleteAwesome..!! Nicely written.!!
ReplyDeleteHaha..!! Liked this part :"I scolded my wife for giving up all hope ....... positive thinking...". Could totally picturize the situation ..!!