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Well, I am back in Bangalore, after a nerve-wracking trip back from Berlin.
When I set out from Berlin, I was worried to death for a number of reasons:
Due to the G8 meet in Berlin, security at the airports was reported to be unbelievably high.
And I was worried because not only was my baggage overweight, but I was going to be carrying TWO large pieces of handbaggage - my laptop bag/rucksack (that weighs 8 kilos when packed for a long trip), and my new guitar which (as I had already mentioned) looks an assault rifle when disassembled and packed. :)
Read on - this is a long story.
Reached Berlin airport early, and checked it. The lady behind the counter gave me a knowing smile, but didn't say anything (it is not their problem anyway, that would be handled at security). I had reduced the weight of my suitcase down to 19 kilos (the limit is 23, but at 20 or more, they start evaluating your hand-baggage as well), but at the cost of a stack of Salami that I had bought for home. :( And also thanks to Kushal Das, who agreed to carry about 4 kilos of my clothes with him to Bangalore the previous day (and who had a bad time enroute, but I will let him write about it in his blog)
I did ask the lady checking me in about the signs everywhere that said "Your suitcases may be opened even after X-Raying, without you being present". She said that this was because of the heightened security measures (and later I heard that Kushal's suitcase had, in fact, been cracked open by the authorities). Not a very encouraging thought - not just because of the inconvenience caused to passengers, but because Europe is beginning to sound more and more like a certain terrorism-oriented police state formerly (but no longer) known as "the land of the free", where such things are commonplace.
From there, I went through security (for the local flight Berlin to Frankfurt), and *this* is where all my preparation paid off. As I approached the x-ray machine manned by tough looking security people, I opened my rucksack, and removed the clear plastic bag containing all my cables and chargers. I put it in one tray, my laptop in the next, and the rucksack in the third. One of the security people immediately smiled wildly and *thanked me* for being so considerate! Normally, they would have had to pass the thing through the x-ray, then open the bag, remove the laptop and the cables and scan them separately. It may sound like a small thing, but in doing what I did, they didn't have to do this repeat scanning, which adds up on a busy morning.
I then sheepishly handed my guitar to the security guard, explained what it was, and that I couldn't check it in, and asked him to be careful as he passed it through the x-ray. He did it personally, even cushioning the head of the guitar with my jacket so that the tuners weren't resting directly on the belt. Then he stood beside the guy manning the scanner and explained to him what he was seeing.
End result: the guitar came through one shot, and I was in and out of security in less than 2 minutes (after the obligatory body search). And as I packed the laptop and cables back into my bag, two of the security people discussed the merits of the Yamaha Silent Guitar over another model I had not heard of (by Martin) with me. Talk about breaking the ice! :)
Onward to Frankfurt.
The flight to Frankfurt was uneventful, but on landing, we got assigned a non-aerobridge slot, which meant a bus trip to the terminal, and potentially another security check! :( Thankfully, the latter did not happen, but the bus-trip took forever.
At Frankfurt Terminal 1, I needed to find the customs people because I needed to get my invoice for the guitar stamped to enable me to collect the refund for the 19% VAT that I had paid during the purchase. Found the solitary outpost, manned by a sleepy looking but very helpful lady, who guided me to the right place. Got the documents stamped, and proceeded to the next hurdle - Gate A55, from where my flight to Bangalore was to depart.
As I approached the gate, I could see trouble. The queue was LONG, winding from the gate, all the way to gate A53. I popped ahead to check what the issue was, and it became apparent soon enough - the staff at the check-in counter were reaming out any passenger carrying more than one piece of hand-baggage!
You can guess what I felt like, standing there with my rucksack and guitar. :(
I decided to do what I considered the smart thing - wait till the entire queue had checked in, and then come in at the fag end, and explain why I couldn't put my guitar or laptop into checked-in baggage, hoping that they would be lenient.
The queue decreased, and as it reached about 25%, I suddenly heard my name being called out on the PA, several times over.
Oh s**t! :(
I trudged over to the counter, warily identified myself, and had my boarding pass taken away from me. For the next few minutes, I stood there, not knowing why I had been singled out, or what was going to happen. I suspected that something had tripped an alert about my checked-in baggage. This is what had happened to Kushal and he had bad things to report.
Finally the lady got back, hollered my name, gave me back my boarding pass, then finally broke into a wide grin (which was a relief, because that icy stare of hers until then was making me VERY nervous) and informed me that I had been upgraded to Business Class. (Yeah, this must come as a blow to all those conspiracy theorists who believe that I am made of money - I travel cattle transport class, just like all of you :)
In itself this was nothing spectacular. I actually have been upgraded to Business Class before (hint - I always dress formally and "suitable for Business Class" when I fly), but this was a different situation. You see, under Business Class rules, I had more luggage allowance, and could take more than one piece of hand-baggage with me into the cabin!
Hallelujah! So much for several days of planning, agonizing and worry.
I don't remember much about the flight to Bangalore, except that I can confirm (thanks to in-flight video-on-demand) that Kylie Minogue not only survived her battle with breast cancer, but looks better than ever. If one were to describe her in one word, I'd say the word is "Yum!". :)
I slept through most of the flight, partly as a result of not having slept properly in the nights before, and partly because there really wasn't anything else to do. The food, unlike the rest of the facilities on this Lufthansa flight, was sad. I intentionally chose the Indian shrimp dish because I was desperate for something spicy to eat, but what I got was a bland and frankly unappetizing.
However, my highlight of the flight was when I went to the galley to get a glass of water, and two flight attendants were standing in the passage, and one of them said to the other (in German): "Lass doch bitte mal den jungen Mann durch" ("Please let the young man through"). I was so stunned that I almost dropped my glass, then burst out laughing! :)
The final hurdle was still waiting for me - how were Bangalore customs going to react to my trudging in with a reasonably expensive guitar (that certainly cost more than my duty-free import ceiling)? Turns out that they couldn't have cared less (must have been the formal dress again), and a couple of minutes after I finally got my baggage off the conveyor belt (took an hour - so much for Priority Handling), I was outside the airport building looking for my car!
As I sit here at home, guitar safely at my side, I think I *should* say Thank You! to that far-away angel who promised she'd pray for me - she certainly got the message through! Things couldn't have gone smoother! :)
I have lots of stuff to report about my trip to Germany, and I will try and write about some of the things over the next few days, but for now, I need to unwind and relax - Saturday will see the next Team FOSS.IN meeting, and Monday it is back to work!
Now, how did Sting play "Shape of my Heart" again...?
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