This is a picture of my husband, Ed, right before my "shake down" in Germany.Our flight landed in Munich and we got our first taste of a foreign country. Having some time to waste we made sure we knew where to go to catch our next flight and then headed for a coke and candy bar. Simple, right? Only the only things we could find were "heavy" foods like German sausages and heavy dinner items. It was early in the morning but it seemed everyone was getting major meals plus lots of beer. And cokes were hard to find. We settled for an expensive Toblerone candy bar (no snickers or m and m's anywhere) with a bottled water. AND we used our first Euros. Correctly, I might add.
I think I mentioned that we exchanged some Euros about a week before we left. That was a good idea but there are change machines everywhere in the airports and ATM machines available to get more Euros so it wouldn't have been a major faux paux to have none with us.
Anyway, once time neared for our flight to leave we proceeded through our checkpoint. This is where my husband breezed through the German officials, we slid our backpack and my purse through the x-ray machine, took off our shoes and belts and emptied our pockets and proceeded through the personal screening (no walk through machines but those wands that they run up and down your body. )
I told you that we were going to go on this cruise with some other couples and eveyone but one couple had gone on to Athens a couple of days ahead of us. We were keeping up with our fellow travelers when we could but their seats were no where near ours in the planes and where they opted to eat a full breakfast in Germany we were looking for the candy and cokes. But it was really nice to have a familiar face when you headed to the planes to reassure yourself that you were either at the right place or you if lost you would be lost with someone else you knew. (Jane's Perpective -" it's better to be lost together than lost alone")
I explain this to tell you how easily everyone drifted through the checkpoint. Gathering together on the other side, no one seemed to notice that I was pulling up the rear and for some reason was getting a really thorough "going over" by this huge German woman in uniform with the "wand". Everyone else was talking and laughing together anticipating their next move while for some reason this German woman thought this middle aged starving artist looked suspicious or something for she grabbed my arm, ran the wand roughly over my body especially around my breasts actually pushing the wand into my body (I thought those things worked by waving them close to your body, not actually touching). I was basically getting "shaken down" while no one in my party seemed to notice. I looked toward my husband and let out a little "Edward" (which is what I call him when I really need his attention) but he didn't look my way. One of our other traveling companions did, however and grabbed Ed to get his attention. For a split second I could see myself trying to explain who knows what I had on my body (the underwire in my bra?). Seeing the desperation on my face, everyone turned to come to my aid just as the German lady let me go (with a frown I might add). I sorta felt violated by her roughness and wondered why she picked on me. But all I knew was that between the strange foods, languages, signs, and people I was seeing, I was not in Kansas any more.
It was the beginning of what was to become one of the most exciting adventures of our lives.
