Homeward Bound

Rome to Frankfurt, Frankfurt to Vancouver, Vancouver to Whitehorse. That's our route. Rome to Frankfurt on a very reasonable afternoon flight after some drama of trying to get all the stuff into the luggage we have. We ended up buying more luggage, which lasted 5 minutes before the front zipper broke. Sigh. Trying to get us, the luggage, the dog crate and the dog into a station wagon was even more fun. We did the magical mystery tour of Rome, and saw some new things.

Check in took quite a long time because we had a dog. The tail back of our fellow passengers was getting rather agitated by the time the gate agents were finally done with us. The flight was smooth and short, Isla was very happy to see us at the other end. We left the mass of luggage at the bag storage and checked into the Steigenberger hotel - lovely! It is situated right beside a huge forest which makes this Canadian feel right at home.

We took the opportunity to travel into Frankfurt by train.

We weren't fully prepared for how cold it would be, so we satisfied ourselves by a quick meal and returned to the hotel. The dog was happy to go with us and we were happy to have her. We love how welcome she is in Germany. The restaurant even brought her a dog bowl!

The next day our flight was at 10:40, with the dog we needed to be there 3 hours before. Sigh. Up we got, off we went. I can't say enough good stuff about Lufthansa, at the Frankfurt terminal we asked where to check in for business class (Yay aeroplan points!). In fact, there is a special check in area for people travelling with pets. What a great idea. We've encountered folks who are stuck dealing with dogs who are actually afraid of them (hello YVR, we are talking about you). At that point we discovered that Isla's cage was supposed to have a dish attached to the door so that the folks handling the dog could give her water. We'd put a dish in her cage, but that was not cool. The very kind man in line with his dog gave us his spare! People are really good.

Christopher breezed through passport control, much to our amazement. The officer asked him if he'd really been in the EU for 5 months, looked at his colleage, shook his head, and stamped his passport. All the work for the permisso di sojourno was for a magic talisman obviously.

Arriving in Canada after the 10 hour flight was amazingly simple.  Breezed through passport control again, even after checking 'yes' on two of the boxes on the declaration (do you have fruits or vegtables, and do you have goods in excess of your allowed exemptions). No duty owed. Unfortunately for us, and the dog, who really had to pee, we had to clear agricultural officers - to the cost of $31. The cashier was slower than cold molasses, ignoring the poor whimpering, shaking dog. Then the line to get out of the customs area was forever... anyway, Isla made it without soiling her crate and was very excited to be back with us.

We're in Vancouver in a lovely loft apartment with a private balcony and hot tub! Jet lagged....