Eurotrip 2024 (Pre-tour)

(Part 1 of a series.)

Prologue
DK and I took this trip in February 2024. Most our trips were DIY, but this one was different because DK contacted a Travel Agent and booked a tour package. We opted to go the package route since it was our first time.

Part of the preparation, which is very hard for us, is the visa application. For lack of better term, it was hard. Too many administrative things to do. One of the hardest for me was to get was my boss's approval. I had to mentally and emotionally prepare myself to time my talk with him and make sure he participates as required to support my visa application documents. It was good that he willingly participated. And since I had to file my actual vacation days, his official approval is needed. We passed that hurdle.

DK is so good with documents and administrative stuff that I only had to think of things that I could only take care from my end.

We submitted quite a lot of documents to the visa center. Let me exaggerate that the papers were thick. All of that because we have to prove that we're real people and won't do anything fishy.

We got an approved Schengen visa. Funny thing? We were granted only for February 7 to 17, 2024. We can't extend and really have to enter and leave on the exact dates.

Still exciting, though.

Travel Day
February 7th was a Wednesday. I was taking an extended vacation, contrary to the usual thing of taking a full week.

I prepared myself quite well, although it was unnerving when I found out that our flight was leaving around 8pm of February 7th Manila time then we will be arriving in Frankfurt at February 8th around 8am, when it was around 2pm in Manila. So basically, we will spend 24 hours travelling and my first thought was time skip! (I felt like an anime character for a bit.)

We took quite a while in the check-in counter but everything went well afterwards. We also got to stay in the passenger lounge, so we were comfortable and we have food and drinks while waiting.

I think we stayed there for at least an hour before we boarded.

Flying
I pushed DK to upgrade the Manila-Abu Dhabi leg to business class. It was around 9 hours of flight time and I convinced her that it would be beneficial since it would be comfortable. It was quite embarassing, to be honest, being first timers in business class.

Everyone was so classy and normal, while there I was sitting, fiddling with the controls, peeking at every corner of my seat, and just being idiotic with how everything works.

My first surprise was that there are no "under the seat in front of you". Everything went in the overhead compartment. My second surprise was that I didn't notice how boarding really takes long. When everything is spacious and you get offered a drink when you sit down, you won't really notice the time.

Oh, and I have this travel tradition where I bring some sweets for the cabin crew. The lady I gave them to asked if I was an ex-crew because I seem to understand them lot. I just told her that I used to work in the airline industry and I know that being a cabin crew is hard. She seemed glad for the treats though.

Either way, it was my first time to a long-haul flight and in business class, too. It was a good experience that I would do it again.

Side Note: DK and I agreed that if a flight would take longer than 6 hours, we should at least get better seats and if we can afford it, upgrade to business class.

I forgot the time we arrived at Abu Dhabi airport. The clearance and transfer was smooth, and it was my first time in a world hub. I felt small and intimidated by everything I saw.

On that thought, it really gave me a perspective. The world is small, but is also big. And there's a lot to see. It gave me a lot of "shoulda woulda coulda" thoughts.

Flying - Part 2
We boarded the next flight from Abu Dhabi to Frankfurt and this time, it's economy class. The surprising thing was, the business class upgrade on this flight is more expensive than the one from Manila to Abu Dhabi so we didn't upgrade this one. The airline told us that the price really depends on the region and if we wanted to upgrade this leg, we will have to arrange it in Abu Dhabi before boarding. DK and I are like, "oh well, it's only 5 hours, so there's that".

DK actually got the premium seats with the bigger legroom so we were seated comfortably. The funny thing was, the aisle seat was vacant (nobody paid for it), and not more than an hour in the flight, a guy actually sat on it. I looked at him and just asked "can I take this seat temporarily, I'm letting my wife lie down in our row". I just nodded in acknowledgement. I can't do anything about it anyway. And as long as we're not disturbed.

I took a nap. Food was served, too. One cabin crew member was quite strict. I heard her say to one passenger behind us "I already told you the choices". Maybe she got annoyed by repeating to the same passenger. I just minded my business.

Arrival
Upon deplaning the first thing I always notice was the ambient temperature. It was quite cool.

The second thing I noticed was an unusual one. There were actual police officers checking our passports upon deplaning. These weren't immigration officers; they were police officers. It was weird for me because they don't usually check your passports upon getting off the plane. Even DK was surprised. Well, most of our co-passengers were surprised. (At this point, some of the tour group members were in the flight.)

There was no hassle though, they just looked at the visa and our faces. Just visual matching, I guess?

Anyway, when we got to the actual immigration counters the third thing is also surprising. They actually allow more than one person to face the immigration officer. Where most of our experience was one by one regardless if you're travelling together, the immigration officer asked DK and I to go together.

The immigration officer was so confident with his job that he knows that I'm letting DK speak for both of us. Everything was so smooth though. Officer even asked how long the trip was and how many countries we are planning to visit. DK answered that our tour is only until the 17th and we plan to visit at least 7 countries. Officer was smiling when he was stamping our passports and visas while saying "oh, you should get going, then". DK and I found his reaction funny.

Actual Arrival
Our tour group assembled in the arrival hall of Frankfurt airport, panicking for a bit to look for the tour bus. Lucky for us, there were quite a few people who have experience with this travel agency and know what to do. We just had to follow them to find the bus.

It was 5 celsius and raining. It was also around 8am in the morning. The first stop was the hotel.

DK and I have officially and actually arrived in Frankfurt, the first city in our Eurotrip.

Let the adventure begin!

-- Raisondetroy