Welcome to Dusseldorf

One step closer! The flight from Chicago wasn't bad, but we didn't get much sleep. I went through both laptop batteries and Kristi watched two lame movies as we passed the time. When we first arrived, it was VERY quiet in the Dusseldorf terminal. No music, no TV, and absolutely nobody in the waiting area where we are. Felt like a library. To entertain myself, I acted like the people in the signs and insisted Kristi take pictures of me (why does she put up with me?) But after a while more people started to show up and wait by our gate. It was really interesting hearing all of the different languages and I thought I recognized the people who spoke Ukrainian / Russian.

It was overcast, gray, and misty outside, but not enough to interfere with the flights. We boarded a bus that took us out to our plane (a small regional jet). We boarded and the flight crew went through all the pre-flight info, but taxiing out to the runway, the pilot came over the intercom and said there was a problem and we'd have to return to the gate and get a different aircraft. Time to unload everything again, get back on the bus, and head back to the terminal. We just waited near the gate, but the poor Lufthansa gate agent was dealing with a lot of angry people! He handled it well and within 30 minutes, we were all back on a new airplane and heading to Kiev.

Two layovers, three cities, and four aircraft, but soon we'll be in Ukraine and then the REAL journey begins!