Just wanted to let you know that we finally made it home! My husband and I are finally in America. However, we had some MAJOR complications on our way home. We were fine all the way up until we arrived in Frankfurt for the last leg of our trip. Naxchivan was wonderful, and we visited with Farid's family for two days, which was perfect. Then we flew to Istanbul, which was also wonderful. We got to see Farid's brothers, and spent a lot of time just doing the tourist thing. We stayed in a little cheap hostel in the heart of the city where we were out late each night. It was fabulous, and I really enjoyed our time there even though we both had bad chest and head colds by that time.
Then we flew from Istanbul to Ankara for a short layover. That leg of the trip also went fine. Then Ankara to Frankfurt. That too went fine. However, when we got to Frankfurt, we were not able to leave the terminal were our Istanbul flight landed, and head to our boarding area for our flight to America because it had a one hour layover on the way to Seattle in Iceland. Since the flight had a layover in another European Union country, that meant it had to board in the domestic terminal. We were told that because Farid does not have a shengen visa (the European Union visa) then he can not enter Germany... after arguing something like this "we only want to go to our next flight, we don't want to enter Germany..." "But your night flight boards in the domestic flight terminal, so you have to enter Germany to get there, and you don't have a shengen visa so you can't go to your next flight." We finally found out that the only way we would be able to get home is to buy an entirely new set of tickets directly from the international terminal (US Airlines, American Airlines, or Lufthansa via United). Understandably, I was both panicked and freaked out, and crying, making a horrible scene at the airport. I was allowed to enter Germany, but Farid was not.
I went through into "Germany" aka the other side of the airport, and picked up all of our bags. Then I had to go bring them back to the transit area where Farid was waiting. This required a police escort, and the police were very involved in helping us to figure out exactly what customs had already told us, that they can't help us, and that the only way out is to buy a ticket back to Turkey, or a new ticket to the US direct. So, we had to buy new tickets to the US. We found that if we waited a day at the airport, there was a direct flight to Seattle. This cost us $3,000. The entire amount that PC had deposited into my account that week. We didn't have enough in the Bank, so we had to use the cash we had in combination with the money in my account. However, we got the tickets.
BUT, in order to check in for that flight, I had to take all of our bags... 3 of them, plus two carry-on bags by myself all the way through the domestic terminal and to the check in counter. I waited in line for an hour and a half, only to be told I was in the wrong line, that I was in "group check in" and would need to go somewhere else with all my stuff. After explaining that I was checking in for two people, I was told that a group is for 5 or more... but the nice man checked me in anyway. It was at this point I learned that unlike our original tickets that had a layover in Iceland, we were not allowed two bags per person, but rather one. So, we had to pay an additional 40 euros (70 dollars) for the third bag. This required me to go to the second floor in a different area of the terminal. I went to pay it, only to find out that they wouldn't take US dollars. So I had to go find an exchange place all the way back where I checked our bags. Then got euros, went back across the terminal, upstairs again, and then paid the baggage fee. The lady saw how stressed I was an apologised for making me "run around the airport." I explained it wasn't her, but told her the sad story. She immediately looked in her computer and found an "upgrade" to our seats. We got the emergency exit row! Which was awesome! It was like being in business class since there were only two seats next to each other with about 4 feet of leg room! It was great.... but, we haven't gotten to the flight yet.
I digress... after upgrading the seats, I was already 2 and a half hours away from Farid. Neither of us has a cell phone that works in Germany, so he is waiting for me in the transit terminal with no clue of what is going on or when I will be back. By this point, he was worried that something had gone wrong, and had used information to call the lufthansa line. They tracked me down while I was upgrading the seats, and they told him I was on my way back in 5 min. So I left the area really happy... then I got to the security check point between the two areas. They refused me entry. They said that since my ticket was for tomorrow, that I wasn't allowed in until after midnight! I told them that lufthansa had just told me to go to their check in desk in the transit lounge, but they still said no. So I went back to lufthansa and explained in tears that security refused me entry, and they knew my husband was waiting on the other side (without money or passport as I needed both for payment and check in for the flight). So they called security, and they told me to go through a different check point and that the security would notify that point that I was coming. I got to a further check point station as instructed, but was again, denied. I insisted that they contact their supervisor as he had been notified, but they refused. Then some nice young guard listened to my story, and said, come on, it's like seriously an hour and a half before midnight, so just let her through. I finally got through, but couldn't find my way to the transit lounge! The Frankfurt airport is too large. I found the area Farid was in, but I was separated by a glass wall. I saw him, he did not see me! I was pounding on the glass when two police officers saw me, and I pointed to Farid. They got his attention, and then showed him the way to get to my area. It took over 3 hours to get back to him. Then we had to sleep on a hard bench in the transit area over night because they won't open the area to the gates at night. Needless to say, it was not a good night. We were both worried our laptop bag with Farid's visa packet would be stolen. It was not, thankfully.
We finally got onto the flight, and the flight was smooth, without problems. Lufthansa is wonderful, and I will never make the same mistake again when travelling between the US and Europe. With airline tickets, you obviously get what you pay for... as the original tickets we had bought were only 550 each. So we will be trying to get a refund of any kind, as there were no notifications about shengen visas online when I purchased the tickets. In the US we arrived about 15 min late due to a late take off (too many planes on the runway). After arrival, we stood in line in the visitor's line (I had to check in with him) and were told the computers were all down nationwide for passport control desk. So we stood there for 35 min. Then when we finally got through, we were sent to another area for processing our visa packet. When we got there, the line was a good 10 people before us, most in wheelchairs and non-native English speakers. We got to the front of the line, only to be told to have a seat. They hat to check in everyone else that day before they would review our packet. It only really took about 45 more min. Which wasn't so bad. He got a stamp in his passport (it will serve as his temporary green card until the actual card arrives.) Then we hugged, and went to get our bags... some of the only ones left.
We are both very tired, and really just glad to have this part done. The travel part is becoming more and more complicated, as we just found out that the tourist visa to Azerbaijan is now only valid for 7 days... so much for going back to visit the in-laws. So, for now, we will just sit tight, and try to relax hopefully in the next week we'll be less jet-lagged. Just wanted you all to know that we are home, safe if not sound of mind.
