Some of our tour-mates were staying longer in Vienna.  Dennis and I, however, had decided to return home directly after the tour since we had started out 4 or 5 days early.  So, bright and early the next morning we took a taxi to the Vienna airport.  We were flying from Vienna to Frankfurt, and then on to Seattle.  To be quite truthful, we were both a little apprehensive about the trip home.  We weren't anticipating any issues with the Vienna airport, but we knew from experience that the Frankfurt airport is ENORMOUS - far bigger than many of the towns we visited.  With our ongoing mobility issues, we were glad we had left ourselves a layover of almost 3 hours.  Just to make sure we'd be okay, we even reserved a "golf cart" ride to be waiting for us in Frankfurt, since we had no idea how far we'd have to walk.

​

We were s-o-o-o-o-o glad we had reserved that cart.  Our flight from Vienna was an hour and a half late in departing, leaving us a much shorter time to get to our new gate.  That cart ride was great fun, and we never would have made it on time without it.  When we finally arrived at the departure gate, they immediately loaded us on the last bus to the airplane.  As we were riding, we were discussing the fact that our bags would never make the plane.  We were right.  We waited hopefully at the baggage claim in Seattle, but our bags didn't arrive, of course.  Dennis's bag was delivered to our home 2 days later, and mine was delivered 4 days later.  Hurray!

​

It could have been so much worse, however.  We learned after our return home that our airline (Thomas Cook) declared bankruptcy the day AFTER we arrived home.  If that had happened one day earlier, it would have been a massive "oops" and I'm afraid we both would have violated the "no grumps" Rick Steves policy.

​

Rick Steves tours are well-advertised as "active" and that's a very accurate description!  We've always been active, had never had a problem keeping up with the group pace and certainly didn't anticipate our trip turning into an "oops" scenario.  To paraphrase a common saying, however, "stuff happens."  Luckily, nothing was so bad that we needed to cancel the remainder of the trip and return home.

​

As I said in the beginning, the Rick Steves philosophy saved the day for us:

- Iris was a great guide and she took very good care of us while also taking care of the rest of the group.

- Our hotels were centrally located.  This allowed us to wander around to sight-see without needing to walk long distances.

- Plenty of free time.  We had enough free time in every place we visited to stroll around and take in as much as we wanted.

- Small groups of friendly people.  I remember so many times when a fellow-traveler helped out.  And all with a smile!

 

In retrospect, this was certainly not the trip we had imagined, but we had a great time and would do it again in a heart beat!