Day 11
Thursday, 19 October 2017
Start: Tbilisi (2:00)
Arrival: Luxembourg (8:00)
Total: 3100 km km
On which I safely returned to Luxembourg
At two in the night, I met with Irakli and he drove me to the airport. It felt strange walking again towards the low building in the cool nightair. Like years had passed since I first stepped out onto this sidewalk to have a cigarette with Aarat. To think that it had only been a few days.
I felt sorry to leave this enchanting and friendly country. There was still so much to discover, but at home people were waiting for me too. So we said our good-byes and I borded the plane. Even though it was late in the night, I was too wound up to find any sleep.
Munich Airport
Four hours later, I was back in Western Europe. Bleary-eyed, I walked around the waiting lounge in Munich airport. Not caring for a repeat of the endless train journey through Germany, I had gone online this morning around 1 am and booked a flight from Munich to Luxembourg. It was scheduled to leave around 10 am. Now it was before 6 in the morning, I had not slept for 24 hours and the last thing I wanted were four more hours of coffee sipping and window shopping. Maybe there was another way.
I stepped up to the registration counter. "Excuse me, I have a flight to Luxembourg at 10 am. Is there any possibility to get on an earlier flight?" The employee took my ticket and punched in some numbers. Then he looked up. "We don't like it when people try to get on a cheaper flight on the sly." I was non-plussed. "I'm happy to pay for any extra costs." He gave me a yeah-right look and turned his gaze back to the screen. "I will put you on the flight which leaves in half an hour..." (Yay!) "...but next time, book the correct flight straight away." "I don't mind paying the price difference!" I repeated, offended by his condescending manner. He just shot me an annoyed glance, handed me a new ticket and ignored me. Welcome back to Germany, I guess.
Not even three hours later, I hugged my sister and laughed. I was drop-dead tired and in bad need of a bed, but I had just returned from an amazing holiday, and the parts on my personal world map which read "Here be dragons" had yet again become a little bit smaller. There is a lot to discover and explore in the Caucasus, but I don't think there are any dragons to be found in the land of Saint George.