Travel With Phie

Day 1 (ish)

Well I should probably start with Day 0 – Before a ski trip: Stressed and unprepared.

I usually like to be involved in the planning on trips. I enjoy the planning because that way I can be prepared, understand what is happening, and can plan accordingly. However, with starting a new job, moving to a new city, and trying to make new friends, I was involved in only 1 part of the trip, using Venmo to pay others for the plans they created. This left me with calling my sister the night before, stressed and unsure of what to pack and how to pack it all. After calling her, she let me know that she was bringing her skis along with her as well as mainly ski items with a couple apres ski outfits. After hearing this slight panic ran through me as I was flying a new airline and was unsure if skis were include in my 1 free checked bag. After researching for a long time and calling most of my family, I decided to send it and try and bring my ski as part of my 1 free checked bag.

I began to pack, I put all of my ski items (ski boots, snow pants, ski jacket, gloves, helmet, winter hat, skis, & ski boots) all within my ski bag. I put all my ski undergarments as well as a couple apres ski clothes within my 1 carry-on bag. After packing, I worked a couple hours and then headed to bed waiting for the next day to come.

Day 1 (officially)

Today was a day of mixed feelings.

I arrived at the airport 3 hours before my flight to ensure that my checked ski bag was able to make it on the plane without any issues and if there was issues, I wanted to make sure I had time to hail an Uber bring my skis back to my apartment and make it back to the airport with plenty of time to spare. Needless to say, I had no issues and was simply just at the airport and through security with 2 hours and 55 minutes of “free time.” I spent this time, working off my phone, watching TikTok’s, wandering around the terminal getting my steps in, and getting deep into my thoughts.

After the 2 hours and 55 minutes were up, it was time to board my flight. I grabbed my bag, phone, and phone charger and headed onboard for my 10 hour flight to Frankfurt where my 1st, and only layover would occur. Throughout the flight, I spent my time watching movies, semi-eating the plane food, sleeping, and talking with the very nice man next to me. He was from Germany, but was living in Norway and was in Boulder for a weather conference.

After I landed in Frankfurt, I had an an hour before my next flight. I got off the plane, went through customs, walked to my next gate, waited a little and then boarded my next flight to Zurich. This flight was a quick one about 1.5-2 hours. I was fairly tired, so I mainly slept on this flight.

Once I landed, I went to baggage claim to grab my skis before exiting through customs. Once I got to baggage claim I waited about 15/20 minutes and still my ski had not arrived. At this moment, I decided to go and try and find the lost luggage counter. I found it and figured out that the Frankfurt airport was on strike and that was why the bag had not arrived. They were unsure of where it was but told me that if/when it was found I could track it, if I entered my information and that I had lost a bag within their portal. I entered my information hoping they would find my luggage soon. After crying a little about all of my ski stuff being lost and calling my dad, I left the airport via train to venture into the city and meet-up with 2 of the folks I was joining on the trip.

Once I trained into the city, I found Emily & Nate and went to drop my luggage (at this point, my 1 backpack) off at the AirBnB. After walking 15 minutes, we arrived at the AirbBnB, in which I quickly showered and changed. My sister was also joining us on this adventure, so we hung out in the AirBnB for about an hour before heading back to the train station to swoop Carly and truly begin our VayCay!

Once we had all made it back to the AirBnB from grabbing Carly from the train station. Carly quickly showered and changed. Once she was ready we decided to walk around the city a little and make our way to find dinner (the third main objective of the trip).

After walking around a while, we stumbled across a delicious looking Italian restaurant. We waited about 10 minutes until we got a table. We all ordered a glass of wine and both pairs split a pasta & pasta. Carly and I got a butter ravioli and when I tell you it was the best pasta I have EVER had, I truly mean it.

After dinner we, of course, went to grab drinks. We found a very interesting little bar and all grabbed a cocktail, they were below average, but it is for the experience, right? We then walked around a tad more before finding another bar. This bar we stuck to the basics and all got some unreal beer and cider. After the bar, we decided to turn in and head back for the night before our long day of travels tomorrow.