Shipping people and cargo

It's one week before our move and the Icelandic volcano still is affecting flights and cargo shipping around Europe. Some people are asking if we will get our flight as scheduled and the answer is, who knows! They lifted the flight ban today, but they say German airspace could close again at any time. We are prepared to stay in a hotel if need be and get a flight when (and where) we can. And we are also bracing for the fact that our air and sea cargo that will be shipped from Germany may take a lot longer to arrive in the US because of the backlog. Worst case, we have to take a train to southern Europe and catch a flight there. Dan wants to book passage on the Queen Mary 2, but I wouldn't like 7 days at sea.

Today I took Bruno to the vet for his pre-travel health check. In typical German style, they were reluctant to give him a health certificate because they have no records of his puppy shots. I was already stressed out from getting one anxious dog and one tired three year old on and off the train to her office and wasn't in the mood to deal with this "everyone is inferior to Germany" attitude. So, I firmly told her that our US vet is USDA certified and wouldn't have issued Bruno a USDA health certificate if he didn't receive his puppy shots. After more arguing, she reluctantly handed over the health certificate and tranquilizers for the flight.

Tonight we have another good-bye dinner, this time with Dan's co-workers. Gianna and I enjoyed some much deserved post-vet visit treats to hold us over. I had a simple, but delicious apfelkuchen: