I'm not 100% certain, but I definitely think I will be stopped next time I head there and will have to go through more security then normal. I think to fully appreciate this story we need to rewind 24 hours prior to going through customs in Zurich.
Everything started off by us being late to leave St. Remy for the train station. We left Remy and had to take a detour because the road to the house was being worked on, then we got stuck in a traffic jam in Remy - how that is even possible I don't know because the town is smaller then Sicamous - there is only one main road. Needless to say it cost us about 12 minutes and made us VERY late for our train. Our train in Avignon, left at 2:15pm and it's about a 30 minute drive from Remy (and I should mention that there is only ONE train a day to Zurich and if we missed it, it would be a mistake that would cost us about $800 CND) - so we were now praying for a miracle because if we caught that train, it would be only be by a minute or two. So you can imagine how that drive was. ;) Haha. Next we were supposed to get gas for our rental car, but that was out of the window. We ripped to the train station pulling in at 2:08pm but still had the rental car - I ran to the platform while Arnold dealt with the car. Much to my surprise the train was delayed by 30 minutes woohooo. We could have stopped for gas haha, but I was just happy we didn't miss our train.
Second problem. I was so flustered by our car ride that I put in the wrong date on our Rail Pass. And holy crap!!! Worst mistake a person could do. I don't want to talk about that whole experience because it wasn't fun. But we got off pretty lightly considering, but it still cost us a bit of money. After thanking our lucky stars we made it onto the train we said going forward that was NEVER going to happen again. We didn't care if we were waiting for hours at the airport/train station. We weren't going to be rushing around like that. HA HA
Arrived in Zurich, spent the night. Got up extra early, made sure we were packed (day one of our new motto). Spoke with the hotel desk about the best way to get to the airport from there. Told us our options and relaxed a bit. We had more then enough time and were feeling good - we even went for a morning stroll and went to Starbucks - and just as a side note. Zurich is fricking expensive!!! Two drinks at Starbucks cost me $15 CAD!!!! hahah amazing, right. Anyway, went back to the hotel, checked out. Got to the train station 10 minutes before the airport train arrived. Sweet!! We were doing it. Going to be early. Our flight was at 12:45pm. We got to the airport at 10:30am. Not bad right. Well this is where things fell apart big time. We check in and head to the lounge because we had so much time to kill. BUT they didn't mention to us that in Zurich you have to clear customs, take a train to the terminal, then go through security and then to your gate.
Our flight starts boarding at 12:20pm so at 12:10pm we leave the lounge to head to the gate. First, the line to get down to customs was 10 minutes. Then once you are down, you have to pick a customs line which was another 10-15 minutes. We picked the wrong one - after spending about 7 minutes in it and not moving
I jumped ship and got a better line for us. Sweet the line is cruising. By this point it's 12:35pm. We get to the customs officer and she told me that I have spent 95 days in Europe and I am only allowed to spent 90 days!?!?!?! WHAT??? Did I hear that right?? What about all those people that backpack through Europe for months on end. My stomach was in knots. What does this mean? are we going to miss our flight? do I have to pay a fine? Do they sit me down and interview me for hours on end as to why I spent so much time in Europe? I could be in a lot of trouble. Thankfully, she was in a great mood, she looked at our ticket and was like "well you are probably going to miss your flight so I'll just let you go, but I'll write a note in your passport". Thank you, thank you, thank you. So we start running thinking we would be near the gate soon. But No, we have to take a train which was 1.30minutes away. Are you kidding me?!?! We might miss our flight and we were at the airport 2 hours before - how could it happen. Ugh.
Needless to say - those next 10 minutes were not fun either. We were running through the airport like two mad people. Seriously, worst 24 hours we could have had. haha, but we made it to India and all is well. If you want entertainment in your life, just travel with us and it is non-stop haha
Love Melissa and Arnold
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