End Of The Line ...

The door opens and we depart the aircraft. The cold hits us like a smack in the head. Down the ramp into the airport you have some steps that lead to the bottom floor to customs. We were met by the local 6ft blondes in tight uniforms, 4 inch heels and wearing 9mm on their hips. Not a bad sight to see when you arrive after a white out flight and landing. Passport please and hello how are you doing ? Fine thank you and it is good to see you again.This all takes any where from 5 minutes to 1 hour and then you are off to claim your luggage.
The fun of getting you bags is trying to catch them as you are bumped and shoved by the loud crazy old ladies that want to beat you through the door to see their loved ones that they have not seen in 17 years. I can and do understand this behavior so I don't bump and shove back.
The wheel goes around and no bags are dropping. The wheel goes around and there is silence. No bags , none. The wheel stops, crazy old ladies crying, men setting down and just a lost look from everyone. The minutes go by and someone ask the blondes with the 9mm what's up. You will not believe this. The doors on the aircraft are frozen shut. I am in a state of well, I don't know what state I was in. I am still numb from Amsterdam so I just sit down and watch the crazy old ladies scream and start laughing.
There are two doors leading out to the waiting area. One door you can see out of the other you can't. I am near the door you can see out of and try to see Maryna . Nope not a trace. I want to see her so she will know I have arrived and be calm. The time now is 4.30 pm and I arrived at 3.15 pm. The wheel starts again and a few bags drop. The bad thing about long layover's is that your bags are the first on and the last off. I know this and have tried to tell people about it. Do they listen ? Hell No!! The next problem is that the ground is so slick that the machines can't get traction and the bags have to be unloaded by hand. It is near 5.00 pm and the bags start dropping again. My hand to God, my bag is the last one to come down the chute. I head out the door and into the arms of my loving wife. Wrong !! Maryna is not there. She had to be at the flat at 4.00pm to get the keys and sign for the week. Andrainna our friend and the driver John met me. I am told that I am late and it is dark. It is my fault that they have had to wait and the driver is upset. The ice, frozen doors and all the delays are my fault.
Uzhgorod Ukraina is about a 4 hour drive from Budapest Hungary on a good day. This was not a good day for anything much less driving. It was bad cold , ice, snow and 3 pissed off people. I do not get angry very easy and when I do, I get over it and I still love you . These two get angry and stay angry. I call a time out and ask if they have the phone number to the flat so we can call Maryna and let her know that we are late leaving. Yes, they have the number . Ok great let's call. No !! The mobile phones will not work in Hungary. No problem I have a calling card, let's call and let her know. Ok, first we will drive to our favorite pub and then call. Fine with me, let's go. We get to the pub and I try to call. The phone lines are frozen. WTF ? Yep the phone lines are frozen. There are times when you just say what the hell and march on. This was one of those times. The time now is 6.00pm. The closer to Ukraina we got the worse the weather got. Our 4 hour trip was now 6 hours and we have not gone through customs yet. Now going through customs can be trying for the normal person. These normal people don't understand that you can bribe your way into Ukraina. A few words and a few dollars later we are through and 26 km to my wife. The phone call was made.Andrainna and Maryna talk, she hands the phone to me, I can hear my loves sweet voice and I was ask ;Why you make us wait so long? Honey Please!!!Can you fucking beleive it. To this day when I hear her say those words I want to eat nails..The cold got much colder.