Departing KIV: Not!

We were scheduled to depart Chisinau (KIV) on Sunday morning, December 26th. We had worked hard to pack up all our things. And we gave away everything left in our pantry and fridge, and many other things that we just could not pack to take back home with us. Our driver picked us up, loaded everything in the car, and we were off to the airport!

As we drove down Stefan cel Mare, Peggy and I were saying "Good Bye, Stefan cel Mare," "Good Bye Art Market," "Good Bye Mall-Dova," "Good Bye. . . ." well, you get the idea.

I had checked our flight status on the KIV airport site, and everything looked to be on time. So I was surprised when we arrived to see a long line of customers at the AirMoldova desk. I had checked the status of my flight before logging off of my laptop:

http://www.airport.md/departures-en/

And expedia had not sent me an email advising me of any issues with my flight.

So I was surprised to learn that my flight would be delayed 7 hours. Which was long enough to mean that we would miss our connection in Frankfurt. And would be unable to get home.

We learned this *after* getting rid of everything in our apartment, packing up all of our things, and turning over the keys to the apartment.

Waiting in line to find an alternative itinerary to get us home took more than 6 hours. By the time we left, we thought we had tickets for the following morning. And AirMoldova put us up in the Codru Hotel (in the City Center).

Our new itinerary was to send us from Chisinau to Kiev to Frankfurt to Dulles to Tampa. More layovers than we had originally planned, but, we would only be delayed by one day.

We called our driver, loaded all of the suitcases back into the car, and set off for the Codru Hotel.

I decided that with all of these additional layovers, we should get an additional suitcase and take less with us on the plane (to schlepp around unknown terminals, racing to make a connection)

The Codru Hotel was located right across from one of the playgrounds we used to visit, so we were planning to get in some playtime, and then head to Stefan cel Mare for lunch (actually, by this time it was closer to 2 pm, and we had not had breakfast or lunch during the 6+ hours we were trying to resolve our ticket situation. . . ) and then to purchase a new suitcase.

We were so pleased that as soon as we walked out of the door of our hotel, we bumped into one of Peggy's teachers and our Swedish friends. We had wanted so much to have had a playdate with them, but we just never found the time. They invited us over for a playdate later that evening.

Our first stop was along Stefan cel Mare, in the Gemini shopping plaza, to look for a suitcase. We found just what we were looking for, and then discussed our lunch options. I really wanted to go to the "yellow chair" cafe on Pushkin Str. for one more bowl of zama and some Moldovan meatballs, but Peggy really wanted a caramel sundae and some indoor playground playtime. So, we went to McDonalds. We were on our way back to the U.S., and we went to McDonalds.... But Santa Claus and his helper did come to visit us at our table. And her Happy Meal "toy" was a juicer that we could use with some Florida oranges upon our return home.

After our errands, we were delighted to have the opportunity to have a playdate with with our Swedish friends. I enjoyed some glogg and my favorite bucuria chocolates by the fire, Peggy had a ball playing. It had been a harrowing day at the airport, but what a pleasant ending.

We were sad to leave our friends, and Chisinau, and the reality was finally setting in. When we got back to the hotel room, and I was setting the alarm (on my cell phone), Peggy said "Don't set the alarm! Don't set the alarm!" And I responded that if I did not set the alarm that we would not be ready for the driver when he came very early the next morning. She protested that she did not want to leave Moldova. Did not want to be ready early in the morning for our driver or to make our plane at the airport. (It had been a tearful Good Bye with our friends.) It had been so busy in the days leading up to our departure -- that the reality had just not sunk in for either of us. Until that evening in the Codru Hotel.