Covid dodokpɔ aɖeke meli o... nukae fifia?

Now we are practically at the end of our journey, even though we won't be home until tomorrow evening local time, today already feels like the grand finale.

We had planned well, the car had to be returned to Heartsfield Airport at 6 p.m., our flight was scheduled for 8:15 p.m. We booked through Delta Airlines, but the flights were operated by Air France with a layover in Paris.

Since last night I have been trying to check us in, but unfortunately it didn't work via the app or the airline's website, just like on the outward flight. But we were confident that everything would work out. We especially wanted to sit together. For this there was already a partial success today, because somehow I got the information that I had checked in for the transatlantic flight with adjoining seats - perfect.

We skipped breakfast at the hotel, as we still had delicious pizza from last night. It actually tasted very good even when cold. We packed our suitcases for the final time and weighed them. Nadine's suitcase was actually on the border, but we were confident that we could rearrange things if necessary. We had planned to visit a mall today to pass the time, regardless of the weather. Besides, there is always the opportunity to grab something to eat and have access to toilets.

I had chosen two malls that were practically on the line between the hotel and the airport, but unfortunately they turned out to be unsuitable because they were more like rows of shops than malls. We didn't want that, so we used the navigation system and stumbled upon a mall that was a bit further north but was remembered by me as one of the best in the city according to Google. The Lennox Square in the modern district of Buckhead. The journey there was already spectacular. Beautiful parks, really fancy houses, this is where the "rich and beautiful" of this city live. Even though I am neither rich nor beautiful and Nadine is not rich either, we would feel very comfortable here... grinned.

The Lennox Square met our expectations exactly, a huge parking lot, even a parking garage, surrounded by ultra-modern high-rise buildings, and then the sun came out. The mall was huge, branching out in all directions over 4 floors, some of which could only be reached by different elevators. There were all kinds of stores, jewelry, fashion, technology, and of course quirky shops with all sorts of knick-knacks. There was also a central atrium with a food court on two levels.

Contrary to our plans, we used our credit card once again. Even though with every purchase we wondered, at least after the second look, how we would pack everything, we were already infected by the American 'let's do it' mentality because problems have to be created before they can be solved. At this point, I could take a break and start a separate paragraph, and tell you about buying a hair straightener and the accompanying heated brush, but that might bore some people here. Both found their place in the suitcase... among other things. It's just difficult to tell a beautiful woman in a beautiful dress that it doesn't look good...

It was definitely a lot of fun again. In conclusion, we had an original Philly Cheese Steak and found it very delicious. Then it was time to go to the airport, we had to cross the city once again, which turned out to be a bit problematic because it was already 4:30 p.m., and that is apparently like rush hour in American cities. 6 lanes in both directions and all of them full. Luckily, we were moving forward at least at a snail's pace, so it took us a little over an hour for 15 miles, but we still arrived at the car rental return very early.

The return process was as uncomplicated as usual. No one seemed to care that we were returning a different car than the one we picked up. I wanted to mention it for the sake of completeness, but it was just a side note. No one cared about the many small dents and scratches that were already on the car when we took it. That's fine with us. We took everything with us, we were perfectly prepared because Nadine had already cleaned up the car in the mall parking lot. 2-3 simple steps - car empty and off to check-in for the flight. This time we didn't take the bus shuttle, which I can only advise against for any Atlanta flyer, as it is overcrowded and has long waiting times, but simply took the SkyTrain that shuttles for free between the car rental and the airport. On the ground, quick, wonderful.

We quickly found our way to a huge hall where there were only Delta Airlines check-in counters. There was an endlessly long queue in front of it, already quite crowded. We were bold and stood next to it, within sight of a counter where a wheelchair user was already checking in. We waited for her, made eye contact with the friendly-looking employee, and he signaled us to come to him. Great, at least 45 minutes saved, even though we still had plenty of time. The gentleman was very relaxed, friendly, and even a bit funny. He celebrated the fact that we wanted to fly with Delta Airlines. I wondered, didn't everyone want that? Anyway, it was funny. Then it got briefly exciting. He asked for our Covid tests, and I must have turned a bit pale for a moment. We didn't have any, because I couldn't find anything in the research that we needed one. I told him this. He said, hmmmm, then he would have to check again. After a brief check on his part, he corrected himself and said that proof of our boosted vaccination status is of course sufficient. We were immensely relieved. Our yellow vaccination book again amused him, 'it's a book'! was his laughing comment. And inside it, there were only Covid entries for both of us, but it didn't matter, we were ready to fly. Now the suitcases...

Oh yes, there was something. First, Nadine's fancy new suitcase. I had to step aside so that Nadine could lift it up. Apparently, it was too heavy, he said something about 4 too many... It couldn't be kilograms, as everything was measured in pounds. Okay, we opened it and repacked. There was still space in my suitcase, so we quickly managed to do it. By the way, I would like to express my thanks again. Because every time I wrote in all my blogs that 'we' did something, Nadine did most of it. Firstly, because she is incredibly fast at 'taking action', and secondly, because there is very little I can do to help as a wheelchair user. Maybe I could have managed many things on my own, but it would have taken forever, and Nadine is just incredibly helpful and supportive. Simply a dream companion... thank you very much for that.

So, the suitcases were rearranged and now compliant with the weight limit. Of course, I clarified once again that my wheelchair will be taken by me to the aircraft, I will go to the plane independently, and I will need the wheelchair at the aircraft in Paris as well as in Berlin. This was noted, I received the corresponding label for the wheelchair as well as the airline's note. Now nothing could go wrong... or so we thought!

At least not for now, we made our way to Gate F35, waited there for a while, and then boarded the plane ahead of the majority of passengers. We had seats in the outer row of 3. Nadine sat on the aisle, I was in the middle, and an older French-speaking lady sat next to me by the window.

The first announcement we understood was very positive, the captain of the Air France plane announced that the flight time would be more than an hour shorter than planned, as there were strong tailwinds. A flight time of exactly 7 hours was forecasted. For us, a short night began due to the time difference, and what happened next, you will read tomorrow, it got exciting again...


PS: It's unbelievable, we actually made it into the top 10 trendiest blogs on Vakantio, and you are primarily responsible for that by reading, liking, and commenting here. Even though we don't get anything for it, it's a very exciting side challenge! Thank you very much and hang in there... one more report tomorrow.