Ireland - actually Day 1 & 2

It's Saturday, June 4, 2022, 15:20 - actually we should have been in beautiful Dublin for over twelve hours by now. Instead, we, 66 young singers of the Neuer Kammerchor Heidenheim, conductor Thomas Kammel, choir mom and fabulous manager Sylvia Lohse, our pianist Alwina Meissner, and Daniela Burkart who accompanies us as additional support, have been stuck at Terminal 2 of Frankfurt Airport for over 20 hours... But let's start from the beginning.

After over two years taken over by Corona, we are finally able to go on a concert tour again, and the gratitude and anticipation could not be greater. The destination this time: the Emerald Isle - Ireland.

Almost on time at 2:30 pm on Friday, we set off from Schiller-Gymnasium Heidenheim towards Frankfurt Airport. Unfortunately, we were far from the only ones on the roads and we got caught in one traffic jam after another as the departure at 8:40 pm approached. Luckily, we already had two members of our choir at the airport who announced us at the check-in counter and found a suitable parking space for the bus driver. The employee at the check-in counter assured our person on site that check-in and baggage drop-off would be possible until 7:55 pm. In the meantime, the rest of the choir parked at a parking lot ten minutes' walk from Terminal 2 at 7:35 pm. In record time, we unloaded all 70 suitcases and ran towards the counter. At 7:40 pm, the first of us were in front of it, only to find out that the Aer Lingus employee at the counter had changed his mind and had gone off duty (thanks for nothing at this point!). Fortunately, the airport staff on site was very accommodating and allowed all of us, along with our suitcases, to go through passport control and security. Unfortunately, at the latter, all cosmetic products with a volume of over 100 ml that were actually intended for the suitcase had to be disposed of, as we had unfortunately not been able to check in the suitcases earlier. So sadly, a considerable number of bottles, tubes, and cans accumulated on the tables in front of security control, all of which ended up in the trash and for the total sum of which the air ticket of another person could surely have been paid :(

After we all made it through security control and gathered right in front of the departure gate, we were all quite optimistic. However, the airline had other plans for us. They couldn't take us with them because they didn't want to accept any delays. Ironically, the plane didn't even take off until a whole 40 minutes later (and with a total delay of one hour) after we were sent away.

So now we faced a night at Frankfurt Airport in Terminal 2 on the uncomfortable seating and the equally uncomfortable floor. But before that, we cleaned out the McDonald's before it closed. Let's not kid ourselves, the night was anything but good. And already at half past three in the morning, we were surrounded by travelers who wanted to check in their luggage at the surrounding counters. The following hours were marked by uncertainty, fatigue, and frustration. So here we are at 4 pm on Saturday afternoon, still at Terminal 2, and can't believe that divided into three flights tonight and tomorrow morning, we should actually still make it to Dublin. The first group with Mr. Kammel has already set off to take the train to Düsseldorf, from where they can take a flight to Dublin tomorrow morning. The second group will take off for Ireland later tonight, and the third group gets to spend another night at the airport before they can get on the plane tomorrow morning. We all hope that this plan will now go smoothly and that we will all see each other in Dublin tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed for us!