A Suitacase...and then there was none!

It all stated simple enough yesterday with me telling you about super excited Tara who was in the airport waiting on her flight to Salzburg. Fast forward 24+ hours and you will see a super exhausted Tara, though still very excited about being here. My room for the week is a cozy apartment with a kitchenette, parquet floor, private shower & bath, all with an amazing view of... (wait for it...) The Alps. Talk about grandeur! But, my title today was about a suitcase and a suitcase you shall have, or at least a story about one.
As I was waiting at the BWI airport, I called John and was talking to him about my flight schedule, when he put the brakes on.
"Whoa," he said. "There is no way you will be able to exit off of that flight to Chicago and make it to the next gate by boarding. Your bag won't either."
But I, the optimist, said "Sure I will. They wouldn't let me do something if it wasn't going to be possible, right?"
"I don't know, Tara" said John.
So, off I went to find the nearest American Airlines attendant, which was harder than you might think. I proceded to ask this nice, logical woman if the above scenario would be true. She checked and rechecked, assuring me that everything would be fine and that the system would not let a grave error like what I was describing happen. I felt better and went about the rest of the flight normally, until I hear my name over the speaker as we were taxing to the gate in Chicago. I found the attendant who whisked me off to the next gate departing for Frankfurt, all the while assuring me again that my suitcase, (which has ALL of my clothes, toiletries, etc. in it,) would end up in Frankfurt with me. I boarded ahead of time and spent the flight being served food, soda, reading, and sleeping on and off. Although I never managed to get any good quality sleep in, don't ask me why. As I make my way through the Frankfurt airport to get my next boarding pass, I notice that it is the most busy and crowdede airport I think that I have ever been in! Once I get over that fact, I make my way to the correct terminal and then board a bus to the end of the airport to board a small plane with with propellers, something I haven't seen in a long time. I didn't want to admit it, but I was a little worried about my suitcase then. I put my little fear aside and said, no worries, it will be there...

But, when we got to baggaged claim, mine never appeared through the flaps. :( There was a kind woman in the lost items department who promptly helped me and some others fill out the proper forms. I was encouraged by how positive she was when she saw the claim ticket. "Ooh, it is in the system! That is good!"
"It better be in there," I was thinking...

To be continued...

Well folks, my eyes are pretty heavy so I think I will continue this tomorrow, where I hope to have my clothes and things back!

Until then...