I have to admit that a 6 AM flight is very early. In the U.S. when I often fly east at that hour, it isn’t awful – I know what to expect from a pre-arranged pick-up to take me to the airport which is 12 minutes away. I know what check-in at the airport will be like, and how to get through the system. It was slightly more stressful leaving Gdansk. I was staying at a hotel, and arranged in advance for a cab at 3:30 AM. Although I was assured that the airport was easy to get through, and the drive there wouldn’t take long, I was still concerned – would I even be awake enough to keep track of my passport, get coffee, etc.

The streets in Gdansk were pretty empty. Maybe I should have gone outside this early on other days. Check out at the hotel was easy, as was the drive. I prided myself on finding my flight on the big board, and locating where I should be to check bags, and went there. It looked like check-in should open at 4 but it didn’t. Concerned, I went to an agent from another airline and asked. She said what I had seen on the board was the gate, not the area for check-in. Ooops. I found the right place, and sky priority had no one on the line but there was an agent. She had me checked in and bags tagged in just a few minutes, and I got through security easily. Then I got lost in the maze of the duty free shops. It doesn’t look like it’s possible to get to the gate area ever without first going through duty free shopping. I had some Polish currency left and used it to purchase some chocolate (of course).

The flight was only about an hour and very smooth. The change from one flight to another was the same as on the inbound trip – a bus from the plane which felt like it was taking almost as long as the plane ride, finally got to the main terminal area. From there through passport control, where I needed to make an extra stop to get my passport stamped, and I was on my way, hiking through the Amsterdam airport, stopping for coffee on the way.

The big window told me that the heavens were overjoyed that I was on my way home!

After the very variable weather (cold, rainy, steaming hot, rainy) in Lithuania and Poland made the weather sign showing no weather changes in SLC!

Picking up bags in Salt Lake City was so smooth – about 20 minutes from landing, through passport control and customs, and then through security again. The ease of global entry is wonderful. Face recognition, acknowledgement, name called, no lines. On to the next flight and on the way home. About 19 hours after I left the hotel in Gdansk on a pleasantly cool morning, I reached the heat and dryness of a typical late summer day in Phoenix. Home to do laundry, unpack and repack for another 6 AM flight on Monday to NY.

Onward to the next adventure!