Return Trip from Hell …

Our last week in Innsbruck was very pleasant. We had several gatherings of the faculty; on our last night the students joined us.

One of the meals was at the Ottoburg restaurant in the Old City. They claim that they are the oldest restaurant in the world! That requires a little research. Let me know if any of you have any relevant information on the topic.

Last week also included final exams. My students in Personal Finance did very well, and this class was a positive experience. The Entrepreneurship class was another matter.

The exams were on Wednesday and Thursday, and we left at the crack of dawn on Friday. Most of us were headed for Munich since the Innsbruck airport has few helpful flights.

Well, the students had no curfew on Thursday night, and felt like sleep would begin on the bus. So, at 3am and 4am, staff and faculty stuffed a bunch of very drunken students on to buses; luckily most had their luggage with them.

Also on Thursday night we became aware of the terrorists arrest in London. Heightened security was to be the order of the day for those flying on Friday. Lines were horrendous. We managed to make our Munich to Philadelphia flight, but it was so delayed waiting for its passengers that we had little chance to make our 6pm flight to New Orleans.

We missed by about twenty minutes, and were told to come back in time for the 9:50am flight on Saturday. We were also told that we could leave our luggage “in the system” and it would arrive with us on Saturday.

Traveling tip: If you wind up at the Four Points Sheraton at the Philadelphia airport, plan to go elsewhere for meals.

The security lines at the airport on Saturday morning were little improved. We made our flight but our luggage did not. We do not know how it got there, but it was delivered to us on Sunday afternoon.

On the Munich to Philadelphia flight the airline offered passengers a Munich hotel, meal voucher, flight the next day, and a free ticket to anywhere US Air flies to anyone who would give up their seats. We volunteered, the airline found they had space in first class, so we flew in style. That was the only break we caught all day.

jbv's Competitive Edge