After coaxing our enormous Bernese Mountain Dog Tycho into his crate with a roast beef sandwich and checking him in for the flight, we said our tearful goodbyes and made it to the departure gate. It was a stressful process and my worry existed on several levels: first, and in no particular order, our 110 pound dog was flying in cargo; second, we were flying from Chicago to Zurich in order to accommodate his crate and then needed to pick up our rental car and drive to Nyon; third, our daughter was taking her first flight at only a month old; and; lastly, we were flying to our new home…across the Atlantic.
I was told by our pediatrician to nurse Addison on ascent and descent to help with the change of pressure to her ears. I fed her before our flight and diligently walked her up and down the concourse. I guess I was a little too diligent, because by the time we took off, she was asleep. You might be thinking, “Wow! How lucky!” I would say that now, too. But, at the time, I was so freaked out that I would destroy her tiny eardrums and permanently damage her hearing that I shoved my gargantuan “ready action boob” in her face pleading, “Addison! Wake up!” She didn’t, of course. Apparently, the cabin pressure didn’t bother her. I was just under a different type of pressure.
We landed in Zurich and gathered our belongings, which included all the things I thought I might need for an infant in the next six weeks until our furniture arrived. With Addison safely snuggled in her car seat and secured on one of our luggage carts, we set out to find our furry child. Tycho was wheeled out on a mini-flatbed and looked pretty happy to be on terra firma again. We made it through customs, with the help of a porter, and to Avis to pick up our car. Note: we did not have a car in Germany, so this was to be our first driving experience in Europe. The car needed to accommodate three suitcases, two boxes, one dog crate, one dog, one baby, and two adults. This does not exist in Europe. Brad must have spent an hour trying to configure the stuff in the vehicle…and another hour trying out different vehicles. Finally, he came back sweaty and frustrated proclaiming that he “ditched the crate in the airport.” We took off for Nyon, giddy with sleep depravation and the mental image of an abandoned dog crate sitting stoically in the Zurich airport.
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