Back home!

Sorry for the long delay. I'm not joking when I say that we probably had the worst return trip ever, or possible, compliments of Air India.

It is now Monday morning, 10:30am and I have just gotten back to Rochester. Deviating slightly from our scheduled return at 7:30pm Friday night, we ended up back in Minneapolis on Sunday morning at 9:30am. Since I'm tired and desperately need sleep, here are some highlights to tide you over until I wrap up with my final reflections on the trip:

-10 hours in the Bangalore airport. Quite possibly the dirtiest airport I've ever been into. I've got video of our "living hell" on my camera.

-Was forced to use the public bathroom in Bangalore. No, it was not a western toilet. No, there was no toilet paper. Yes, I had to "pop a squat". No, it was not easy. I will never, ever complain about a dirty gas station bathroom in the US ever again.

-Begged for food at the only coffee store located at the Bangalore airport. After all of the begging we had seen on this trip, I was able to take bits and pieces of what I learned and successfully land 2 samosas for breakfast.

-Missed every single leg of every single flight on our 4 layover trip. Not one flight left on time and not one leg went smoothly.

-After staying one night in Mumbai, left early in the morning for Frankfurt. Surprisingly, we all made it and I was even able to get an exit row seat for this leg.

-On our way to Chicago, I ended up getting some kind of food poisoning or stomach bug. Unfortunately, the first time I decided to lose my lunch, I didn't quite make it all the way to the luxurious Air India 747 bathroom. It is not easy to vomit within a room that is 3 feet by 3 feet. Oops.

-Finally, in the United States! What could go wrong right? The baggage doors on our plane in Chicago froze shut and we weren't able to get our bags until an hour later. We only had 45 minutes to catch our flight to Minneapolis. One more night of our living nightmare was spent in Chicago. Fortunately, we all got hotel vouchers and food vouchers for dinner. Unfortunately, the restaurant closed before most of us could get there.

-Back in Minneapolis. 38 hours AFTER we were supposed to be home. I'm trying to think of what I am going to write in my tasteful letter to Air India when I get home. Here is a word of advice for anybody who wants to visit India...DO NOT FLY AIR INDIA!!!!! Worst customer service, worst airplane efficiency, worst website for flight updates, I have ever experienced. I have never been on an airline with more excuses, inadequate help, and bad attitudes than Air India. They don't even use computers...everything is done on carbon paper. Forget the frequent flyer miles I've racked up for this trip...I will never use this airline ever again. And I will do my best to make sure nobody else has the unfortunate experience of flying Air India either. Trust me, it isn't worth it, even if your flight is free.

OK, time to hit the sack...