I continue to be astounded that one can post something like this while at 35999 feet above Chicago!
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Category Archives: Airplanes
We’ve Arrived!
Our flight to Frankfurt was pretty uneventful. There was the occasional turbulence but nothing awful. Well, the landing was rough but I believe that was due to the weather (we had to circle for 20 minutes before we were cleared to land).
We both managed to sleep on the plane. I sure think the expense of Polaris is worth it.
I am feeling pretty good at the moment. It’s currently 12:31 PM here and it feels like it’s around 4ish in the afternoon. Not bad.
Passport control was a breeze: I wasn’t even asked a single question. Dan was briefly quizzed, but it seemed like the guy wasn’t even paying attention to his answers! Then off to get luggage and when it was finally coming down the ramp our bags were nearly first. Easy peasy.
We headed out of the luggage area to find Greg and Jan waiting for us. So that was easy as well. We then headed from Frankfurt to their place in Heidelberg. (SO thankful that they picked us up … thanks, you two!)
Kind of boring, right? No catastrophes, no lost luggage, no long lines. But don’t worry, I know that on every trip there is something that will cause a bit of stress. I’m ready. Or as ready as one can be, anyway.
We are now settled in at Greg and Jan’s: and one of us is napping. I’ll probably do the same in a moment.
Here We Go!
Plans, Plans, Plans!
I realized I’ve not written here for a time. But that doesn’t mean I’ve not been making plans for an upcoming trip! I have, in fact, gotten all our planes and trains set, and hotel reservations are also complete.
Today I pulled out the clothes I thought would work, and I do believe I have what I will need for a trip during winter.
Yes, in fact, THIS winter!
Let’s see … what will I bring? Down jacket. Rain jacket. Cashmere sweaters. Several merino wool turtlenecks. And merino wool pants as well. Merino wool leggings to wear under pants. Tights. Warm socks. Warm hat.
The big word for winter travel is layers. I will have those. And yes, I plan on carryon only (except for one bit I’ll fill you in on later). Easy-peasy!
I also conversed today with our houseguest. Thus I’m feeling comfortable blogging about the trip. I will share our destinations as we go, though. Gotta keep some surprises, after all!
The last thing I had to find were shoes. I wanted some low boots (otherwise called booties) for walking that would be comfortable and, with my nice Darn Tough socks, warm. I also need a pair of shoes I could wear with my dress, because we are going to four concerts while we are out and about! Yesterday those shoes were purchased.
I hope.
I always buy shoes, get home, and wear them for a time to be absolutely certain they will work. I’ve gotten a wee bit smarter, too, and I now have shoe covers I can put on to protect said shoes until I know they are a done deal.
Can’t wait to get on a plane again!
And Now We Are Home
We began our morning quite leisurely since checkout was at 11:00 and there was no rush to get to the airport. Packing is usually more difficult at the end of the trip, even while we never purchase souvenirs. This time, though, I had no issues at all. I suspect it’s because I had to unpack and pack so many times I knew where everything would fit.
When we checked out we called a car to take us to Paddington Station. Normally we’d just do the tube — the cost would be MUCH less and the time wouldn’t be much more. But with our extra luggage we opted to spend the big bucks.
Well … getting out of our area took quite a bit of time: traffic was rotten. We finally got over the Thames and our driver took us near Buckingham Palace. Who knew there would be a bunch of horses and riders in full regalia going up the street ahead of us?! More delays. Finally they headed straight and we turned a bit.
Only to find they were again in front of us!
We could only laugh.
Eventually we did make it to Paddington, but it took quite a bit longer than the tube and it was, oh, perhaps $50 more! But on a trip like this I suppose that’s a drop in the bucket. (That being written, one drop can make a bucket overflow … right?)
Next up was getting to the Heathrow Express. Again, this was a bit of an extravagant expense. But it was only a 15 minute ride compared to the longer, less costly way to go.
Except there was a delay!
This delay was nothing like the “horse delay” though, and we did get to the airport. From there we walked (and walked) to the United area to check our luggage. Easy peasy.
Next up was security. Being in another country our TSA pre-check doesn’t do much good, but we were able to get through via a speedier lane. Well, I had a good pat down at Frankfurt’s airport, and this time I set off the alarm again. No pat down this time … just had to remove my shoes. And yes, those were the culprits. I wonder if there’s a way to research and find out if a particular brand and/or style of shoe sets off the alarm. It sure would be nice to know. But if I wear these again (doubtful), I’ll just remember to remove them and put them in the tray, even if they say not to bother.
But wait, there’s more! We then had to navigate to the United area where our gate and the lounge were located. Signage made it somewhat easy, but when we got to one spot it said to reach the gates including ours was a mere (okay, they didn’t use the word “mere”) 15 minute walk! I can’t remember in which order we did escalators but there was some up and down and maybe down and up … or something. Clearly there were people who had arrived thinking they could just get to their gate quickly and arrived a wee bit late … lots of running going on! But of course we did make it, with no running, and we entered the rather full, and in need of an update (ripped seats and all) United lounge.
When it was time to get to our gate that was quick ‘n easy. Close to our arrival we were able to line up and get ready to board. The plane was not close to full, so boarding went quickly.
Taking off did not.
While we were ready to take off, the captain said that we were delayed due to other planes ahead of us, making our arrival time a bit later than we had expected, even while we would have arrived early had we been able to take off on time. We settled in, readying ourselves for a 10+ hour flight.
About eight hours into the flight I put the flight map back on: I love seeing where we are. Well, apparently the internet was down (a reason I rarely bother to spend any money on purchasing WiFi — and never on an international flight as it’s tremendously expensive) so while the info was provided (2h 19m to destination) the map showed the UK only and was pointless. Ah … but when I clicked on it it showed us over South Dakota. Hello USA! I guess we really were going to get home.
(United has updated their map and their safety video since the last time we flew. The map is better, I think. The safety video is definitely not (yawn). FYI … because you know you want to know.)
At the start of our flight we were served a rather substantial dinner. Then lights were dimmed and it was clearly time to rest. I’m not sure how airlines determine whose time to use, but I’d much prefer adjusting to the time ahead of me rather than the one I just left. When I get on the plane (or sometimes even right before) I set my watch for the destination time. What can I say? I guess I like to think ahead.
The flight was pretty uneventful, although I did end up with my restless legs and a bit of a stomach issue toward the end: the legs are no surprise, and the stomach was, I think, simply due to eating too darn much!
My sister Carolyn picked us up after we easily breezed through customs (thank you, Global Entry!), and she drove us straight to our house. THANK YOU, Carolyn!
And now we are home. Not unpacked, because of the time, but home. Tomorrow will be a washing, grocery shopping, and house cleaning day, for sure.
Over ‘n out.
Soooo … time to plan the next trip …?!
Hello, UK!
After our long sit in the Frankfurt lounge, we headed to Glasgow via Lufthansa. Easy flight. More food.
We went through customs. I managed to do the wrong thing on the scanner — I think I scanned the wrong page of my passport! — and had to see a person instead. He asked me where I came from. I said California. Heh. Then he said, “No, where did you just fly in from?” Oh. Right. Frankfurt! Old Brain!
From there it was collection luggage time. I think our bags were maybe the 2nd and 3rd out! Dan didn’t recognize his but thankfully I said, “But isn’t that yours?” and he quickly went after it.
Our hotel (Holiday Inn) is directly across the street from the airport. As in about a three minute walk, max. So we are now in our room and we will see how we sleep tonight. It does feel like it’s night to me, although not quite 11:55, as the clock says. We have, um, quite the view … of a parking garage!
Tomorrow onward to Oban!
The day(s) so far …
We easily boarded our flight and, for the first time in a while, I could put my backpack right above my seat. For a while, in fact, I thought the bin would only be visiting with my backpack, but close to when we departed a woman crammed her larger suitcase in. She couldn’t quite get it to fit so her husband pulled my bag out and fit hers first. I was a bit concerned that they were going to move my pack, but they did manage to shove it in. (I’m glad my camera was in a protective case, though!)
Being in Polaris seats one first has to figure out how to deal with two blankets and two pillows. Oh the suffering! (JOKING, I promise.) We were in row 9, though, which are bulkhead seats (and I’m now realizing I use that word but don’t even really KNOW what a bulkhead is. Hah!). And since they are lay flat seats you still can store your personal item in front of you, and there is MORE room both for our feet and for things to store on a bit of a shelf and pillows and blankets went there for a time. Some people say row 9 is bad because it’s close to the bathrooms and kitchen. I actually like it and would happily choose the row again. So hooray for us.
I was surprised, though, to see signs on the bathroom on my side:
I figured INOP meant “inoperable”. The door was locked, and I thought, “So much for THAT bathroom.” Welllllll … what it really meant was, “You can’t use it, but all the flight attendants will.” Go figure. Still, no worries using the bathroom on the other side, and Dan implied they deserve their own bathroom. (I just always figured they HAD their own somewhere on the plane.)
Dinner was served. It was “meh”. We’ve decided that, from now on, we might just eat a good meal at the lounge before we leave and skip the flight’s meal. It’s always too much food anyway.
Then it was time to rest. Seat turned to bed, and I managed to sleep. (This photo is from a bit before I got back up, as you can probably tell since the plane image at the bottom shows us close to our destination.)
The flight went quickly. Breakfast came about 1 1/2 hours before we landed. I really wish they’d serve the meal according to where we were going, rather than where we came from. Ah well. Breakfast at 2:00 PM … whatever. And too much food. Again.
After deplaning, in the Z area of terminal 1, we headed to B. But how to get there? We went to the help desk and he verified what we thought we saw … we had to leave the secure area and walk walk walk … then took a tram. There was B. But then we had to go back through security. Slow security, even while barely any people were going through. We had to take out all electronic devices, liquids, and our cameras. Heh. My camera was at the bottom of my very full pack! But finally through things went, and I had the full body scan. I guess something showed up so a woman gave me a pretty darn thorough pat down. You’d think she might have said, “You are so fit for a woman of your age!” But no. Nothing. Gee …. Of course I was then able to move on.
But then?! I couldn’t figure out how I managed to fit everything in my backpack when at home. It was pretty hysterical. Dan helped and, yes, HE managed to get it all in. Oh, and I left my phone in the tray. Someone saw it … whew!
Now we are, finally, in the lounge, where we sit around for another hour or so. We thought we’d have tons of time here at the airport, but with the getting so confused about how to get to B and the slow security I’m rather glad we had all that time.
Still, our flight doesn’t leave until 10:05 and it’s only 5:30. Lots of time to waste.
Boarded!
Well here we go!
Since I said I might …
Just a few shots from Monday’s flight home. It was fun to have a window for a change, although of course then I feel rather stuck! Now of course these aren’t exactly exciting shots, but hey … snow!
The final photo is my watch saying we’d arrived. Um. We actually hadn’t quite gotten to the gate when I received that message!
Flying Home
After my quick cappuccino at the hotel I scheduled a Lyft to take me to EWR. I knew I’d arrive (too?) early, but there wasn’t enough time for a walk and staying at the hotel seemed boring.
The driver arrived a minute after I scheduled the “longer wait” right. Heh. I’ve learned that one rarely needs to get the immediate car that costs more. As we were dealing with a ton of traffic in Manhattan he asked how soon my flight was and I assured him I had plenty of time. But then, even further out, we hit nearly standstill traffic. Turned out there was an accident that was impeding …
<Wait! Side note: the person behind me just closed MY window blind in the plane. Hello?! The same person who put his — or hers, I haven’t checked — blanket plastic wrapper on my arm rest. Heh. Boundaries be gone!)
… our progress. But we got past that and, for the most part, did okay from then on. We did pass another accident with two cars on their sides and another damaged one as well. Eek!
Security was a breeze. Barely a line and very very quick. I then walked over to find my gate, before heading to the United Club lounge. (I like to know how far it is from the lounge.)
I really didn’t end up having a ton of time in the lounge. Or maybe I did and it went quickly because I was playing all my games. Hm. (HUGE fail with “Connections” today, though.)
I stood in the line for Boarding Group 2 until, as I expected, we were told the plane was full and if anyone was willing to check their carryon bag they could do so. Knowing the bin above me would be full by the time Group 2 (really Group 6) boarded I went for it. Too bad they don’t reward us with a meal or something. Oh well.
And now I’m on the plane. I’ll be curious to see if I can post this! (Yes, I paid the $8 to have a connection on the plane.)
