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The next 17 days are set to be completely awesome. I'm so excited to be in India visiting my dear friends here in Bangalore... :o) No pics yet, but I promise there will be loads as the next few weeks progress! And now... Let the journey begin!
23 Oct, 4:00am (MST): Too excited to sleep! Don't lie-- you would have been just as excited. :o)
23 Oct, 7:15am: Pulled up to the curb at Salt Lake City International Airport
23 Oct, 7:40am: Bag checked, through security and sitting at the departure gate. That's got to be some kind of a record breaking miracle. Never checked a bag and made it through security and to my departure gate that quickly. Life is good... we're on the right track for a great trip!
23 Oct, 9:00am: board the plane... window seat-- score! take off in 40 minutes
23 Oct, 10:40am: still sitting in SLC... Delta sucks. According to the pilot, they've randomly and without notice changed the takeoff requirements for fuel documentation and we can't take off until they get a slip of paper from the ground crew stating exactly how much fuel is on board. What?! You people are totally throwin off my travel groove which is UNacceptable and I WON'T stand for it! Out the window with you!
23 Oct, 4:00am (MST): Too excited to sleep! Don't lie-- you would have been just as excited. :o) 23 Oct, 7:15am: Pulled up to the curb at Salt Lake City International Airport
23 Oct, 7:40am: Bag checked, through security and sitting at the departure gate. That's got to be some kind of a record breaking miracle. Never checked a bag and made it through security and to my departure gate that quickly. Life is good... we're on the right track for a great trip!
23 Oct, 9:00am: board the plane... window seat-- score! take off in 40 minutes
23 Oct, 10:40am: still sitting in SLC... Delta sucks. According to the pilot, they've randomly and without notice changed the takeoff requirements for fuel documentation and we can't take off until they get a slip of paper from the ground crew stating exactly how much fuel is on board. What?! You people are totally throwin off my travel groove which is UNacceptable and I WON'T stand for it! Out the window with you!
23 Oct, 11:00am: We're finally off the ground-- 1 hour and 20 minutes late... my layover in Atlanta (where I'm set to meet my friends elderly mother traveling in a wheelchair) is only 2 hours 15 minutes. Needless to say I'm more than a little bit nervous about timing.
Dear Delta:
We are not friends. If I miss my connection in Atlanta, rest assured heads will roll. Changing fuel documentation procedures and take off requirements without properly notifying flight crews, thus causing an already cleared flight to return to the ramp makes for VERY unhappy passengers. Stupidity of this nature is why I generally go to great lengths to avoid using your airline.
Hatefully, Liz.
23 Oct, 4:30pm (EST): On the ground in Atlanta-- an hour late. Outta my way people! Headed to the international terminal and grab something to eat on the way. Delta is on my black list.
23 Oct, 5:00pm: Made it to the int'l gate. Hugs from Florence. <3 Wish I had taken a picture of the two of us in the terminal. Such a sweet sweet lady! 10 minutes to scarf my food before they start pre-boarding for wheelchairs. Whoot.
23 Oct, 5:55pm: Paris here we come!!!
23 Oct, 8:40am (CEST): Wheels down in Paris... Bonjour! Made it in one piece. I've now seen "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" (Love, love, love-- If you haven't seen it you must! It's been added to my 'must own' list), "Salmon Fishing in Yemen" (good movie, probably not one I'll own) and "Dark Shadows" (lame-- total waste of time and major disappointment because I <3 Johnny Depp... :-\). Airline food still isn't my favorite and Paris is just as foggy as I remember. :o)
24 Oct, 9:10am: Thank you CDG for taking 30 of the 75 minutes we have to get from gate to gate before pre-boarding to find Florence's pre-arranged wheelchair. You are officially on my gray list. Not sure if we're friends or not. The next 90 minutes will be very telling.
24 Oct, 9:25am: Charles de Gaulle International Airport is a cluster. That's all there is to it. It's possible they made me go through the security check 3 times. There were people around me yelling in at least 4 different languages, non of which was English and non of which I understood. The wheelchair escort takes my carry-on bags and puts them on the scanner belt-- I totally spaced that my laptop was in one of them. The security woman waves at me to come through the metal detector; I step through, no alarms. She gives me a pat down and then makes me turn around and go back because I'm wearing a hat. I go back around, take the hat off and put it in a bin and send it through the scanner, then walk through the metal detector again. Same woman pats me down AGAIN. Security woman in the other lane pulls my bag because I forgot to take the laptop out. So I go back to the front of the scanner belt, take my laptop out and hand both back to the wheelchair escort to put back through the scanner. I go to step back through the door instead of the metal detector and get shepherded back over to the metal detector to step through a THIRD time. Queen of the Pat Down steps toward me for a third time. I gave her the nicest "you've got to be joking" look I could come up with and she "generously" passed on round three. *Bless her heart* Feeling like CDG can stay on the gray list... If I spoke a lick of French it may have gone smoother. Note to self: Add "learn French" to the bucket list.
24 Oct, 10:40am: On the plane set for Bangalore. Ready-- GO!
24 Oct, 11:50pm (IST): Wheels down in Bangalore! Made it! Nothing exciting on the flight from Paris... except that I ate duck. Never done that before. Pretty sure I shouldn't measure my impression of said fowl meal based on this experience. :o) Haha... did you see what I did there??
25 Oct, 1:45am: Home sweet home in India! We have arrived at the house. From my last trip I remember that traffic was intense. Drivers honk instead of brake at intersections and right of way is determined on a first come first serve basis. Lines on the road as well as speed limits are mere suggestions. Love, love, love.
25 Oct, 4:15am: Still wide awake from the trip... headed to bed anyway. Tomorrow awaits!
Dear Delta:
We are not friends. If I miss my connection in Atlanta, rest assured heads will roll. Changing fuel documentation procedures and take off requirements without properly notifying flight crews, thus causing an already cleared flight to return to the ramp makes for VERY unhappy passengers. Stupidity of this nature is why I generally go to great lengths to avoid using your airline.
Hatefully, Liz.
23 Oct, 4:30pm (EST): On the ground in Atlanta-- an hour late. Outta my way people! Headed to the international terminal and grab something to eat on the way. Delta is on my black list.23 Oct, 5:00pm: Made it to the int'l gate. Hugs from Florence. <3 Wish I had taken a picture of the two of us in the terminal. Such a sweet sweet lady! 10 minutes to scarf my food before they start pre-boarding for wheelchairs. Whoot.
23 Oct, 5:55pm: Paris here we come!!!
23 Oct, 8:40am (CEST): Wheels down in Paris... Bonjour! Made it in one piece. I've now seen "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" (Love, love, love-- If you haven't seen it you must! It's been added to my 'must own' list), "Salmon Fishing in Yemen" (good movie, probably not one I'll own) and "Dark Shadows" (lame-- total waste of time and major disappointment because I <3 Johnny Depp... :-\). Airline food still isn't my favorite and Paris is just as foggy as I remember. :o)
24 Oct, 9:25am: Charles de Gaulle International Airport is a cluster. That's all there is to it. It's possible they made me go through the security check 3 times. There were people around me yelling in at least 4 different languages, non of which was English and non of which I understood. The wheelchair escort takes my carry-on bags and puts them on the scanner belt-- I totally spaced that my laptop was in one of them. The security woman waves at me to come through the metal detector; I step through, no alarms. She gives me a pat down and then makes me turn around and go back because I'm wearing a hat. I go back around, take the hat off and put it in a bin and send it through the scanner, then walk through the metal detector again. Same woman pats me down AGAIN. Security woman in the other lane pulls my bag because I forgot to take the laptop out. So I go back to the front of the scanner belt, take my laptop out and hand both back to the wheelchair escort to put back through the scanner. I go to step back through the door instead of the metal detector and get shepherded back over to the metal detector to step through a THIRD time. Queen of the Pat Down steps toward me for a third time. I gave her the nicest "you've got to be joking" look I could come up with and she "generously" passed on round three. *Bless her heart* Feeling like CDG can stay on the gray list... If I spoke a lick of French it may have gone smoother. Note to self: Add "learn French" to the bucket list. 24 Oct, 10:40am: On the plane set for Bangalore. Ready-- GO!
24 Oct, 11:50pm (IST): Wheels down in Bangalore! Made it! Nothing exciting on the flight from Paris... except that I ate duck. Never done that before. Pretty sure I shouldn't measure my impression of said fowl meal based on this experience. :o) Haha... did you see what I did there?? 25 Oct, 1:45am: Home sweet home in India! We have arrived at the house. From my last trip I remember that traffic was intense. Drivers honk instead of brake at intersections and right of way is determined on a first come first serve basis. Lines on the road as well as speed limits are mere suggestions. Love, love, love.
25 Oct, 4:15am: Still wide awake from the trip... headed to bed anyway. Tomorrow awaits!
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