Flying in difficult times
I travelled all day today and am only halfway to my destination. It all began at 07:00 in Coburg, trekking to the train station to catch a regional express to Nürnberg. From there a subway whisked me to the airport and I completed my check-in there. My bag is checked all the way through to St. Lucia and I have a change of clothes in my backpack.
Nürnberg to Frankfurt and Frankfurt to Toronto
The first flight from Nürnberg to Frankfurt took less time than the transfer buses to and from the aircraft did! At Frankfurt the check-in to the flight to Toronto was more than a bit chaotic and the 747-400 was pretty much full. I had used miles to book this flight so got a business class seat on the upper deck. I was surprised to see the cockpit door open and some of the passengers going inside to take pictures of the flight deck. I’m so used to the tight security on American airlines that I forgot how much of the rest of the world flies. I decided to say “hi” as well and ended up talking with the captain and co-pilot for a long time. I’m still a glider pilot and so are they so we talked about airports and regions that we’d flown in.
The flight was delayed somewhat, but in business class you get sparkling wine to make the time pass quicker (and once in the air you get champagne, if you want).
My right arm is still immobilized in a sling, so going through airport security really sucked. I didn’t want to remove my belt since I wouldn’t be able to thread it through the loops again and when I went into the body scanner, I just raised my eyebrows when asked to lift my hands out wide. So of course, I got wanded – but I’d planned on that. But getting my laptop back into the backpack with just one hand was a lot more difficult than I had thought it would be.
Only 3 more hours before arrival in Toronto. Clearing customs and immigration in the USA usually takes over an hour if not 2. I don’t know if the Canadian border controls are going to be any faster but I’m not overly optimistic about my chances, although one more advantage of flying in business class is that you get to deplane first and thereby hopefully end up in the front of the queue.
They deplaned only in groups of 50 to avoid congestion, but luckily business class was in that first group. We had arrived at the same time as a flight from India, so it was a bit busy. I like that the initial checks are done by computer, including scanning the passport and taking the photo. I got a printout and handed that to the actual immigration officer and was through in a minute!
Shuttle to Hotel
This didn’t work out as well as I’d hoped, but after an hour of waiting it finally arrived. I was tired so stayed inside the hotel for dinner and some conversation at the bar.