Saturday, May 1st.
Chaos at Frankfurt Airport
Air miles are owing
But they don’t come for free
And they don’t give you any for pain— Mark Knopfler, All the Roadrunning
Arrive at Zurich airport to some confusion at the check in. My flight has been put on hold and passengers are supposed to be moved to the earlier flight which is due to leave, well, now. A phone call reveals that it isn’t. It came in late from Frankfurt, lost its slot, and got a new one an hour later. It ends up to be pretty much exactly at the time of the original flight.
In Frankfurt the lounges are spilling over. Saturday is always a bad day in the Senator lounges since people are traveling with companions and drag them there. Have some late breakfast and flee to the gate. Flight 402 to Newark has a waiting list almost to fill the flight twice (okay, a tiny bit exaggerated). Upon boarding all hell ensues. The boarding card scanners refuse every other card and people have to be sorted out manually. Some Dutch people refuse to take it with patience and make a fuss. Turns out that there is some problem with the passport data and US Homeland Security. In the end they have to leave eight people behind because they can’t sort them out.
My boarding card is refused too, but only because I need to be given a new one. 3C. An aisle seat in the nose of the Jumbo. Score. Turns out to be quite noisy on the ground and during take off, but once the nose gear is in, it is really quite quiet. Seven-a-half hour flight with salmon starters and roulade main course. Started to watch ‘When in Rome’, but while I love both Rome and Kristen Bell, it is just too bad to finish. Solitaire as usual instead.
At immigration in Newark I get the most grumpy immigration officer yet. Everyone seems to be asking the same impossible question: ‘Why are you going to Canada for vacation?’ Not sure he would have accepted ‘Because I can.’
The flight to St John’s is my first flight with Continental (even though it is Continental Express) and an Embraer ERJ 145. The thing sounds like an oversized hair drier and is about as spacious. But we get a complimentary sandwich with mayonnaise on the side so you can skip it, and a bag of baby carrots. Ingenious. That’s a very good idea for driving snack food for this trip.
Canadian immigration seems a bit sceptical of my project. Truthfully I have entered 30 days as the time I would stay in Canada into the landing form. All the other Canadian immigration stamps in my passport don’t particularly help my case either. Again the question, why I would spend my vacation in Canada – only this time ‘Why wouldn’t I?’ is a good answer. Explaining that I am well employed in Switzerland with no intention to work in Canada and showing the itineraries for the rental car and return flight turnes the interview into the more usual direction of interested discussion of the plans. Talking of having been to Yellowknife and Inuvik also helps. Seems that most Canadians feel a bit guilty of never having been to the True North.
New York had a whopping 28 °C, St. John’s is frickin’ cold. Cab to the hotel which is called Harbourview and has one. But by now it’s eleven local time (which, in Newfoundland is 30 minutes off for whatever reason), which is 3:30 Zurich time. So: bed.
Beer of the day: Warsteiner Premium Verum (courtesy of Lufthansa, so no complaint. Although, with all the fuss they make over their wine list, one wonders why they only have one beer and not a very good one to start with.)