Trip from San Diego 2005

Sept. 27

Delta 1174 to Atlanta

Delta 14 to Frankfurt

My brother Carl was able to drop me off at the San Diego airport, more then an hour before departure. I got into line for check-in, which was a separate line then the domestic flight which could use the so-called "kiosks". There were only 3 passengers in front of me, but when the one gal finished her costumer, she then went over to the kiosks to help check in people, leaving only one desk agent to serve us, but over 5 at the kiosks! Now, what is the purpose of the kiosks if they are going to be served anyway? And me and the other passengers waited a long time before being served! Considering we then had over a 20 minute line to get through security, I was pretty upset.... and I don't get upset easy!

The flight itself, only 3 1/2 hours long, was uneventful. I had a window seat with no one next to me. The movie was "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" so that killed time and was entertaining enough.

When I got to my gate for the flight to Frankfurt, it was full of uniformed American soldiers.. I guess on their way to Iraq. I couldn't find any immediate internet connection, only online-airport information, so I started updating my page here.

We boarded and took off on time... the soldiers weren't on board so I guess they were waiting for a later flight. I again had a window seat with an older guy next to me, but he was no bother.

I again took pictures out the window... and most came out pretty good.

Lindburg Field San Diego

hello there!

Chesapeak Bay

Over England the sky was clear and it was night. The lights inspired me to the following story:

Gems in the Night

The lights glistened like gems on black skin. They were beautiful and unreachable. They glittered in whites and gold, with occasional blues and greens.

I was viewing them from my window, trying to determine my position. All I knew was that I was somewhere over England, at 35,000 feet. The cabin was darkened to allow the passengers to sleep, but there was no sleep for me... the view was just too fascinating. But it made viewing the gems of the night easier.

The weather was unusually clear and cloudless. The lights spread out below me, forming intricate necklaces and bracelets in the landscape. It was impossible to distinguish which city was below me. The GPS map on the movie screen in the cabin soon showed me just south of London… but the city was for me on the wrong side.

And soon I could see the east English coast and farther in flight direction the French coast. It was easy to distinguish where the land ended and the channel began.

A few minutes later and we were over the continent, and as we approached closer to Germany, the sun rose above the horizon, and the gems slowly began to disappear....