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ISOI part 4

Posted by cris on 7 January 2009, 5:36 pm

it’s been a while since this happened, but i’d have to finish the airport round-about. well, tarom’s rule in europe is 1 bag per person of 25kg, plus the carry-on (not more than 11kg). well, i had two, one of roughly 24kg and the other of roughly 12kg. the nice german girl said she’s only charge me 10 euros per kg over 25. … that’s pretty much my reactions. anyhow, some complaining, whining and smiling got me the following deal. get the smaller bag under 11kg, and they can both go on, at no extra charge. at least one less worry. well by the time i turn around a ‘nice’ romanian fellow decides to make small chat. well, at least i have someone to talk to. get into the secure zone and i my attention gets caught by a commercial, 1L bottle of vodka (smirnoff) for 11 euros. well, that’s a deal in anyone’s book (with some exceptions).

got a bit of time to waste till the plane is supposed to take off, so i whip out my macbook, all happy i finally have free wireless…and to my suprise, the free wifi is nowhere to be found. if i would have known…i would have walked through the secured zone about an hour later. oh well, life goes on, i’m on my way ‘home’. well, it wouldn’t be a true romanian company if they did not delay. of course, the plane had to be delayed. why? well it’s not as if i was gonna get an honest answer from them.

eventually we’re on board, the plane takes off and suprise…tarom is good for something, they give some snacks and yes, beer :) . well, that helped a lot. i sort was willing to overlook the ‘late’ part as long as i was gonna catch my connection to sibiu. well, we arrive in bucharest, and same old airport. same lousy service and same lousy attitude.

given i never flew interior in romania, i was looking for some help. i go to the first information desk i see and ask. and i’m told, ‘go forward and to the right’. i go forward, and the only right i can take it’s through a window. so i look for ‘help’, yes…’help’ in otopeni (stop laughing it’s not that funny). i go to the first person i see with some sort of work clothing; however, as i approach he whips out his cell phone and starts talking… i’m left basicly with my mouth open. well, well…welcome ‘home’. i got to some security guy, who turned out to be quite nice, and he explained how to get to the interior flights.

well, i have to pass through another security point. i am asked to take my shoes off, sweater, and belt. it’s an interior flight, who in their right might would ever consider it? oh well, rules are rules. well, i take my laptop out, place it in the tray. they noticed wires in my bag…so the guy finds it necessary to take each and every one of my wires out. yes, i have my monitor connector, yes i have my audio cables, etc. well, enjoy putting them back together.

eventually i get to the gate. 4 gates to the interior, 4 flights (sibiu, satu mare, baia mare and oradea). all 4 flights leave at 20:45. otopeni only has one take-off strip for interior…something’s gotta give. well…it turned out my flight only left at some time past 21:10. well…i did get to sibiu, a bit late…but then again it’s romania…it’s to be expected.

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ISOI part 3

Posted by cris on 16 December 2008, 7:06 am

december 16th, munich airport. pleasantly surprised, a source of free wifi…i’m sure by this point the excitement doesn’t need to be explained. and as i write this i sense a familiar ‘lost’ scent. the scent of burned tobacco. it’s been a while since i’ve last tasted it, and for the last few days being by myself…there’s been quite a few moments when i debated whether or not to join the smokers into their ‘pleasurable’ and ‘relaxing’ ways. that combined with seeing cigarette packs everywhere. for those of you who are not aware, canada decided to ‘hide’ the cigarette packs from view, thus you don’t see them in stores; even though you can buy them. thus, in copenhagen and munich airports, those were some of the first things that jumped out at me.

well it’s about 12pm on tuesday, and i spent the night at a hotel…tried to sleep but considering i went to bed at roughly 2pm vancouver time that wasn’t gonna happen without a fight. woke up with a head ache (that has yet to pass) around 6:30am local time. enjoyed the delicious breakfast offered by the hotel and eventually made my way to the airport. coming in the night before, had to put up with a plane delay. as soon as i stepped on the plane, found my seat and closed my eyes with the ipod blasting away. i recall waking up at some point, looking outside, it was dark. couldn’t tell if we were flying or still standing in copenhagen. didn’t quite bother to look at the time and closed my eyes yet again. i remember landing. grabbed a taxi to the hotel and made it to the room. small and cozy, pictures to follow at some point. the best thing of the room was the bathroom floor (no, stop thinking of the shaggy song). why? it was the only place in the room that was heated. the heating in the bathroom was done through the floor, however i failed to find a control for the heat in the room.

once i returned from breakfast i realized the extent of my ‘intelligence’ the night before. assuming that the door to the room is always looked from the outside, i never bothered checking. well, the door has to be locked from the inside with the key. if not, the door can be opened (duh!) and essentially anyone can visit. well i slept the night, went to breakfast, left my laptop, ipod and the rest of my stuff in the room with the door unlocked through the night and during breakfast. got to the airport with ‘all’ my stuff from what i can see, and started looking for tarom’s office. i’m sure no pun was intended given tarom’s office in the airport is placed between a turkish airline office and another middle eastern country.

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ISOI part 2b

Posted by cris on 16 December 2008, 6:19 am

memoirs of copenhagen, at my sister’s request. visited the airport back in the summer. spend a week in this amazing city during the indoor air 08 conference. landing brought back memories of the summer visit. over-paying for two hot dogs and a can of pepsi. trying to figure out what the time on the tickets for the train meant. taking public transit to reach downtown copenhagen. surprised by the amount of bikes on the streets.

knowing i have 5 hours of waiting until my flight to munich departs, i decided to calmly wait on my seat until the plane clears. good thought, only when i got up and tried to put my coat on my ring falls between the seats. thus, i managed to ensure i’m the last person to get off the plane. a nice stewardess came to my aid and found my ring. off the plane and into the line-up. check-up of luggage and personal belongings. at least the danish won’t make me take off my shoes. i guess they do appreciate a nice clean indoor air environment, given i had my shoes for approximately 24 hours by that point. all goes well, slow, but well. first stop, duty-free shop. after which, the search for a plug begins.

given it’s about 3.5 hours prior to departure, my flight is not on any of the screens. no idea as to which gate i’m supposed to look for. given no free wifi was available, i decided to start on foot and look for the gate to munich. the search took me through the main section of ‘duty-free’ shops, which included various brand name clothing stores, a display ferrari enzo (with a clear sign ‘please do not touch’), and chocolate stores. by the time gate B15 was found, the lack of sleep finally kicked in…the only thing i was looking for was a comfortable seat to try and relax a bit. the joy of the re-visit didn’t last for very long, the only thing i was thinking about was a nice bed.

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