Flying and other "Fun" Things

Yesterday was a 26 or 27 or 28 hour day. It started at 2:30 when we got up in order to catch the 3:30 bus to Budapest Airport (called BUD). We packed the last of the "stuff" and headed for breakfast on the boat and by 3:30 we were motoring to BUD. Once there we found the handicapped line and after waiting a long time, we were finally checked thru to SLC via CDG (Charles DeGaulle in Paris). At 5:30, right on schedule, we boarded our plane to CDG...but we were delayed 40 minutes from taking off. I don't know why but most of us caught a needed nap oblivious to the fact that we were going to be late for our flight to SLC.

We arrived at CDG at 8:50 and our boarding time for the next leg was 9:17. We flew handicapped, so we had to wait for a huge van that picked us up at the back of the airplane. He drove us to a terminal where folks with wheel chairs were waiting to take us thru. The final goal was gate M50 and we were no where near M50. About 40 minutes later, with the help of some great airport assistants, we went thru customs and finally saw the M terminal and of course M50 was at the very end of it. Somewhere along the way, our assistants asked for our flight to be held and it was. As soon as we boarded, the doors were closed and we were winging to SLC. IF we had not had the assistnance of those helpers, all 4 of us would have been left behind in CDG hoping someone would understand our plight. That airport is an absolute nightmare. It looks very modern and sleek, but it's not efficient. I would like to ask the architect of CDG what he was thinking when he designed that garish complex airport?

The last leg of the journey was in a Delta Suite. Now while that sounds like a fancy place, it's the current nomenclature for business class on Delta. A Delta Suite is nothing more than a cubicle that has privacy, a bit of space, and most important of all, a BED. For the 14 hour flight, we enjoyed that bed, along with the touchscreen TV that had access to over 500 movies, TV series, games, music, and the flight plan. 

After a much welcome glass of champagne I settled in my "suite," enjoyed duck for dinner and a series of videos. I don't think I saw any video to the end as I dozed off and on thruout the flight. I'm thinking I had about four hours of sleep. While the suite name is a misnomer, it is a sweet way to fly. We landed in SLC without any problems. We went thru customs and Global Entry worked once again. We found our luggage and called our ride and soon we were back at the home of our friends. We'll be here maybe another day until we are less jet-lagged and then we'll drive back home.

The cruise was good. The weather was bad. The food was fantastic. The scenery along the rivers is always wonderful and ever changing. Given that, it's always good to be back home in the USA.