Not in Vancouver Any More

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Flights

I’ve decided to post in two versions, a short one that I can whip off in a few minutes, and a longer version that I’ll write when I have more time to allot—I can tell already I’ll have too much to say to keep abreast of long versions on a day-to-day basis. So, for now...

Day 1: The Short Version

We’re flying on points, and so travel business class; the difference in cost (in points) is neglegible, but the difference in travel experience is huge when flying overseas (not so much within the country).

So, Travel Tip #1: If you have enough points, travel business.

Travel Tip #2: If you are flying to Europe from the West Coast, be sure that you fly long-haul FROM the west, not transferring in, say Toronto or Montreal, because the planes are not the same.

Our trip was in three legs: Vancouver-Calgary, Calgary-Frankfurt, Frankfurt-Berlin. What I was not prepared for was having to go through security in EACH airport. That would not have been a problem, except that our plane sat on the Calgary tarmac for an hour, and we would only have an hour and a half transfer time once we got to Frankfurt. When we landed in Frankfurt, late as expected, the gates were full and a shuttle bus had to meet us to take us to the terminal. We ran. In line for security—third time that day—a woman who appeared to be custodial staff came along and flipped the directional sign, so that suddenly we were in the wrong line-up for the concourse we needed, and had to leave the line and run, I swear, the full length of the airport, take stairs, elevators, stand in a different line for security, to end up at the gate listed on our boarding passes. We inquired at the neighbouring gate and were told that the gate had been changed and that the plane had departed. The attendant was going to book us on the next plane, but called and found out that the plane had not, in fact left, and that we would catch it if we ran. We ran.

Forty-five minutes later we landed in Berlin. I don’t know how our luggage made it, since we barely did, but there it was, probably due to the “priority” sticker (another perk of business class). Ezra and Katharina were there, such a welcome sight! We rode the U-bahn, the underground urban train, to their apartment. They live in a wonderful, very Berlin neighbourhood called Schoeneberg, lots of shops and cafes lining the street, the bottom floor of 6-storey apartment buildings.

To keep jetlag at bay, we went to the old Berlin center, to walk the Unter den Linden in the bright sunlight; we dragged ourselves around in temperatures of about 35°C. We discovered that U-Bahn stations are a good place to cool off, especially when a train blasts in, a cold wind preceding it.

We went to a neighbourhood Indian Restaurant for a dinner we could well have enjoyed in Vancouver—thank you to the fine Indian restauranteurs, worldwide!—then returned to the apartment to collapse in bed, to the sounds of young Germans hooting their approval every time Germany scored in the 3rd-place FIFA game.

I am happy!

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