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Hi guys!
In order to keep the motivation with my job and university, I had to get out this summer. Unfortunately me and my family could not fly to China as we planned because EK was the only reasonable airline to fly and they were already out of tickets. My mother and father decided they'll take EVA to BKK and HKG for some shopping and leisure ... don't get the wrong idea here, I don't depend on my parents when traveling, it would have been nice for a change this time though. So I decided to fly over to Canada to visit a friend of mine who just moved there with his girlfriend to attend university there.
I chose to fly KLM as they provided reasonable ticket prices ... there was also Air Transat but I kinda disapproved the idea of flying an Airbus A310 in a 3-4-3 layover. So it was KLM from VIE to AMS and to YYZ and the Air Canada from YYZ to YOW.
The day finally came and I arrived early at VIE to watch some planes. I spotted all the major aircrafts that visit VIE ... the EVA 330, the CI 330 and the EK 330 .... unfortunately not the Korean Air 777, just the Korean Air Cargo 747. I decided to get a coffee at Starbucks (free Wi-Fi here in VIE) and sat down next to two other travelers who had their Apple notebooks and Moleskines on the table. It was a funny coincidence and I talked to them ... the girl was going to Hamburg and the guy was on the same plane as me. I wasn't alone after all. Boarding time and off we went to Amsterdam.
The flight was actually quite comfy ... there was an Indonesian couple sitting next to me, telling me about their trip to Europe. We were handed crisps or cookies by the flight attendant and we safely touched down at Amsterdam. Time for a plane change: Schiphol is SO big. I was in SIN, SYD, HKG, KUL, ... plenty of times but I never managed to walk _this_ long between two neighbouring gates. Luckily, my plane from VIE was quite on time so I was not late for my connection flight to YYZ. I also managed to go to the loo as I am kinda afraid of toilets aboard. The boarding system at Schiphol sucked though ... many people were standing in the tube connecting the boarding area to our 777-200ER (sorry, forgot the word for it) ...
The plane began moving and we drove like 30 minutes at 50 km/h to the runway (Polderbaan 18R - 36L) ... then we lifted up heavy and were on our way to Toronto. My neighbors in cattle class were a white dude on the aisle and a Chinese dude in the middle ... leaving me on the window. The Chinese fella was so annoying as he had no manners while eating, stretched around furiously and always occupied the whole armrest between our seats. Behind me, there was some sort of an uproar, as KLM placed together a couple without asking the other passengers ... the flight attendants were blonde (yummy) but unfortunately quite stressed ... one looked and behaved like a typical mother ("don't do that!").
As we were in the air for about one hour, meals were served. I got my meal 45 minutes after other passengers got theirs and the stewardess told us that she only has vegetarian or fish left. I mean come on ...they can't be serious. I chose vegetarian which was completely inedible as KLM chose to serve Indian food. I normally love Indian food but their chef must have been drunk or so as he compiled this. The second meal was some sort of a chicken-curry filled bun which was okay but nothing special.
After touching down in Toronto, we taxied like 45 minutes again to reach or gate. The security there was annoying: the police officers asked me about the purpose of my stay, my job and if I were a terrorist (as if I would say yes if I were) ... then through immigration. Gosh, it was so annoying because I felt like I was in some interrogation camp or so. I told the guy that I'm just visiting a friend and he actually wanted to know how long I've known "this person" for ... he wanted to know if I was a terrorist / environmentalist and a bunch of other stuff ...it was really unpleasant to wait like 30 minutes in a queue just to get interrogated like i would be a criminal or so.
After I cleared customs, I had to find the domestic terminal which was in a completely different building. I was afraid I would be late but I had plenty of time left to stroll around and explore the domestic terminal in all it's beauty. The domestic terminal at YYZ actually looks better than the international terminal ... it's much cleaner somehow. I had an ice tea at a bar there and was allowed to board the Air Canada flight I was looking forward to experience.
To my surprise, I was greeted with my name (I was a regular Y passenger) and had one of the best flights ever service-wise. The flight was rather bumpy but okay.
The airport at YOW as already closing down, so there was practically nobody there. I took a cab home and here I am now .... exploring the beautiful city of Ottawa
At last, I want to share some pictures with you:
http://gallery.mac.com/flowagner/
Cheers, Flo
In order to keep the motivation with my job and university, I had to get out this summer. Unfortunately me and my family could not fly to China as we planned because EK was the only reasonable airline to fly and they were already out of tickets. My mother and father decided they'll take EVA to BKK and HKG for some shopping and leisure ... don't get the wrong idea here, I don't depend on my parents when traveling, it would have been nice for a change this time though. So I decided to fly over to Canada to visit a friend of mine who just moved there with his girlfriend to attend university there.
I chose to fly KLM as they provided reasonable ticket prices ... there was also Air Transat but I kinda disapproved the idea of flying an Airbus A310 in a 3-4-3 layover. So it was KLM from VIE to AMS and to YYZ and the Air Canada from YYZ to YOW.
The day finally came and I arrived early at VIE to watch some planes. I spotted all the major aircrafts that visit VIE ... the EVA 330, the CI 330 and the EK 330 .... unfortunately not the Korean Air 777, just the Korean Air Cargo 747. I decided to get a coffee at Starbucks (free Wi-Fi here in VIE) and sat down next to two other travelers who had their Apple notebooks and Moleskines on the table. It was a funny coincidence and I talked to them ... the girl was going to Hamburg and the guy was on the same plane as me. I wasn't alone after all. Boarding time and off we went to Amsterdam.
The flight was actually quite comfy ... there was an Indonesian couple sitting next to me, telling me about their trip to Europe. We were handed crisps or cookies by the flight attendant and we safely touched down at Amsterdam. Time for a plane change: Schiphol is SO big. I was in SIN, SYD, HKG, KUL, ... plenty of times but I never managed to walk _this_ long between two neighbouring gates. Luckily, my plane from VIE was quite on time so I was not late for my connection flight to YYZ. I also managed to go to the loo as I am kinda afraid of toilets aboard. The boarding system at Schiphol sucked though ... many people were standing in the tube connecting the boarding area to our 777-200ER (sorry, forgot the word for it) ...
The plane began moving and we drove like 30 minutes at 50 km/h to the runway (Polderbaan 18R - 36L) ... then we lifted up heavy and were on our way to Toronto. My neighbors in cattle class were a white dude on the aisle and a Chinese dude in the middle ... leaving me on the window. The Chinese fella was so annoying as he had no manners while eating, stretched around furiously and always occupied the whole armrest between our seats. Behind me, there was some sort of an uproar, as KLM placed together a couple without asking the other passengers ... the flight attendants were blonde (yummy) but unfortunately quite stressed ... one looked and behaved like a typical mother ("don't do that!").
As we were in the air for about one hour, meals were served. I got my meal 45 minutes after other passengers got theirs and the stewardess told us that she only has vegetarian or fish left. I mean come on ...they can't be serious. I chose vegetarian which was completely inedible as KLM chose to serve Indian food. I normally love Indian food but their chef must have been drunk or so as he compiled this. The second meal was some sort of a chicken-curry filled bun which was okay but nothing special.
After touching down in Toronto, we taxied like 45 minutes again to reach or gate. The security there was annoying: the police officers asked me about the purpose of my stay, my job and if I were a terrorist (as if I would say yes if I were) ... then through immigration. Gosh, it was so annoying because I felt like I was in some interrogation camp or so. I told the guy that I'm just visiting a friend and he actually wanted to know how long I've known "this person" for ... he wanted to know if I was a terrorist / environmentalist and a bunch of other stuff ...it was really unpleasant to wait like 30 minutes in a queue just to get interrogated like i would be a criminal or so.
After I cleared customs, I had to find the domestic terminal which was in a completely different building. I was afraid I would be late but I had plenty of time left to stroll around and explore the domestic terminal in all it's beauty. The domestic terminal at YYZ actually looks better than the international terminal ... it's much cleaner somehow. I had an ice tea at a bar there and was allowed to board the Air Canada flight I was looking forward to experience.
To my surprise, I was greeted with my name (I was a regular Y passenger) and had one of the best flights ever service-wise. The flight was rather bumpy but okay.
The airport at YOW as already closing down, so there was practically nobody there. I took a cab home and here I am now .... exploring the beautiful city of Ottawa
At last, I want to share some pictures with you:
http://gallery.mac.com/flowagner/
Cheers, Flo
Home is where your heart is.
i might reupload the pictures once i have some time ^^
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