We have found that smaller hotels and B&Bs in Europe like to shut off the heat during the night. Some places in the past have also managed to shut off internet. I wouldn’t think gas or electrical bills in Europe would be particularly higher than in the United States, but perhaps there is a reason behind all this. In any event, it was quite cold during the night until our alarm went off at 6. Sometime thereafter, I believe the heat was turned back on and I used it to warm my pants before I put them on as they’d become rather crisp overnight.
The sunrise happens shockingly late here. We caught an Uber at 720am and the sun wouldn’t rise for more than an hour after that. I guess we are quite far north, but what must it be like in December? Despite the darkness and chill, we still saw people riding bikes around like it was nothing. The airport was fairly crowded at this hour, but all of our negative tests and paperwork had been submitted already. Furthermore, after ten flights, this was literally the first one that allowed any carryon bags larger than 7kg. That’s about 15 lbs you see, and your standard 22” roller suitcase probably weighs close to 10 lbs empty.
Anyway, with luggage in hand we didn’t need to see a ticket agent, having already checked in. And we had standby tickets on our phone, which actually seemed to work in a foreign country for the first time ever. Security and customs went smoothly despite a lady telling me I had to remove my thin button up shirt I was wearing and put it in a tray. This coming after the girl in front of me had on a giant sweatshirt. There were a few inconsistencies (and inefficiencies) with the process, but we got through without them tearing apart Nicole’s backpack which is always a major plus.
United automatically issues standby seats haphazardly before a functional human intervenes and makes the corrections. You see, there were about 30 open seats in Polaris business, but we, along with the rest of the standbys, were automatically given seats toward the back of the plane. Why they do this, I don’t know, but eventually it worked itself out and we got seats in row 7 on the left side. I gave Nicole the window because she’s been good.
An hour after departure, we were served a meal, which unlike Etihad, was logical for the time of day. United felt that 930am local time was still breakfast, not lamb and strongly flavored hummus o’clock. This did not change the fact that United’s food is still mostly mediocre. Even the flight attendant taking our orders offered the pancakes and then said, “They are quite dry and hard to work with.” We both had steak and eggs which had some potatoes, muesli, and fruit amongst other items we could work with.
Thanks to the nice lie-flat seat, I was able to actually fall asleep and get some rest for an hour or so. Even Nicole got a few winks I reckon. We touched down in Newark ahead of schedule and thanks to Global Entry were through passport control and customs in less than five minutes from deplaning. This was all quite a coup for Newark which is notoriously bad at . . .everything. Newark? Well, that’s not Los Angeles, you might say. So what happens next?
As much as I like to keep people on the edge of their basic economy seats, we are getting ourselves into position to watch the US Women’s soccer team play a match against South Korea in Minnesota on the 26th. Also Nicole has a doctor’s appointment in New Jersey. So even after eleven flights, we will likely have two more to contend with. On paper, that all sounds exhausting, but traveling in the times of Covid is actually pretty straightforward, at least from the standby point of view. As our trip winds down and we find ourselves stateside once again, the seats have become fewer, but there are also more options. We are coming into the final stretch, and that means the highly anticipated “Reflections” post is around the corner. Brace yourselves!
passports & pepto bismol 