The day is finally upon me. Leaving the comfort of the US for an adventure in the East.
After hauling all my bags, remember I ended up with 3 checked bags, one carry-on and my purse, down three flights of stairs, my cabbie picked me up and kept me occupied (aka annoyed) the entire trip to the airport of stories about everything he has ever heard or read about India. Note to self - never tell your cabbie where you are headed or else.
Upon arriving at the beautifully pristine Tampa International Airport, Mike and I checked in as First Class travelers. When all was said and done, my checked bags weighed a total of 128 pounds. Crazy. In fact, the handle of the bag carrying all the chotchkies for the team broke. I love that bag and need to get it fixed. (If you have any idea where to get luggage repaired, please let me know.) I anticipate the broken handle will cause us more trouble and generate some laughs throughout the journey.
The flight from Tampa to Chicago was typical, although I never tire of First Class. Cocktails and a meal, along with comfortable seats and wonderful attendants.
We boarded the Boeing 777 that would carry us from Chicago to Delhi. It is a 14.5 hour flight. My company allows flying business class for any flights over 10 hours. Wow, what a treat!!! After Mike and I played musical seats so we could sit together, we explored the mini-cabin we had for all the bells and whistles. We then donned our comfort wear - me in my aloe infused socks and he in his old man slippers (brown pinstriped to be precise). Our attendant, Missy, introduced herself by offering us glasses of bubbles. For those that know me well, you know that I have a thing for bubbles. For those that don't know me well, I LOVE CHAMPAGNE!!!
There was a large selection of entertainment options - of which Mike and chose to watch The Fighter. What a fantastic movie! Since I travel so much, I have not seen many of the recent releases. I used to be the one person that had watched every single movie nominated for an Academy Award. Not lately. I was shocked by the appearance of Christian Bale. He is one of my favorite actors and I have seen him transform himself for a part before (i.e. The Machinist). But this was unreal...I barely recognized him. His performance was absolutely outstanding.
After the movie, Mike decided to take a walk to stretch his legs. When he returned, he brought more with him than the glasses of wine I had summoned him for. He brought the story of 'the sleepwalker'. Mike figured he would take advantage of the facilities while he was up but got much more than he had expected. As he walked into the lavatory, he realized that it was already occupied. Occupied by a woman sleeping on the toilet. Being the gentleman that he is, he turned his head not to embarass the woman (nor himself) and notified a flight attendant. Later in the flight, Missy came back to let us know that the woman was ok, she had drank several glasses of wine, took an Ambien and sleep walked into the lavatory. I used to sleep walk. And most nights when I did, my Mom would find me on the toilet. I thank god I no longer sleep walk and it wasn't me that Mike found on the toilet 37K feet in the air.
After a delicious meal and another movie (The Adjustment Bureau - not as good as the previous movie), we settled in for the evening. The seats in Business Class recline nearly all the way to a lay flat bed. Unfortunately, my seat was not functioning correctly and I was only able to get about 3/4 of the way down. Regardless, I was able to sleep 8 hours - probably thanks to the near bottle of Malbec I drank and the two Advil PM I took.
When I awoke, my TV monitor displayed our flight path. And where were we when I awoke - directly above Kabul. For a split second, I thought maybe I would be tomorrow's news and would never actually touch down in India. Fortunately, that was just a 'dazed and confused' reaction to what I saw and we safely landed in Delhi.
Travel Day 2 will be in the next post
Namaste
After hauling all my bags, remember I ended up with 3 checked bags, one carry-on and my purse, down three flights of stairs, my cabbie picked me up and kept me occupied (aka annoyed) the entire trip to the airport of stories about everything he has ever heard or read about India. Note to self - never tell your cabbie where you are headed or else.
Upon arriving at the beautifully pristine Tampa International Airport, Mike and I checked in as First Class travelers. When all was said and done, my checked bags weighed a total of 128 pounds. Crazy. In fact, the handle of the bag carrying all the chotchkies for the team broke. I love that bag and need to get it fixed. (If you have any idea where to get luggage repaired, please let me know.) I anticipate the broken handle will cause us more trouble and generate some laughs throughout the journey.
The flight from Tampa to Chicago was typical, although I never tire of First Class. Cocktails and a meal, along with comfortable seats and wonderful attendants.
We boarded the Boeing 777 that would carry us from Chicago to Delhi. It is a 14.5 hour flight. My company allows flying business class for any flights over 10 hours. Wow, what a treat!!! After Mike and I played musical seats so we could sit together, we explored the mini-cabin we had for all the bells and whistles. We then donned our comfort wear - me in my aloe infused socks and he in his old man slippers (brown pinstriped to be precise). Our attendant, Missy, introduced herself by offering us glasses of bubbles. For those that know me well, you know that I have a thing for bubbles. For those that don't know me well, I LOVE CHAMPAGNE!!!
There was a large selection of entertainment options - of which Mike and chose to watch The Fighter. What a fantastic movie! Since I travel so much, I have not seen many of the recent releases. I used to be the one person that had watched every single movie nominated for an Academy Award. Not lately. I was shocked by the appearance of Christian Bale. He is one of my favorite actors and I have seen him transform himself for a part before (i.e. The Machinist). But this was unreal...I barely recognized him. His performance was absolutely outstanding.
After the movie, Mike decided to take a walk to stretch his legs. When he returned, he brought more with him than the glasses of wine I had summoned him for. He brought the story of 'the sleepwalker'. Mike figured he would take advantage of the facilities while he was up but got much more than he had expected. As he walked into the lavatory, he realized that it was already occupied. Occupied by a woman sleeping on the toilet. Being the gentleman that he is, he turned his head not to embarass the woman (nor himself) and notified a flight attendant. Later in the flight, Missy came back to let us know that the woman was ok, she had drank several glasses of wine, took an Ambien and sleep walked into the lavatory. I used to sleep walk. And most nights when I did, my Mom would find me on the toilet. I thank god I no longer sleep walk and it wasn't me that Mike found on the toilet 37K feet in the air.
After a delicious meal and another movie (The Adjustment Bureau - not as good as the previous movie), we settled in for the evening. The seats in Business Class recline nearly all the way to a lay flat bed. Unfortunately, my seat was not functioning correctly and I was only able to get about 3/4 of the way down. Regardless, I was able to sleep 8 hours - probably thanks to the near bottle of Malbec I drank and the two Advil PM I took.
When I awoke, my TV monitor displayed our flight path. And where were we when I awoke - directly above Kabul. For a split second, I thought maybe I would be tomorrow's news and would never actually touch down in India. Fortunately, that was just a 'dazed and confused' reaction to what I saw and we safely landed in Delhi.
Travel Day 2 will be in the next post
Namaste
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