And we're off . . .

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  Long Beach, California, United States
Monday, June 23, 2008

This year I'm getting a late start on posting, since my access to the Internet was a bit limited last week, and I just got access here in Vienna. Yes, I'm in Vienna, but more about that later. First, I want to welcome a new set of readers: my German students (current and now former) who temporarily took leave of their senses and said they wanted to read my travel blog. Just to warn you, this first entry is all about getting away; the more exotic stuff (and pictures) will come later.

In some ways I was ahead of things this year, like getting grades done. In other ways I was a little behind, like getting everything packed before the shuttle to the airport came. The choir at church was singing a fun spiritual for the Sunday morning service: "Twelve Gates into the City", and I definitely wanted to be part of the service. In addition, I had organ responsibilities for three services. The morning worship was great, but it meant that I didn't have a lot of time after the last service before the van arrived.

So, I closed up the organ and headed out. My errands took about the amount of time I had figured, so I was in pretty good shape - until the shuttle arrived 15 minutes early. Yes, early! Shuttles aren't supposed to arrive early. As a result, I threw the last couple of things into my bag and shut it. Naturally, I forgot a couple of things, like a comb, shampoo and deodorant. Fortunately they have those things readily available in Europe, so I just resigned myself to buying them when I got to Stuttgart.

The van did have to wait a little bit for me, and of course I was the last person on. When I got in I looked over my shoulder at a full van and apologized for keeping them waiting. Then we headed to the airport. Checking in and going through security weren't a problem. What was a problem was that "ops" for British Airways had changed the seat selection, and the agent couldn't get me what I wanted. She agreed that it didn't do much good to have early seat selection if the company just moved your seat around on you. Still, BA has better legroom than most, so I wasn't too cramped.

My flight to London was nice and smooth, and I watched some movies I hadn't seen before: "Jumper" and "The Golden Compass"; I also re-watched "Chronicles of Narnia I". All of them were good, but I still like "Narnia" the best. Then I took a nap, awaking in time to have breakfast before we landed at Heathrow. BTW, if you want to get your meal ahead of everyone else, order a special meal. They hand those out first, at least on BA.

Both of my flights were into and out of Terminal 5, and things went pretty smoothly. (PTL) I had scheduled a long layover, and the continuing flight was delayed, so I had plenty of time to investigate the terminal. It's very new and slick, but it's still an airport terminal. They did put in a small children's playground with lots of Nerf equipment. When I walked by, there were several little kids having a great time playing together. Their parents looked a lot more relaxed than most parents in an airport, so that was positive.

After a half-hour delay, my flight to Stuttgart got underway. It was also pretty boring (always good), and I arrived at Stuttgart airport with no problems. Then I had to wait on luggage before meeting my German family. (For those who don't know, this is the family I lived with when I was in Germany 1975-1977 and 1983-1984.) We had a great time together, but you'll have to wait until my next post to read about it.