Here are some things I jotted down while en route to Florence on April 28, with some corresponding photos. Enjoy…
04.28.08
Altitude: 38000 ft Location: Above Kuujiuaq, Canada
Pacific Standard Time: 7:23pm.
It’s nighttime over Canada, and I am in the sky.
We left San Francisco a little late, so I’m not sure how long we’ve been flying nor how much longer we’re supposed to have, but I would estimate I’m perhaps about halfway through my entire travel time. (That’s an extremely uneducated and lazy guess, by the way.)
I’m feeling a bit unsettled, and vaguely morose. From past experience, despite it feeling like it’s not a good time to take a trip, when I feel like this it’s actually usually the best time for one. Particularly one to Europe, and particularly to Florence, as it seems to reset me a bit, recenter me and put me on some sort of an even keel.
I’m a bit worried about what I packed. Not only did I pack hurriedly but I selected what I was bringing before I went to sleep, and when was really tired. Which usually involves me moving really slowly and thinking, “Hey, even though I never wear this, maybe I will,” about things that weigh down my suitcase and are definitely never worn.
It seems like very recently that I was flying over snowy Canada, and here I am again. Pensive, morose, still.
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04.29.08 — FRANKFURT AIRPORT
11:20am local time
Too bad I don’t have a T-Mobile hotspot account. I could be liveblogging right now from the Frankfurt Airport. I just paid exactly 3.5 times what I would pay in Florence for a cappuccino, which is shameful and yet oh my god what you’ll do for a cup of hot coffee when you slept 2 hours and have been traveling for ~ 18 hours (since leaving the house). Is that really possible? I have one more flight to go, which is supposed to leave in a little over an hour, board in about 1/2 hour.
I just finished my overpriced (and not even that good) cappuccino and I already regret it. Although, to be fair, it’s not the airport that’s overpricing, it’s just coffee in Germany. In Munich I think I pay 2 euros for an espresso vs 90 cents in Florence. I think the cheapest I had in Munich was 1.50 euros and that was from the Italians. (Tip: to go to a caffè that’s run by Italians in Munich – and if you’re looking for cappuccino/espresso why wouldn’t you go to one? – go to “Caffè San Pietro” by Alte Peter. There’s also a Lavazza Caffè by the Frauenkirche that has at least one Italian working there, named Alfredo, but I prefer the other place.) I guess it’s not as necessary as in Italy, where you HAVE to stop at a bar at least once a day for coffee; it’s essential, not a luxury.
A note to the standoffish: if you’re averse to being touched by strangers, you’ll have a helluva time in German airports. They grope you to make sure you’re not, I guess, packing heat or bombs or anything. I love it. It cracks me up, and I don’t know why the US is so weird about stuff like that. I know I’m home when I get seriously groped and body searched by an invariably lovely and businesslike German woman – where in the US they wave the wand in front of you rather tentatively, you know, to avoid lawsuits and stuff, in Germany they literally press your body all over with both hands as well as the wand, then they grab your boobs to make sure it’s really a wire bra that’s setting off the alarm. It’s always a highlight, the through-clothes cavity search by a statuesque Frau.
(FYI: I don’t set the alarm off in Florence, so I’ve never been patted down in Italy – well, not in the airport, and not on suspicion of firearms, haha…. – and in Switzerland they’re polite and ask you if it’s ok if they check your arms, your legs, etc. Cultural lesson for the day.)
The only downside to me traveling so much is that it seems like old hat to be back in Europe, the I-can’t-believe-I’m-here factor is gone. I know, I know, povera me. I still feel like I should be going to Munich on my way to Florence, but I’m getting used to the Frankfurt-transfer deal. Off to gate B3.
Where I bought my overpriced cappuccino in Frankfurt:
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July 4, 2008 at 12:18 pm
[...] Credit: Backtrack: In Viaggio a Firenze, April 28 [...]