The flight over was quick, just 7.5 hours. It was smooth as silk, I guess to be expected from such a large plane. I had a hard time falling asleep, and only slept about 3 hours. Maybe it was the coldness in the upper cabin, maybe the noise, or maybe the lack of wine. While the cabin is heated, it is not completely isolated from the cargo area, and the cold air from below makes its way in. I wore my hoodie, and earplugs and had a wool blanket provide by the Air Force. The food service was a box lunch (see picture) consisting of ham and cheese sandwich, can of soda, bag of chips, Oreo cookies, and granola bar, for which I paid $4.65 at check in. Off came the ham, and in memory of my dad, I made a potato chip and cheese sandwich with mayo...one of his guilty pleasures and I gave away the rest. Next time I'll bring my own meal as many others did....another lesson learned. After landing we were bused to the terminal where the USO had a coffee service so we could warm up and wake up waiting for our bags to arrive. That was a very nice touch and I have to remember to send the USO a donation. My friends picked me up and we went shopping at the Commissary for dinner. I stayed awake until 10 last night, then got caught up on my sleep. Went to the market square (see picture) this morning, had fresh herring, my favorite on a crusty roll with onion.
Tomorrow I'm headed down to Stuttgart for a few days. My friend Klaus will pick me up on this way home from Frankfurt (necessary because the German railway operators are on strike), then on Wednesday I'll take the train to Frankfurt to visit friends there, then back here on Thursday when I hope to get a Space A flight to one or two of my four Mediterranean destinations.
