violist

UA7837 IAD BOS 1010 1138 ER4 12F

I was considering standing by for the 0830, but I slept in
and was too cheap to take a taxi for not much benefit.
Public trans worked fairly well, but why does the Metro have
so much malfunctioning equipment? Display boards, bus doors,
elevators, escalators. The elevator/escalator issue was
particularly irksome as I have my carryon stuffed to the
gills and am in a slightly debilitated condition (heart
problems are not contagious, I'm told, so MegaDOers need not
worry heavily). At least the long escalators out of L'Enfant
are working. The bus left right on time, and I was at Dulles
in three winks. It was my first time at the new security
configuration: I looked longingly at the empty black diamond
lane, which appeared to be open, but I was determined to
check out the new situation, which turns out to be about as
impersonal, dehumanizing, and mechanistic a scene as I've
ever encountered. Quick, though: I was in and out in 10 min,
by my watch. I'd been a bit apprehensive as I didn't see a
clock in the area, which would tend to mean that they don't
want you to see how much of your time they're eating. As it
turns out, there is a clock, visible to those with normal
eyesight. A tip for the TSA: uber-cheerful bubblegum Muzak
angrifies rather than soothes and makes the time go by
slower rather than faster. Tip for the MWAA: this setup,
reminding one as it does of a customs facility, only
reinforces the alienness inherent in air travel. It's not
likely to make friends for the industry.

RCC: the wi-fi was working better than usual, and I was
heavily engrossed in FT when I looked down, and, yep, we
were boarding. Hurriedly I loaded about 20 threads for
future edification and went to the gate just as red boarding
ended. An oblivious GS cut in front of me (by this time,
seeing that red boarding was still in effect, I'd gone into
mosey mode) and tried to get his seat changed; he was
dissatisfied with the 12D that he had been given (perhaps he
saw me coming); unfortunately all the seats still available
were worse. The GA put a green tag on my bag despite my
protestations that it fits under the seat in ERJs. I
shrugged. There was nothing in there I would miss terribly.
Of course after settling down in 12D our GS hero had to
get unsettled to make room for me; he was actually quite
gracious about this. Eyeshades on. Takeoff. Sleep. Wakened
by the rather pleasant FA saying to please open the
windowshade for landing.

Next RCC: I tried to get Lynn to intercede with me to get
me on the nonstop SFO or, alternatively, on the earlier
DEN so I could do an earlier connection. All this so I
could have a cushion for getting back to ORD on time and
doing my promised RCC sponsorships. Yesterday there had
been all these lovely F6s and F9s, but today, zipzip. Back
in the old days of overcapacity, I could fly anytime I
wanted with whatever kind of ticket I had. My mindset has
to adapt to post bankruptcy II and the 21st century. This
itinerary had seemed to be a good idea at the time (i.e.,
NF space immediately available). She said I could get on
either flight - in coach, in a middle seat. I sighed
heavily and said I'd wait 4 more hours and fly in comfort.
After all, there's work (and FT) to be done, right? And
there are now Pepperidge Farm cookies. Yay, Chessmen.

Break time. Where to go but the Beer Works. I ordered an
oatmeal stout, as that's the closest thing to the Black Bat
I'm familiar with from the Salem outlet. This one is a bit
too sweet but okay. A burger, extra rare as ordered, was its
usual pleasant, predictable mediocrity (the only uncertain
aspect at this joint is whether it'll be done enough so I
have to send it back). I substituted the low-gly sweet
potato fries option, which is always enjoyable. What came
was a platter that could have fed a Biafran family of ten;
I enjoyed more than half of it.

Back to the salt mines. I could have used another nap to
store up sleep credits, but such behavior is frowned upon
even in the friendlier RCCs. Oh, well, I promised one of
my clients I'd do some work on this trip, har har.

Fornebufox

I hope you'll keep posting updates! The Mega-Do sounds like one for the books and I'm probably not the only one who'd love to experience it vicariously. Well, I'd love to be there but...

violist

UA 465 BOS DEN 1701 1941 752 2A Ch9 td: Empower^

Channel 9 was on for takeoff - until we were cleared to
Manchester and FL190, at which point it went abruptly off;
I inquired, and the rather glum FA reported that the captain
didn't want it. Julie and Julia was thus forced on me; I
lasted half an hour. Meryl Streep does a great job on the
voice and attitude, but whatever passes for Paul Child is
nothing like what I remember of that small, undynamic man (I
admit I met him long after his OSS days, but he was always
diminutive, at best). Having little sympathy for the main
character or for the historical recreation, I turned on XM
Pops, which was the same sucky brainless nonsense as for the
last several months. I was almost grateful for having
quantities of busy work to do.

Half the people in the cabin were coughing and sneezing; I
joined in periodically. The wine helped. The nuts hurt.

Service on this flight, by a quite senior-looking crew, was
generally unsmiling and correct.

Dinner: rigatoni with red sauce or chicken with gravy and
spuds; lemon cake for dessert. I passed on everything but
the warm nuts and the cheap-tasting Trapiche, which was
refilled speedily (hey, it costs $5 a bottle). I finished
with the obligatory Courvoisier - with vapid music, a vapid
movie, vapid work, and no Channel 9, I figured it was time
to make a deposit in that sleep bank after all.

Woken by big bumpities and "flight attendants take your
seats." A quite bumpy landing. Welcome to Denver. We landed
at B22, a bit of a hike from B49. Somewhere during the last
couple flights one of my glasses nosepieces had broken off
(being Chinese, I have this bridgeless nose and need the
addons to keep the lenses in a position where I can actually
see out of them); for the rest of the trip I've been
wandering around looking a tad off balance.

UA 423 DEN SFO 2020 2204 319 2A ch9^

People sitting near the boarding area were grousing about
the two-lane boarding. I almost set them straight but didn't
bother. Aboard, a bigger assemblage of scary faces I don't
think I've seen outside a slasher movie. The normallest were
the FAs, one of whom wore the first cute face I've seen all
day. My seatmate was a glum-looking Scandinavianish blonde
who nonetheless cracked up when our recline-opponents in 1AB
said or did something silly (like threatening the FA that
they would never fly United again because they had to store
their bags above row 3).

It was an ex-Ted reconfigure with not much in the way of
galley and no front closet. It did have these snazzy leather
seats (I prefer the cloth ones, though). I slept some more
and regretted not eating dinner.

Time for a bit of RCC, with the obligatory tour to scope
out any yellow tags, of which I detected none.

UA 158 SFO ORD 2310 0505 777 2B Ch9^ Empower^

I boarded late to a full cabin. Found Bonnerbl in 4H and
atman and BHL in 3 HJ. Had time to chat just a bit
as there was some modest mechanical issue to be dealt with.

We took off quite a bit late but landed on time. I made every
attempt to add to the sleep bank in the way that sometimes I
have been known to overpay the Visa bill shortly before taking
an extensive foreign trip (this used to prevent the foreign
transaction charges; it no longer seems to). There was a cheese
and fruit plate, but I missed it.

Met Plainsman to host him into the RCC.

violist

(Using Rob's outline, more or less)
USA portion
First event at Chicago O'Hare hosted by United

Plainsman, Bonnerbl, and I staked out a corner in the as-yet
quiet club; shortly we were joined by atman and BHL. It was
getting past 7, and we didn't see much action, so I went off
and poked about a bit. Turns out the event was to take place
in the quiet room, so we headed over there.

Gradually and tardily the FTers filled the room, and at some
point there was a critical mass of festivity. This was only
slightly dampened by Graham Atkinson ominously announcing
that Mileage Plus was going to be going away from being a
frequent flyer program to a loyalty program. I don't know
particularly what that means, but perhaps mileage runs will
soon be a thing of the past.

A number of UA and FT brass; lots of familiar and lots of
unfamiliar FT faces; Captain Denny, who was willingly or
unwillingly a center of attention.

Breakfast foods: I had a cheese danish and some odd OJ.

Substantial giveaways: more copies of Age of Flight than
people took (I was shamed into taking the second-to-last,
which I promptly handed off to someone (Mrp Alert I think)
to be gifted to some lucky person in Germany; assorted
knickknacks including keychains, PS luggage tags, and the
famous UA Sinatra CD. I took none of these, being old enough
to know that today's treasure is tomorrow's millstone. It
was later pointed out to me that I could have fulfilled a
myriad of Secret Santa obligations, but, you know what, my
back is old and tired and not up for carrying all that stuff
- and besides, I'm sure none of it went to waste. Except
maybe some of the orange juice, which was some of the
strangest I've ever tasted.

UA gave us an ops management tour - a great honor, I am led
to believe, as nobody ever gets one. This is corroborated by
the fact that when our largish group went down into the
bowels of O'Hare, we were looked upon by the assorted staff
as though we each had two heads or something.

We hit the ramp controller area (a most dingy and depressing
room, though the staff seemed to be of good enough spirits
considering they're trogs), the FA area (causing a ruckus
in the quiet room, where they go to rest up for the arduous
task of doing the crossword puzzles in flight), the pilot
area and its planning functionalities, and last but not
least, the cafeteria and shop. I believe many people got
stuff at the shop.

Back upstairs into the public terminal and to our gate. A
limited number of preflight cockpit tours, but as soon as
my number came up, they ceased; whereupon I went away, and
they started up again. Sheesh.

Party flight to Newark

UA 678 ORD EWR 1052 1408 320 2A; 2D; 9B Ch9^ Empower
was 7370 ORD EWR 1055 1411 CR7 2D

United indulged us nicely, substituting a refitted Tedcraft
for the original CR7 - F and E+ were taken up with FTers,
but the wayback had but a smattering of bewildered-looking
outsiders. I facilitated young love by switching seats for
a couple wanting to sit together but eventually decided to
take the lead of Randy and Tommy and give up my seat to a
more deserving pax - my criterion, FTer with the worst luck,
which appeared to be someone with a middle seat down at the
back of E+ between BEG2IAH and Shareholder, the badness
not having to do with either of these exemplary gentlemen
but merely the middleness and the backness. As a matter of
fact, I'd offered a couple folks my place on this short
flight and had been turned down; but when push came to
shove, that someone took me up on my offer; so I missed
the cheese and fruit plate, which I wouldn't have eaten
anyway, and the booze, which I wouldn't have drunk anyway as
drinking at that time didn't fall into my plan of endloading
the day and ensuring sleep on the long flight. I snoozed for
most of an hour; life was good. Turns out that everyone on
this party flight was given a free Active snack box, a semi-
palatable and very high calorie bunch of stuff, from garlic
cheese spread and crackers to chips and salsa to a meat
stick to raisins.

violist

Second event at Newark hosted by Continental - welcome to *A

We exited to the rather dank and dingy UA pier, took the
SkyTrain to the Continental area, and found our way to
Elite checkin, which was blocked off for our event: a few
actual travellers circled warily and then went off to
wherever disappointed elites go to check in. At our own
checkin we were assigned to one of a number of tours: I got
assigned to the operations management tour. Perhaps I'd have
preferred the Chelsea catering facility tour, but everyone I
talked to who had been assigned it was happy with the choice
- so no trade seemed possible.

A little knot of people collected around the Journal guy,
who busily took notes; a couple of my friends called me
over, but I didn't have much to say, all of it silly. He
got better interviews from other folks and seemed really
captivated by lili. I don't think he got my name at all,
so I'm in little danger of seeing "he talked about his
ridiculous behavior as if it were the most natural thing in
the world." A few words from our sponsors, and then off we
went on the Ops tour, which was pretty much like United's
(the procedural differences being negligible and probably
of interest only to the hardest of hard core enthusiasts).
CO has a nicer facility for its staff in the ramp tower;
Ops apparently used to be in a room similar to UA's called
(apparently less than affectionately) the dungeon. Where
they are now makes them really part of the action, with
panoramic views of the airport and a pleasant buzz that I
wouldn't have minded being part of were I 30 years younger.

Back to the offices for a nice presentation of EWR and CO's
entrance into Star. I got a Star Alliance hat for saying
the word "ten," which PlusOne and Where2Next and I counted
as the number of Star carriers who service EWR. I actually
wasn't going to say anything ... but I had ten fingers up
after our count, and our presenter said "say it," so I did.
I tried to give the hat to Where2Next, but she said I
deserved it, so, of course, I did.

Time for the buses: CO kindly provided a bag lunch: salami,
garlic cheese, crackers, and grapes, and the tasty Love and
Quiches cookies-and-creme brownie for afters. Not that we
weren't going to be fed later.

Party transfer to JFK

I sat with seanthepilot, who is always entertaining to talk
with, as his life is even randomer than mine and wondrously
interesting. The trip took about an an hour.

Our group took over the LH business lounge for a celebratory
dinner. I had pork roast with a caraway-spiked gravy (pretty
good) and a quite respectable butter chicken with good
basmati; I'd have expected the former but not the latter,
but that just goes to show what I know. Folie a Deux
Cabernet was the best boozal offering; lili, chchkiwi, and I
did our share in drinking them out of this, periodically
taking the bottles out of circulation and to our table.

A gift of chocolates from Demel. I didn't get to sample
these, as I was quite intoxicated and left my bag on the
plane. On hearing this over dinner next day, lili gave me a
little consolation prize left over from her biz class meal,
Copperneur chocolate truffles - dark hazelnut and white
apricot, both yummy.

Party flight to Frankfurt
LH 405 JFK FRA 2135 1110 744 48K

Surprisingly, there was substantial FT representation in
coach, including me. I had reasoned that as I was going to
sleep through the flight anyway, there was no reason for me
to spend the extra for a service I wouldn't use. I did
reconsider at checkin, but I was curtly informed that there
was no room. I thought of doing a buy-up to C and use my
SWU for F, but that seemed extra silly even were it a
possibility. So: walk of shame to row 48, where I passed on
booze and food. Slept the whole way. One cool thing about
being in the wayback is that one got to deplane through the
rear airstairs.

The immigration lines were kind of long; we got into the
shortest, which of course turned out to be the slowest.
I said to someone that we should bolt from this line and
go to the first one, which Randy was in, but we decided to
stick with ours. Well, Randy was long gone and our line
hadn't moved, when they closed the booth that we had been
waiting for and merged our line into an adjacent one,
whereupon I finally left it and went to the rear of the
first line - got out before lili and atman, who had stuck
with our original one.

The Sheraton is in the airport complex, and I am told that
soon there will be two Hiltons joining it. Checkin was not
seamless (I was beginning to wonder about the fabled German
efficiency), as the key card machines were on the fritz,
but everything eventually got sorted out.

My room, 7118, was pretty average - the only notable thing
being that it was a corner room (windows on only the highway
side, though, so I had only a sliver of airport visible) as
far from the elevators as possible. It was over 500 meters
from my room to the airport, which became relevant.

We all were supposed to meet back for the buses to the
first day tours, but when I arrived I discovered that I'd
forgot my passport (which it turns out I didn't need). So
I went back, and over 1 Km later discovered the crowd gone.
Eventually went out with the stragglers on the public bus
and ended up being assigned to one of the last tours, which
was fine. And being a stupid boy at heart, I neglected to
bring a jacket, the result being that this cough that I'd
been suppressing for many days came back just in time for
the charter.

violist

European portion

FRA facilities tour

The bus took us to the corporate office, where we checked
in and got the badges that were to be our main credential
for the three days. Snazzy, too, with the blue and yellow
Lufthansaishness of the neckbands.

A couple blocks from the office through the chill and wind,
after which we passed through security and walked across to
the Technik facility, in front of which someone snapped our
photo.

Our first stop was the maintenance hangar, where a 346 was
awaiting some routine tuning up before its trip to Cape
Town next day. Holy cow - compared to the UA craft that I
usually fly, this looked virtually unused. Of course, we
made a beeline for those two grails, the F seats and the
cockpit (a strong admonition not to touch anything). In
addition we got to go downstairs and try out the crew rest,
which was fine, but without a/c, the atmosphere was getting
really close; WendySFO felt under the weather and had to
leave the tour at this point. Happily, she showed up next
day none the worse for wear.

A trip through the engine overhaul area, then another hangar
with a 744; there was work being done, so we couldn't check
out the cabin, but we did get to go into the cargo hold,
which was uber-cool.

Out to the training facility, where we caught the tail end
of the FT moderator f/a training session (apparently much
hilarity was had by all), and then to the flight simulation
room; this isn't quite so interesting as it sounds, as we
stood on a gangway and looked at a number of large blocky
devices doing nothing in particular and then periodically
moving around or shaking and shuddering. Inside these of
course are extremely detailed cockpit mockups, which are
fed full audio, video, and spatial information, so the
experience is said to be extremely close to the real thing.
If I did not misunderstand the guide, it is even possible to
become certified on an aircraft solely by training for a
sufficient time just on these simulators.

Dinner at Frankfurt

Back to the main complex, where our dinner was held in the
company canteen, an actually quite lovely facility inside
a singularly open and glassy structure. We were told that
transparency, both literal and figurative, was the byword
for the office design - an impressive architecture.

I sat between chchkiwi and Johannes Winter, the head of
corporate communications at Condor and apparently the guy in
charge of our flight next day. He has recently come to the
airline from AOL and professed himself eager to learn about
the industry, from the vantage point of the user. Alas, I am
not sufficiently an aviationist so perhaps wasn't so useful
to him as someone else might have been.

There was some kind of Sekt and some kind of red ink. Also
the Lufthansa Cocktail, which I've had before and find
unutterably sweet and cloying. Following the lead of Mr.
Winter, I switched to Bitburger, and we had a good
conversation about beer and availability of quality German
stuff in the US.

A copious buffet.

The salad table had salad on one side and an assortment of
pates and smoked salmon and trout on the other. The pates
were ordinary if truffled, and I'd have preferred an
offering of local wursts; the fish was good.

Frankfurter bean and Frankfurter soup, very hearty and nice.

Two main course stations - roast beef, green bean bundles
wrapped in bacon, roast potatoes; smoked pork loin in pastry
crust, sauerkraut, mash. Numerous persons, myself included,
took both kinds of plates. One at a time of course.

Not being that interested in dessert, I refrained from same.
They looked generally sort of parfaitish.

I ignored all signs of afterparty and turned in early so as not
to do something stupid like oversleep next day.

violist

Charter flight to Oslo

DE9254 FRA OSL 0550 0830 753 8F

We'd been given our boarding passes at dinner the night
before; I was happy that the ever-agreeable chchkiwi was
to be my seatmate.

I got up dull and early; down in the lobby, not much
activity - I found bonnerbl, and we went across to the
airport, where we discovered apprent somnolence and apathy
at security; but suddenly a couple, two of the few ahead of
us, were pounced upon and led away for a special secondary
screening; we looked on wonderingly. There were not many
people at the gate when we arrived, though sooner or later
almost everyone showed up. Not Kiwi Flyer, though, which
distressed us all, particularly his compatriot chchkiwi.

The theme of the first leg was "Hawaii 1970" or something
like that. Our FAs/moderators wore Hawaiian shirts, and we
were all given leis to wear. Breakfast simulated a
Continental 747 overwater meal; I never flew that route,
but I can vouch for the food being pretty much what a coach
meal would have been like back then.

Tropical Bounty
Hawaiian style breakfast

Fresh Tahitian fruit salad

Chilled deli platter

Assorted freshly baked pastries & rolls

Specialty Beverages

French Pressed Kena Estate Reserve Kona Coffee

Beachcomber Mimosa
Mahalo Bloody Mary

Okay, there was nothing Tahitian about the fruit, except for
a slice of pineapple. It was mostly apple slices, bringing
us back to 21st century Germany. The deli platter was salami
and cheese. I didn't notice the pastries but seem to recall
a bretzel roll on the tray. atman, being the proprietor of a
Kona coffee plantation, provided the beverage. It was brewed
strong as iron but still managed to be fragrant and smooth.
I don't drink coffee generally but made an exception for
this. I didn't try the mimosa or bloody, though I am told
they were made with tiptop-shelf alcohol.

Champagne breakfast at Oslo hosted by SAS

I guess that those beginning the journey here got such; we
didn't, though there was entertainment and refreshment
aplenty.

We deplaned on the tarmac, slipped through a bit of snow
(many of us were sartorially unprepared for this), and then
were bused to a hangar for our festivities.

After a hearty SAS welcome, we were surprised by a youngish
woman in FA uniform singing a most professional version of
Fly Me to the Moon, followed by some rather charming music
and dance by a local folk ensemble.

Exhibits set up for us included SAS catering, Eurobonus,
the green future of flying, engine maintenance, the fire
brigade, and the Norwegian Air Force medevac team. All
pretty interesting.

Next thing I knew we were lining up for samples of airplane
food! The choices were salmon, which I was told was really
good, or rotini with pesto topped with bacon and pine nuts.
As bacon is one of my triggers, I went with the latter; it
was okay - very salty and rather odd served cold. Other
snacks as well, including the Norwegian versions of Kit Kats
and Tootsie Rolls.

The aircraft tour set up for us - a 73G fitted out as a
medevac craft, complete with simulated patients (real people
confined uncomfortably to gurneys) and a simulated mission.
Some of us were thrilled by this presentation; I found it
merely disquieting; but then there is a reason I never
considered going into a medical field.

Some speeches, including one trumpeting SAS's return to
profitability, our songbird delivering a lovely rendition
of Cry Me a River (a strange choice!), and "please direct
your attention to the rear of the aircraft," where we soon
beheld the emergency slide deploying, our fearless leader
Tommy777 upon it.

The folk ensemble played us out.

There had been something delightfully homey and seemingly
(?) unscripted about this stop, and the welcome seemed
truly genuine.

On the way out, smiling SAS staff handed us copies of Crew
Guide 2009: The best-kept secrets of cabin crew and pilots
as keepsakes.

violist

Charter flight to Toulouse
DE9254 OSL TLS 1130 1440 753 8F

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when Kiwi Flyer, whose
travel plans had been munged up by delays and impossibly
tight connections, showed up for this flight, having gotten
to FRA just in time to see us leave and having managed to
wangle a replacement flight to Oslo. I don't think that he
was given a cheer, but I think he deserved one.

A new crew of moderator/FAs, a new theme. I didn't notice
the theme, being deep in conversation with first chchkiwi
and then with various adult beverages and ardent spirits.

Laurent-Perrier Brut
Laurent-Perrier Rose Brut

These were the two Champagnes I tasted. Apparently there was
Comtes de Champagne as well, but I didn't get any. What the
heck, the L-P are both very respectable, and I enjoyed them.
There was also yet another bubbly that was briefly poured,
provenance unknown. I had a taste and didn't care for it.

Chateau Pesquie Quintessence 06
Pouilly Fume Bochye Chantellyer 07

The red was a full-bodied, pretty nice Syrah, full of dark
spice and plummy fruit; the white was more tropical fruity
and less typically Sauvignon Blancy, thank goodness. Both
went well with the foods with which they were paired:

smoked salmon and shrimp with mustard sauce

Quite nice! even better because lili, who doesn't favor
marine life on her plate, passed hers back to us, so we
had an extra portion.

game casserole and mashed potatoes

The game was, as far as I could tell, venison; the potatoes
kind of peculiar, and I didn't eat them. I enjoyed the meat,
though, from the wonderful aromas emanating from the galley
half an hour before to the last smidgen of gravy. Tommy made
an announcement that we were to try the lingonberries that
had been provided on the side. I dutifully tried and as I
expected was left cold, the same way I am with the famous
combinations of applesauce with pork or goose, orange with
duck, and cranberries (I am told essentially the same thing
as lingonberries) with turkey.

rice cream with raspberry sauce

Rice pudding. Nice and comforting. chchkiwi volunteered the
information that raspberries are her favorite fruit, in case
anyone is her Secret Santa or wants to make points with her.

Talisker 18 Classic Malts Selection

This was quite a big Scotch: I sipped it extra slowly,
savoring the smokiness.

The cockpit was open for visits and photos! chchkiwi decided
it was the opportunity of a lifetime, so I followed her - as
I admitted to the pilots, it made me feel like a kid again.

The flight was too short at a bit under 2 hours, but we got
a small prolongation, as we did a go-around at 20 feet
(obviously precleared with ATC) - now that was exciting:

the video is available on YouTube now, complete with FTers
laughing, gasping, cheering.

Private Airbus factory tour

There was a reception with wonderful macaroons, Turkish
delight, and petits fours. As I am (as people know) ruled by
my stomach, I was in seventh heaven. I don't know what if
anything was said in the welcome speech.

Our choices were to go to the final assembly area for the
380 or to visit cabin mockups; being more interested in my
future comfort than anything else, I chose to go with the
latter. We saw interiors for the 320, 340, 350 (projected),
and 380. Not that we haven't seen enough airplane cabins in
our day, but the innovations for the next generation of
flyers are impressive, from the ergonomically designed seats
to the adjustable lighting that helps prevent jet lag. We
spent more time testing first- and business-class seats than
I would like to admit to; to be fair, I tried out a couple
of economy seats as well. At long length it was time to go.

A bit of contretemps: for some reason, we departed on one
bus and returned on another; this would have been perfectly
fine but for the fact that we'd been encouraged to leave our
stuff aboard, and a few of us actually did so. As the two
main culprits or victims (names not revealed) are friends of
mine, and I sort of speak French, I took it upon myself to
berate, plead with, and threaten various guides and bus
drivers. Soon everything was sorted out, and with a
surprising minimum of effort, no credit to me.

Back to the airport, where we actually had to pass security!

Toulouse-Blagnac is pretty grim, and many of us found a bar,
as if we needed any more booze. We did need half an hour of
entertainment, though. The credit card machine here was
inop; I was glad to have changed a few dollars for Euro with
a friendly FTer earlier in the day. Heineken came in cute little
squat cans. We had just one each, anticipating interesting
libations and "curious liquids" later on board.

violist

Charter flight to Frankfurt
DE9255 TLS FRA 1940 2130 753 8F

It was someone's birthday, and so dessert was what was
billed as Norwegian marzipan cake - white cake with rich
cream filling and a marzipan frosting. Good though really
sweet, and I turned down a second serving.

Trapiche Vittorio Colletto was okay, a nothing special
Malbec, though with good strong tannins and an interesting
tang; it certainly didn't go with the cake and would no
doubt have shown better had I tasted it with lunch.

Tokaji 5 Chateau Dereszla was unfortunately warm so sort
of cloying, though its honeyed aspect did come out nicely.
Five whats? I don't know. Couldn't be puttonyos, because
even given the new Sauternes-inspired style of Tokay-making,
there wasn't enough oomph for that. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe
I'm too old for this game, remembering as I do the Tokays of
the 1960s and 1970s from the state-run vineyards - some of
those wines were superb (of course, some were nasty, as
well, quality control and pride in workmanship not being a
forte under the Communist regime).

Highland Park 18 was smooth and delicious.

chchkiwi, always looking out for me, got me a glass of the
Glenmorangie 18 Extremely Rare as well; this was a bit too
rarefied by comparison, pale and delicate in both color and
flavor. Pity, as it's one of my favorite distilleries,
especially for the wine cask aged whiskies.

This was one flight I thought should never end. I'd had so
much fun (thank you, Tommy, Reb, Oliver) that parting was
going to be a rather sour sorrow. And so we landed way too
soon.

* Charter flights include being waited on hand & foot by Randy
and a team of moderators (hopefully not in the uniforms which
some airlines have )

Hawaiian shirts, then Lederhosen. Better than commercial
airline uniforms? You make the call.

The afterparty was at the Tower Lounge, which is outside the
Schengen area. We dutifully trooped through emigration and
up to the lounge, where we were met by large numbers of
uncharacteristically jolly LH attendants and plenty of
booze, much left over from the flights.

Oban 1993
[b]Cognac Montaubert 1978[/ib

I found both of these disappointingly hot, though of course
full of flavor. The Oban was not significantly better than
standard-issue Oban, and I thought the Cognac harsh in a way
that reminded me more of brandies blended for the Asian
market than what is sold domestically; I also found it
surprisingly unfruity, more balanced toward the wood end of
things.

Absinthe Tabu

I finished with the absinthe, which sort of ensured that I
would have a hard time waking up in the morning. I drank it
neat, which is a bit of a silliness: the normal way involves
a splash of water and a slow sipping process.

On the way out, more goodies, t-shirts and LH-branded thumb
drives.

By the time we left, somewhat the worse for wear, our
checkpoint had closed, and we had to trek the length of the
terminal to find a way back into Europe.

violist

Full day event at Frankfurt hosted by Lufthansa

I did wake up late. Staggered across and got into the back
of the line for the first set of airport tours. We started
with a quick walkthrough of the intercity rail terminal
(not a big deal, as it's in the same building as the hotel)
and then to our transportation: we needed two buses. Our
guide on the (not very full) overflow bus was Dr. Pfragner
from the airport marketing department - he apologized that
he had been roped into doing this because of a dearth of
English-speaking guides; then he proceeded to give us a
detailed and fascinating tour, probably more personal than
what we would have gotten from a regular guide. Our bus
took us around the perimeter, past the site of the new
facilities to be built at the south end of the airport,
and then past the existing terminals. Did you know that
about 75000 employees work here, servicing 53M passenger
movements a year? A massive endeavor. A lot of talk about
the new 380 (and how LH wants to be the first carrier to
operate it out of here, so there are all these dual-level
gates ready to go and nobody to use them), the A-terminal
expansion (which will decrease the number of bus gates,
one hopes), and in general the new face of aviation, with
enhanced traveler experience melded with environmental
initiatives and cost efficiency. Back to reality and
more trade show booths and more goodies. All I took was a
canister of "grobes schwarzes Salz," which apparently LH
had been recently sprinkling on its food in Biz class. Again,
I suppose more swag could have been got, but I was at
the limit of my carryon, and I'm sure nothing went to waste.

Noontime and speeches and ceremonies.

Dr. Mayrhuber, the chairman of LH, gave an inspirational
little talk which I sort of missed, as I was sidetracked by
the board of sandwiches (I had a prosciutto one and a smoked
salmon one) and chili (weirdly ?Indian spiced).

Slumber party near Frankfurt (at Lufthansa's training centre)

I'd also decided that given my flight next day (which I had
planned on using an SWU to upgrade to F), another evening
with extreme amounts of alcohol and FlyerTalk might not be
such a great idea, and anyhow I needed another Marriott
stay. Booked to the Courtyard Nordwestzentrum an hour north
of the airport and decided to go early. Excused myself from
everyone and took the train to the main station and then
discovered that the U1 wasn't running, so I had to take a
tram and then catch the U1 at some intermediate spot.

The hotel is okay, but the room they assigned me to had a
workman hammering away furiously at something. I went back
down to the desk, and the clerk very pleasantly gave me
another room and said, I can guarantee there will be no
workman in this one, as we have only one!

Comfy bed, good sleep. I didn't bother going back down to
the mall for dinner, as I'd eaten enough this week.

The U1 was running in both directions, so it was a snap
getting back to the airport, so I had lots of extra time.
I spent part of it at the Tower Lounge with chchkiwi and
SS255, and then wandered around for a while. During my
wanders, I somehow discovered myself outside security (this
happens to me every couple years in FRA - periodically I
have found myself having to have my passport restamped,
and once in about 2000 I passed the same checkpoint 3 times
in the space of an hour, which made the very Teutonic guard
look at me with a mixture of wonder and contempt) and had
to clear again, only this time the lines were long and
fractious, with an undercurrent of urgency. Still there was
plenty of time to get to the plane, and I was well settled
by the time my lovely seatmate came to claim her spot.

NewbieRunner

No wonder the drinks cart never reached where I was sitting in row 2 on this short flight. I was looking forward to sampling Highland Park 18 year old.

violist

OK, I owe you a glass of Highland Park 18. Though there might have been some
at the Tower Lounge afterparty.

NewbieRunner

I'll look forward to that. In the Tower Lounge I was too occupied watching you and lili consume the absinthe - and documenting the procedure. These images are not for public consumption. I'll send you the links.

violist

LH 454 FRA SFO 0955 1220 744 4K

I'd been in 3K, hoping to upgrade via UA SWU, but it turns
out that lili had been assigned 4H, and (at my suggestion)
she got me moved so we could sit together. And as
interacting genuinely with a friend is at least as nice as
interacting with fawning Teutonic maidens, I decided to save
my SWU for another day. We had a lot of laughs together;
it was a good flight.

Hors d'oeuvres
Mosaic of Scallop and Salmon served with Apple and Fennel
Salad, Creme Fraiche with Keta Caviar

Venison Pie with Waldorf Salad and Fig Confit

Mixed Lettuce with Pumpkin, Chanterelle Mushrooms, Pine
Nuts and French Dressing

The last time I flew LH, I was given all of the listed
Vorspeisen in a big and artistically divided plate; this
time we got larger portions of one only (I'm willing to
bet that one could ask for a second helping and get it).

I had the fishy thing, which was pretty good but showed off
the catering department's fascination with aspic, of which
there was a lot. lili's pie was a pate en croute perhaps
identical to that that had been served at the banquet a
few days ago.

Entrees
We are proud to present our traditional Roast Goose with Red
Cabbage, Potato Dumplings and Herb Crumb Butter
as an Alternative to the Compositions of our Star Chef

Herb crusted fried Cod served with Carrots, Zucchini and
Pearl Barley

Penne with Vegetable Ragout and Parmesan Cheese

lili debated whether to order the penne, which gave me
entree to exclaim with mock surprise about her considering
eating a vegetarian dish, which allowed her to assert with
(I hope) mock outrage that her reputation as a pure
carnivore is much overstated. We both ended up with the
roast goose - two thick slices from an enormous goose breast
sided with typical cabbage and rather atypical dumpings
that didn't hold together particularly: lili suggested that
as they were not so gluey as normal, they would probably
be considered inferior to the standard. We discussed the
giant dumplings served at the beerhalls in the south and
the purpose of the cubes of bread in the middle of them.
The goose was good. The gravy was good. Life was good.

Cheese and Dessert
Comte, Roquefort and Camembert Cheese

Almond Sandwich of Tangerine and Plum with Rose-Hip Sauce

Fruit Salad

I had the sandwich, which was kind of ordinary; she had
the fruit salad, which was absolutely ordinary.

There was a midflight snack of apple tart or apple; we
got one of each. The tart was okay, and lili said that the
apple was a particularly fine specimen.

Snoozing and chatting made the trip go quickly, and soon
it was time for another feed.

Entrees
Spiced Salmon and Potato Salad, Venison Ham Roll filled
with Cream Cheese accompanied by Red Cabbage Salad,
Munster Cheese with Caraway and marinated Onions

or

Quiche Lorraine

We both got the quiche - nearly a pound of a pie for
which it appears the kitchen had reversed the amounts
of cheese and leeks, so what happened was a very oniony
and somewhat uncheesy but not unpalatable dish. We could
have split one and been satisfied. I had the Sylvaner with
this, and neither interfered with the other.

Dessert
Orange Pound Cake Hotel K

Really ordinary. If there is anything I was disappointed
by on the flight, it was the quality of the sweets.

2008 Iphofer Kronsberg Silvaner Spatlese trocken,
Weingut Wirsching

I got apples and tropical fruit, really rather Rieslingish;
back in my day, Sylvaner was considered a second-tier grape.
This was actually pretty good, though kind of neutral, which
is fine as I drank it with the mosaic thingy and the quiche.

2007 Columbia Valley Chardonnay, Red Diamond

Pretty oaky, and I could see this interfering with the food.
Not a bad wine, though, and quite drinkable on its own.

2005 Chateau Barreyres, Cru Bourgeois, Haut-Medoc

Pencil shavings, green pepper, black fruit. Not bad at all.

2006 Quinta do Gradil, Estremadura

Which tasted just like a Port, only dry. I had this with my
goose; it went well; lili reported that the Bordeaux went
well also.

We were given little bars of Copperneur 55% cacao milk
chocolate, which I saved for later. When I tasted mine, I
decided that milk chocolate is sometimes tolerable, at least
when the Europeans make it.

Again, the flight ended too soon. Before parting, lili gave
me this song and dance about how I should get Global Entry.
Well, guess who was out into the San Francisco sunshine
first?

Almost immediately I started getting MegaDO withdrawal.

tommy777

Great read! Thank you for sharing