so, this was it, the day i left for poland. had to get up really early so that i could drive to plumstead to pick up my grandma. that, and the fact that checkin ended at 5h45 gmt +2 for a flight leaving at 8h00 gmt +2. but when you see how long the queues are at security and border control, you understand why they need the extra time. wasn't sure if the breakfast on the plane would be any good, so i decided to spend that last of my rands on some food. it turns out that some equals little when they expect you to pay r15 for a muffin. i figured that i won't be able to use my leftover rands in the eu, so i forked over the money.
the flight to munich was with a company called ltu. the flight was cheap, but when you see the inside, you realise why. as you can see there is not a lot of leg room, and the various bits of the plane are falling off. i thought that all international flights, used 747s, but this one was a small airbus a330. oh, and it was full of germans. actually, i think they were all germans. oh, and a screaming baby (can't not have one can we ;). anyway, the flight lasted over 11 hours but was surprising comfortable such that i even had 20-30 mins of intermittent sleep which is normally impossible.
munich airport, is huge. and confusing. and huge. and full of germans. and lots of chinese people as well, but that comes later. i followed the instructions of the ltu staff and made my way to terminal 2G. after going through yet another security check, i made it into a hall which i thought was 2G. after looking around a bit, i realise that i wasn't. it turns out that munich has two terminals which have no direct connection between them. for my connecting flight, i had to find the other one. so i found the path to 2G and ended up in a completely empty downstairs area, with no one i could ask if i was on the right track. that's when the bus arrived to take me to the other side. and just so you know, it was cold outside.
i had previously thought that the first terminal was huge, but i was mistaken. i wish they had more vertical escalators than they actually did. and it's this second terminal that was swarming with chinese people. after going through yet another security check, i finally made it to my boarding gate.
it was raining when we were getting off the bus to the polish plane. and again, i'll tell you that it was already cold outside, without the help of the rain. the polish plane was small seating about 45 people. it's usually these types of smaller planes that i worry about the most. dunno why, just have a feeling big planes are more stable in the air. but we made it safely to warsaw at around 23h00 gmt +1.
my grandfathers place it quite nice. it's small, but the interior is well done. the building looks a bit shabby, but if you were about 100 years old, you would too. the flat has some oddities such as; the shower in the kitchen, no basin the toilet and a balcony big enough to fit three people (or two americans). but that's all stuff you can get used to. and so the day ended.
i didn't like how blogger handled photos, so here they are in picasa:
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