The Flight

I finally figured out how to continue writing on danielyoungtravels.blogspot.com after a few days of difficulty.

This was a flight in two senses of the word; first a journey on an airplane and second, an escape from confinement in the USA. Maybe in a third sense as well - an escape from the planning of the trip.

The highlights of the 7 1/2 hour SAS flight from Newark to Copenhagen were:

- Quick movement through a very quiet Newark airport and a fast security process.

- An unexpected meeting in the lounge with a friend of Amir on her way to Vienna.

- Comfortable seats.

-The well-designed and unusually spacious toilet with a window. A first!

-A good Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand accompanied by socially meritorious cashews from Gambia. I must say that, despite the nobility of the project, the quality of the nuts was not satisfying.

- The frank reaction of the flight attendant in the following sequence of events: After I had eaten my dinner salad, she came around with a tray of small salad dressing bottles. When I said that a special dressing delivery ceremony was not necessary, she said “I forgot to put them on the meal tray.” And she did bring me another salad.

There’s more to this story. It was Emma who noticed the lack of dressing immediately and pointed it out to her server - who, in response, thought the milk for the coffee was salad dressing. That led to my server coming around with the “ceremonial” tray.

-The satisfaction of pointing out that the "left to right" order printed on the box of the three dessert chocolates was wrong and conflicted with the actual order and the included photo. Imagine! My observation will go all the way to the top executives of the airline.

- A bamboo toothbrush in the courtesy kit. A demonstration of how ecologically conscious SAS is. (But the bristles are still plastic.)

-The bizarre juxtaposition of the view out the window and the view available on the screen. A very perverse play with reality.

-The view out the window as we neared Copenhagen.

The "lowlights" of the flight were:

- Cold rolls which could not be cut with metal knives (which had no sharp edge. )

- No sleep despite seats which turned into flat beds. But how can you sleep on a seven-hour flight when dinner is served one hour after takeoff, breakfast is served 1 1/2 hours before landing, a half-hour is spent figuring out the controls of the seat, slight intoxication interferes with healthy drowsiness and turbulence plus announcements of turbulence start adrenalin flowing?

END