50 hours to Vienna

Last update was in Seattle on Tuesday night?  Let me give you a rundown of what happened from there.

10:00 p.m. - Seattle Airport
 Hydraulic leak in the plane cannot be repaired, and so they need a new part to fix it.  The part has to be flown in.  From Phoenix.  So.  We get to stay at the Doubletree (such fond memories! I stayed at this hotel the first time I ever ventured into Washington for the SIFE trip to Regionals my freshman year of college!) and have to be at the airport at 10 a.m. to get our new connecting flight boarding passes and such.  Plane is scheduled to take off at 1:05 p.m. and arrive at London/Heathrow at 6:00 a.m. London time.


10:00 a.m. - Seattle Airport
 The queue to the ticketing line is ridiculous.  It took us 45 minutes to get from point A to point B, and by the time we were at point B, boarding passes in hand, there was still 2/3 of the line waiting to get through. Our connection gate in Vienna closes at 7:20 a.m. - Pushing it, but we still have time.

Security checkpoint - RIDICULOUS line.  Cool tidbit: We definitely saw The Whigs in line (the band - google them.)

Headed to gate S-10 (I'll never forget it) with Cynthia, Carter, and Loui and Jeffrey, our two new Indian friends we met the night before.  They work on cruise ships, and spend 9 months out of the year on the ship and 3 months home.  Way nice guys!

1:05 p.m. - On the airplane in Seattle
The plane is boarded.  HOORAY!  Here we come, London!

 
2:10 p.m. - On the airplane....still parked in Seattle.
Apparently someone canceled their flight, and decided the delay was too much for them.  Thus, the crew had to go through the cargo hold of a plane carrying probably like 375 people or something like that, to find this one bag to get off the plane.  No way in hell are we making our connection.

7:15 a.m. (11:15 p.m. Oregon time) - London-Heathrow Airport
Arrived!  Our gate closed before we even got off the plane.  We took a 10 minute ride via bus to our next terminal, where we had to go through security again.  Observation: Security at Heathrow is more laid-back than in the U.S. - You can have a knife as long as it's shorter than 6cm, you may not have to take your shoes off (I did because I was wearing boots, poor planning!) - but it takes forever to get through.  Most people get all of their liquids out, their laptops out, take their shoes off if they need to, all the prep stuff to go through security as they are next in line for security.  Because of this, security took FOREVER.

9:00 a.m. (1:00 a.m. Oregon time) - London-Heathrow Airport
Our connection was re-booked midair.  Finally we catch a break!  Third connection is a charm - plane leaves at  9:50.

1:00 p.m. (4:00 a.m. Oregon time) - Vienna Airport
HERE!  FINALLY!  OH MY GOD WHAT A LONG TRIP!  Cool: Saw the Vienna Boys Choir while we were waiting to get our passports stamped.  Not so cool: The lady stamping my passport definitely stamped on top of another stamp!  Austria doesn't even get it's own little space :(  Oh well.  I'm here!


Highlights of the arrival:
1. I used a payphone.  It took me about 4 tries, and I had to ask for directions, but eventually, I succeeded.
2. Angie was there to pick me up!  So I got to see her, and spend a lot of time with her when I arrived! 
3. My luggage arrived!  Which is a miracle, because both Carter and Cynthia had their luggage lost.  Bummer.  Carter had to buy a t-shirt - word of the wise to future travelers: Europeans are very generous on their sizes.  A medium here = a small in the U.S.
4. I GOT TO SLEEP IN A BED once I got here!
5. My roommate was here when I arrived!  Her name is Abbey.  She's from New York and goes to University of South Carolina.

So.  2:00 a.m. Tuesday morning to 4:00 a.m. Thursday morning (Oregon Time) - 50 hours of travel, all for an experience I will never forget.