Just arrived in Denver but not after our deal of airplane trouble. This is my annual US trip, a good occasion to really 'feel' America which is kinda different then reading blogs and listening to podcasts. Quite a temperature shock from 14°C in Brussels to -10°C here in Denver. And if somebody tags me with the '5 things you didn't know about me' thing, I'll tell what I'm doing here :)
About the plane trip, check this out:
1. Flight Brussels - London delayed due to heavy winds. At 10:30h I learn that we're stuck till at least 14:00h, so I decide to invest in 24 hours wireless access through Proximus in the airport for €20. And just as I complete the procedure ... we can board the plane. We'll at least this way we didn't miss the connection to Denver.
2. Bumpy ride to London, and we get stuck for 20 minutes at the gate waiting for the guys to bring up the stairs to the plane. Trouble with heavy winds again.
3. We want to check through to Denver, but we're told that due to the heavy rain luggage is not checked through. So we have to go through customs, pick up our bags and check in again.
4. Waiting for bags ... waiting ... belt stuck ... waiting ... belt stuck ... no bags. Seems that our bags had been checked through anyway. So we check in ourselves again.
5. And top it all up ... the flight to Denver was delayed with half an hour.
What I missed most is my yearly shopping session at Heathrow airport, no nifty gadgets this year and no time to check out the "World of Whiskeys".
One last thing about the trip. The Americans remain as 'plastic-friendly' as ever (good evening sir, how are you tonight, blablabla) but I was pleasantly surprised by the BA crew. Announcements were not the traditional 'I'm reading this off a paper because I have to', but it all sounded very genuine on both flights. Seems the BA staff got training in 'being real'. I like that.
