Alright, another year, another trip to Germany in December… My flight was delayed due to freezing fog. Additionally, Seattle traffic opted to show up in force, and the cab driver made the mistake detouring via Aurora.

He realized this and took the bus lane across the Aurora Bridge and through downtown. Now we’re chillin’ on Olive.

Later, he mentioned that he didn’t like sitting in traffic, so naturally, I considered recommending that he look into a career change.

I decided to hold my tongue.

An hour and a half later, I checked-in and found my colleague at the lounge’s bar. She didn’t hear about the fog and showed up two hours ago. BUMMER. That being said, she seemed to be on good terms with the bartender.

After our greetings, our flight started boarding. I nabbed an upper deck seat on the LHS of the plane, in preparation of the Aurora and Geminids. The flight path will take us right over Greenland and Iceland, so it should be…

A-W-E-S-O-M-E.

Our plane decided to not work shortly after pushback, so we were towed back in. The ECS system thought it would be wise to rebel, so a mechanic dove into the electrical bay to remedy that. Thirty minutes later, we were barreling down the runway to generate some lift. Thankfully, physics came through for us.

The dinner menu was the same as the previous time I took this route, but the IFE was refreshed. On tap for this flight:

• The Bourne movie with Hawkeye as the new Matt Damon.
• The Pixar movie that no one noticed.
• Other mediocre action films from 2012 (e.g.: The Expendables II).

I watched Jeremy Renner run around during meal service, and I must say, this Bourne re-boot was quite bad. What was the point of having the super-villain IF THEY DIDN’T EVEN FIGHT?! What’s this mystery island that he’s heading to with his lover? and I don’t get why so many shows and movies need a “mystery island” (refer to Skyfall, Lost, Jurassic Park 3D, etc). The obvious question is will they just merge this series with Liam Neeson’s Taken when the lady-friend is kidnapped in the sequel?

After meal service, the crew turned out the lights; so I opened up the window shades (I had three at my disposal). I was greeted a wonderfully bright meteor streaking across the sky. After my eyes adjusted, I found the Northern Lights were also in on the show.

As expected, it was the best. The super shaky photo? not the best…

(and last year’s aurora on the same flight)

Afterwards, I walked around the cabin and chatted with some attendants. I considered pushing my photoshoot idea, but didn’t. The attendants raved about the Queen (the 747, not Elizabeth II), and hated on the 777 longitudinal galleys for being too cramped. They also dread their impending A380 deliveries, as they suspect the plane will be too large and the crew will be responsible for more passengers. Naturally, I joined in on the Airbus smackdown. After a while, the attendant got a call from the pilots.

They wanted their Tea service, so I went back to my seat.

I tried watching Brave, but fell asleep and as usual, slept through breakfast… Thus, I once again missed out on the fine breakfast foods in British cuisine. I’ll have to enjoy my helping of clotted cream on the return flight. We landed at Heathrow (late) and had ~45 minutes to make our connection. Here is the sequence of events that occurred:

1. After deplaning, we had to catch the train from Terminal C to A.
2. The train stopped for some reason, so we stood around for ~15 minutes.
3. Security was really backed up, so we stood for another ~30.
4. After security, we ran to the gate.
5. We were able to get them to hold the last bus for us.
6. We then flew to Frankfurt
7. Upon arrival, we learned that while we had made the flight, our luggage didn’t.
8. After a long delay, I learned that BA sent my luggage to the wrong hotel.
9. I sighed. 

I’ll conclude this post with the new steam powered 747.