Dawn over the North Atlantic. I notice that we’re crossing ESE over the Firth of Forth above Edinburgh, so we must be flying almost right over Nina’s head. Hi Nina! We land at Frankfurt, and rather than dock at the jetway, the plane parks out in the lot and we get one of those gate buses back to Terminal 1. Remember that I’m worried about my connection time? Well, I guess this doesn’t affect the baggage handling anyway. Queue for passport control and the German entry stamp; queue for security. (Come on, let’s hurry up — I’m just changing planes here anyway!) Putting my stuff onto the scanner belt… “The shoes too?” She shakes her head to say no, don’t worry about it. I walk through the detector *beep!* and I’m taken aside for detailed examination. Empty pockets, put shoes through the xray, scan, scan, pat, pat, turn around, pick up your feet… (I can’t believe he’s scanning the soles of my stockinged feed with a metal detector!) OK, all done. Tchuss!
Get to the Austrian airlines gate which is already open for boarding. The gate bus takes us back out to the lot, to the airbus that’s almost right next to the Lufthansa plane that I came in on. Again an empty seat next to me. This next leg is easy — up to altitude, a sandwich, there’s the Danube off to the right (first time I’ve laid eyes on that great river) and we start our descent into Vienna. This is just a few minutes longer than SFO->LAX. Apparently I’m in the forward-most row of economy; up ahead is some more privileged class of seating, different only in the little curtains in front of my row to be drawn for privacy. However, because they must be fastened open for arrival and departure (this is placarded in the craft) the lady up there gets only about five minutes of privileged isolation behind the curtain. Down to a fine landing in Vienna (I must come visit here sometime) and we’re going to dock at a jetway to the terminal this time… but wait! Another craft is still at our stand, so we have to wait a few minutes. This is my tight connection and I don’t want to see what happens if I miss it! But the Iberia jet soon pushes back, and we’re off the plane and into the terminal. Did I mention that this connection is the tight one? So I zip along, whoops, hold on! Queue for the passport control and the Austrian stamp. Queue for the security checkpoint (I put the shoes, belt, coins, wallet, EVERYTHING on the conveyor this time!) then past a glittering series of Mozart-Sacher-Torte duty-free goodies shops directly to the gate — which is open for boarding and we leave on time.
I even see my bag getting loaded as we walk up to the little steps. (Duck as you enter, this is a smaller plane!) This plane is a Dash-8 which is very cool, though I’m a little squeamish about being exactly on edge to the prop. I think this is the most dangerous seat — if that prop fails I’m toast! — but we would all be toast in that case, and in fact the problem is that it’s the loudest seat. Still, it’s a great craft and we’re up and over the Carpathians and down into Lviv in about an hour. Again an empty seat next to me!
Lviv airport. (This is the terminal, viewed from the runway side!) We get off the plane, a few dozen of us, and thank goodness I asked for the VIP service. The other passengers are milling around to get on the bus and go to whatever the passport and customs rituals are like these days. For me, a nice young woman with my name on a sign takes me aside to a separate bus of my own, gives my luggage tag to some official guys, and rides with me in the bus to a comfortable lounge where I wait a few minutes until my bag and driver show up. That’s it! Oh, I did have to answer a few simple questions from the other pretty lady in camouflage and beret so she could stamp my passport and exit card. (I must remember not to lose that.)
The drive to the hotel does pass a variety of rather drab buildings that are a bit Soviet or maybe like older suburban Milan at its worst, but soon we’re into the old tsentr and there are nice parks and a warmer pre-20th-century feel. Suddenly, here’s your hotel. Welcome! The staff speak English (some very well, some just fair) and the amenities are very nice. It’s very comfortable and plush without being crass. A genuinely good place. I even have my power plug and WiFi issues sorted out in just a few minutes.
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