The early part of winter had not been too severe this year. Linda took a picture of our street again this year to compare to the one she had taken the year before. It showed quite a contrast.
The Egyptian adventures began before we left Minnesota
(Linda recounts our departure and travel to the land of the pyramids)
We were scheduled to fly out of MSP to Cairo on Jan 7 at 9:10 pm. On that morning, as I was checking on our flight status, I noticed that the flight was cancelled. WHAT?? After panic set in, I began to try to get on another flight before it was too late. Originally booked on KLM (operated by Delta, of course) but Delta would not help us reschedule. A lovely KLM lady, Karen, helped us get on an earlier flight. Earlier by nearly 5 hours. No problem for me cuz I was packed and just had to change into my “flying clothes”. But for Mr Procrastinator, not so easy. He was chasing around the house to find this and that to pack.
Annette, our neighbor and ride to the airport, even left watching the Viking’s game to leave the house 5 hours earlier than scheduled. We made the flight with plenty of time to try to relax at the airport. When checking in there we realized that we had been given Sky Priority. We didn’t even know what that was cuz we never pay for anything but the most basic seats at the back of the plane. I just won’t be forced to being nickel and dimed by the airlines. Rankles me to no end.
Well, it turns out that Sky Priority gets one to the front of all lines and also into the front of the planes. We were just 3 seats behind the first class suites. Real linen placed on the tray table for us and metal flatware at meals, champagne and other assorted alcohols offered, fabric gift bags and very attentive service.
Tom Notes: We even had a bilingual (English/French) menu offering our dinner choices. This plane didn't yet have "Onboard WiFi" available so we couldn't scan the QR code to see what might be coming for desert.
That’s all well and good but the best part was the extra space, complete with foot rests. We didn’t have “lie flat” seats but there was plenty of space to totally stretch out our legs. Amazing how that so called extra space makes the flight seem so much shorter. It’s the same amount of space I remember from flying in the 1970’s. However, the space didn’t help the 10 hour layover in Paris.
We’ve been on that flight through Paris many times previously but were not scheduled to be this time. Originally scheduled to change planes in Amsterdam and Rome. Yes, two plane changes but that makes the time go faster than sitting in one airport for 10 grueling hours. Flying time to Paris-8 hours, waiting time in Paris-10 hours. Could have flown home again in less time.
Tom Notes: The long wait between planes in Paris is quite a mixed blessing. Long-haul international flights all seem to leave from the K concourse of Terminal 2E. Finding the K concourse and its thirty or so gates is a bit confusing as it involves passing through another security check and a ride on a three-terminal train. Just finding out which gate to proceed to is a problem. CDG uses the European scheme of listing departures by scheduled departure time rather than destination - if your flight doesn't depart for several hours, it won't even be on the board! Having the time to negotiate this is good - but we didn't need ten hours. (See this post from last year describing our adventure changing planes in Rome with only 45 minutes available.) I don't know which is worse.
I refer to the K concourse at CDG as the "Quonset hut" because of its peculiar shape. It has plenty of shopping opportunities for folks with expensive tastes: Dior, Burberry, Hermes and the like have large facilities. (Map of the concourse can be found here.) Fortunately, Relay, more like a Dollar Store than Dior, offers merchandise and food at reasonable prices (Coca Cola, a bottle of water and a chicken sandwich for about $12.)
Other ways to pass the time, besides shopping, eating and dozing in the chair include walking to the end of the concourse to watch airport operations or playing on one of the PlayStation5 systems.
But another glitch. We boarded the plane in Paris from gate 43. Barely seated and seat belt buckled when it was announced that there was a technical problem with the plane so we had to disembark. Not everyone had even boarded yet. All passengers trudged down stairs to gate 52 to get ready to board another plane which would not be ready to fly for a while. Because waiting 10 hours was not enough!
About 45 minutes later we heard an announcement that we were all to return to gate 43 and get ready to board the original plane because the technical situation had been resolved. Now, you begin to question if it’s safe to fly on that original plane. Thinking logically though you realize that the pilot doesn’t want to die so he would not fly an unsafe plane. We eventually left Paris a couple hours late on the original plane. Now I’m wondering about what was happening with the luggage with all the changes. Not a huge problem for us because we have clothes in Cairo. Perhaps not what you really want to wear but definitely enough to get by for several days. It has happened-just last year, as a matter of fact. Our bags arrived about 2 days after we did.
Sky Priority from Paris to Cairo flight as well. Four hour flight with champagne again. Too bad I don’t like it.
Tom Notes: I had just taken a picture of Linda settled into her comfortable Sky Priority seat at 6:25pm when the announcement came. I followed up with a picture of the champagne when we were back in our seats at 9:00.
This was now a pure Air France operation so our meal service
on this leg came from a French chef with a Michelin star to his
credit.
In addition, this plane did have "Onboard WiFi", although only text messaging was free.
We sat beside an interesting and chatty couple from Calgary. Both originally from Egypt. They wanted to marry in 1969 but his family would not allow it. Both went their separate ways and got on with life. He eventually divorced and her husband died. She found him on Facebook and they reconnected. Been married now for a year. He’s 76, she’s 71.
Our bags were among the first on the carousel and were tagged “priority", another first for us. Our friend was at the airport to meet us. It’s a fairly long ride from the airport to our apartment so we arrived home about 2:30-3:00 am. Head swimming from lack of sleep. It’s been 29 hours since we left home. We’ve slept but only intermittently. Now we must remove the plastic covering the bed, get the sheets on and fall into bed. While I was doing that, Tom and Roshdy went out to get enough food so we can eat breakfast in the morning. Eggs, cheese, bread, kofta and bottled water. For years I drank tap water but Tom refuses to do so. Lucky for us, Cairo is something of a 24 hour city so there was no problem finding food.
In the morning I awoke after a nice long uninterrupted sleep and found a cat at our door. It was the one who had kittens last year. Name is Kitty Kat. She came inside and ate. I always bring cat food so we can begin feeding the cats immediately. They expect it. She’s a lovely cat and seems to remember us and so is friendly immediately and not afraid of us. After complaining about our 9 month absence, she sat with me while I ate and had my coffee.
Tom and Roshdy worked on securing our land line and internet while I worked on removing the plastic covering literally EVERYTHING. It’s a big and exhausting job. Dirty one too since it’s all covered in dust.
Looking forward to more enjoyable adventures in the coming weeks.
By 3:00 pm I needed a nap 💤 and slept for an hour, a nice deep sleep. Second day we began getting things settled, that is, getting the rugs out, lamps on end tables, pictures on the wall, putting away all the things we brought, etc. I’ve not really arrived in Egypt cuz I’ve not been outside the house. Too many things to do inside. Tom feels arrived because he’s been out a couple times already. We have a new convenience store nearby but I know nothing more yet. Soon I’ll be truly here and ready to explore. Life in Egypt will begin.
It’s been a nice 68 degrees outside and in. Have not needed a heater, as we often do. Makes me a little worried for February and March but we’ll see. Mosquitoes are ready and waiting for me. MN mosquitoes don't bother me but Egyptian mosquitoes leave red bumps every time. They prefer my hands and legs but if those are covered then they attack my face. Some other years I've returned to MN with what looks like measles covering my entire face. Joyce may remember seeing this.
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