Round The World and other travels
A frequent flyer's collection of trip diaries
This is: Shanghaied in Tuscany!
Arrivederci, Toscana
Since I'd made a pretty good job, if I say so myself, of getting everything organised the previous evening, there was little to do this morning but haul myself out of bed, attend to my usual morning routine and go to the Executive Lounge for an early breakfast. I had that familiar buzz that I usually experience at the start of a trip. I suppose it was the start of a trip within a trip; I'd given Tuscany my best shot in the time available and I was now ready to allow myself to be 'Shanghaied'! Checkout was easy and they ordered a taxi for me using an automatic machine, which instantly indicated that one would be with me in seven minutes. I decided to wait outside, becoming a little panicky as the seven minutes became a distant memory and the 8am shuttle bus went on its way.
Eventually my taxi turned up, the driver full of apologies for getting stuck in the rush hour traffic. I soon found out what he meant. Although I was heading away from the city centre and the journey would have been a short one in normal conditions, heavy traffic ensured that progress was tediously slow. At least I was now on my way, though. Eventually I made it to Florence Airport which, it seemed, was sometimes referred to as Peretola and sometimes as Amerigo Vespucci. Check-in was easy and quick and I was able to spend some time in the lounge before making my way to the departures area. A glance at the monitors made it clear that Lufthansa and SWISS, between them, dominated operations at this tiny airport. Their Avro planes seemed ideal for the short runway.
(Link to flight log in side panel)
During
the taxi to our remote stand at Frankfurt, I'd spotted the Mercedes
limousine waiting. Sure enough, as I went down the aircraft steps, I
saw the driver waiting with a sign displaying a thoroughly familiar
name.
I walked over and got into the vehicle, not daring to look back at
the other passengers as they piled onto the bus. The driver took me
close to the First Class Lounge adjacent to Gate B22, which I'd used
for the first time on my way to South America around five months
previously. Staff on the front desk confirmed that I would also be
driven to my Shanghai-bound 747 and I was asked to present myself
for this purpose at 1700. I relaxed for a bit before moving into the
dining area for a relatively light lunch of Wiener Schnitzel and
potato salad. I spent the rest of my time in the lounge catching up
on this diary and observing the increasingly rainy conditions
outside. It was quite a change from Italy.
At the appointed hour, I was driven
to my long-haul aircraft. On the way, I observed the nasty-looking
aftermath of a serious argument between an airside bus and a white
van.
(Link to flight log in side panel)