06.13.05
The 27 Hour Plane Flight to Amman, Jordan
Left Jacksonville at 5pm on Tuesday on an Airbus up to
Philadelphia– I actually napped most of
the way. About half an hour wait in Philadelphia
before boarding a Boeing 767 for Amsterdam.
I sat in the front row of the coach section. Last time I flew
across the Atlantic I sat in the last row of coach. I like the front
more: more room to stretch your legs, you can actually lean the seat
back a little bit, which you can’t do in the last row. The downside
is that the tray table in the front row are really bad and you can
see everything your missing in first class.
When I found out they wanted $5 for drinks I started to wish I’d
gotten a bottle of the Glendfiddich Solera Reserve from the duty free
shop– about 25% cheaper than Dorn’s. Oh well.
I slept a bit, probably less than on the flight to Philly. I gave
up after a couple of hours and started to read The Stars My
Destination (TSMD) by Alfred
Bester (thanks Daniel). I got about 15 pages in. I also chatted with
my neighbor quite a bit.
I was supposed to have a four hour layover in Amsterdam. I had
hoped to take the train from the airport into Amsterdam (supposed to
be about 25 minutes) and walk around a bit and maybe get some lunch.
Fate decried that it wasn’t to be. The plane got in a bit late, then
I was bounced between desks for a while trying to get a boarding pass
and make sure my luggage was transferred off of US Air and onto Royal
Jordanian airlines. By the time this was accomplished I was supposed
to board in an hour. As much as I wanted to go the gamble didn’t seem
worth it
I got some lunch and read a bit more of TSMD
while I ate. I became so engrossed with the book that I got to the
gate late anyways. Still had another 15 minutes of sitting before we
boarded though.
The Royal Jordanian flight out
of Amsterdam was like a party plane. On US flights they try to keep
you in your seat as much as possible. Here everyone was up in the
aisles the entire time talking with friends, chasing kids (lot of
them on the plane), and playing catch (ok maybe not catch).
Landed at 8pm Wednesday. The
Jordanian airport was pretty small and the line for Visas was slow to
get through. Got through the red tape, found Laura and had a pleasant
drive into Amman.