Airline Adventures

Here's a guy in transit to Sochi. Commute began easy in Milwaukee, site of prior Olympic departures to Beijing and London. A mechanical issue ("bad valve") and weather delay (snow and fog in Detroit) led to a quick itinerary change, no sweat (and a bonus upgrade to Economy Plus via Delta and KLM).

Sadly, not much sleep between Michigan and The Netherlands, and upon deplaning in Frankfurt learned my luggage (mostly clothes and toiletries) in big, checked bag remained in Detroit, with no fresh itinerary added to the luggage ticket. Crud.

It's all good, though, as KLM will forward the suitcase to Sochi in a day or two (ETA at hotel Tuesday), and they gave me a few bucks, er, Euros to shop for essentials. The only store with my size in Frankfurt, so far, is a brand named Marc-O-Polo which is more like Abercrombie than Ralph Lauren, so I might be able to get a T-shirt there with just enough to spare for a toothbrush.

The nice sales lady sized me up stating "maybe two-XL is best for you" which sort of took the wind out of my shopping sails.

The site of Aeroflot planes on the tarmac brought to mind that line from "Bridesmaids" that was something like "This IS Happening!" (in a good way, not a bathroom/food poisoning accident in the middle of the street way). I can hardly believe Sochi is just one more flight, and that my eyes remain open (a quick in-airport shower helped).

TV monitors across the departures area here feature International Olympic Committee "thank you worldwide sponsors" ads that are getting a few folks in the five-ringed mood.

Though there was some time during the 12-hour layover, I opted to stay in the airport and get some work completed in lieu of venturing by train to downtown. The Frankfurt skyline is gleaming like Oz on one horizon, and a Hollywood Hills-like mountain-scape crosses another. It will be fun to explore the city during the return-to-USA commute (I booked a two-day layover here for later in February). Met a Brazilian business man heading home to Sao Paulo and he is excited for Rio 2016 as I am. But first let's get this Winter Games on record.

Next stop the Olympic city!

Photo by Nicholas Wolaver