Flight and all.

So, here we come to one week in Germany, well, about one week!  Let’s cap it up:

The plane ride, honestly, wasn’t so wonderful, but that I expected, because it was a cheap, budget/vacation airline, and when you pay only $235 for a normally $900-$1000 PLUS airfare, na, we say in german just: ‘es lohnt sich’… it’s worth it.  The seating pattern was

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But the seats were actually over-stuffed and rather comfortable, setting aside the facts that you had no leg room, your arms smashed those of the other persons, and when the person in front of you reclined their seat, you couldn’t access your already-in-the-down-position tray-table.  There was only 3 or 4 TV screens, and was in the middle above the middle column of seats, instead of each on the back of the seat in front… Therefore you must watch what everyone else watches, and there were three movies, and you could plug in your headseat and listen to it in different languages, and then a few stupid comedy cartoon programs… The aisles were so narrow it was literally impossible for two people to squeeze by each other… The food wasn’t terrible, but wasn’t gourmet… the meal we were served was some sort of chicken with Indian-esque sauce and rice… and we were served a muffin for breakfast and brownies for desert… the drinks were fine, a good variety of soda and beverages, but the portions were small.  There were only 3 toilets for the entire plane, and when there is a crying kid on board such a small aircraft, its 100% that everyone hears them…

Air Transat, but better than it is.

All-in-all it’s a great idea to take along an mp3 player!!! But to pay that little for the only 8-hour long trip, I’d do it again.

I arrived at YYZ (Pearson International Airport in Toronto) with plenty of time, I prepared for the worst where I might have to wait in these long lines like one would easily encounter anytime in Philadelphia, but of course, with my luck, I had too much time… I arrived some 5 hours early, and of course, I didn’t wait at ALL in the first line, where you get your boarding pass.  I didn’t wait at all in security, and we departed Toronto exactly on time.  Something which was so shocking to me, as I’ve only ever flown out of bad airports, PHL, and ABE. 

We arrived in München with a few minutes to spare, we got off the plane, and there was hardly a delay at the Paßkontrolle… And by the time we got to the baggage claim, the baggage was already there.  Couldn’t’ve been better.  But of course, my train wasn’t booked to leave the airport until 6pm and we arrived at noon, so I was in no rush at all.  I walked around the airport, used the WC-which, by the way, in Canada, is called the washroom- and went into a Burger King at the airport and ate my first Germany-based meal.  Then I tried calling home only to find out that the phone cards I have don’t work outside of the United States.  Voll scheiße.  I ended up having to use my debit card, but what’s neat is that European pay phones are set up so you can stick a calling card, or a credit card, right into the machine, so its pretty neat. 

Then I walked around a bit more, and found the Deutsche Bahn (german rail company) and asked if the ticket I booked was booked to be flexible, meaning, I could ride whenever I wanted into the city, instead of only at the stated time, and the answer was yes.  So I hopped on the train at the airport, and rode the 40 minute train distance to the city center.  (That just tells you how far away the airport is from the actual city!)