YatTravel

The reason I go to The Netherlands in the first place is to teach in Waardenburg, which is about 60km south of Amsterdam on the A2 motorway. Waardenburg isn't much, so I stay across the Waal River at the Regardz Hotel in Zaltbommel. Zaltbommel is a city of about 10,000 people. Zaltbommel started as a classic medieval river town, a place for travelers to stop and rest, then becoming a fortress town which collected tolls from those going up and down the Waal. The hotel is just off the A2 motorway exit, so it's a bit of a hike into the old village. Fountain in the park just outside the city center.


  Boschstraat, what my British colleagues call the "High Street." Lots of shops and commercial stuff here. Waalstraat. Part of the old city wall along the river. Go through the archway and you're on the riverfront. The Waal River at Zaltbommel. Further east on the Waal is the city of Nijmegen, the second of the three cities that were the focal point of Operation Market-Garden in WWII. The bridge over the Waal at Nijmegen was the primary objective of the US 82nd Airborne. The Waal merges with the Rhine just after Nijmegen (and just after Arnhem on the Rhine). The bridges over the Wall at Zaltbommel. The suspension bridge is for the A2 motorway (built in the 1990s), the other is the train bridge (built in the 1950s). The Gasthuistor, or GuestHouse Tower. The local Dutch Reformed Church. A building attached to the GuestHouse Tower. Close-up of the crest on the building. The date is MDCCLXXVI or 1776. St. Mark's Church.

(read part 1 here)

Once you walk past the main entrance and the walls memorializing those Missing In Action in Holland in WWII, walk around the memorial tower into the cemetery proper.



A tall hedgerow and gorgeous gardens of roses border the graves.

I walked around the right-hand half of the cemetery for some time, looking for Uncle Mike's grave. The office and visitor center at the front of the cemetery was closed when I walked up. I assumed that was because it was Sunday, but it turned out he was just closed for lunch. There's a big reference book of names and plot numbers that make it easier to track down a loved one, even though my walk was enjoyable.

Along the way, I came across the graves of two of the six Medal of Honor recipients buried here:



PFC Willy F. James, Jr. was one of seven African-American soldiers belatedly awarded the Medal of Honor by President Bill Clinton in 1997.



PVT George J. Peters of the 507th PIR (part of the 17th Airborne Division) was mortally wounded when he single-handedly destroyed a German machine gun emplacement that was attacking his platoon in Operation Varsity, near the end of the war.

Soon after, I found Uncle Mike:



Uncle Mike was the oldest of seven children, six boys and one girl. My dad was #6 in line. (Daddy served in the USAF during the Korean War.) Rightfully so, I grew up hearing all sorts of stories about Uncle Mike, from how he was good at roller hockey to how he broke his ankle in parachute school (excluding him from joining the Airborne), to becoming a Ranger, to his heroics in the Ardennes. I wish I could have known him.



At the back of the cemetery is a flagpole flying the US flag. I walked back that way, then headed back to the entrance. The Netherlands American Cemetery isn't as well-known as the ones in Belgium or Normandy, but it's still a proud and sacred place.

My flight from ATL arrived in Amsterdam around 10am, two hours late. Even with the delay, it was too early to check into the hotel, so I drove from Amsterdam down the A2 to see the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten.



Margraten is just to the east of Maastricht, one of the oldest and loveliest cities in the Netherlands. It's located almost right on the border with Belgium, a perfect place to put a cemetery and memorial for Americans killed in the area during WWII. It's also where my Uncle Mike, my dad's oldest brother, is buried. Uncle Mike was in the 2nd Ranger Batallion, and was killed during the Ardennes offensive in December, 1944. He posthumously received the Silver Star for his gallantry in that action.



The main entrance to the cemetery is a wide plaza, with high walls on either side, leading up to the memorial tower. There's a carrillion inside the tower, whose bells toll the time as well as play patriotic hymns.



On the left side of the plaza is a map detailing Allied operations in the Netherlands, presenting a broad outline of the actions in which many of the fallen were killed. The biggest of these operations were Market-Garden, the massive airborne offensive designed to capture the bridge over the Rhine at Arnhem, and the Ardennes defense better known as the "Battle of the Bulge."




From the map display (the alcove in the right rear of the above photo), a long reflecting pool is flanked on either side by marble walls. The names of those men listed as Missing In Action in these operations are engraved on those walls.




A statue of a mourning woman is at the head of the reflecting pool, just in front of the Memorial Tower.













The tower dominates the 65.5-acre cemetery. Inside the tower is a small chapel.

(continued)

Two weeks ago, I was teaching in Santa Clara, CA. As I was making my way to the gate to catch the redeye home, I heard a woman screaming hysterically at Gate 40. The police had the screaming woman on the floor behind the desk in an attempt to keep things as private as possible. Still, this woman was yelling her head off, making animal noises and swearing at cops.

I figured that she must have been unstable to get this way in the first place, and I guess that happens sometimes. This morning I read a letter to Cary Tennis' advice column in Salon.com that makes me wonder how often this sort of thing does happen:

I am writing to you because I have been through what feels like a
very traumatic experience and I need to find a way to put it behind me.
Recently, I was on a flight from my local airport to another
destination for work purposes. The flight was to be three hours in
duration. As is my normal pre-flight ritual, I took two Klonopin
(strong tranquilizer also known as Clonazepam) of a low dosage
prescribed for anxiety around flying, and I had two glasses of white
wine at the airport bar. Aside from drinking before a flight, I drink
rarely. This is my ritual every time I fly and I never veer from it. I
also take a daily anti-anxiety medication to help address this same
flying issue. Lastly, I take Topamax, an anti-seizure medication.

Tranquilizers, booze, and anti-seizure meds? Good grief, I worry if I take Tylenol PM and a glass of wine when I fly! Well, there are consequences for stupidity, of course:

I must have fallen asleep immediately in my seat and the next thing
I knew, I was in a wheelchair outside the plane with police officers
who were handcuffing me. I demanded to know what happened and was
hysterical. I slipped my left hand through the handcuff on two
occasions. I asked to be released several times, and was permitted to
phone my husband, who said he could barely understand me due to my
crying. He asked the police to wait for him to arrive, but I was then
transported to a local area hospital. I am informed that I kicked
hospital security as they tried to move me to a bed. I was then tied
down in four-point restraints, with one arm pinned above me. I know
that I screamed to be let go. I was never arrested.

Wow, do you think mixing meds and booze might have contributed to ending up in this situation? What we don't know here (because the storyteller clearly has left it out) is any indication of why she ended up in a wheelchair in the gate house. I've seen people who have had to be removed from flights for medical reasons, and I've seen drunks escorted off of planes, all at several different airports. In none of those cases were physical restraints involved. In the case of a couple of drunks, cops stood by, but the drunk followed the instructions of the gate agent once they saw the cop.

Which means there's a LOT more to this story than meets the eye.

OK, I know this is Cary's advice column, so naturally he focuses on the writer's motivations to get on the plane in the first place. Still, there should be some mention of perscription drug abuse here.

We've already taken the hit, so this round of cutbacks won't impact Armstrong International. In fact, USA Today's calculations are that MSY will increase by 5.5% in terms of number of available seats.

This is where the spoke-and-hub system actually doesn't hurt us. So long as the number of seats to MSY stays the same or increases, we're in good shape. Get to ATL, ORD, or IAH, and you can get wherever else you need to go.

One possible problem for New Orleans travelers may be the drop in seats at IAH. USA Today shows -8.8% change there, and that's got to be Continental flights. Contrast that with a -2.4% change at ATL (Delta). Continental fliers may find themselves switching over to Delta for more possibilities through Atlanta than through Planet Hooston. For now, Continental is still a SkyTeam airline, so you can get frequent flier credit for the changes.

Wrapping up the sightseeing: Quick lunch at In-and-Out on The Embarcadero - a double-double T-shirt stand on Jones St., across the street from the end of the F-line. Passing a cable car on a hill. The outdoor laybrinth at Grace Cathedral (Episcopal). After walking the labyrinth, I headed down to Sunnyvale to crash at the hotel.

Some photos from 18-May. I played tourist for a bit after flying in to teach a class that week in Santa Clara. Cable car at the end of the line, Hyde St. and Embarcadero. This car has been turned around and is taking on passengers for the trip back up the hill. The car above having grabbed the cable under the street and departed, the next of several cars on the other side of the Embarcadero crosses the street into the terminal. Cable cars are single-ended, so MUNI workers manually rotate the car on a turntable. Trolleys on the F-Line - PCC 1056, Ex-Philadelphia, painted in Kansas City livery. #737, ex-Brussels, painted in livery of Zurich, Switzerland. Milan Tram 1811, in 1928 livery. PCC 1010, in MUNI blue/gold livery. PCC 1063, in Baltimore livery. The world-famous sign.

More from last week in SF:



Milan Tram 1818, in the green livery used from the 1930s-1970s











Fishing boats at Fisherman's Wharf.




The Balclutha, a three-masted, square-rigged ship in the collection of the San Francisco Maritime Museum. The Balclutha was build in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1866.



Ghiradelli Square, view from Beach Street.



Archway by the soda fountain's side entrance



Fountain, Ghiradelli Square courtyard



The Buena Vista Hotel on Beach Street

I taught a class for Hitachi Data Systems last week in Santa Clara. The HDS office there is right next to Norman Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC), but, like usual, I opted to fly into San Francisco International (SFO).

The main reason I choose SFO over SJC is that there is a wider range of flights from ATL to SFO. The only morning flight combination that put me into SJC a week ago Sunday was MSY-SLC, SLC-SJC. The problem with that itinerary was that the MSY-SLC flight was on a CRJ-100 regional jet, operated by SkyWest. It's over 2.5 hours from MSY to SLC, with the Salt Lake to San Jose leg being a short hop. Regional jet seats are not comfortable for that long a period.

So, in spite of the fact that going east before going west adds an additional two hours of flying time, and I'm flying into an airport 35 miles north of my destination instead of one right next to it, off I went to SFO, so I could sit in a comfy seat.

Since I regularly fly Delta Airlines, the planes used for flights from ATL to the west coast are usually B767-300s or B757-200s. Both have 24 seats in First Class. In spite of my Platinum status with Delta, it's tough getting a First Class upgrade on the ATL-SFO flights. Flying is becoming such a hassle for so many folks that many business travelers that regularly take long-haul flights are able to get their companies to pay for business or first class travel on their flights (or at least on every other flight). Can't get an upgrade when the cabin's full of paying customers!

Because of this trend, it's even more important to narrow down the big jets when possible. The B767 has a two-aisle deck plan. The seats are arranged 2-aisle-3-aisle-2 in economy. The window seats are also wider and more comfortable than those on the B757, which is arranged in the classic 3-aisle-3 configuration. If I book a flight far enough in advance (3+ weeks), I'll pick the B767 and go for a window ("A" or "G") seat as close to the front as I can get.

I prefer window seats to aisles on the long flights because I'm blessed with the ability to sleep on planes. If I choose an aisle seat, I invariably get awakened by one of the other two persons in the row (middle or window) who need to go to the lavatory.

I had seat 11A in a B767-300 on the ATL-SFO flight last Sunday. I arrived at ATL on the 0600 flight (on a MD88) from MSY, which was uneventful. I didn't get upgraded on that flight, which was unusual. Ms. Linda in the Crown Room said my upgrade looked good, but I'm starting to think that the New Orleans gate agents don't follow the list produced by the computer system 100%. I'll check in with them directly next flight about my upgrade. We arrived at ATL on-time, at the main terminal (the "T Gates"). I shifted over to "B," had a coffee in the club, and did some work. There's a Dunkin Donuts now on "B," so I migrated there to get some breakfast, then off to the gate.

Delta B767s have the individual in-flight entertainment systems. These now include not only movies, but a number of basic cable channels, such as ESPN, HGTV, FoodTV, and others. They also have a good selection of music in all sorts of varieties. The tunes and basic TV stations are free in both cabins, but economy passengers have to pay for movies. There's a credit card slot at the bottom of the console. Cabin service was good on the flight, but I didn't take advantage of the first service, as I had fallen asleep. Tailwinds put us into SFO about 25 minutes ahead of our 1305PDT arrival (4:35 scheduled flying time).

SFO baggage claim is usually OK and didn't let me down this day. Soon I was on the airport's train system and off to the centralized rental car facility. Avis had me ready to go with no grief. I was on Hwy 101 heading into San Francisco by 1:35pm.

I chose the 2220PDT "redeye" flight home on Wednesday evening. As much as I wanted to see friends in the East Bay area, I felt it important that I get home while I still had two full days remaining in the week. We wrapped up class early in the afternoon, so I drove down to Capitola on the coast for a few hours. On the return, I went up I280 to head straight for the airport. After stopping for an iced tea and to gas up, I steered the rental back into the centralized facility, cleared Avis, and took the train to Terminal 1.

Delta's Crown Room Club at SFO is lovely, but it's got a catch--it's outside the security gate. Built at a time when this wasn't a significant obstacle, it's not that big a deal now, other than you have to make sure you factor clearing TSA into your timing. Because there are so few late-evening flights, the club's ticket agent usually announces a boarding warning that factors in the crowd at the checkpoint.

Redeye flights are usually laid-back. People in the club are having drinks, watching primetime TV, and generally settling themselves down in anticipation of sleeping a bit on the plane. I haven't been upgraded on a redeye in two years; not expecting to be upgraded here, I had a couple of glasses of wine, checked in with family on the phone and friends on the computer. The announcement came for the SFO-JFK flight, then for the SFO-ATL flight about twenty minutes later.

SFO has a priority lane for first class/medallion customers, but that didn't matter this evening; the line was empty. My flight was deaprting out of gate 48. There was a huge brouhaha going on at gate 42, however. A DL flight from Hawaii had just landed. Several SFPD officers were restraining a woman who was screaming at the top of her lungs, resisting them, swearing and cursing the entire time. The waiter at the pub next to the gate said the gate agent told him she started in like that at two hours into the flight. Airports always have some sort of unexpected entertainment.

I had a window seat in the second exit row of a B757. The seat isn't as comfortable as some, because of it's position next to the bulkhead, but the window seat ensures I won't be disturbed. The exit rows are good because they provide better leg room (have to have more space between seats so people can climb out onto the wing). The seat backs of the row ahead of you are locked, they're also good if you want to use a computer in-flight. The wine in the club had its desired effect. I was alseep while we were taxiing and didn't wake up until we were in-ange at ATL.

We arrived at ATL just before 0600EDT. It was, from all descriptions, a smooth flight. I made my way from "A" concourse to "B" where my 0820 flight to MSY was parked. After a quick cup of coffee and e-mail check in the Crown Room, I headed back down to the concourse. There's a Popeyes Famous Fried Chicken on "B" at ATL, and they do great breakfast biscuits. The line was a zoo, so I didn't have time for a biscuit. I opted for a DD coffee instead.

Delta upgraded me for this leg of the trip before I had even left. That often happens when the plane is a B757 heading to New Orleans. They'll fill the plane, but not many people are willing to pay for first class for a one-hour flight. I was able to get a bit more sleep before arriving at MSY to the "humidity wall" that's the first sure sign I'm home.

One of the reasons it's important for a road warrior to consistently fly one airline is to make sure you're noticed and appreciated by that airline. Well, as much as an airline can appreciate someone, that is. I nurture my relationship with Delta Air Lines by spending a lot of money with them, over $30,000 last year, and well on the way to a similar total with them next year.

There are a number of privileges and perks that one acquires as one moves up through the levels of an airline's preferred flier program, such as access to club rooms, free upgrades to first class, preferred seating selections in coach, etc., and one that's very important for getting home at the end of the week: standby priority.

Every computer company for whom I've taught for the last ten years always cautions students not to book too early a flight on the last day of class. Sure, they'll say, a lot of instructors will make an effort to get you out early, but some classes, particularly 2- and 3-day offerings, it just doesn't work that way. They'll tell folks to book flights after 6pm to make sure they don't get hung up. Having been a high school teacher, I'm well aware of the limits of the human attention span. It's not just adolescents, but adults that have trouble paying attention after 3-5 days of lectures. My students come to learn and take away knowledge that improves their skills as computer professionals, and when they hit saturation point, it's time to stop and send them home.

Does that sound like the rationalization of an experienced computer trainer who games the system to get home early? Maybe, but if you've taken one of my classes, you know it's true. I'll never book a return flight earlier than 5:30pm, but when we do wrap up early, I'm out. Unless the office is next to the airport, it's always better to get away from an office before rush hour. Airports are fairly self-contained, with food, drink, internet access, and other amenities. Better to be there than miles away.

Better still to get on a plane.

Changing same-day travel plans isn't all that hard. Airlines know that the best they can hope for on any given day is for good on-time arrival and departure percentages. They know that things can go horribly wrong in that department, so the more people they can move through the skies as early as possible in the day improves those percentages. If you're on a 6pm flight and you get to the airport at 2pm, your airline will be more than happy to send you out early if a seat is available. The sooner you're gone, the sooner you're no longer their responsibility.

Time was any flier could simply walk up to a ticket agent and request a change in a reservation, and they'd be accomodated as best as possible. As airlines struggle to cut costs, they discovered that one of the things they could change extra for was schedule changes. It's worth it to a lot of road warriors to pay $25-$50 to improve their chances of getting home that night. Of course, the higher level frequent fliers are usually exampt from those fees. Additional, the higher-ranking folks get standby priority.

Standby priority is one of the road warrior's best friends. It determines who is going to get those last three seats on the 3pm flight. There are a number of variables that factor into standby priority, with same-day travel disruptions being the most significant. Folks bumped from a delayed or cancelled flight will always get top priority. If it's a smooth-flying day, however, the road warrior pecking order kicks in. For Delta, that's Platinum, Gold, Silver. Platinum fliers go to the top of the "standby list," that display on the monitor near and dear the hearts of everyone trying to earn the privilege of going down the jetway on that particular flight. The folks on the top of that list are the ones who will move to the "cleared list," and gain the coveted boarding pass.

Since airports are indeed their own little worlds, road warriors would do well to give the standby process a shot. Unless you want to have a few cocktails before your flight and you're paying for them out of your own pocket, there's not much you're going to accomplish away from the airport, and even the Silver Medallion flier might get a seat on the early flight.

There's another benefit to trying for an earlier flight on travel day for the flier who checks one or more pieces of luggage. While the rules say that you're supposed to travel with your bag, most of the airlines don't bother with this detail. if you put yourself on the standby list for an earlier flight, your bag often travels on that flight, whether or not you get a seat. So, even if you can't get home before your scheduled flight time, your time at the departure airport is rewarded by finding your bag(s) waiting for you upon arrival.

You'd think that the minor detail of being in another country would complicate the process of traveling from YYZ back down to ATL, but the US and Canada have worked out a pretty good arrangement. As soon as you check in for a flight whose destination is the US, you walk behind the ticket agent and enter a line manned by US INS officers. Fliers "enter" the US while still in Canada. The process is the same as if you've just arrived at the international terminal of any major US airport, except you're not tired, stiff, and in need of a restroom.

The only problem I can find with this system is that the food selection once past all the legal stuff is pretty dismal. That wasn't a huge issue this trip, though, since I was trying to get out early. I arrived at YYZ just before 2pm, after dropping off the rental car. I was informed that I had a pretty good chance of getting a seat on the 3:20pm flight. That flight would arrive at ATL in time for me to get the 8:35pm ATL-MSY flight. I hopped the shuttle bus out to the satellite terminal where the Delta Connection/ASA CRJs park just as the flight began boarding. I checked in with the very-efficient (and very-cute) gate agent, Anne, and she was able to confirm me on the flight as well as the connecting ATL-MSY leg. She handled the re-routing of my checked bag, and I was walking outside to board the CRJ in no time flat.

The 2-hour flight down to Hartsfield-Jackson was peaceful, even though I was in seat 14A, the left-side window seat in the last row of the CRJ-200. I sat next to a petite lady so we didn't encroach on each other's space all that much. i dozed off right after takeoff, waking up just as we went on final approach.

The CRJ arrived on Concourse "C," just like a domestic ASA flight. In spite of being the absolute last passenger to deplane, I was one of the first through the jetway, because so many people had to wait for their gate-checked bags. The flight home was departing from "A," and the Crown Room agent on that concourse double-checked my first class upgrade status. When the ride is a B757, the odds of getting to sit up front are excellent. I flew home in seat 6A, glass of wine in hand, ready to be home, if only for a day.