Ferrari and Porsche on display at CPH for some sort of contest.
Heading home after two weeks in Europe. Last week was a class in Helsinki, so the outbound flight was MSY-DTW-AMS-HEL. I took an SAS hop flight from Vantaa Airport in Helsinki to Copenhagen, then flying home from here. My class was actually in a small suburb north of the city proper, so I had to rent a car this week to drive to the office. The return trip to the airport was about 35km. I had the added duty of returning the rental car this morning, so I left about 7am, and was done with the Avis desk just before 8am.
Copenhagen Lufthaven (CPH) is Every Airport In Europe. The ticket desks are numbered, and monitors tell you which range of numbers is for your airline as you enter. After dropping off the car at Terminal 3 (which is where I arrived from HEL last Saturday), I walked over to Terminal 2, just like the monitors told me to do. The Delta section was well-organized, and they led me to the "elite" line. Like the Dutch, the Danes actually interview you as they check your passport for departure. Once that was done, on to actual check-in, which had no one waiting. The Delta ticket agent was a charming lady who got my boarding passes as we casually chatted. She directed me to security and the lounge, and I was done.
Security at CPH was standard, and no removal of shoes. I'm guessing I'll have to do that at the gate. They did search my bag, though, not surprising, given how many cables I carry. Security cleared, I made my way through the obligatory duty-free extravangaza, down a corridor lined with banks, souvenier shops, and upscale shops like Gucci, etc. The SkyClub here is a common lounge for a number of airlines run by a company called Novia. Their wireless is a disaster-I got on for all of three minutes, but at least that was enough time to see e-mail and no there are no crises in North America. What the lounge lacks in wi-fi, they make up for in food. This is Denmark, so there's no shortage of Danish pastry, and a good coffee system that makes a decent cappuccino. Now it's off to the gate.
DL69 - CPH-ATL
Even though I was in Business Elite class (up front in the comfy chairs), I didn't pull out the laptop. If you're going to eat, navigating the computer and the food tray is just too difficult. This flight was on a B767-300ER, and I was in 3A. I prefer window seats so I don't have to get up to let the other person out to the toilet. It was warm on the plane, a good indication that spring is here. Front-cabin fliers are offered orange juice or champagne (and when flying from Europe, it's truly Champagne, not sparkly from another country) while getting settled and looking over the dinner menu. Just before takeoff, your dinner order is taken. Delta offers three entrees, and today's choices were chicken parmesan, file with peppercorn sauce, and a cold roast beef plate. The starters were smoked salmon and hummus, a lettuce-and-tomato salad, and cream of mushroom soup. Neither entree moved the earth for me, so I went with the steak.
Right after takeoff, the flight attendants pass out hot towels, then little dishes of nuts, while taking your first drink order.
Not long after that, the starters come out. The soup was quite good.
The steak, for once was medium-rare-to-medium, not too overcooked. I had a nice Argentine white, a Torrantes, before the meal and with the soup, and a Chilean red with the steak.
I usually get the cheese plate and some port for dessert, but today I went for the ice cream with berry sauce and whipped cream.
After the ice cream, I had some dessert wine, a couple of glasses of Semillion.
With the meal cleared away and the episode of "The Tudors" I had on the video system winding down, I put the seat as horizontal as I could and phased out. I got about 4.5 hours of sleep, then put the seat up and flipped through some of the HBO stuff in the video system.
About an hour out from ATL, they fed us a snack. The choices were a shrimp salad or a hot turkey-and-cheese sandwich. I had the sandwich, and it was OK. I washed it down with some more of the Argentine white. Dessert was a chocolate truffle.
Pretty soon it was final approach, and that means putting away everything. I read a bit, filled out the customs card, and we were on the ground. The plane parked at E6, and I was through CBP (Customs & Border Protection) in no time flat. Now waiting for my 8:15pm flight to home!
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