It’s the first time I remember running in an airport.
The flight from Chicago to San Francisco had already been pushed back by 30 minutes a week earlier, reducing my layover to an hour. A storm just above California had affected a number of planes and we were put in a holding pattern. The pilot warned us that if they couldn’t get us on the ground in 15 minutes, we’d be diverted to an alternate airport. My chances of reaching Sydney were not looking good.
Fortunately, we landed without too much delay. Unfortunately, the congestion in the air had created chaos on the ground. By the time my plane got a gate assignment, made its way there, waited for the ground crew, waited to get hooked up to the tow-bar, pulled in, and started to deplane, I had only 10 minutes to cross the airport before my flight to Sydney was scheduled to depart.
According to the website, the plane was ready and departure was on time. So I ran. I wasn’t the only one running: several of us needed to make that same transfer. We ran, we asked directions, we longingly eyed the bathrooms, we ran some more. Then we arrived at the gate.
Delayed for an hour because the plane hadn’t arrived. The crew working the door agreed it was unfortunate that the website wasn’t updating properly. Thanks.
An hour later I was on my way. Fifteen hours after that I arrived in Sydney. If I had bragged to you about how I can sleep on a plane with no problem, I now take that back. The series of 45-minute naps I strung together over the long haul is not what I had in mind.
It is now about 12 hours later, I’ve just woken from a 90-minute nap, and I am ready for some real sleep.
Thank goodness I had no real decisions to make today. My only task was to stay awake until a reasonable bedtime. After being picked up by my friends and dropping one of them off at work, I went to their house and got settled.
First thing to note: my hosts are amazing! Atop my bed was a big bag of Aussie snacks:
I showered, changed, and we went to a local mall for a couple of hours, walking around and doing a little final shopping. No substantial difference between our malls and theirs. Some of the stores are the same (H&M, Sunglass Hut, Target). Most have different names but sell the same types of things.
We got home, played with the baby for a bit, and then my host had a hair appointment. While she was gone I planned on taking a nap and writing this. Before she left, however, we ate a bunch of desserts, and she made me a lunch from some meat we had picked up at a store in the mall:
I can say it tastes different than ground beef, but I can’t quite say how. I’ll have to have more and see if I can find the right words to describe the difference!
Now I have a few minutes before they get back from being out. Then we’ll probably have dinner, and I’ll go to sleep early. Tomorrow, I’m going downtown to explore.
Travel 