RED SEA CRUISE - DEPARTURE

26 November 2009- Thursday

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thank goodness Thanksgiving came on a the day before I set off for the Middle East- plans were to finish packing and set up stuff for Christmas, however, had a slight interruption when Brandon MS1 from OSU stopped in on the way to visit his Grandpa for the holiday. So, break for lunch at 11:40 and head for the Green where all the streets are deserted and none of the restaurants open…that’s after passing a Friendly’s which was also closed. But Mimi’s, my usual breakfast place, was open and a few people were straggling in. Pleasant surprise was that they had only one item on the menu – turkey and fixings and pumpkin pie with whipped cream for desert. So, Happy Thanksgiving.

Friday 27 November 2009

Left for Cincinnati airport at about 10 am with Thomas at the helm. Expected delays because I-75 is being widened for most o the way to Cincinnati. Made good time and got through the city with very little traffic and made it to the airport in 1 hour and 10 minutes. Unloading was easy and check-in counter open for medallion customers ( I've really enjoyed being in that club.) Bags checked all the way to Amman, Jordan and then find that security has been moved from the basement to the ticketing floor. It’s not any more efficient and the tray lines are shorter but it wasn't crowded so pretty quick to get through. Did notice a heavy odor of ozone in the area- must be all the new wiring- but it was almost noxious. Full flight to JFK but medallion status came through with upgrade to emergency exit row with lots of leg room. The hike from the Delta terminal a mess as usual- Delta had taken over two terminals and poor signage makes it difficult to navigate but sky train to terminal 4 ok and Egypt Air right next to entrance. First clue about this flight was I walked right up to the counter (not the usual lines) and got my boarding passes for both Cairo and Amman flights. Enough time for a pizza slice and tea for $7.19 and to the gate where everyone boarded at once. Why? Because plane half empty but that allowed me a row of 3 seats all to myself. A liitle unsettling when a picture of a mosque came on the screen as we were pushing back form the gate and there was a prayer (I presume) in Arabic. Don't forget this is the airline that a pilot dived into the Atlantic some years ago. Quick meal and Bose noise suppression headphones and eye covers and an Ambien ready for undisturbed flight- but I neglected to protect my olfactory sense- which was assaulted throughout the night by the meconium factory across the isle at the bulkhead. They always put babies up there and a grandma and daughter had a little boy that I figured would scream all night but he never made a peep because he was being fed constantly by or the other- hence the meconium factory.