Made it to Munich

[shinytoaster]

And now I am on a German keyboard with the characters in the wrong bloody place again. Grarr...

There were about 12 of us on the flight out of London City, which is the tiniest, cutest little airport you ever did see. The sun was just coming up as we ploughed up into the air, and I got treated to some of the most beautiful views of London I've ever seen as we circled up and round to get our south-east course. In the distance the hills were surrounded with fog, and the Crystal Palace transmitters were poking phalliciously out of a sea of swirling grey, while behind them the shoddy tower blocks of Croydon glinted in the rising sun. It was possibly one of the more arresting aspects over Croydon you are ever likely to see. The good views continued down the Thames, across north Kent - improbably fetching from the air, and again with the hilltops rising from the mist - and then all the way to the beaches of Calais and Dunkerque, where the cloud set in.

Note though, that if you ever get on one of those teeny Avro RJ85 jets, not to sit by the wing above the landing gear, the noise it makes as it drops out of the fuselage for landing, not two or three feet away from your right-hand butt cheek, is enough to frighten the most seasoned traveller right out of their underpants. Seriously, it sounded - and for a second felt - like all the demons of hell had grabbed hold of the plane and were shaking it for all they were worth.

I could have flown out to Munich yesterday evening, had a pleasant sleepful night in my hotel and arisen, fresh and bouncing with all the vivacious joys of the world, this morning, for a hearty, meaty German breakfast. But I thought to myself: 'Hey now, Munich airport has to be handy for the conference centre, doesn't it? Surely I can fly in and attend to the business of the day without having to charge an extra night.'

However, it turns out that Munich airport is actually right on the outskirts of the city, in fact, it is so far on the outskirts of the city that I am not entirely certain it's even in Germany. While the conference centre is also on the outskirts of the city, as far as I can tell from the signs on the Autobahn on the FORTY-FIVE MINUTE coach ride, it may as well be the outskirts of Salzburg ... or possibly Llubljana. Munich airport is very definitely not handy for the conference centre ... or Munich. Actually, damnit, Munich airport is not even handy for Munich airport.

Now, somebody needs to tell me ... are German customs officers obliged by law to have enormous moustaches? I've never encountered one yet who wasn't sporting a Thompson & Thomson style soup strainer on his upper lip.

Comments

[vado.livejournal.com]

London City, which is the tiniest, cutest little airport you ever did see

Yes... the ickle baby airport. It loses its appeal somewhat if one happens to spend half a day there waiting for a delayed plane to, say, Brussels.

[titanic-days.livejournal.com]

Would I be right in assuming I detect the voice of experience there?

[chinawolf.livejournal.com]

I think they're actually thinking about building a transrapid (maglev) train there because of the distance to Munich. There is, however, a S-Bahn service there which seems the choice of the fast traveller. I doubt it's further from the airport to Munich than from Stanstead to London.

And no, the customs people aren't. The last ones I had were all cute and moustache-less. :)

[titanic-days.livejournal.com]

A maglev would have helped today.

[shezan.livejournal.com]

The S-Bahn is faster than the Heathrow Express, though.

[jiggery-pokery.livejournal.com]

...it may as well be the outskirts of Salzburg ... or possibly Llubljana.

*polite giggle*

[pengolodh-sc.livejournal.com]

These days I would have second thoughts about sitting in an RJ85 (or RJ100 or RJX) at all - quite apart from the issue of recycled engine bleed air being used to pressurise the cabin, there is also the issue of the finicky spoilers.

[titanic-days.livejournal.com]

This makes me:
a) Very glad I didn't mention the make of airliner on LJ before leaving.
b) Very glad I'm booked on a normal 737 back to Heathrow.

[pengolodh-sc.livejournal.com]

Actually, it was the comment about the effects of the undercarriage being lowered that put me to making that comment.

737s are generally good, in my experience, except that the windowseats are a bit tight at shoulder-level - I bump into the cabin bulkhead just where the bone in my shoulder is closest to the skin.

[moia.livejournal.com]

*cough* IIRC Ljubljana is about 8 hours train ride from Berlin :P I hope your ride from the airport to the conference centre didn't last that long :)

[moia.livejournal.com]

I meant Munich of course! Oops.

[pengolodh-sc.livejournal.com]

Just realised - I purchased a copy of the November 2006 edition of Air International yesterday, and one of the frontpage headlines is:
MUNICH AIRPORT - Bavarian Masterpiece

In the article, the second sentence of the body text states that "[t]he reasons for [Munich Airport's] success are many, but in essence it comes down to location". I note also from the article that the airport has its own brewery. The article does of course note also the lack of efficient transportation from the airport to downtown Munich.

[shezan.livejournal.com]

CUSTOMS OFFICERS in the EU? WTF?

(You didn't know, but you shoudl have asked me about Munich, I briefly lived there; loved it.)

Are you still there? Want addresses of goth/alternative clubs? Reaktor, Pulverturm?