I have now arrived safely in Shannon, Ireland, after a very long and uncomfortable 7-hour flight from Fort Benning. There were about 250 of us on the plane - 100 military and the remainder civilian - so it was a pretty full flight. The service was amazing and, surprisingly, the food was, too. It was like the old days of domestic travel when travelers enjoyed hot food during mealtimes and friendly service all the time.
We have a four-hour layover here in Shannon. The airport is a welcome reprieve from the tiny airplane seats. There is a very complete gift shop - I had to restrain myself from picking up Toblerone and various irish-themed gifts. There's even a pub here! (Of course, we aren't allowed to drink on our way to theater, but maybe on the way back.....) In addition, the bathrooms have showers, and while I didn't bring a towel with which to take a 'real' shower, I was able to take a bird bath and change my clothes. I feel like a real person again.
I was also able to talk with my mom and James on skype for about an hour. Skype works pretty well with a reliable internet connection (the airport has free wi-fi). It was nice to see their faces and hear their voices, even from thousands of miles away. I'll bet skype time will be even more coveted from Afghanistan.
Next stop is Kuwait!
Ahh, Shannon, Ireland. We stopped there on the way over too, but on my way to and from R&R we stopped in Germany. I think the flights originating in Dallas stop in Ireland, and the ones from Atlanta stop in Germany (I flew from Atlanta initially, but to and from Dallas for R&R). I'm glad you found the free Internet, too ... you're going to miss it in Kuwait!!
ReplyDeleteSounds like your flight wasn't nearly like ours to/from Germany -- the ones Cristi called "the Ark". Service sucked on those; they made you feel like second-class citizens and it was filled with people PCSing, so there were all kinds of screaming kids (some understandably, some not). We hated those flights! Glad yours was much better!
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