Tue 16 Dec Flight Home
We leave Mumbai (BOM) at 0305 and arrive Frankfurt at 0720. There we have a 3 1/2 hour layover, leaving at 1045 and arriving Atlanta at 1510. Hopefully the layover will be sufficient for our backpacks to arrive in Atlanta with us. They are lighter now than when we left from the states on 10 Nov. This is rather curious, since we have picked up lots of literature and a few souvenirs. Maybe we left some books in India, and packed more into the carry-on luggage. Or maybe we are carrying or wearing our heaviest clothing.
Lots of time before our flight leaves, so we find the most comfortable seats in the airport, and try to get a little shuteye.
Mumbai is +5:30 GMT and Frankfurt is +1. That makes the elapsed flight time 8:45. We get two meals. Carol springs for the vegetarian choice, which Lufthansa prepares surprisingly well. (Or maybe no surprise. Lufthansa advertises heavily on Indian television and print media. The main ad features a grandson on his first airplane trip, who tells his grandfather, "It's just like being in India!")
There is some free space on the plane. Mike finds a comfortable bulkhead aisle seat and grabs about 5 hours sleep. Carol gets to watch a couple of movies.
3 1/2 hours is way too much time for a layover. Or perhaps not. Somehow, Carol and Mike get separated and she heads off to the wrong flight to Atlanta (Delta instead of United), departing from different terminal. Each terminal has its own security check. Two spectacularly inefficient examinations later, we are reunited.
Finally it is time to board. Atlanta time is -5 GMT, so we face an elapsed flight time of 10:25. Not a whole lot of sleeping, but a few winks here and there for both of us. Carol continues to be served Indian veg eats (!) ahead of all the passengers.
We land, get admitted to the US (Yea!), find our backpacks (Yea!!), leave the arrival terminal, and are forced to take an airport bus from the international side to the domestic side for ground transportation. (Since we have cleared security, we can't take the train which runs the spine of the airport. Stupid planning, it seems to us.)
On to the MARTA train, catch our bus, and then walk the last km (yes, .6 mi) home. We are back to the house about 1830, after dark. It is 5 am India time. The whole trip took 31 hours from our Thane hotel to home.
Mike weighs himself and discovers that he has lost 22 pounds - maybe one should become a vegetarian (or be absent for Thanksgiving).
It is good to be home, even though the relentless Christmas buying season hits us head on. After all, Chanukah starts tonight! Time to unpack the Chanukah candles we bought in Thane.
We leave Mumbai (BOM) at 0305 and arrive Frankfurt at 0720. There we have a 3 1/2 hour layover, leaving at 1045 and arriving Atlanta at 1510. Hopefully the layover will be sufficient for our backpacks to arrive in Atlanta with us. They are lighter now than when we left from the states on 10 Nov. This is rather curious, since we have picked up lots of literature and a few souvenirs. Maybe we left some books in India, and packed more into the carry-on luggage. Or maybe we are carrying or wearing our heaviest clothing.
Lots of time before our flight leaves, so we find the most comfortable seats in the airport, and try to get a little shuteye.
Mumbai is +5:30 GMT and Frankfurt is +1. That makes the elapsed flight time 8:45. We get two meals. Carol springs for the vegetarian choice, which Lufthansa prepares surprisingly well. (Or maybe no surprise. Lufthansa advertises heavily on Indian television and print media. The main ad features a grandson on his first airplane trip, who tells his grandfather, "It's just like being in India!")
There is some free space on the plane. Mike finds a comfortable bulkhead aisle seat and grabs about 5 hours sleep. Carol gets to watch a couple of movies.
3 1/2 hours is way too much time for a layover. Or perhaps not. Somehow, Carol and Mike get separated and she heads off to the wrong flight to Atlanta (Delta instead of United), departing from different terminal. Each terminal has its own security check. Two spectacularly inefficient examinations later, we are reunited.
Finally it is time to board. Atlanta time is -5 GMT, so we face an elapsed flight time of 10:25. Not a whole lot of sleeping, but a few winks here and there for both of us. Carol continues to be served Indian veg eats (!) ahead of all the passengers.
We land, get admitted to the US (Yea!), find our backpacks (Yea!!), leave the arrival terminal, and are forced to take an airport bus from the international side to the domestic side for ground transportation. (Since we have cleared security, we can't take the train which runs the spine of the airport. Stupid planning, it seems to us.)
On to the MARTA train, catch our bus, and then walk the last km (yes, .6 mi) home. We are back to the house about 1830, after dark. It is 5 am India time. The whole trip took 31 hours from our Thane hotel to home.
Mike weighs himself and discovers that he has lost 22 pounds - maybe one should become a vegetarian (or be absent for Thanksgiving).
It is good to be home, even though the relentless Christmas buying season hits us head on. After all, Chanukah starts tonight! Time to unpack the Chanukah candles we bought in Thane.
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