On the way to Tirana

Traveling these days is a real chore, and one has to put up with many unexpected situations. Besides, unless one is business class (the cost of which is 4 times the one in economy!), there is not much room for a comfortable flight anymore since the planes are usually fully booked and everyone is packed in like sardines.

I left my residence in NY in cloudy and rainy weather, lucky that the forecasted snow showers did not materialize. The Super Shuttle was more than 20 minutes late for my pickup, and it was evident that the driver was a bit disorganized, to say the least. Unusually so, he was also not terribly familiar with JFK airport, did not recognize airlines’ names (that had to be repeated a few times by the passengers in his van), and, to top it off, let me off in the wrong spot (at the arrival instead of departure gates).

Austrian Airline was, as usual, very efficient in checking in and boarding, but it was delayed in departure by over 2 hours due a variety of other problems and the necessity to abide by today’s safety rules. This is not the first time that the luggage of a passenger that did not board the scheduled flight, had to be removed from the plane’s belly (cargo area) before leaving; meantime everyone else just sits and waits on board! This delay was extended on my flight when a passenger on board also fell sick at the last moment and a doctor had to be summoned for help.

I have never liked the 767 jets used by most airlines for transatlantic flights, which have extremely tight seats and leg room. Although, as usual, I got an aisle seat, as I wanted it, I was very uncomfortable during this entire trip for additional reasons that I shall recount below.

One my left, in the window seat, sat a very nice and chatty 24 years old young man, who was returning to his home in Macedonia, after 2 years of study and work in the U.S. One of his back backs was loaded with all sorts of the very latest electronic equipment, and he wanted to keep it right between his legs throughout the entire flight. My veiled attempt to dissuade him from doing so failed because he took into consideration only his own discomfort that he was willing to put up with, never realizing that he was infringing into my leg space, already tight. Not wanting to dampen his spirit, I put up with the situation, He was a bundle of nerves and, as if it was not already evident, he kept verbalizing his feelings of excitement about going home, while fussing around with his ultra sleek digital camera, his ipod, and the tv plane channels. He took numerous photos, watched movies, and listened to music – all this without missing a beat with his legs! Both of us, having wide shoulders, also overlapped our arms. I leave to your imagination how we spent, completely glued to each other, 10 hours (from NY to Vienna)! He never slept a wink, and neither could I since his every move, at every moment, kept me wide eyed and growing more tired by the hour. The flight was fully booked and it was not easy to spend even a few minutes standing, between the carts going back and forth, for dinner and breakfast, and the serving of water and juices that the Austrian stewardesses offer almost on an hourly basis throughout the night.

Arrived late in Vienna, everyone scattered around in transit to many other destinations. Only the passengers going to the northern countries really had to run to their gates to make their connections. It was interesting to see the hordes of people going through the Vienna security system. Everyone seemed well trained, though, in what to do: the passengers stripping themselves quickly, piling their wear, and hand luggage into the appropriate baskets, and the heavily staffed, security personnel on the ball at all times! We went through in no time notwithstanding the enormous crowd, and I proceeded to the gate for the flight to Albania that was due to leave within 45 minutes.

I found another huge crowd at this gate, mostly Albanians, and very little space to maneuver around. Some people were openly upset and on the verge of screaming when they found out that the flight was overbooked. The service staff handled everyone with courtesy, and efficiency, while trying to appease some and to influence others to leave at a later hour, by offering a fairly large sum in euro. Their thoughtfulness and approach in solving the problem they were facing was remarkable; in choosing the people that should make the flight, they even considered who, like me, were already taxed by the long haul having just arrived from overseas.

I found it amusing that many Albanians were not enticed at all by the offer, and found out later on why. Some were in a hurry to reach their families back home, following the horrible explosion that happened on Saturday in the ammunition depot 15 km from Tirana airport, where so far 25 deaths and over 200 people hurt have been counted. This awful accident, seemingly caused by human error in dismantling the many ammo gathered from the war years, has also caused the resignation yesterday of the current Minister of Defense (the buck must stop somewhere!).

The weather upon arrival in Tirana was not great either. It has been raining every day, and it’s still quite cool, especially in the evening. I finally reached my apartment thanks to my old, faithful driver who was waiting for me, as usual, and even helped me turn on the electrical and water systems once inside. After a quick stop at the local store to buy bottled water and milk, some unpacking and a quick shower, I conked out in bed for a couple of hours.

While the local phone service is ok, getting connected to the Internet, using either the dialup or my prepaid high speed service was another chore that I had to postpone until this morning, and will comment upon at another time. Now, onward to some more settling down here for a while!