Flying East

“That’s ridiculous, Dad. Your business class ticket is cheaper than mine to sit with the plebs.”

“I know, Andrew, but it’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.”

“Very funny, Dad.”

“No need to thank me, Andrew,”

Air fares can be completely illogical. But I’m not complaining, in this particular case.

It’s a bit of an odd journey, this one. We start a little after 15:00, but don’t get into Cairo until 01:30. Partly because we have over three hours in Charles de Gaulle. (My favourite airport in the world. Just like living in Alphaville.) With a shorter layover, we could have done the journey quicker, but we’d always to arriving at 01:30. Which isn’t great.

We head off for Schiphol around noon. To make sure we have plenty of lounge time. Andrew may be travelling cattle-truck class, but, via me, he can still get into the lounge.

The airport isn’t too busy and we blitz through security and passport control.

When I’m signing Andrew into the lounge, the nice young lady says: “Do you realise that you’re in the wrong part of the airport? You need to be on the Schengen side.”

I’m so used to flying to non-Schengen countries, that I automatically went to that part of the airport.

“You can still come into this lounge, however.”

 Which is what we do. Having plenty of time.

Rendang and whiskies.

I begin with my traditional brace of whiskies. Following up with some food. A rather nice beef rendang. The best hot food I’ve ever had in this particular lounge. Yum.

We have a couple of drinks before heading over to the right part of the airport. We’ve still plenty of time before our flight. And drop by the other KLM lounge.

The other lounge.

The food isn’t as good. On the other hand, they have self-pour spirits. A feature I always love.

Me and Andrew say goodbye to each other on boarding. With me heading for luxury and him for squalor.

A light meal of artichoke salad, cheese and a doughnut.

It’s a pretty decent meal for a one-hour flight. Artichoke salad, cheese and a doughnut.

Back on the ground, I wait for Andrew to disembark. We make our way towards terminal 2E. Which is where our Cairo flight departs from. It’s quite a complicated walk. I love Charles de Gaulle. It’s like living in a dystopian 1960s French film.

Alphaville_airport.

On the way we pick up bottles of duty free. Bowmore for me, Tanqueray for Andrew.

Snack of cheese, boiled egg, ham, gherkins and wine.

Next stop is the Air France lounge. Where Andrew and I stock up on food and drink. I go for boiled egg, cheese, ham and gherkins. And, for a change of pace, red wine.

Cairo by night from the air.

On the next, longer, leg I have a flatbed seat. Which is dead cool. I can properly stretch out.

Despite the luxury seat, I’m feeling pretty knacked when we land in Cairo. Immigration isn’t too bad in terms of waiting time. But when we get landside we can’t find the transfer I arranged. Instead, we get a normal taxi.

Soon we’re dodging dangerously through the traffic. I used to think US motorways were scary. This is next level. Repeated use of the horn replaces obeying any of those pesky traffic laws. Cars and motorbikes pass within a few inches of each other.  At speed. None of the motorcyclists are wearing helmets.

We roll up to our hotel and get ourselves checked in. By the time we’re done, it’s getting on for 3 AM.

We have a nightcap of Bowmore and Tanqueray. Which makes it even later.

“What are we going to do now, Dad?”

“We could stay up a little longer until breakfast starts at six.”

Two breakfasts: croissants and pretzels; scrambled egg and sausage.

Which is what we do. Scrambled egg and chicken sausage. It’s not bad. I skip coffee, as I’m about to go to bed. Andrew has a few croissants and a pretzel.

We turn in at around 7 AM. I drop off immediately. It’s been a very long day.