The Arrival

This is me flying across the Atlantic. (I'm in the middle seat just behind the wing, 41J)

I got to the San Francisco Airport on time...well, actually before time...even before time for me who likes to be early for things. I had plenty of time to walk around and look at things...which luckily I like to do. After getting a good look at everything- twice- I made my way to the gate. I saw my plane outside the window and was a little disappointed to see how small it looked. In hindsight I see that it only looked small compared to the plane that was next to it...that one was huge. It was going to Shanghai. I was going to London. As it turned out, my plane was quite large inside. Eight seats across. I was supposed to have gotten a window seat...but...somehow it turned out that my ticket had me in a middle seat. I noticed myself starting to get disappointed <understated> but then something happened I can’t explain and I just snapped out of it and said to myself, “this is all part of the pilgrimage- be flexible.” It worked! (It also helped to have two really nice gentlemen at the window and aisle.)

Ten hours is a long flight no matter what but movies really helped. First up Ie watched ‘The Most Exotic Marigold Hotel.’  That really got me in the mood for travel to unknown lands. As a fun coincidence, my vegetarian meal that the travel agent convinced me to order was Indian Curry; good call.

Heathrow is a BIG airport. I learned a lot about international travel there. Thankfully I had plenty of time to stand in the wrong line- twice- before making my way through customs properly and finding the train that would take me to a different terminal. All turned out well and I made it onboard for the “short” (it’s all perspective) three hour flight.

I arrived in Malta right on schedule at 3pm on Sunday. And, I was met at the gate, just as they said I would be, by a nice elderly man holding a sign that read- EOW Tours. EOW stands for Edge of Wonder...and it’s an apt name... well, I guess I don’t know that for sure for the tour itself as that won’t start until tomorrow evening...but it certainly fits for the whole of Malta I have experienced so far.