Hi Sydney !

I have been in my second home country just over 24 hours. No jet lag, but not a full brain capacity or motivation to do anything. I gave myself a break and decided to get over the bewilderment caused by the big change. I know that I am fortunate to be able to live in two great or at least interesting countries during the best time of the year in each of them. This is one side of the coin. Maybe this coin should have only one, positive side? There is a change of lifestyle, language, friends, food, landscape, ways… It is all good and also a bit challenging.

                                           

My trip started at the Gdansk Lech Walesa Airport. The place is turning to a really nice, efficiently working, small airport. The journey started pleasantly with the exception of my flight being late. There were weather problems in Germany and I was flying Lufthansa.

The first stop - Frankfurt. This was a very brief stop, hurried in fact. With some help of the Lufthansa staff I managed to catch my flight to Bangkok. Boy, it was a race. I managed but my suitcase did not. I am still waiting for its delivery. Frankfurt airport is one I like least, out of the ones I know. It is too big and too impersonal. It does not work all that well either, in spite of famous German efficiency.

The Lufthansa flight was quite pleasant though. They improved their seats the last year and I was able to stretch. The food was also very nice and I said “taste you later” to fantastic, one of its kind bread that they can only bake right in Poland and Germany. Maybe Austria as well, at a push? Not sure about it though. The rest of the world eats some different type of bakeries calling it bread. I suspect that I may be byes, just a bit. But try for yourself if you get an opportunity. Especially dark bread variety.

                                           

Not typically for me I did not watch any film on this flight. All my neighbours watched some catastrophic, terrifying films. New version of Matrix? I was not attracted to it at all. And I had a new book to read.  

Then Bangkok and a looong wait for the next flight. I had 9 hours to kill and this time I slept few hours at the airport. It was a good idea and I will try to schedule my future flights the same way. The Bangkok airport has been modernized few years ago and now it has facilities that make lay off time not that hard. Maybe even pleasant if one is not in a hurry home. There are restaurants, coffee places rest areas, spas, massages and shops of course.

I find mentality of the Bangkok airport people very different to what I am used to and difficult as well. They are very officious lot and not helpful. The staff rarely smiles and their English is often insufficient. They always answer questions confidently but often not correctly. It is the only airport I know that I had things confiscated from my luggage without any need. They always look into and mess up the hand luggage. Even if it goes through x-ray stations they need to check it out. This time there was a new attraction. Passengers need to take the position like criminals on films for police officers to frisk them. Hands up, legs apart facing an x-ray for quite some time. A bit humiliating really.  Does it stop more people with wrong intentions? I doubt it.

It finished well for me

One may wonder if I like any airport really. Yes, I do. I like Singapore. And I feel at home at Kastrup in Copenhagen, so I like it. It is familiar and works well. And Lech Walesa Airport, of course.

                                       

Sydney Kingsford-Smith is now in a reconstruction stage and I would have some critical remarks here but I got my suitcase back as I wrote this post. No problem, no fuss and delivered to the door. Thank you Kingsford-Smith. You are great!