Passing Time at the Airport

We were early back at Sea-Tac and had a couple hours to pass before boarding, so I spent some time taking photos.

Night at South Lake Union

Nice view after great Neapolitan Pizza at Tutta Bella

In the air again

A quick trip to the Pacific North West.

As we start our descent into Sea-Tac, the sun and clouds frame our shadow with a circular rainbow.

I don't think I've flown the approach from the North into Sea-Tac yet. Great scenic loop over the Pudget Sound and past downtown Seattle. However, I don't think the locals are as excited about this flight route as me ...

PAE - SFO

Let's try this again.  90 minutes after the SJC flight was canceled because the inbound flight couldn't land due to bad weather, the clouds had lifted enough that planes could land.

An uneventful 2 hours later we're flying over San Francisco towards a tight 180 degree turn into SFO airport.

Canceled

Low ceiling at Paine Field in Everett.

So low that the inbound flight for my trip home couldn't land and diverted to Portland. The ground crew hung out on the field until a minute before the gate agent made the announcement that the inbound flight has landed in Portland. When they walked away it was clear that flight AS2742 will not leave on time ...

They announced multiple times to call Alaska's Customer Service center for faster rebooking service, but I preferred to talk to someone in person, and also: I have time, so I didn't mind waiting.

I'm now booked on the "other" Alaska flight to the Bay Area. Unfortunately, that will take me only to San Francisco.

Snow Fall Caboose

The white specks are actually snow flakes. I think this was the first snow fall I saw this year.

Night Time Caboose

Volcano Alley

Mt. Jefferson, Mt. Hood, and Mt. Adams in the distance peek through the clouds as we are flying above the Willamette Valley east of Albany, OR.

PAE - SJC

I got to the airport a bit early and hung out in the quite comfy living room style waiting area at Paine Field. As is appropriate for the time of year, it has been raining pretty much all day.

The inbound flight for AS2742 is 20 minutes delayed. Let's see how quickly they'll turn it around and get us going towards SJC. Looks like we'll be almost on time by the time we get to California.

Room with a View

My hotel room has an excellent view of the transit hub in downtown Kirkland.

Sadly, only busses stop here.

Eastside Trains

I've been visiting Kirkland for business on and off for close to 15 years now. A stop at Eastside Trains is on the schedule if I could manage.

SJC - PAE

Let's try Everett Paine Field for a change for this trip to the Seattle area. Due to overcast skies there was some really weird light over Seattle during the approach to Paine Field.

Mukilteo from above with the ferry to Whidbey Island, the BNSF mainline to Vancouver, the Sounder station next to the under construction new ferry terminal, some airplane parts freight cars on the siding at the station, and the curve to the steep incline leading up to the Boeing factory at Paine Field. For safety, the tracks to Boeing require locomotives specially equipped for operating on steep grades. As far as I remember, at least an additional independent brake system.

Arrival at gate 2, one of the two gates at Everett airport.

What a cute and comfortable airport terminal.

STR - CDG - SFO

Another early morning flight with even earlier wake-up time. A 6:00am departure implies getting up at 2:30am. At least there was no traffic through Stuttgart city center, and it was a smooth Taxi ride on this Sunday morning.

Contrary to Stuttgart it's very foggy in Paris. Planes parked at the terminals are barely visible through the fog.

It's wet and cold, but the walk to Terminal 2G isn't far.

20 minutes later I arrived at the gate in the cavernous Terminal 2E for the connecting flight to San Francisco. Not many people waiting for this flight yet ....

AF84 is ready for boarding.

After a long flight with some activities -- more about those some other time -- we arrive at SFO a few minutes early. Now I just need to last to evening before I can fall into bed.

Kein Weihnachtsmarkt

The Baroque Christmas Market in Ludwigsburg opens only on Monday, which means no Gluehwein for me on this trip. It's not quite cold enough for Gluehwein, but it would have been nice anyways.

I really like how the market spills over from the main market square into the adjoining pedestrian zone.

Lieblingsgast

Our coffee on board of ICE came with Ritter Sport chocolate labeled "Lieblingsgast", favorite guest. Yes, the chocolate was good, and the coffee, too.

Moroccan Mint Tea

In a small restaurant close to the upper end of Ourika Valley in the High Atlas mountains.

Stuttgart - Duesseldorf - Marrakech

ICE 918 is ready for departure from track 8 at Stuttgaert Hbf.

Ontime arrival in Duesseldorf (that's reason to celebrate), and after a short ride on a Regional Express, we're taking the Schwebebahn to the airport terminal in Duesseldorf.

We get to enjoy the large terminal for a couple hours.

Approaching Agadir.

The sun is low already as remaining passengers are leaving the plane.

We started this journey at a train station, so we end with a train station. Here's the station in Marrakech.

Waiblingen - Stuttgart

An early morning departure from track 1 in Waiblingen (again) gets us early enough into Stuttgart Hbf to take photos and walk to the main station hall to warm up. It's freezing outside after all.

Our inbound train is already prepared for the return trip to Hessental.

An agilis Regionalbahn to Pforzheim and the tail of a Flixtrain to Berlin-Lichtenberg in the background

The Bonatz main hall will be gutted and rebuilt over the next 6 years. In the meantime this is not a nice place to hang out, but rather sad and barren.

SFO - CDG - STR

Hanging out at the airport with coffee and baked goods. The plane is here, with a planned flight time of 10 hours, 20 minutes faster than scheduled. This trip has a very short layover in Paris, so getting to Paris early increases my chances of making the connection (contrary to last time, or the other time). Let's see how it is going to work out this time.

A last look to the coast ...

... and 10 hours later, we arrived to miserable weather in Paris. The front facing camera of the plane did not line up with the runway centerline until after touchdown. I guess there were significant crosswinds the pilot had to compensate for.

We arrived early enough that I made the transfer to the Stuttgart flight with 10 minutes to spare. Still raining as we boarded. This time I got my wish, and the open air experience.

We left the rain behind in France and even had some sunshine upon arrival in Stuttgart. Same perspective as almost two years ago, still with day light.