Stuttgart, Germany

My trip started out well enough on Saturday when I left the house at 3:00 PM.  I had an hour and 45 minutes before the scheduled flight to get to the airport and check my oversize luggage.

At 4:05 PM, just as we we about to board the flight to London, the Gate announced the airplane was being put out of service for electronic ‘fly-by-wire’ control issues.

Not to worry, I boarded another 777 at 6:45 PM and taxied on and, then off, the runway. An AC Converter malfunction put airplane #2 out of service.

Call up 777 number three!

At 9:45 PM we boarded and pushed back from the gate at 10:10 PM. It is now 7 hours and ten minutes since I left the house, and we had only traveled a few feet from the gateway.

Nine hours in the air and six time zones later I touched down in London to re-book the connecting flight to Frankfurt, Germany.  Two hours on the ground, two more hours in the air and one more time zone later, and easy-peasy, I land in Germany!

I caught the 7:54 PM (it’s now Sunday) high speed ICE train to Stuttgart, via Mannheim and we raced along at 241 kph to my destination. (Fare €59). A cab ride later (fee €20) and I’m here in just under 24 total hours!

Here’s a short movie clip from the train ride:

[29.3 Mb Video]

I was amazed how quiet it was. And yes, the trains did run on time.

Cheers from Germany.

The timeline above should explain my lack of recent posts.