- Zurich- so tiny and efficient and so much Swiss chocolate! A little sterile but maybe that's the Swiss?
- Johannesburg- who doesn't love the "Out of Africa" store but what's the deal with the luggage mafia? Must they always rifle through your checked bag. Always a crap shoot if you arrive with what you packed.
- Mexico City- who doesn't love an airport where you can get a fabulous margarita!?!
- Miami- I really can't stand you...every time I'm there you're under construction, I end up running ignoring the "it's a 20 min walk to Terminal C" sign and those silly foot prints on the ground directing you out of the mayhem that is the international transfer point.
- Schipol in Amsterdam- the Queen of all Duty Free and people sleeping in the most random places :) And the coolest use of social networking to find a Kenyan mama during the Icelandic volcano airline travel disaster in April 2010.
- Washington Dulles- I really can't wait til the people mover buses are gone and your security checkpoint- even worse after the re-design. You really man need to arrive 3 hours ahead of time to even make a domestic flight!
And Nairobi- the Kenyatta International Airport.... and here begins my story for today.
Nairobi is a pretty large hub- for Europe, the Middle East, South Asia, and the entire continent of Africa. This airport probably saw it's hay-day in the 70's when it was constructed. While Nairobi itself can boast a fairly temperate climate, it always seems to be stuffy, stale and a bit sultry in the halls of the NBO airport. Today was no exception....I arrived around 7 a.m. for a 9:30 flight to Freetown, Sierra Leone. Didn't need to check a bag so I just whizzed through imm
igration without a problem. But of course, it's too early to know my gate, so I meander down the one long haul toward the expat paradise- the Java House- it's at the very end of one side of the terminal- near gate 14. Decent food- from breakfast to burritos and sandwiches and really really good coffee. This morning from my window seat it seemed that the U.S. Air Force was paying a visit to Kenya- a HUGE plane (no idea what kind or what it's called but it was huge) was there with a small crew. It was incredibly more interesting to watch this crew start up each of the propellors/engines than to watch all the junk on Tiger and Elin on CNN.
igration without a problem. But of course, it's too early to know my gate, so I meander down the one long haul toward the expat paradise- the Java House- it's at the very end of one side of the terminal- near gate 14. Decent food- from breakfast to burritos and sandwiches and really really good coffee. This morning from my window seat it seemed that the U.S. Air Force was paying a visit to Kenya- a HUGE plane (no idea what kind or what it's called but it was huge) was there with a small crew. It was incredibly more interesting to watch this crew start up each of the propellors/engines than to watch all the junk on Tiger and Elin on CNN. 
So had my morning cup o'joe and some food by the time that was over thought I should head to my gate- it was an international flight afterall- wouldn't they board an hour early? So I gather my things, wander down the hall to one of three more central areas with flight status boards....my flight is still not up there. "Uh oh." I ask a not-so-friendly customer care rep about Flight 510. Delayed til 12:10 p.m. It was now 8:30. Sweet- a few more hours to chill in this godforsaken airport.
Now, unfortunately, I don't have my Gold/Platinum status any longer, so I can't crash the special lounge, so I like probably hundreds of others before me, find myself a nice piece of cement along one of the hallway walls. I get out my laptop and start working...guy sitting next to me is praying from his Qur'an (it is Ramadan and these poor folks who have to watch all these other blokes eating and drinking- torture!), and next to him three ladies who were also on my delayed flight- who had set out some scarfs to sit on and lean on each other to sleep (I'm sure they were up at 5 a.m. like me!).
As I sit on my little piece of cement in this dimly light, stuffy hallway, I see all kinds of passengers walking by...."western" tourists en route to or just back from a backpacking/Mt. Kilimanjaro type excursion, families with small children, men in hijabs, women in traditional colorful african fabrics with matching headpieces, business folks with slick carry-on's. Who knows what I must look like?!?! I spend my time working and reading my current Cambridge Public Library borrow "Little Bee." But then I get antsy, I need to walk and move- is it seriously only 10:15 a.m.
Walking the hall of the NBO airport, you have one glass-enclosed little shop after another. Cigarettes, chocolate, perfume, handicrafts, t-shirts, more cigarettes, booze, etc. None of the shops really stand out- except for the fact that you can see the huge "SMOKING KILLS" stickers on all the cigarette cartons through the glass windows and the small signs that designate each shop "Bonded Warehouse No. 27"...aye really two more hours of this place....
So needless to say, my flight did depart around 12:30 p.m., and I did make it out of Kenyatta Intl Airport once again in one piece with all my hand luggage :) We'll see how it goes when I'm back there again on Sept 11, 2010 (is that good luck or bad luck?).
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