I finally managed to find a socket in Vienna airport. I finished the battery on my laptop in Copenhagen airport and I couldn't find a socket there to plug it and charge it. So, because I had nothing to do till 5 am when my check in started I tried to sleep. I returned to the scene of the crime (the exact same place where I slept with the girls in October)…but this time it was different. I couldn't sleep as good as back then…actually I managed to sleep two hours all night…the lack of a sleeping bag…the fact that I had to sleep with my head on my bag and the girls not being there, made things more difficult. Also, this time the airport was very noisy…I can’t recall if there were a lot of people in October, but now it was kinnda full…I guess the holiday thing kicks in everywhere.
Leaving Copenhagen
After check in I headed for the gate…I was happy cause I found out that my bag is going straight to Bucharest and I don’t have to pick it up when I get to Vienna. It was dark outside and I could barely see the planes through the window while waiting for boarding. I also realized it was raining kinnda hard and I got a bit scared. It’s the first timing I am flying in winter and I am a bit afraid…the feelings you always get when you do something new. I didn't realize until we got on the plane how big it was. The darkness hid more than half of its size. It was an Austian Airline’s plane (Austrian Arrows)…mostly with Romanians and Indians on board. I realized I was surrounded by Romanians in the boarding room. At the begging I thought it’s just my imagination…but I looked at their passports…their Romanian appearance was officially id-ed by their passport. I kept wondering if they think the same…if I look Romanian myself just like them…they were looking at me…but I don’t know if it was my staring that bothering them or the curiosity they had to find if they guessed my nationality. When I entered the flight…classical music filled my ears…I guess the captain wanted to keep it traditional Mozart. They were really nice…I would like to fly with them again…they also gave us a tasty breakfast…warm croissant and tea…I sat next to a Danish woman and I could understand most of what she was saying but wasn’t able to answer…I have to work on that too in my poor Danish....it must be pretty important to answer in a conversation in order to make it a conversation.
Now the best part…the actual flight. As I was saying I never flew in winter before…or whatever this weather can be called. It was raining and I was a bit scared as we took off. I thought that’s how it’s going to be all the way…dark and wet. So, I thought I would close my eyes and sleep…but at some point I opened them…and saw the most beautiful thing ever. Nothing can beat this…I am sure. Under the plane there was an ocean of clouds. Land was absolutely nowhere in sight…just clouds…dark clouds…and ahead…at the same line with my sight...the most beautiful sun rise I have ever seen. There cannot be anything more beautiful…above us was all clear and the sunlight of the sun rise was marking a red-yellow-orange line between the ocean of clouds and the light blue nothingness from above. Incredibly beautiful…again I was thinking “why don’t I have a f*****g camera?!” After a while the sun rise ended and there was light everywhere…but a different type of light…it was icy…and just then I realized that the raindrops on the window turned in ice flowers. At some point I fell asleep and woke up hearing the captain’s voice telling us to prepare for landing. The wind was strong and they made some maneuvers with the wings so equilibrate the plane.
Half way home - Vienna airport
I’m actually staying in the boarding area…after security check…so I can’t really see what the airport looks like…but it seams big. My job now, because I’m too tired to read or do something that uses my brain too much, is staring at people. I never actually did that…I think this is the best place if you want to build a cosmopolite image. Some are bothered by my staring and look back…other just pass without turning their head :). I still have about 3 hours of doing nothing. Oh, I forgot! Austria is very green from above…I wonder if Romania is going to be the same. Still, the leafless trees looked so muddy. At the begging I thought there was a flood or something and they were covered in mud…just after my tired brain realized that well…they don’t have leafs in this season…so I just imagined they were chocolate trees, to make it feel nicer.
Vienna – Bucharest
The flight was so full that they were giving away special offers to stay one more night in Vienna with everything paid plus extra money for Christmas gifts…of course nobody was going for that…they were all waiting to go home as soon as possible. Again a huge plane, classical music and very good food…this airline has the best plane food ever…Outside the window the view was different because this time the sun was already up. The glamour now was the rainbow reflected on the clouds. I took a peep on the other side, were the sun was shining directly as saw that everything was golden there. Again the ocean of clouds underneath us seemed to facing a storm as the clouds locked like waves, aggressively knocking in each other. I couldn't sleep, though I could feel that I was extremely exhausted, my heart was beating ten times faster when we went out of the clouds and I could see the land of Romania. Again, because I don’t want to think of it that way I am not going to write about what I saw and what for a fraction of second was in my mind…I only want to remember the pleasant feeling of being home.
Too my surprise, they did not lose my luggage in Vienna.