Sunday - in flight

Having used the quick check-in option from El-Al’s website, I zoomed through airport security and went to the no-line express check-in. My luggage was 21kg, 21.5kg after the addition of an extra book from my coat. I was allowed 23. I stood in a slow long line to subscribe for biometric passport control, ironically meant to save time in lines.

At the duty-free I bought a set of rechargeable mp3 player batteries, and a café macciotone from a girl who looked very good for 6 in the morning. I gave a shekel to the old couple in line behind me for their coffee (they were short one shekel) and they said “Grazie!” I stuttered, “Prego.”

Breakfast on El-Al was eggs, bread and such. I don’t eat this well at home! I watched “21”, a movie about counting cards. We arrived 5 minutes early in Paris. Charles Du Galle airport is an awful place to be. There was a very long walk to the terminal, no chairs that it didn’t hurt to sleep on, and no food. The most exhausting part of my trip was being there 6 hours. I spent a small fortune on beer and orange juice, to get at least some nutrients.

The first in-flight movie from Paris to New York was “Get Smart”, a silly comedy about secret agents. I watched that and then took a melatonin pill, intending to sleep the rest of the flight. Melatonin makes me feel like I can’t sleep at all but somehow I end up rested. American Airlines didn’t have any food the whole flight that wasn’t smothered in yucky melted cheese, so I arrived starving.

A big bald black guy (who reminded me of the bad guy in “21”) grabbed my bag and subtly bullied me into letting him drive me to Manhattan in a Lincoln town car. He stopped to fill up air in his tires and I took the time to buy a sandwich at Subway. I didn’t know he’d left the meter running, and he charged me almost 200% of the normal taxi price!

I actually didn’t feel so bad after my flights and after Tal & Rachel bought me sushi. The sushi was from Tenzan, a restaurant near them. They hardly use any rice in the rolls and stuff them so full of fresh fish that they burst open at the seams!