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| Manila at sunset |
So there I was the other day, flying into Hong Kong and living a Travelife, and all set to take a connecting flight to Istanbul and onwards to Prague.
I was due to arrive in Prague just before noon.
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| Roasted duck for lunch on Day 1 in Prague |
And then our guide was meeting us at the hotel at 1 PM for a walking tour that would include a couple of art galleries, some interesting art installations, and several vintage shops.
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| This is where we had dinner in Prague last night…. |
Scroll down to read more…
Anyway, back to my story. That night, our flight from Manila to Hong Kong was slightly delayed.
Ordinarily, a slight delay isn’t a big deal. But this time our turn-around time to catch the plane for Istanbul was so tight that we were actually in danger of missing our flight.
I’ve never ever missed a flight in my life so far, by the way.
For some reason, this delay didn’t really bother me — and even now I don’t know why. But on the way to Hong Kong, I didn’t even give the delay a second thought.
I had a full meal, thinking my next meal would be breakfast.
There would be dinner after take-off on flight #2, of course, but I was planning to hit the snooze button as soon as we flew out of Hong Kong, and sleep all the way to Istanbul.
At the gate in Hong Kong, we were the first ones out of the plane, and an airline representative was there to greet us.
He said: “You’ll have to hurry to catch your plane. And your luggage may not make it.“
I certainly wasn’t getting on an airplane without my luggage. So far, this has never happened yet in the thousands of trips I’ve made.
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| Frankfurt airport yesterday at 6 AM |
But he seemed to have read my mind, because he pulled a paper out of his pocket when he noticed my very unhappy expression.
So he said: “But we can put you on the flight to Frankfurt after midnight, and then you can connect to Prague on Lufthansa.“
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| Chinese breakfast on the way to Frankfurt from Hong Kong |
It didn’t sound too bad, but I had to reconfirm only one thing, which is really the only thing I care about when it comes to long-haul flights.
I asked him: “What airplane is it to Frankfurt? Is it a flat bed?“
It’s a flat bed from Hong Kong to Istanbul on business class, you see, so as long as Hong Kong-Frankfurt was a flat bed too, I didn’t mind changing routes, airplanes or airlines.
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| Flat bed, good food and a nice cabin from Hong Kong to Frankfurt |
So in a Hong Kong minute, we found ourselves flying to Frankfurt instead of Istanbul.
From Frankfurt, we hopped onto a Lufthansa flight for a 45-minute flight to Prague.
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Lufthansa, Frankfurt to Pragu
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Business class was the typical European regional flight configuration of three economy seats seats in two columns, with the middle seat taken out.
I don’t like this configuration at all, but there were only two other people in this section, so it was okay. Breakfast on this very short hop was excellent, as well.
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| Breakfast on Lufthansa’s 45-minute Frankfurt – Prague flight |
We had very fresh yoghurt and a good selection of cheeses.
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| At the transit counter at Hong Kong airport |
There we were at the transit counter, still trying to get officially booked on the Hong Kong- Frankfurt flight and still unsure of a proper connection to Prague.
But I was pretty non-plussed, for some reason.
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| My next spa destination in South Africa |
And to while away the time, I opened my laptop on the transit counter desk and booked a holiday next month at one of South Africa’s best spa resorts.
I’d been thinking of doing so, after our Travelife trip to South Africa in four weeks’ time, but I hadn’t gotten around to doing anything about it.
That is, until the other night, when I found myself with a spare 15 minutes in front of the transit counter at Hong Kong airport trying to find an alernative way to Prague.
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| Spa time again next month. This time in South Africa… |
Then I googled flights from Johannesburg to Durban and arranged for someone to pick me up at Durban airport.
All in the time it took to get us seats to Frankfurt and to print out our boarding cards. In Hong Kong a few days ago, living a never-ending, and never-endingly eventful Travelife.
