Day three of the treatment changes the process just a little. Before I tell of the change, I must report about something that happened, and the results during my treatment. It was something that wasn’t expected, however ended in great joy!
The left side of my neck goes out every once in a while due to a car accident about 15 years ago. Normally, at home, I would go to a chiropractor and they take care of it, and off I go about my usual day. Well, my neck went out on me during the day after the second treatment. Now I’m not saying at all the treatment did it, I think it was playing in the ocean that somehow did it. Anyway, for the rest of the day and during practice the next morning I was unable to move my head very far to the right and left. I was concerned because during the massage you lay on the floor, not on a table, so your head is turned to one side or the other. It’s not rested in a nice little hole like back home.
When I got to the treatment I told my therapist that my neck was hurting and that it was hard for me to turn my head all the way. Now, I had faith in my therapist, but his English wasn’t to the point where we could have a conversation so I wasn’t sure how much of it he understood. He did acknowledge that he knew what I was saying and I felt that he did understand. Usually when you explain pain somewhere in your body, the corresponding result from the therapist is to apply easy, simple pressure in that area and to make sure that it feels comfortable to you and to not make it worse.
The the treatment begins as usual, sitting on the stool and he does this stuff to my head and neck. There was no change in the way he did this, except he may have stayed a little longer on my left side which was the sore side. Then he had me lay down on the mat as usual. I slowly put my head down on the mat and was able to get it turned all the way without any pain. He then placed a towel on my back, and I’m still not quite sure how he did it, but with just a simple press of his hands he was able to pop every vertebrae in my back! It was truly amazing how he did it. There was very little pressure but I think it was the movement of his hands in an upward motion that just put everything in its place.
So he begins the massage, and once again I’m expecting him to go lightly on me, or at least my neck area. He changed the massage around a little so I knew he did completely understand me and about my neck. However, going easy must not be in is ability. He had me clasping my hands and placing my arms underneath me, and at one point he was actually using my back as a treadmill! That is no joke. He was walking down my back, right foot then left foot, using his toes to press into my neck and all the way down my spine, walking just like you would on a treadmill.
There was many other things that he did during this treatment that was so different from the previous days, and it was in no way easier, in fact the pressure today was extreme. At one point of the massage I started to laugh to myself, because I pictured myself coming out of this massage with bruises and two black eyes!
However, I must admit that once the massage was over, the neck pain, gone! I could turn my head both directions and I felt as good as new! After this, the treatment changed as I have mentioned earlier.
The basting was over, and they started me off with the rub. After the massage I stood up and they wiped off all the excess oil from the massage, had me get up on the table and start the rub like they did in days past.
After the rub was complete, they once again had me off the table, one wiped me down, and the other therapist cleaned the table. Then it was back onto the table for what I’m calling the marinade.
This was made of warmed oil infused with herbs, and the smell was so good I think I could have eaten the oil as a soup. They began to pound and rub the herbs into my body. As with the rub, this was applied in a certain way and since there was a therapist on both sides of the table, they did the same thing on both sides at the same time, so it felt very uniform. I could have laid here for days letting them do this, it was truly amazing! The warm oil, the pounding and rubbing of the herbs; nice! When I talk about pounding, it wasn’t a hard pound but was much more than a tap. They would dunk what looked like cheese cloth wound up into a ball into the warm oil, then pound your body three or four times then rub that body several times, before dunking the cloth again.
After this was done, it was off the table and and wiped me down again and sent me on my way. This treatment was to be done until it was time for the purge, however after two days they needed to change my treatment. The idea, based on my dosha, was to create fire within my body which would bring all the toxins out into the blood, then into the digestive track and out of the body it would go.
By the time this treatment started, using the marinade, I was feeling very hot all the time and was attributing it to the weather and the humidity. After the first day of the marinade my arms broke out in a heat rash. Once again I thought it had to do with being in southern India, not the treatments. Daren made sure that I showed Dr. Unui on the next day.
When I sat down next to him, he looked at me and said “Do you feel okay?”, and my reply was; “feeling a little warm.” He smiled and said; “I can actually feel the heat coming off of you!” I showed him the rash and he said I was hot enough and that he was going to change the treatments to hold the fire, but not build anymore heat.
So that day, the massage first, and it didn’t change at all, but after that they put me into a steam box. This would be just like a steam room, but your head is not in the steam so you can breathe regular air, and your head is allowed to give off heat. The idea behind this is that you sweat out many of the toxins by doing this, and with external heat, your body doesn’t try to hold it in as much. I was only in the box about 15 minutes which I thought was perfect. After it was back to the table, only this time for something quite unique. Something that is show often in pictures of ayurvedic treatments.
They put me back onto the table face up, and placed a large bowl of warmed oil over my forehead. After placing a protective cloth over my eyes, they begin to pour this oil out of a small hole in the pot, over my forehead moving in smooth even strokes from ear to ear. It’s hard to explain this feeling, other that is was one of the most restful feelings I have ever had. It’s like your mind just simply shuts off and you wander out into space. Truly a heavenly experience! I will admit that I did fall asleep during this because it felt so good and was so relaxing.
The idea behind this treatment is the oil is to bring the fire up and out of the body without shutting down the detox process. Well, they were welcome to give me that treatment for the rest of my life and I would be happy.
The doctor had also give me some herbs (of course he had) to turn into a paste and shower with for the heat rash. The first day I’m sure I looked like a circus clown trying to make this paste in the shower and then applying it to my body, but after several days I had it down like a pro. Did it work? Of course it did. Based on what we are used to in the west we think their treatments to be very primitive, but let me tell you, they know what they are doing, and everything, and I mean everything, they use is 100% all natural, as they don’t know anything else. No patented drugs here, everything comes from nature.
I will admit I was still feeling very hot all the time, maybe something like a hot flash, but one that lasted for days! Plus I was very tired. We were doing the yoga practice as well, but wasn’t moving about much besides that. I went into the ocean once after my neck for about 20 minutes but after that I was tired and needed to rest. I also didn’t like going out into the sun! Me, of all people, didn’t want to be in the direct sun. When has that EVER happened before?
Next comes the purge, which I will talk about in the next update. I’m writing this part the day after the purge, and will write about the purge soon, but let me just say WOW! The difference is amazing.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Monday, December 21, 2009
Panchakarma
Panchakarma is an ayurvedic way of cleansing the body, similar to a detox. There are many different ways to receive panchakarma as they base your treatment on the dosha that you are. There are three major doshas in ayruveda; Pitta, Vata and Kapha.
They have an entire system based on the doshas from what you should and shouldn’t eat, to how much exercise someone should have. It can get quite complicated, and people to go school to study this and earn degrees.
I am considered Vata, so I’m going to go through the details of what they did to me during the treatment. Remember that people go through different treatments. Daren is a Kapha and so talking to him about his treatments, they were sometimes similar and sometimes completely different.
Panchakarma can last from one week up to a total of 53 days or about 2 months. It depends on how much time (and money) you have. The perfect world would be 53 days.
Each and every day starts with a massage. Now how does that sound every time you go to the doctor - a massage right off the bat! This is not quite the massage you are thinking of like back in the states. This massage is a foot massage, meaning the therapist uses his/her feet to give you the massage.
You start by sitting down on a stool and they give you a scalp, neck and shoulder massage using their hands. They breath a certain way over your head and make some unusual sounds with their hands while they are doing this. This part of the treatment lasts about 5 min.
Then they have you lie down, face down, on a large pad on the floor. The pad is made of vinyl, similar to the material they use to cover the seats and benches in a weight room. Then they literally pour oil all over your body. I’m not quite sure what kind of oil, but I think it is sesame oil or a blend of oils. It’s very thick, slick, and has been infused with herbs. When I say pour, I mean pour. I’m guessing that each time, they use at least 2 quarts of oil on just me. Not sure if this is a base for everyone, or if they use different oils for the different doshas. It has almost a rusty color to it, and just a faint smell of herbs.
While we are on the subject of herbs. In the states the spas, and homeopathic treatments seem to always include some kind of floral oil such as lavender or orange blossom. Here in India they use lots of spices, but the same ones that you cook with, so the center smells more like a kitchen than what we would think of as a spa or healing center.
There are ropes hanging above you attached to the ceiling, and after pouring the oil over you (in large quantities), they hold on to the ropes and begin to give you a massage using the souls of their feet. They use very large strokes that will cover say your arms and mid section or legs and midsection. Based on the way they massage you, it couldn’t be done on a table using just hands. When they are done with your back they turn you over and do the same thing to your front side.
Once the massage is over they allow you to rest for a time just laying there relaxing. I’m not sure how long they let you lay there, I’m thinking 5 or ten minutes. It’s amazing how good you feel after the massage and its very easy to almost fall asleep as your body absorbs the herbs and the oil.
Next, they put me up on a table face down again, and then began to rub what I think was an herb infused warm water onto my body. In my mind I called this the baste, like when you baste a turkey. That is what it felt like. I’m really not sure what the liquid was, but it looked like muddy water. However the smell was that of herbs, not pleasant, but didn’t smell bad in any way. At this point in time there were two therapists there one standing on each side of the table to baste you!
Then after the baste, came the rub. They had me get off the table and while one cleaned and dried the table, the other one cleaned and dried me off! Back onto the table I went, face down again, they they sprinkled me with some kind of brown powder. Once again, the powder was a plethora of different herbs all ground together. Once I was covered in this powder, using similar strokes, they pressed the powder into my skin. Starting at my feet and working all the way up to the head. Once they were done with my back side, I turned over they they did the front side.
After that it was off the table again and they brushed me off and sent me on my way for the day. This whole process takes about two hours each day. The powder was a rusty color as well, so it looked like I’d been playing in orange sand or something. Then once back at the room you showered really, really well, because the powder can and will stain any fabric it comes in contact with. At the beginning of your treatments they give you a lunghi (basically a large piece of cloth that you wrap around your self like a towel to go to and from the clinic).
They did this for the first two days of the treatment, then the process changed just a little, which I will write about soon. Remember that this is not the same process that Daren had. The only thing that was similar was the massage, and I’m not sure if it was the same kind of oil or not.
They have an entire system based on the doshas from what you should and shouldn’t eat, to how much exercise someone should have. It can get quite complicated, and people to go school to study this and earn degrees.
I am considered Vata, so I’m going to go through the details of what they did to me during the treatment. Remember that people go through different treatments. Daren is a Kapha and so talking to him about his treatments, they were sometimes similar and sometimes completely different.
Panchakarma can last from one week up to a total of 53 days or about 2 months. It depends on how much time (and money) you have. The perfect world would be 53 days.
Each and every day starts with a massage. Now how does that sound every time you go to the doctor - a massage right off the bat! This is not quite the massage you are thinking of like back in the states. This massage is a foot massage, meaning the therapist uses his/her feet to give you the massage.
You start by sitting down on a stool and they give you a scalp, neck and shoulder massage using their hands. They breath a certain way over your head and make some unusual sounds with their hands while they are doing this. This part of the treatment lasts about 5 min.
Then they have you lie down, face down, on a large pad on the floor. The pad is made of vinyl, similar to the material they use to cover the seats and benches in a weight room. Then they literally pour oil all over your body. I’m not quite sure what kind of oil, but I think it is sesame oil or a blend of oils. It’s very thick, slick, and has been infused with herbs. When I say pour, I mean pour. I’m guessing that each time, they use at least 2 quarts of oil on just me. Not sure if this is a base for everyone, or if they use different oils for the different doshas. It has almost a rusty color to it, and just a faint smell of herbs.
While we are on the subject of herbs. In the states the spas, and homeopathic treatments seem to always include some kind of floral oil such as lavender or orange blossom. Here in India they use lots of spices, but the same ones that you cook with, so the center smells more like a kitchen than what we would think of as a spa or healing center.
There are ropes hanging above you attached to the ceiling, and after pouring the oil over you (in large quantities), they hold on to the ropes and begin to give you a massage using the souls of their feet. They use very large strokes that will cover say your arms and mid section or legs and midsection. Based on the way they massage you, it couldn’t be done on a table using just hands. When they are done with your back they turn you over and do the same thing to your front side.
Once the massage is over they allow you to rest for a time just laying there relaxing. I’m not sure how long they let you lay there, I’m thinking 5 or ten minutes. It’s amazing how good you feel after the massage and its very easy to almost fall asleep as your body absorbs the herbs and the oil.
Next, they put me up on a table face down again, and then began to rub what I think was an herb infused warm water onto my body. In my mind I called this the baste, like when you baste a turkey. That is what it felt like. I’m really not sure what the liquid was, but it looked like muddy water. However the smell was that of herbs, not pleasant, but didn’t smell bad in any way. At this point in time there were two therapists there one standing on each side of the table to baste you!
Then after the baste, came the rub. They had me get off the table and while one cleaned and dried the table, the other one cleaned and dried me off! Back onto the table I went, face down again, they they sprinkled me with some kind of brown powder. Once again, the powder was a plethora of different herbs all ground together. Once I was covered in this powder, using similar strokes, they pressed the powder into my skin. Starting at my feet and working all the way up to the head. Once they were done with my back side, I turned over they they did the front side.
After that it was off the table again and they brushed me off and sent me on my way for the day. This whole process takes about two hours each day. The powder was a rusty color as well, so it looked like I’d been playing in orange sand or something. Then once back at the room you showered really, really well, because the powder can and will stain any fabric it comes in contact with. At the beginning of your treatments they give you a lunghi (basically a large piece of cloth that you wrap around your self like a towel to go to and from the clinic).
They did this for the first two days of the treatment, then the process changed just a little, which I will write about soon. Remember that this is not the same process that Daren had. The only thing that was similar was the massage, and I’m not sure if it was the same kind of oil or not.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Berlin
Let me start off by saying that anybody who has lived in Germany or Berlin over the last 100 years deserves to be acknowledged as a true hero on a personal level. When ever you get a little down after watching the news, reading the paper, or on the internet and wonder why the world is the way it is, and can there ever be a bright day; my answer to that is yes. All you need to do is look at a bright and shinning star - Berlin.
We learn in the history books about great and powerful cities. Cities full of wealth and power, greed and misfortune. These cities come and go, sometimes quickly like a storm, others stand for a while, but always fall.
In only the last century has the world seen some of the most horrific events known to man. Both World Wars, terrorist attacks all around the globe and of course the religious wars currently going on right now. Just by looking at the things man has done for power and greed in just the last 100 years is sometimes hard to swallow when you look at it in this light. Cities after falling from war usually take decades if not centuries to recover.
Berlin has been the center of two of the most horrific events in only the last 80 years; World War II and The Cold War dividing East and West Germany and Berlin. I admit that during school we learned about WWII, Hitler, the Berlin Wall, the Soviet Union, etc., but how much does the average 14 year old really understand? We see pictures and hear the stories always coming from the side that is winning. We hear of the things Hitler did, and just like watching a movie our minds don’t register that this isn’t something Hollywood has created, but actual events happening.
After spending a very short 5 days in the city of Berlin, I have come to think of Berlin as that shinning star off in the distance. The light in the darkness. Not just the hope, but the reality that people are resilliant and may suffer, but will always come back stronger than before. Here is a city that was almost completely destroyed by WW II not just the buildings but the people as well. Then to add salt to the wound, the Berlin Wall went up because of the cold war, separating east and west, not just the country, but the city itself. If you lived in West Berlin, it was like living on an island.
The Berlin wall fell in 1989, I was a senior in hight school, and although I knew what was happening, I didn’t understand the impact it had on not just the people of Germany, but of the world. Berlin is now full of memorials and plaza’s and museums that share this story, so hopefully we don’t forget and repeat the mistakes of the past.
Our time was short for a city with history like this, plus trying to recover from jet lag doesn’t help. Getting around the city is very easy with the use of the train system. One ticket will get you on the underground, the elevated, the trams, and the buses. You can get anywhere in Berlin using the train system. More on this in a minute.
One of our first stops was the Reichstag’s futuristic cupola. This is what we would all parliament, or the Capital Building. This is where the German Government happens. The building was built in the 1700’s and housed the government from that time on until it was burned to the ground by Hitler in around 1936. The only thing left standing was the stone walls. During the cold war is was in West Berlin, but sat empty to my knowledge. It was after the fall of the Berlin Wall (BW) that the govenment decided to rebuild it and use it again for its purpose; the government for the people.
During the rebuild They put a huge glass done on top of the building. Think of the US capitol building but with a glass top not copper. This is a walkway that winds around and up to the top of the glass dome and then back down. From there, you can see all of Berlin and is a great way to get familiar with the city before you begin touring the rest of the city.
They even have a head set that you put on and listen to the commentary as you walk up and around inside the dome. The amazing thing about the headsets is that you have our own little box with you like many museums have, but it can tell where you are in the dome and it goes along and talks about the things you can see from that point. If you are walking to fast it will tell you to stop for a minute. Once it gets done telling you about the view then it says to continue walking.
The next stop on our tour was the Brandenburg Gate. This was also built centuries ago, and somehow managed to survive everything that has happened to Berlin. It has needed repair, but has stood the test of time. All the buildings around the Gate, including many embassies, are all new buildings. Most of the buildings in that area were destroyed during WWII and after the Cold War they began rebuilding them to look like they did before the war.
Next on the tour was the Holocaust Memorial. It is a concrete labyrinth of upright stone slabs that seem to move in each direction forever with no end. Each slab is slightly a different height and the ground is not level so at some points the slabs are maybe 3 feet off the ground and at other points they stand over 15 feet high. This “walkable” monument is to commemorate the murdered Jews and other minorities of Europe.
More to come very soon about this incredible city!
We learn in the history books about great and powerful cities. Cities full of wealth and power, greed and misfortune. These cities come and go, sometimes quickly like a storm, others stand for a while, but always fall.
In only the last century has the world seen some of the most horrific events known to man. Both World Wars, terrorist attacks all around the globe and of course the religious wars currently going on right now. Just by looking at the things man has done for power and greed in just the last 100 years is sometimes hard to swallow when you look at it in this light. Cities after falling from war usually take decades if not centuries to recover.
Berlin has been the center of two of the most horrific events in only the last 80 years; World War II and The Cold War dividing East and West Germany and Berlin. I admit that during school we learned about WWII, Hitler, the Berlin Wall, the Soviet Union, etc., but how much does the average 14 year old really understand? We see pictures and hear the stories always coming from the side that is winning. We hear of the things Hitler did, and just like watching a movie our minds don’t register that this isn’t something Hollywood has created, but actual events happening.
After spending a very short 5 days in the city of Berlin, I have come to think of Berlin as that shinning star off in the distance. The light in the darkness. Not just the hope, but the reality that people are resilliant and may suffer, but will always come back stronger than before. Here is a city that was almost completely destroyed by WW II not just the buildings but the people as well. Then to add salt to the wound, the Berlin Wall went up because of the cold war, separating east and west, not just the country, but the city itself. If you lived in West Berlin, it was like living on an island.
The Berlin wall fell in 1989, I was a senior in hight school, and although I knew what was happening, I didn’t understand the impact it had on not just the people of Germany, but of the world. Berlin is now full of memorials and plaza’s and museums that share this story, so hopefully we don’t forget and repeat the mistakes of the past.
Our time was short for a city with history like this, plus trying to recover from jet lag doesn’t help. Getting around the city is very easy with the use of the train system. One ticket will get you on the underground, the elevated, the trams, and the buses. You can get anywhere in Berlin using the train system. More on this in a minute.
One of our first stops was the Reichstag’s futuristic cupola. This is what we would all parliament, or the Capital Building. This is where the German Government happens. The building was built in the 1700’s and housed the government from that time on until it was burned to the ground by Hitler in around 1936. The only thing left standing was the stone walls. During the cold war is was in West Berlin, but sat empty to my knowledge. It was after the fall of the Berlin Wall (BW) that the govenment decided to rebuild it and use it again for its purpose; the government for the people.
During the rebuild They put a huge glass done on top of the building. Think of the US capitol building but with a glass top not copper. This is a walkway that winds around and up to the top of the glass dome and then back down. From there, you can see all of Berlin and is a great way to get familiar with the city before you begin touring the rest of the city.
They even have a head set that you put on and listen to the commentary as you walk up and around inside the dome. The amazing thing about the headsets is that you have our own little box with you like many museums have, but it can tell where you are in the dome and it goes along and talks about the things you can see from that point. If you are walking to fast it will tell you to stop for a minute. Once it gets done telling you about the view then it says to continue walking.
The next stop on our tour was the Brandenburg Gate. This was also built centuries ago, and somehow managed to survive everything that has happened to Berlin. It has needed repair, but has stood the test of time. All the buildings around the Gate, including many embassies, are all new buildings. Most of the buildings in that area were destroyed during WWII and after the Cold War they began rebuilding them to look like they did before the war.
Next on the tour was the Holocaust Memorial. It is a concrete labyrinth of upright stone slabs that seem to move in each direction forever with no end. Each slab is slightly a different height and the ground is not level so at some points the slabs are maybe 3 feet off the ground and at other points they stand over 15 feet high. This “walkable” monument is to commemorate the murdered Jews and other minorities of Europe.
More to come very soon about this incredible city!
Monday, December 7, 2009
Airports
About Airports;
You should never be surprised about what you find or run into when traveling between airports, especially large and international airports. I was curious about the airports we traveled through and where they ranked in size, etc.
We left Chicago’s O’Hare International and changed planes in London’s Heathrow International before finishing in Berlin’s Tegal. Based on the most recent information on the web (google), O’Hare is the second largest airport in the world, just behind Atlanta, and Heathrow is right behind O’Hare.
The major differences between the two is that O’Hare is a very large airport, however the majority of its traffic is domestic. The international terminal for O’Hare is not huge, and if you don’t need to change terminals or O’Hare is your originating airport then getting through O’Hare is relatively easy. The international terminal has 21 gates for about a dozen different carriers throughout the world.
Our gate was right past security which only took about 10 minutes to get through. Very simple and easy. The challenge with that terminal is that aside from snacks and bottled beverages there are no restaurants or real food vendors past security. Translation: No Starbucks!!!
After getting halfway through security and being told that, be backed out of the line to find coffee, only to realize after getting out of line that the only place that sold coffee had drip coffee only. Then we laughed because you can’t take drinks through security so back in line we went.
The average flight time from Chicago to London is about 8 hours and we did it in 6:55. That was a great flight time, which only meant we had a longer layover at the airport. The last time I passed through Heathrow for a transfer only was two years ago and we went through Terminal 4. There was much talk of British Airways new Terminal 5 that was being built. Because we were passing through, and on British Airways, through terminal 5 we went. Let me share with you what passing through this city was like.
I do use the word city, because that is what it felt like. Terminal five is huge - kind of to Las Vegas standards when it comes to hotels. There are currently two buildings that are part of T5, and a third one us under construction. Between the two buildings currently open, there are 60 gates. 60! We are not talking about the entire airport, just T5. While we were having breakfast, I counted eleven 747s lined up on only one side of the building. All gates are capable of handling the A380, which is the largest passenger plane in the world, so yes, city is the right word. They had over 30 million people in T5 alone in its first year of service.
For some reason, even though you have been through security at the airport that you left from, they make you go through again, even if you are simply changing planes. The reason I come up with is that they fly to airports that places like the United States don’t approve of. So they need the extra security to fly their planes in/out of the US.
The next airport was Berlin, Germany. The simple way to describe this airport, especially after coming from the two we just did is; baby. Even our taxi driver called it a baby airport. I think there are 10 maybe 12 gates total, and only one level. I can’t remember the last time I was in an airport that did require you to travel on at least two sets of escalators! It was however very simple. We exited the plane and at the end of the jetway was Immigrations, they simply pass scan and stamp your passport, welcome you to Germany, and send you on to luggage. Perhaps because we were all coming from London, I don’t know, but there was no Customs. We picked up our luggage in the same area as we got our passports stamped, then walked outside and picked up a cab to the hotel. The simplicity of getting into Germany was amazing. Its like they simply trust everyone and don’t worry about anything. Going to every country I have been to, there is that nice long form you need to fill out asking you all sorts of information, and then you have the travel visa, some countries like India require you to have one in your passport, other countries simply issue you one when you enter, but they almost always give you a time on your length of stay. We filled out no forms, they gave us no limits on our stay in Germany, they only said welcome! Actually they said “Willkommen!”
On the way out, each gate has its own security and once you pass through you are put in a large room to wait for the plane to board. I don’t know if they are all like this, but ours had a duty free shop and a small cafe so we could get some coffee while we waited. However, because of this setup, you could only shop or eat at those two places if you had passed through that security for this gate. I don’t know what they do when there are no planes using the gate. Close up, or sit around?
On our way to India we once again had the extreme pleasure of passing through T5, this time arriving on a small 737, and moving into a 747 for the flight to India. The airport in Bangalore is a new one from the last time that I arrived there two years ago. It is a beautiful airport, very modern and up to the most recent standards. The only thing that really stood out about this airport, especially since we were in India was that the gate we parked at had two jetways to service the 747. First class and World Plus passengers exited the first jet way, and Business and World traveler took the second jet way. British Airways uses the words World Traveler for economy and Traveler Plus for an upgrade between economy and business. World Traveler Plus is the same as domestic first class seats. They are larger with more leg room. Business class on BA has seats that recline all the way into a level bed. First class, you get your own cabin. (I wish!)
If you read my blog two years ago about when we left Bangalore and how short the runway was, well, we shall see if they improved that at all. To read it, just go back to the entry; India - Goodbye.
I will be writing about Berlin in the next day or two...
You should never be surprised about what you find or run into when traveling between airports, especially large and international airports. I was curious about the airports we traveled through and where they ranked in size, etc.
We left Chicago’s O’Hare International and changed planes in London’s Heathrow International before finishing in Berlin’s Tegal. Based on the most recent information on the web (google), O’Hare is the second largest airport in the world, just behind Atlanta, and Heathrow is right behind O’Hare.
The major differences between the two is that O’Hare is a very large airport, however the majority of its traffic is domestic. The international terminal for O’Hare is not huge, and if you don’t need to change terminals or O’Hare is your originating airport then getting through O’Hare is relatively easy. The international terminal has 21 gates for about a dozen different carriers throughout the world.
Our gate was right past security which only took about 10 minutes to get through. Very simple and easy. The challenge with that terminal is that aside from snacks and bottled beverages there are no restaurants or real food vendors past security. Translation: No Starbucks!!!
After getting halfway through security and being told that, be backed out of the line to find coffee, only to realize after getting out of line that the only place that sold coffee had drip coffee only. Then we laughed because you can’t take drinks through security so back in line we went.
The average flight time from Chicago to London is about 8 hours and we did it in 6:55. That was a great flight time, which only meant we had a longer layover at the airport. The last time I passed through Heathrow for a transfer only was two years ago and we went through Terminal 4. There was much talk of British Airways new Terminal 5 that was being built. Because we were passing through, and on British Airways, through terminal 5 we went. Let me share with you what passing through this city was like.
I do use the word city, because that is what it felt like. Terminal five is huge - kind of to Las Vegas standards when it comes to hotels. There are currently two buildings that are part of T5, and a third one us under construction. Between the two buildings currently open, there are 60 gates. 60! We are not talking about the entire airport, just T5. While we were having breakfast, I counted eleven 747s lined up on only one side of the building. All gates are capable of handling the A380, which is the largest passenger plane in the world, so yes, city is the right word. They had over 30 million people in T5 alone in its first year of service.
For some reason, even though you have been through security at the airport that you left from, they make you go through again, even if you are simply changing planes. The reason I come up with is that they fly to airports that places like the United States don’t approve of. So they need the extra security to fly their planes in/out of the US.
The next airport was Berlin, Germany. The simple way to describe this airport, especially after coming from the two we just did is; baby. Even our taxi driver called it a baby airport. I think there are 10 maybe 12 gates total, and only one level. I can’t remember the last time I was in an airport that did require you to travel on at least two sets of escalators! It was however very simple. We exited the plane and at the end of the jetway was Immigrations, they simply pass scan and stamp your passport, welcome you to Germany, and send you on to luggage. Perhaps because we were all coming from London, I don’t know, but there was no Customs. We picked up our luggage in the same area as we got our passports stamped, then walked outside and picked up a cab to the hotel. The simplicity of getting into Germany was amazing. Its like they simply trust everyone and don’t worry about anything. Going to every country I have been to, there is that nice long form you need to fill out asking you all sorts of information, and then you have the travel visa, some countries like India require you to have one in your passport, other countries simply issue you one when you enter, but they almost always give you a time on your length of stay. We filled out no forms, they gave us no limits on our stay in Germany, they only said welcome! Actually they said “Willkommen!”
On the way out, each gate has its own security and once you pass through you are put in a large room to wait for the plane to board. I don’t know if they are all like this, but ours had a duty free shop and a small cafe so we could get some coffee while we waited. However, because of this setup, you could only shop or eat at those two places if you had passed through that security for this gate. I don’t know what they do when there are no planes using the gate. Close up, or sit around?
On our way to India we once again had the extreme pleasure of passing through T5, this time arriving on a small 737, and moving into a 747 for the flight to India. The airport in Bangalore is a new one from the last time that I arrived there two years ago. It is a beautiful airport, very modern and up to the most recent standards. The only thing that really stood out about this airport, especially since we were in India was that the gate we parked at had two jetways to service the 747. First class and World Plus passengers exited the first jet way, and Business and World traveler took the second jet way. British Airways uses the words World Traveler for economy and Traveler Plus for an upgrade between economy and business. World Traveler Plus is the same as domestic first class seats. They are larger with more leg room. Business class on BA has seats that recline all the way into a level bed. First class, you get your own cabin. (I wish!)
If you read my blog two years ago about when we left Bangalore and how short the runway was, well, we shall see if they improved that at all. To read it, just go back to the entry; India - Goodbye.
I will be writing about Berlin in the next day or two...
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