04/07/10 continued
At the airport there is time to kill so I test the €200 beauty products and check out duty free. I nearly buy some coffee sambuca before remembering that sambuca is only a good idea at the time and is evil. Instead I buy some cinnamon grappa and some 5 year old balsamic vinegar.
The flight is delayed and we finally board 30 minutes behind schedule. On board the captain explains there is thunderstorms over the Alps and we are rerouteing via Switzerland and awaiting a slot. Finally we depart and our new eta is 21:20 which leaves 20 minutes before my connecting flight departs and based on the outbound flights there will be a transfer bus and the gate will be at the other side of the airport.
On descent, many passengers are asking cabin crew about transfers. I ask about Manchester and they say they have no news from the ground but will inform that they have us arriving. In arrivals I go straight to the departure gate to find I have missed the flight by 3 minutes and the captain will not reopen the doors. Damn German efficiency. If this were Italy, the plane would not be here yet. The Lufthansa staff book me into the airport hotel and rebook my flight. They ask another Torino-Manchester passenger on the same delayed and missed flight if we want a double bed which embarrasses him. He is Antonio from Latvia studying his phd in Chemistry at Manchester University on conference in Torino and we navigate the expansive airport together.
Eventually, we find the shuttle bus, check in at the hotel and go straight to the restaurant which has stayed open for all the Lufthansa passengers. The buffet meal courtesy Lufthansa is actually really good and I try to eat 4 courses with a groß bier and head to the room to lie down and digest. The shower is great and I put the air con right down to 17 to attempt to counter the heat and humidity. It’s raining outside and I wonder if the thunderstorms will move North.
There is a minibar but no beer which is probably a good thing at €3,20 for a 330ml bottle. I put the TV channels on and find a Français Arte channel with Deutsch subtitles. It has a piece on the design of pens and then a short film about Nigerian identity. I set my alarm for 05:45 and put the light out.
