I left on Sunday evening, headed to Tel Aviv, Israel. I’ll be here for a few days on business, and will have most of Friday to play before heading back late Friday night.
The flight over was uneventful. I flew direct on Delta, and was able to upgrade to Business Class. Maybe I’m just becoming jaded….but it was a pretty disappointing experience. We had two meals, and the food for both was way over cooked. No photos of food this time. The flight was bumpy almost the whole way, so the shots are horrible. I watched Hurt Locker, which won 6 Oscars. I thought it was fairly well done, but wasn’t nearly as impressed as The Academy. What always strikes me about movies like this is just how dedicated our soldiers are. While they may or not be quite as animated as they’re portrayed, I feel certain that they’re that dedicated to the mission.
I sat next to a Delta 777 pilot (that’s the plane we were on, too) that was on vacation. As we were beginning our descent, he asked me how well I slept, and that got us talking about what the “crew rest” area is like on the plane. After we landed, he was kind enough to show me the space. It was very cool! Up near the galley there’s a door that swings open to reveal a very tight set of stairs; almost a ladder, really. You climb up this into an area above the Business Class over-head luggage bins. There were two business class type seats, and two full beds situated behind the seats. There was a sink, but no toilet. Apparently the cabin crew has a similar space, but it has only beds, no seats. While it’s not exactly luxurious, it seemed rather adequite. And it’s quiet up there; no cabin announcements, no passengers talking, no toilets flushing, etc.
Here’s a shot of the seats. I’m linking this from Boeing. You can see the floor just below the phone in the center; it’s not very tall. This was shot from the stairs, so you’re seeing all there is.
777 Crew Rest
Our sales rep picked me up at the airport and drove the 30 minutes from Ben Gurion airport to my hotel on the coast, just north of Tel Aviv. After freshening up a bit, we headed to dinner at a cafe on the beach at sunset. The location and weather were perfect, but alas the food…well, I’ll be more specific in my request tomorrow. :) The whole menu was in Hebrew. My rep asked if I wanted chicken or beef. I asked for the chicken, and it turned-out to be fried chicken fingers, with french fries. Ugh. Tomorrow I’ll eat better, and have pictures.
Shalom!
Given that you got a Happy Meal ordering chicken, maybe you should be grateful that ordering beef may have gotten you “Mystery Meat On A Stick!” Hopefully your gastronomic experiences will be MUCH better going forward ;-)