No! Oh no!!! Noooo!!

JFK airport and London First we were two hours late taking off yesterday. We’d make the time up on the way, the captain promised. And then, not 15 minutes into the flight, the call went out for medical professionals to identify themselves.

Two people rushed up to first class.

Then, it happened. The captain announced we were returning to JFK to deal with a medical emergency. 

Next, we were told to deplane with all our things. Very concerning.

Two hours later, we learned our flight was cancelled, eventually recreated as a flight leaving 20 hours later, arriving Saturday, tomorrow.

But no worries, American would provide hotel accommodations. The only problem was that those hotel rooms were in New Jersey.

We caught a break and got booked on a Friday morning flight, which arrived in London a few hours ago, still Friday (barely). Well, we lost a whole day in London, but should be able to savage most of our plans.

I’ll spare you a description of life in JFK overnight. But there was so much confusion and standing in lines to get everything straightened out, that there was no point going home and coming back.

Miracle of miracles, American Airlines went onto our original plane and found our luggage, then directed it to our new flight. I call that efficient.

Off to bed! We are rather tired…

And we’re off again!

New York, NY It’s time to get up and go. We’re packing our bags for Great Britain once more, and taking off later this week. Naturally we’ll spend some time in London to visit friends, and then we’re off to see other points, some for the first time.

Here’s a hint: One destination is a place I’ve wanted to see since I was 64. Any guesses?

Come along with us on this one-month holiday, and with side trips to Roman and Viking England, thrown in for free.

A last look at the empire

Vienna, Austria We made one last outing today, to the hidden palace built for Empress Elizabeth, known by all as “Sissi.” No matter how they cast her life story, Sissi seems to be mostly noted for her vanity, and her ability to grow her hair.

This palace, tucked into the hunting park of the Emperor, known as the Villa Hermes, was used by the royal couple from its completion in 1887 to her assassination in 1898.

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Now who needs eggs?

Linz, Austria This poster seemed out of place in the modern art museum of Linz, which mostly features Austrian artists. If the headline were in German, I might see it as a Nazi propaganda poster. What’s the story? The artist, Herbert Bayer, was indeed Austrian. Having studied at the Bauhaus in Weimar, he was quite noted in Germany, where he moved to be the art director of Vogue in Berlin in 1928. But when works of his were identified by the Nazis as “degenerate art,” he fled Germany and was able to relocate to the U.S. in 1938.

Continue reading “Now who needs eggs?”