A Night Flight to Copenhagen

It's been a long day. Although the clock might not agree, some days are definitely much longer than others. Today was a whopper.

After my three days in Salzburg, it was time to begin the long and exhausting journey back home. The day began with packing (ie cramming) my bag for the second last time, checking out of yet another hotel, and dragging my luggage across the road to the Salzburg HBF (central rail station).

Since I was little early, I was relieved to discover that there was a special lounge for OBB first class ticket holders. Not only did they have nice comfy armchairs, they even had free food and drinks. It certainly justified paying the small extra premium for first class tickets. I was soon joined by Ken and Pauline who were travelling on the same train as me.

At 10 am we made our way to the waiting train and found our allocated seats. Not only were the seats very comfortable, we were relieved to find the carriage only about 30% full.

At the allocated time, the train silently pulled out of the station and we were on our way. At one stage I decided to explore the next few carriages, and realised just how fortunate (wise) we were to buy first class tickets. The second class carriages were a complete contrast. Not only was every seat occupied, there were numerous people lying on the floor between carriages. Luggage was jammed in everywhere. It looked positively horrible. I don't think I am a snob, but I was certainly glad to retreat to the sanctuary of first class.

Three hours later we were rolling into Vienna Central Station. I bounced my luggage down the train steps and then risked doing myself a permanent back injury by carrying them down the long staircase to the concourse. Sometimes travel really is hard work.

I found my way to the station exit and walked to the nearest taxi. About an hour later (and 50 Euros poorer), I was at the Vienna Airport. Because I had purchased my tickets with Scandinavian Airlines, it meant that I had to travel via Copenhagen, before finally heading in the direction of Australia.

The problem was that the only flight to Copenhagen did not leave until 9 pm. That meant an interminable 7 hour wait at Vienna Airport. To my relief I was able to check in my cargo luggage immediately (probably because I pretended to be a distressed old man), and was then able to find a quiet spot to read my book while I waited.

The flight to Copenhagen took off on time, and thankfully my luggage also caught the same flight. About 11 pm, I dragged my luggage from the carousal in Copenhagen and went looking for the airport hotel I had booked for the night. I think I must have walked about halfway to Sweden, before I finally reached the hotel. I had mistakenly thought that Copenhagen Airport would be comparatively small, but I think I discovered that the airport is actually larger than the country !

I finally staggered into my room near midnight, knowing that in just a few hours I would be boarding the next plane for the mammoth flight to Singapore.En savoir plus