Wednesday
Mar212012
Chasing the Sun out West: Another flying experience
Wednesday, March 21, 2012 at 1:05AM
The thing about the world is, it's this big round globe. Just in case you were still living in the 1400s and hadn't realised this. It easy to forget about the curvature of our planet though on a day-to-day basis. And yet when we travel, particularly over long distances, the spherical design and the spin of big ball becomes somewhat more apparent.
I mention this, because it was something I noticed when I flew out to California this winter to the Rose Bowl. Flying against the spin of the Earth, I literally found myself to be chasing the Sun into the West, racing it along the horizon, leaving behind areas where the sun had set, continually journeying in some kind of dusk like state keeping pace with the growing shadow of darkness across the Earth.
On a 15 hour journey from Manchester to LA, it appeared the sun was not destined to set on me.
Well it seemed like that, until I fell asleep on the plane and awoke to the realisation that planes are actually big hunks of metal in the sky that don't move all that fast compared with the spin of the world.
Nevermind, I still had first class to enjoy. For as regular readers will know, my frequent flying in the US has earned me FREE (don't worry, fame hasn't gone to my head yet, I don't demand luxury when I travel just yet) first class upgrades, and the 4 hour flight from Philadelphia to LA ensured I really got to take advantage of it.
I didn't really get to take advantage though: The extra room in the seats ensured I could getreally somewhat comfortable and napped for a good portion of the flight.
I did however, still get to sample the edible differences of first class. Real plates. A REAL knife and fork! My shock and wonder at this was rather sad and slightly unbelievable, but I can assure you it was there. Nothing however, compared to the thrill I got from drinking from a real glass- not those standard airline plastic tubs that are usually considered beverage containers.
I didn't get to take advantage of the food either: Indicative of first class, the starter was prawn salad! Prawns! Real whole prawns! Wow, I couldn't believe it! Only, I don't really like prawns. Still, there were prawns! Due to that spin of the earth though, the time differences were all off for me, so I couldn't stomach seconds of the meal. And while dessert was a delicious cheesecake, a bumpy takeoff and insecure holdings meant it was somewhat squashed, having slid sideways. Apparently first class catering isn't immune to turbulence. Pssh, I expected better given the associated cost differences. Squashed cheesecake wouldn't have happened in standard class.
I didn't get to take advantage of the drink either: I've always just had water or soda on planes before, but in first class, the alcohol is free, so I figured..why the heck not... lets have some fun. A vodka and coke request yielded two little bottles of vodka, and I thought I was definitely going to get my money's worth here. But, unaware that the glass size, despite being real glass, was comparable to those plastic ones, I inadvertently poured the entire small bottle of vodka into my glass, leaving very little room for coke. I spent the entire flight taking a tiny sip before frantically adding more coke to the glass, and ended up taking the other little bottle home with me!
I was somewhat glad the sun had set when we arrived over LA, because the sight that greets you just shocks me every time. The vast sprawl of the greater Los Angeles area is just incredible. The city of LA itself is really rather tiny, a speck amongst a throng of streets, lights and cars. The lattice of crossing streets is typical of any American city, but the scale is just enormous. And on top of the grid system, there are the epic sweeping freeways, 14 lane motorways snaking their way North to South, East to West, penetrating through the interlocking streets as a river of car headlights create an endless glowing flow of luminous energy.
This is what LA is all about.
And to top it all off, as we descended into LAX, we hit a thick fog which clung to streets and hid almost everything from view, creating an atmospheric welcome to Hollywood. It was caused by something to do with the water temperature being the same as the dew temperature..or so I was told. I don't really know, I left the technicalities of science behind me when I left high school and came to adopt the never mind why or how, it just works principal.
I may have lost the race against the setting sun, but I'd had an intriguing journey out West.
I mention this, because it was something I noticed when I flew out to California this winter to the Rose Bowl. Flying against the spin of the Earth, I literally found myself to be chasing the Sun into the West, racing it along the horizon, leaving behind areas where the sun had set, continually journeying in some kind of dusk like state keeping pace with the growing shadow of darkness across the Earth.
On a 15 hour journey from Manchester to LA, it appeared the sun was not destined to set on me.
Well it seemed like that, until I fell asleep on the plane and awoke to the realisation that planes are actually big hunks of metal in the sky that don't move all that fast compared with the spin of the world.
Nevermind, I still had first class to enjoy. For as regular readers will know, my frequent flying in the US has earned me FREE (don't worry, fame hasn't gone to my head yet, I don't demand luxury when I travel just yet) first class upgrades, and the 4 hour flight from Philadelphia to LA ensured I really got to take advantage of it.
I didn't really get to take advantage though: The extra room in the seats ensured I could get
I did however, still get to sample the edible differences of first class. Real plates. A REAL knife and fork! My shock and wonder at this was rather sad and slightly unbelievable, but I can assure you it was there. Nothing however, compared to the thrill I got from drinking from a real glass- not those standard airline plastic tubs that are usually considered beverage containers.
I didn't get to take advantage of the food either: Indicative of first class, the starter was prawn salad! Prawns! Real whole prawns! Wow, I couldn't believe it! Only, I don't really like prawns. Still, there were prawns! Due to that spin of the earth though, the time differences were all off for me, so I couldn't stomach seconds of the meal. And while dessert was a delicious cheesecake, a bumpy takeoff and insecure holdings meant it was somewhat squashed, having slid sideways. Apparently first class catering isn't immune to turbulence. Pssh, I expected better given the associated cost differences. Squashed cheesecake wouldn't have happened in standard class.
I didn't get to take advantage of the drink either: I've always just had water or soda on planes before, but in first class, the alcohol is free, so I figured..why the heck not... lets have some fun. A vodka and coke request yielded two little bottles of vodka, and I thought I was definitely going to get my money's worth here. But, unaware that the glass size, despite being real glass, was comparable to those plastic ones, I inadvertently poured the entire small bottle of vodka into my glass, leaving very little room for coke. I spent the entire flight taking a tiny sip before frantically adding more coke to the glass, and ended up taking the other little bottle home with me!
I was somewhat glad the sun had set when we arrived over LA, because the sight that greets you just shocks me every time. The vast sprawl of the greater Los Angeles area is just incredible. The city of LA itself is really rather tiny, a speck amongst a throng of streets, lights and cars. The lattice of crossing streets is typical of any American city, but the scale is just enormous. And on top of the grid system, there are the epic sweeping freeways, 14 lane motorways snaking their way North to South, East to West, penetrating through the interlocking streets as a river of car headlights create an endless glowing flow of luminous energy.
This is what LA is all about.
And to top it all off, as we descended into LAX, we hit a thick fog which clung to streets and hid almost everything from view, creating an atmospheric welcome to Hollywood. It was caused by something to do with the water temperature being the same as the dew temperature..or so I was told. I don't really know, I left the technicalities of science behind me when I left high school and came to adopt the never mind why or how, it just works principal.
I may have lost the race against the setting sun, but I'd had an intriguing journey out West.
Reader Comments