Copenhagen Adventure: Day 1, er -1

Here begins the adventure to Copenhagen, a trip for work but also for the company Holiday Party, and a bit of tourism if I can work it in.

Original plan was to fly to O'Hare and connect to an SAS flight to Copenhagen.  Two hours to connect, should be no problem.

The first of the "no problems" was when we turned around on the runway and headed back to the terminal because the flight attendants heard "a noise" and literally sounded scared.  So maintenance jumped on, couldn't find anything, and we waited.  An earlier flight reported the APU valve door as flapping open and shut and so they turned it off and tried again.  It seemed sketchy - but wouldn't you think that would have been fixed, or noted as a "not scary noise?"  United for the win.

You could feel the pilot doing everything faster once we were cleared to take off.  Careening down the runway access lanes, and everything sounded a bit louder and faster that you are used to.  We were an hour+ late from the gate and you could feel the tension in the cabin.  There was a gaggle of 20-something girls who were trying to connect to New Orleans for the loud and negative one's birthday.  Future note for travellers:  No matter how dire your connection is, someone else has it worse and isn't complaining.  Perspective.

Also, we started to understand the insistence on the pilot's behalf.  For every missed flight, United was going to give out hotel vouchers for people who have to wait for the next day.  When we were about to land they had us all turn on the flight attendant call buttons if we were making a close connection.  Half the lights went on.  That's a lot of hotel rooms.

When we landed we stopped in the middle of nowhere on the tarmac.  Apparently they were de-icing our parking spot.  So my window was shrinking, from the original 2 hour connection time down to an hour.  And then half an hour.  By the time I got off the place it was 9:35 and my plane was leading at 10:05 -- and the doors lock ten minutes before.  So I had 20 minutes to get out of Terminal 1, take the tram to terminal 5, then get through security and hoof it to (of course) the furthest gate in the concourse.  I was running through the airport as best I could, but there was a Dane I met on the tram who was on the same flight and in much better shape.  He started prepping for the security checkpoint while we were on the tram -- clearly someone to follow.  That didn't last, because this kid was fast!

So while it was a good idea to prep for the security checkpoint, but running through a terminal with no belt it not the easiest task, especially when you have a backpack and winter coat in tow.  Comical, I'm sure.

I did catch him at security though, along with another guy (from Norway) who was on the same flight.  We used our mass to push our way past the line, and when we got to the screening point every lane was taken up by half a dozen folks who were clearly on a tour group, weren't used to airports, and didn't know how to go through security  It was like herding confused cats.

The Great Dane as I'm calling him now made it through security first and disappeared.  By the time I got to the gate it was clear the doors had closed.  I asked an SAS attendant how late we were and she said about ten minutes.  So technically we were on time.  But there are processes involved, and must not be deviated from.  By the time eight of us had accumulated and the plane was still de-icing I held out a bit of hope they'd open the doors, as you could see the SAS people doing math in their heads - rebook all these people or risk people on the flight missing their own connections?

The Great Dane, and our missed plane being de-iced.

Once we were all rebooked we had to go back to the original domestic terminal (back on the tram) to get hotel vouchers, etc.  United was fairly efficient on this front, and hooked us up with hotels at growing distances from the airport.  The previous day there was a snowstorm and flights were starting to clear up, but it sounded like a lot of hotel rooms were taken by those delays.   The cab situation was a mess, and just getting to the hotel ended up taking me past midnight.  And I was using every trick in the book short of getting an expensive uber (which was iffy, given the crowds) - but I shared my good luck and shared a cab with the other runner from the airport.  He turned out to be from Norway (and then three hours from the airport north) and had been in Duluth in a snocross race.  He came in 13th and had motor troubles, and did not find a contract for the rest of the season, so home he goes.  He spoke with a classic Norwegian accent, and summed up the night when he said, almost to himself, "It will be good to lay down in bed to sleep."

Every stop I hit (SAS, United, Cabs, Hotel, later food) I would see bedraggled families shuffling up.  And I'm sure they were getting worse times as the night wore on.

The hotel was in the middle of nowhere, restaurant closed, and the only place that delivered pizza was Sarpino's, and seemed sketchy out in this burb.  But after an hour plus of waiting, a meatball sub and some wings showed up, expensive and small, but showed up.  The delivery guy was a cartoon of a pothead.  It would have been funny if it hadn't been 2 in the morning.  I felt no guilt over all the calories, having run, walked, and stood all day long.

My luggage was still checked, so no CPAP, no meds, no toiletries.  When I finally got to sleep I slept poorly and pointlessly.  But hey, free hotel room.