Airports and Airports

Sunday, August 22^nd, 5:01 AM Mountain Time

I'm sitting at my gate in Frankfurt, with a Mars Bar, a large coffee, and a little desk where I can plug in my laptop. All told, not a terrible place to pass the multiple hours remaining until my flight to Prague, after which another three to four hours of various travels will have to ensue before I'll arrive at my putatively safe warm bed in Budova K4. The flight over was about as I expected – long and irritating. A window seat necessitated some cramping and curling about, and my neighbor hogged the armrest, but I watched several good (or at least entertaining) movies and read the latest Temeraire book. It was good, though not nearly as epic as the last one. The in-flight meals were definitely up to spec, and the warm towels that came through every once in a while to wash one's face and hands were pure bliss. I certainly don't feel my freshest. On the other hand, though, I don't really feel that wiped out – even on the flight, I didn't feel terribly tired at any point. I think it'll be a few hours yet before I really start to struggle, but if I can force my way though that (and I hope I can, since I have a number of transfers to make in that time) then I ought be good to remain awake until I crash in Budejovice. The passport control gave me a scare – they saw my visa for the Czech Republic, and started asking questions about what it was for and why I was a week early (since the Czech authorities, for reasons unknown, decided that my visa should begin on September 1^st instead of August 23^rd, as I had applied), but the supervisor told him to just stamp it and let the Czechs worry about it. I guess I looked relatively inoffensive. Or at least American. Oh, privilege. At any rate, things is happening at quite a rate in some sense, though the long stretches of sitting and doing nothing make it feel otherwise. And I could really use a shower and a change of clothes. Ah well. Not going to happen anytime soon.