I traveled from Vienna to Frankfurt as scheduled and then I was to take the LH 490 flying directly from FRA to Seattle. I could understand the increased security system that is in place since the last month, about which I had read in newspapers in India. There were officials of the U.S. Customs and Border Control officers at the Frankfurt Airport, taking down all our details, including the place of visit of all the passengers. All these details are to be sent to the U.S. before the plane takes off... or else, the plane was not to leave the port of origin. It was very nice to notice that one of them was a Sinhalese Tamil working in the U.S. Customs and Border Control. To their credit, they were all very strict with the procedures.
Our plane was allotted the route : to fly over Dusseldorf, cross into the North Sea, fly beyond the north of England, over Iceland, and then Greenland, fly over the north of Canana, cross the Cascade ranges closer to Vancouver and reach Seattle. Once we crossed Dusseldorf, I dosed off. The entertainment system was repeatedly failing on the plane. By the time we reached Iceland I woke up to enjoy the ice clad lands, practically deserted, but for ice and the melting glaciers till we reached the Cascade ranges. It was very clear sky all along to enjoy the beauty of nature. I did not see any human inhabitation for over six and a half hours of our journey. Meanwhile, the entertainment system had been restored and I enjoyed watching "Jumper" and "The Golden Compass". The food was good, though not as savoury as the Emirates. It was raining as the plane touched down the Seattle International Airport at 12.30 noon local time, after 10.00 hours of travel.
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