Tuesday, March 4, 2003 - Fat Tuesday
Out the door at 6:15 a.m. and headed to the
airport. We thought since we weren't limited to
taking an "official airport taxi" that the ride
wouldn't cost so much this time. We were
disappointed. 150 pesos. Jab.
We checked in with Delta's code-share partner
Aeromexico and learned they couldn't check us all the
way to Knoxville. It's necessary to check in with
Delta again and go through immigration in Mexico
City. That shouldn't be a problem with our four and a
half hour layover.
As we waited at our gate, I heard an announcement
about our flight, but even when it was repeated in
English I couldn't understand what was said. The
ticket agent sought out Tom and me personally and
explained that our plane was going to be quite
delayed, so they were putting us on a Mexicana
Airlines flight leaving just 20 minutes later. Then
she walked us to the gate to make sure we got on all
right! Thanks!
Mexico City airport is a big confusing mess. We
didn't know whether we needed to go to immigration
first and then check in or check in and then go to
immigration, and we didn't know where to go to do
either of these things anyway. Then the only
immigration counter we could find was the one for
persons entering the country, not leaving. We just
kept asking people and getting bad information about
where we should go next. We realized eventually that
the easiest thing to do would be to go outside and
re-enter the airport, then we had a heck of a time
just finding the damn exit! It ended up taking over
an hour just to find the Delta counter so we could
get our boarding passes. Finally we made it though,
and immigration was a breeze - Delta takes care of
it. Then we got to go to the "international" side of
the airport, where tacos at Ruby Tuesday are $15 U.S.
and a USA Today is $3.50. We're not in Mexico
anymore.
Back in Atlanta, customs and immigration is a
breeze. The airport is labeled in four languages,
well organized, and easy to get around in.
The final leg of our flight, Atlanta to Knoxville,
was on THE LOUDEST PLANE EVER. It was an ATR-72
twin-engine turboprop, and I don't know if they're
all that loud, but this was unreal.
It was a great trip, but Tom and I are both glad
to be home.
THE END
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