A Milestone: The Mediterranean

Limassol, Cyprus - The Traveling Bone reached a milestone today: First trip to the Mediterranean (some would say the Middle East). For those few who read this blog, you know that I like to give little stories about the people I meet, so here's one about the trip over on Cyprus Air. I'm not usually surprised by plane trips since I log 50,000 to 100,000 miles a year, but this one caught my attention. In the states, we all sit like zombies in our seats listening to iPods, working on laptops, and sleeping. On the short haul flights, you're lucky to get pretzels and water. Boy, was Cyprus Air different. First, the in-service included a full bar (soft drinks, beer, wine, and hard liquor). Free. That was topped off with an actual hot meal. This is only a four-and-a-half hour flight mind you -- about like Boise to Cincinnati. Second, almost everyone was engaged in a spirited conversation. People were standing in the aisles, turned around in their seats, and carrying on like crazy. I don't think the fasten seat belt sign was on once. If it was, no one paid any attention. This is the first plane ride I can remember when the voices of the passengers exceeded the noise of the jet engines. Finally, when the wheels touched down the plane erupted in applause. I turned to my neighbor, a Greek, and asked, "Why are they clapping?" He responded matter of factly, "It was a good landing." Yeah, I guess it was. And it was a good flight, too.