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#2094 – 2018 Spring Break (Part II: New Orleans)

ENGLISH

Posts in the 2018 Spring Break series:
1. Introduction
2. Part I: Getting to New Orleans
3. Part II: New Orleans
4. Part III: NOLA the Foodie Destination
5. Part IV: New Orleans to Chicago
6. Part V: Chicago the City
7. Part VI: The MCA, Skydeck, and the Food
8. Part VII: Back to Europe in Business Class

The French Quarter

The beautiful French Quarter in New Orleans

Because I only had two full days in New Orleans, I decided to use my short time to focus on perhaps the most touristic and oldest part of the city: the French Quarter. It was a beautiful part of the city which most of the buildings had unique French and Spanish Creole architecture with colorful ironwork as balconies.

French Quarter selfie

The most famous street in the French Quarter was the Bourbon Street, a narrow but long street in the heart of the Quarter. There were a lot of shops, restaurants, cafes, bars, and adult establishments along the street, haha 😆 . The road traffic on the street was blocked in late afternoon and the evening making the street very pedestrian friendly at this time.

Bourbon Street

Jazz and Music

The jazz music has been one identity of New Orleans, as this genre was actually born here. One morning, I was looking for a place for brunch and there were quite plenty of restaurants/cafes in the area. I finally decided to stop by at a cafe because I heard some live jazz music being played there:

It was really cool! And no wonder, this cafe was very popular throughout the day (different groups performed at different time).

But jazz performance could not only be found in a cafe/bar/establishment or the likes. Basically, you could also find them literally on the street! When I was randomly walking at the Toulouse/Royal Street crossing, there was a jazz performance there which was also really good! New Orleans was indeed amazing!!

Jazz street musicians in New Orleans

But obviously more than jazz music was played throughout the city in the many establishments there. I noticed that one non-jazz song was in particular popular there: The House of the Rising Sun. This was certainly not surprising at all, as this song was about life in New Orleans. In fact, the first line was “There is a house in New Orleans…“, haha 😆 .

The Mississippi

New Orleans was located by the large Mississippi River; and there was a nice riverpark there. However, it was also very windy on this part of the city! Haha 😆 . You could also take the historic steam boat, the Natchez, for a tour on the river. The boat looked really cool though with the gigantic red wheelpaddle at the back.

The famous Natchez’s steam boat in New Orleans and the Mississippi River.

In the part of the French Quarter facing the river, there was the beautiful St. Louis Cathedral, which apparently was the oldest cathedral in the United States. (Upon googling this info, apparently the cathedral was haunted). It was located next to the very nice and lively Jackson Square.

The Jackson Square and the St. Louis cathedral

More of New Orleans

While looking for recommendations in New Orleans, I was led to the Frenchmen Street. But it appeared that I went there at the wrong time (in the morning, lol) because there was nothing to see, haha. I guess the establishments there just opened in late afternoon or the evening.

The French Market

I also stopped by at the French Market, which was a quite interesting flea market. I bought a print of a painting by a local artist there, btw, which I found really cool and would be my souvenir from New Orleans. It would make a great wall decoration for my place! 😀

The City Business District of New Orleans

New Orleans was more than just the French Quarter. In fact, I stayed just outside this Quarter, in the City Business District (CBD) area which was much more modern with all the skyscrapers and stuffs, haha. The CBD and French Quarter was separated by the large Canal Street, where the famous New Orleans’ streetcars ran.

A streetcar in New Orleans

Speaking of the transport, due to the short duration of my stay, I didn’t feel the need to use public transport to get around; though the streetcars looked nice. To get to/from the airport, I found no convenient public transport option (There was, but the schedule wasn’t very passengers-friendly 😀 ) so I decided to just take a taxi, haha 😛 .

TO BE CONTINUED…

BAHASA INDONESIA

Posting-posting dalam seri 2018 Spring Break:
1. Introduction
2. Part I: Getting to New Orleans
3. Part II: New Orleans
4. Part III: NOLA the Foodie Destination
5. Part IV: New Orleans to Chicago
6. Part V: Chicago the City
7. Part VI: The MCA, Skydeck, and the Food
8. Part VII: Back to Europe in Business Class

French Quarter

French Quarter yang kece banget di New Orleans

Karena aku hanya memiliki dua hari penuh di New Orleans, aku memutuskan untuk menggunakan waktu singkatku ini untuk fokus di area yang paling turistik dan tua di kotanya: French Quarter. Area ini adalah area yang indah di kota ini dengan bangunan-bangunan berarsitektur Creole Prancis-Spanyol dengan balkon-balkon berulirkan besi yang dirancang kece banget.

French Quarter selfie

Jalan yang paling terkenal di French Quarter adalah Jalan Bourbon, sebuah jalan sempit tetapi panjang yang membelah Quarter-nya. Ada banyak pertokoan, restoran, kafe, bar, dan tempat-tempat hiburan dewasa di sepanjang jalan ini, haha 😆 . Lalu lintas jalannya juga ditutup di sore dan malam hari sehingga jalanannya ramah untuk pejalan-kaki di waktu-waktu ini.

Jalan Bourbon

Jazz dan Musik

Musik jazz adalah satu identitas New Orleans, karena genre ini dilahirkan di kota ini. Suatu pagi aku mencari tempat makan dan ada banyak pilihan restoran/kafe yang bisa aku pilih. Akhirnya aku memutuskan untuk mampir di sebuah kafe karena aku mendengar musik jazz live yang dimainkan di sana:

Keren banget dah! Nggak heran kafe ini juga ramai terus sepanjang hari (ada beberapa grup musik berbeda-beda yang tampil).

Nah, performa musik jazz tidak hanya bisa ditemukan di kafe/bar/sejenisnya saja kok. Bahkan kita bisa menemukannya dimana-mana termasuk di jalan! Ketika aku sedang asal berjalan kaki melewati perempatan Jalan Toulouse dan Jalan Royal, ada satu grup yang sedang memainkan musik jazz di sana dan penampilannya juga oke banget! Ah, New Orleans memang asyik banget deh ini!!

Pemusik jalanan jazz di New Orleans

Tetapi tentu saja tidak hanya musik jazz yang dimainkan di kota ini. Aku perhatikan ada satu lagu yang bukan lagu jazz, tetapi rock, yang sering dimainkan di banyak tempat di sana: The House of the Rising Sun. Ya nggak mengherankan sih ya, karena lagu ini kan bercerita mengenai kehidupan di New Orleans. Malahan, lirik pertama lagunya kan “There is a house in New Orleans…“, haha 😆 .

Area Mississippi

New Orleans dilalui oleh Sungai Mississippi yang mana terdapat taman yang oke banget di tepian sungai ini. Namun, bagian kota ini juga berangin kencang banget! Haha 😆 . Tur kapal uap yang terkenal, kapal Natchez, terdapat di sungai ini. Kapalnya nampak retro dan kece gitu dengan roda pengayuh raksasa berwarna merah di bagian belakangnya.

Kapal uap Natchez yang terkenal itu di New Orleans dan Sungai Mississippi.

Di bagian French Quarter yang menghadap ke arah sungai, terdapat Katedral St. Louis yang juga indah dan ternyata adalah katedral paling tua di Amerika Serikat (Ketika meng-google informasi tentang katedral ini, ternyata katanya katedralnya berhantu dong). Katedralnya berlokasi di sebelah Jackson Square yang nyaman dengan atmosfer yang sungguh hidup.

Jackson Square dan katedral St. Louis

Tempat-tempat lain di New Orleans

Ketika mencari rekomendasi untuk dikunjungi di New Orleans, aku diarahkan ke Jalan Frenchmen. Tetapi sepertinya aku pergi kesana di waktu yang salah (di pagi hari, haha) sehingga nggak ada yang bisa dilihat, haha. Seharusnya aku kesananya di sore atau malam hari dimana tempatnya sudah pada dibuka.

French Market

Aku juga mampir di French Market, yang mana merupakan sebuah pasar loak yang menarik. Aku membeli sebuah print dari lukisan yang dibuat seorang pelukis lokal di sana, btw, yang mana aku suka dan menjadi suvenir dari perjalananku ke New Orleans kali ini. Cocok banget untuk kujadikan hiasan dinding di apartemenku! 😀

City Business District-nya New Orleans

New Orleans tentu saja lebih dari hanya sekedar French Quarternya. Malahan, aku menginap di luar Quarter ini, di area City Business District (CBD) yang mana lebih modern dengan menara-menara tingginya, haha. CBD dan French Quarter dipisahkan oleh Jalan Canal, yang dilalui oleh streetcars-nya New Orleans yang terkenal itu.

Sebuah streetcar di New Orleans

Ngomongin transportasi, karena waktu singkatku di kota ini, aku tidak membutuhkan transportasi umum untuk berkeliling-kota; walaupun sebenarnya streetcar-nya nampak menarik sih ya. Untuk pergi dari/ke bandara, aku tidak menemukan alternatif transportasi umum (Ada sih, tapi jadwalnya tidak ramah penumpang 😀 ) dan jadilah aku menggunakan taksi, haha 😛 .

BERSAMBUNG…

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#2091 – 2018 Spring Break (Part I: Delta DL 71 and DL 2426 AMS-ATL-MSY in Economy)

ENGLISH

Posts in the 2018 Spring Break series:
1. Introduction
2. Part I: Getting to New Orleans
3. Part II: New Orleans
4. Part III: NOLA the Foodie Destination
5. Part IV: New Orleans to Chicago
6. Part V: Chicago the City
7. Part VI: The MCA, Skydeck, and the Food
8. Part VII: Back to Europe in Business Class

Because my Delta flight DL 71 was scheduled to depart at 08:35 in the morning of a Spring DST day on a Sunday, I decided to stay at a hotel in Schiphol the night before departure. I spent my Saturday in Amsterdam, finishing my packing and going to the gym; and I went to the hotel after having dinner. The hotel loved me so much btw, as I was provided with a room at their top floor with airport view!

Hotel view, an airport view

Anyway, I got up at about 04:30 and walked to the airport about an hour later. I went to KLM’s Sky Priority check-in desks and checked in for my flight. There was a glitch in the system which caused my check in to not go very smooth, but eventually it succeeded. I checked my luggage in and got my boarding passes to Atlanta and New Orleans. Here is the route map today:

The route map today. From gcmap.com

Delta DL 71 (AMS–ATL)

Flight: Delta DL71
Equipment: Airbus A330-300 reg N816NW
ATD: 09:34 CET (Runway 36L of AMS)
ATA: 12:27 EDT (Runway 08L of ATL)

The little annoying thing about this flight was that even though it was a Delta flight, as a Flying Blue Platinum card holder I wasn’t allowed to select a seat at their Delta Comfort+ cabin at the time of booking because I purchased the ticket via KLM (Officially I got KLM’s flight number). Had I purchased the ticket directly via Delta, I would have been entitled to select a seat in this cabin for free. I could, however, request for an upgrade to this cabin at the time of check-in but the flight today was very full so the request couldn’t be granted. This, however, wasn’t the case in December 2015 when I flew Delta from Amsterdam to New York with a ticket on Delta purchased via KLM. As a Flying Blue Gold card holder at the time, I could select a Delta Comfort+ seat since three days prior to departure for free.

Delta’s Airbus A330-300 reg N816NW was almost ready for departure.

Anyway, I cleared security and immigration and then went to KLM’s Crown Lounge for some breakfast. I also got my documents check completed in front of the lounge (This was an extra check mandatory for all Delta passengers flying to the US). I then went to the gate not long before boarding, where Delta’s Airbus A330-300 reg N816NW was almost ready for departure.

On board the economy cabin of Delta’s Airbus A330-300 reg N816NW

While I couldn’t secure a seat in the Delta Comfort+ cabin, I still got a window seat in the first row of the regular economy cabin. And the seat pleasantly surprised me as the legroom was also quite impressive! Lol 😆 . It was also equipped with a power port (not all regular economy seats were equipped with this; only row 14 to 19 in their Airbus A330-300s).

Seat 14A on board Delta’s Airbus A330-300 reg N816NW

After boarding completed, the flight departed and was scheduled to take off via the Polderbaan. Upon (the supposedly) take-off, however, I noticed the plane did not go full speed as it normally would. Then indeed we exited the runway. The pilot told us that the brake indicator showed the brake temperature was too high for take-off so we needed to let it cool down for about 15-20 minutes before we could proceed to take off safely. So we did that and finally, at 09:37 we took off from runway 36L and headed towards Atlanta.

Taking off from Schiphol

Just after take-off, the flight attendants (FAs) distributed bottled water and amenity kits (consisting of an eye pad and ear plugs). Then they went on another round distributing warm tissue. This was followed by the breakfast service. There were three options: chicken piccata with risotto, cheesy scrambled egg with potato, or chicken caesar salad. I chose the chicken piccata with risotto one, which was tasty. As for the drink, I opted for prosecco which apparently was available complimentarily in economy! I was impressed! Following the breakfast service, the FAs went another round offering more drinks. I opted for their Starbucks coffee.

The breakfast service on board Delta’s flight DL 71

The AVOD IFE content, however, was mediocre. The TV shows library was great (as it contained half a season of The Big Bang Theory! 😀 ) but none of the movies was very interesting to me; and neither did the music library. The map feature was also not the newest 3D generation, but the slightly older 2D version which was still quite cool nonetheless.

Half a season of The Big Bang Theory!

Anyway, mid-flight somewhere above Canada, snack boxes were distributed along with another round of drinks. Speaking of the drinks, the FAs went around frequently throughout the flight offerring bottled water to the passengers, a nice gesture if you asked me.

Mid-flight snack box service

About 1.5 hours before landing, a light meal was served. There were two choices: warm croissant or warm vegetarian pizza. I opted for the pizza, and it was accompanied with a Magnum ice cream.

Warm light meal and ice cream service prior to landing

At about 12 PM local time, we started our descent towards Atlanta. Delta thanked us for our choice to fly with them today. And at 12:27 PM we landed at runway 08L of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta. Here is the landing video:

We taxied towards the Maynard H. Jackson Jr. International Terminal where N816NW parked at Gate F1.

Transitting at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport

After clearing immigration at Atlanta Airport, I collected my luggage and rechecked it in to my flight to New Orleans. I then took the Plane Train to get to Concourse B where my domestic flight to New Orleans would depart from. Thus far, my transitting experience at Atlanta was such a breeze, btw, and I was quite impressed!

Welcome to Atlanta

At Concourse B, I went to the Delta Sky Club lounge which I could access with my Flying Blue Platinum status since I just arrived from an international Delta flight and was connecting to a domestic Delta flight. The lounge was nice and spacious, and I could snatch a seat with this amazing view:

Delta Sky Club lounge view at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport

The food selection was also good, though mostly was carb-based options. And the mac and cheese was really delicious!

I deliberately arranged a 4.5 hours transit in Atlanta so I just relaxed at the lounge until about 4 PM, haha.

Delta DL 2426 (ATL–MSY)

Flight: Delta DL2426
Equipment: McDonnell Douglas MD88 reg N942DL
ATD: 17:17 EDT (Runway 08R of ATL)
ATA: 17:25 CDT (Runway 02 of MSY)

I was excited for this next flight because it would be operated with a McDonnell Douglas MD88! And today, I got Delta’s N942DL, which was about the same age as myself as its first flight was in June 1989, haha 😆 .

I would fly this Delta’s McDonnell Douglas MD88 reg N942DL today. Me and the plane were about the same age, lol.

Delta had their MD88s in the 3-2 seat configuration. I certainly chose a window seat in the 2 seats section, lol. As before, I got a seat in the first row of regular economy. Unsurprisingly, the legroom was much tighter than my previous intercontinental flight, haha…

Anyway, the flight departed on time and we took off from runway 08R and headed southwest towards New Orleans. A snack and drink service was provided on this short flight. Flying an MD88 was awesome, btw. The window shade was of the “old school” design, and it was very noisy at the back of the plane where the lavatory was located due to the proximity with the engines! Lol 😆 .

On board Delta’s McDonnell Douglas MD88 reg N942DL

At 17:25 local time, the plane landed at runway 02 of New Orleans Louis Armstrong International Airport. Here is the landing video:

N942DL parked at gate D4. I was really impressed that my luggage had been waiting for me when I reached the baggage area that was not far away from the gate! Lol 😆 . Anyway, then I took a taxi to downtown New Orleans.

And here, my one week Spring break started!

TO BE CONTINUED…

BAHASA INDONESIA

Posting-posting dalam seri 2018 Spring Break:
1. Introduction
2. Part I: Getting to New Orleans
3. Part II: New Orleans
4. Part III: NOLA the Foodie Destination
5. Part IV: New Orleans to Chicago
6. Part V: Chicago the City
7. Part VI: The MCA, Skydeck, and the Food
8. Part VII: Back to Europe in Business Class

Karena penerbangan Delta DL 71ku dijadwalkan berangkat jam 8:35 pagi di hari DST musim semi di hari Minggu, aku memutuskan untuk menginap di sebuah hotel di Schiphol semalam sebelum keberangkatan. Hari Sabtu aku habiskan di Amsterdam, dimana aku menyelesaikan packing dan pergi ke gym; dan aku berangkat ke hotelnya setelah makan malam. Hotelnya suka denganku loh, dimana aku diberikan kamar di lantai paling atas dengan pemandangan bandara!

Pemandangan dari kamar hotel, bandara!

Anyway, aku bangun sekitar jam 4:30 dan berangkat ke bandaranya sekitar sejam kemudian. Aku kemudian menuju ke konter check-in Sky Priority-nya KLM. Ada glitch di sistemnya dimana proses check-in-nya nggak semulus biasanya, tetapi pada akhirnya glitch-nya teratasi. Aku memasukkan bagasi dan mendapatkan boarding passes-ku ke Atlanta dan New Orleans. Berikut ini peta ruteku hari ini:

Peta rute hari ini. Dari gcmap.com

Delta DL 71 (AMS–ATL)

Penerbangan: Delta DL71
Pesawat: Airbus A330-300 reg N816NW
ATD: 09:34 CET (Runway 36L of AMS)
ATA: 12:27 EDT (Runway 08L of ATL)

Yang sedikit menyebalkan dari penerbangan ini adalah biarpun aku terbang dengan Delta, sebagai pemegang status Flying Blue Platinum aku tidak diperbolehkan memesan kursi di kabin Delta Comfort+ setelah tiketnya kubeli karena aku membelinya melalui KLM (sehingga aku mendapatkan nomor penerbangannya KLM). Andaikata tiketnya aku beli langsung dari Delta, aku akan diperbolehkan memilih kursi di kabin ini tanpa biaya. Namun, aku masih diperbolehkan meminta upgrade ke kabin ini sewaktu check-in. Tapi penerbangan hari ini penuh banget sih sehingga ini juga percuma. Situasinya tidak begini loh di Desember 2015 ketika aku terbang dari Amsterdam ke New York dengan tiket Delta yang kubeli melalui KLM. Waktu itu, sebagai pemegang status Flying Blue Gold, aku bisa memilih kursi Delta Comfort+ semenjak tiga hari sebelum keberangkatan dengan cuma-cuma.

Airbus A330-300nya Delta rego N816NW sudah hampir siap diberangkatkan.

Anyway, aku melalui pemeriksaan sekuriti dan imigrasi dan kemudian mampir di Crown Lounge-nya KLM untuk sarapan. Pengecekan dokumen juga aku lakukan di depan lounge-nya (Ini adalah pemeriksaan ekstra wajib untuk semua penumpang Delta tujuan Amerika Serikat). Aku kemudian menuju ke gate tak lama sebelum waktu boarding, dimana sebuah Airbus A330-300nya Delta rego N816NW sudah hampir siap untuk diberangkatkan.

Di dalam kabin ekonomi Airbus A330-300nya Delta dengan rego N816NW

Walaupun aku tidak mendapatkan kursi Delta Comfort+, aku masih mendapatkan kursi jendela di baris pertama kabin ekonomi reguler. Dan kursinya mengejutkanku lho karena legroom-nya lumayan mantap ternyata! Haha 😆 . Kursinya juga dilengkapi dengan colokan listrik (nggak semua kursi di ekonomi reguler dilengkapi dengan ini; hanya di baris 14 hingga 19 saja di Airbus A330-300).

Kursi 14A di dalam Airbus A330-300nya Delta rego N816NW

Setelah boarding selesai, penerbangannya diberangkatkan dan dijadwalkan lepas landas dari Polderbaan. Ketika (seharusnya) lepas-landas, aku merasa pesawatnya tidak dipacu cepat seperti biasanya. Benar saja, tak lama kemudian kami keluar dari landasan pacu. Pilotnya memberi-tahu bahwa indikator rem menunjukkan suhu rem yang terlalu tinggi untuk lepas landas sehingga kami harus menunggu 15-20an menit untuk mendinginkannya dulu sebelum bisa lepas landas dengan aman. Dan jadilah ini kami lakukan dan jam 09:37 pagi akhirnya kami lepas landas dari landasan pacu 36L dan berbelok menuju Atlanta.

Lepas landas dari Schiphol

Setelah lepas landas, awak kabin membagikan botol air putih dan amenity kits (terdiri dari eye pad dan ear plugs). Lalu mereka membagikan tisu hangat. Kemudian sarapan disajikan. Ada tiga pilihan: ayam picatta dengan risotto, telur dadar berkeju dengan kentang, atau chicken caesar salad. Aku memilih ayam picatta dan risottonya yang mana enak! Untuk minumannya, aku memilih prosecco karena ternyata ini tersedia cuma-cuma loh bahkan di ekonomi! Aku kagum deh! Setelah layanan sarapan, layanan minuman kembali diberikan, dan aku memilih kopinya Starbucks.

Layanan sarapan di penerbangan Delta DL 71

Isi AVOD IFE-nya, tapinya, biasa saja. Gudang acara TVnya lumayan sih (bahkan ada setengah musim barunya The Big Bang Theory! 😀 ) tetapi tidak ada film yang menarik untukku; dan gudang musiknya juga biasa saja. Fitur petanya juga bukan generasi terbaru yang 3D itu, tetapi yang sedikit lebih tua (2D) tetapi masih lumayan keren sih.

Setengah musim The Big Bang Theory!

Anyway, di pertengahan penerbangan di atas Kanada, layanan snack box diberikan sekaligus dengan minuman. Ngomongin minuman, awak kabinnya aktif berkeliling menawarkan air minum ke penumpang di sepanjang perjalanan, yang mana oke banget menurutku.

Layanan snack box di penerbangan ini

Sekitar 1,5 jam sebelum mendarat, layanan makanan ringan hangat diberikan. Ada dua pilihan: croissant hangat atau pizza vegetarian hangat. Aku memilih pizza-nya, yang juga ditemani dengan es krim Magnum.

Layanan makanan ringan hangat dan es krim sebelum mendarat

Sekitar jam 12 siang waktu setempat, pesawat mulai turun menuju Atlanta. Delta berterima-kasih atas pilihan kami terbang bersama mereka hari ini. Dan jam 12:27, pesawat mendarat di landasan pacu 08L Bandara Internasional Hartsfield-Jackson. Berikut ini video pendaratannya:

Pesawat kemudian taxiing menuju Terminal Internasional Maynard H. Jackson Jr dimana N816NW parkir di gerbang F1.

Transit di Bandara Internasional Hartsfield-Jackson di Atlanta

Setelah melalui imigrasi di Bandara Atlanta, aku mengambil bagasiku dan meng-check-in-nya kembali ke New Orleans. Aku kemudian menaiki Plane Train untuk menuju Concourse B darimana penerbangan domestikku ke New Orleans akan diberangkatkan. Sejauh ini, pengalaman transitku di Altanta mulus sekali dan aku sungguh terkesan!

Selamat datang di Atlanta

Di Concourse B, aku menuju Delta Sky Club yang bisa kuakses dengan status Flying Blue Platinum karena aku baru tiba dari penerbangan internasionalnya Delta dan sedang transit menuju penerbangan domestiknya mereka. Lounge-nya oke dan luas banget, dan aku bisa mendapatkan kursi dengan pemandangan kece ini:

Pemandangan Delta Sky Club di Bandara Internasional Hartsfield-Jackson di Atlanta

Pilihan makanannya juga oke, dimana kebanyakan berbasiskan karbohidrat sih. Tetapi mac and cheese-nya enak banget!

Aku sengaja transit selama 4,5 jam di Atlanta sehingga aku bisa bersantai di lounge-nya hingga sekitar jam 4 sore, haha.

Delta DL 2426 (ATL–MSY)

Penerbangan: Delta DL2426
Pesawat: McDonnell Douglas MD88 reg N942DL
ATD: 17:17 EDT (Runway 08R of ATL)
ATA: 17:25 CDT (Runway 02 of MSY)

Aku excited untuk penerbangan selanjutnya ini karena akan dioperasikan dengan McDonnell Douglas MD88! Dan hari ini, aku mendapatkan N942DLnya Delta, yang mana kurang lebih seumuran denganku karena penerbangan pertamanya adalah di bulan Juni 1989, haha 😆 .

Aku akan terbang dengan McDonnell Douglas MD88nya Delta rego N942DL ini hari ini. Aku dan pesawatnya seumuran loh, haha.

Delta menyusun kursi di pesawat MD88 dengan konfigurasi 3-2. Jadi jelas dong ya aku memilih kursi jendela di bagian yang 2 kursi itu, haha. Seperti sebelumnya, aku mendapatkan kursi di barisan pertama ekonomi reguler. Tak mengherankan, ruang kakinya jauh lebih sempit dibandingkan di penerbangan antar benuaku sebelumnya.

Anyway, penerbangannya berangkat tepat waktu dan kami lepas landas dari landasan pacu 08R dan kemudian berbelok ke barat daya menuju New Orleans. Layanan snack dan minuman disajikan di penerbangan jarak pendek ini. Terbang dengan MD88 itu seru banget lho. Penutup jendelanya bermodel “jadul” gitu dan berisik banget di bagian belakang pesawat di toiletnya karena dekat dengan mesin pesawatnya! Haha 😆 .

Di dalam McDonnell Douglas MD88nya Delta rego N942DL

Jam 17:25 waktu setempat, pesawat mendarat di landasan pacu 02 Bandara Louis Armstrong di New Orleans. Berikut ini video pendaratannya:

N942DL parkir di gerbang D4. Aku sungguh terkesan dimana bagasiku sudah menungguku ketika aku tiba di area bagasinya yang tidak jauh dari gerbangnya! Haha 😆 . Anyway, aku kemudian naik taksi menuju New Orleans.

Dan di sini, liburan musim semi satu mingguku dimulai!

BERSAMBUNG…

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#2089 – 2018 Spring Break (Introduction)

ENGLISH

Posts in the 2018 Spring Break series:
1. Introduction
2. Part I: Getting to New Orleans
3. Part II: New Orleans
4. Part III: NOLA the Foodie Destination
5. Part IV: New Orleans to Chicago
6. Part V: Chicago the City
7. Part VI: The MCA, Skydeck, and the Food
8. Part VII: Back to Europe in Business Class

I took advantage of this year’s Easter long weekend by going on a Spring Break trip to New Orleans and Chicago in the States. This trip ended last week when I flew back to Amsterdam from Chicago via Paris, where I got upgraded to Air France’s business class on the trans-Atlantic Chicago to Paris flight! It was amazing! :mrgreen:

Got upgraded to business class on Air France’s AF137 Chicago – Paris flight!

Anyway, aside from getting upgraded to business class, another aspect from the flights which excited me was definitely flying Delta’s McDonnell Douglas MD88 and Boeing 717-200, both are rare species in the air nowadays! Hahaha 😀

A Delta’s McDonnell Douglas MD88 reg N942DL

A Delta’s Boeing 717-200 reg N891AT at New Orleans

Anyway, so how were New Orleans and Chicago? To summarize in a word, both were amazing!! But the amazingness was unique to each own, i.e. they were very different from each other.

New Orleans wasn’t like any other American cities I have ever been to (not that I have been to many though, haha). It had a very pretty old town in the French Quarter area which buildings had unique architecture; but felt a little bit like a city in a developing country (i.e. it didn’t feel exactly orderly and clean), but not in a bad way. Music was played pretty much everywhere, and mostly jazz, which I found really, really cool!

A New Orleans selfie at the Jackson Square

Chicago, on the other hand, was a big modern city with all the tall skyscrapers. And coming from Europe, I certainly loved this (I am a city person, I love cities! 😀 ). What stood out the most about the city of Chicago to me was how ridiculously clean the city was! I mean, really, the street and pretty much everything was very, very clean!

At Skydeck Chicago

Despite so, there was a commonality between the two: both cities offered amazing food! While I have known for ever that Chicago is very famous for their own style of pizza, New Orleans surprised me by actually being a foodie city!

An alligator sandwich in New Orleans

A Chicago’s tasty deep dish pizza

So yeah, as you can probably tell, I really enjoyed my one week trip to Louisiana and Illinois two weeks ago. Here are some more photos as teasers from the trip.

BAHASA INDONESIA

Posting-posting dalam seri 2018 Spring Break:
1. Introduction
2. Part I: Getting to New Orleans
3. Part II: New Orleans
4. Part III: NOLA the Foodie Destination
5. Part IV: New Orleans to Chicago
6. Part V: Chicago the City
7. Part VI: The MCA, Skydeck, and the Food
8. Part VII: Back to Europe in Business Class

Aku memanfaatkan long weekend Paskah tahun ini dengan pergi liburan musim semi ke New Orleans dan Chicago di Amerika. Perjalanan ini berakhir minggu lalu ketika aku terbang kembali ke Amsterdam dari Chicago via Paris, dimana aku di-upgrade ke business class-nya Air France di penerbangan trans-Atlantik Chicago ke Paris! Asyik dah! :mrgreen:

Di-upgrade ke business class di penerbangan Air France AF137 Chicago – Paris!

Anyway, selain di-upgrade ke business class, satu aspek lain dari penerbangannya yang membuatku excited adalah terbang dengan McDonnell Douglas MD88 dan Boeing 717-200nya Delta, keduanya adalah spesies langka di udara saat ini! Hahaha 😀

McDonnell Douglas MD88-nya Delta rego N942DL

Boeing 717-200nya Delta reg0 N891AT di New Orleans

Anyway, jadi bagaimana nih New Orleans dan Chicago? Hmm, untuk merangkumnya dalam satu kata: keren banget (eh ini mah dua kata ya? Haha 😛 ). Tapi kekerenan dua kota ini berbeda satu sama lain.

New Orleans tidak lah seperti kota-kota Amerika lainnya yang pernah kukunjungi (bukannya aku sudah mengunjungi banyak juga sih, haha). Kotanya memiliki bagian kota tua yang cantik banget di area French Quarter yang mana arsitektur bangunan-bangunannya indah dan unik. Namun kotanya sendiri terasa lebih seperti kota di negara berkembang gitu (maksudnya nggak begitu teratur dan terasa agak kotor/kumuh); eh, tetapi ini not in a bad way lho ya. Musik dimainkan dimana-mana, dan kebanyakan adalah musik jazz, yang mana keren banget!

New Orleans selfie di Jackson Square

Chicago, di sisi lain, adalah kota besar yang modern dengan pencakar-pencakar langitnya. Dan karena aku tinggal di Eropa sekarang, aku sungguh menikmati ini (aku adalah city person gitu deh, aku suka dengan yang namanya kota! 😀 ). Yang paling berkesan dari Chicago untukku adalah kebersihan kotanya yang benar-benar nggak main-main! Maksudku, kebersihan jalanannya dan semuanya itu mengagumkan banget levelnya!

Di Skydeck Chicago

Walaupun begitu, ada sih kesamaan dari dua kota ini: keduanya menawarkan makanan yang enak-enak banget! Untuk Chicago sih sudah lama aku tahu kotanya terkenal akan gaya pizza-nya yang khas. Nah, New Orleans nih yang mengagetkanku banget karena ternyata kotanya adalah kota yang juga cocok untuk kulineran lho!

Sandwich alligator di New Orleans

Pizza ala Chicago yang enak banget

Jadi, ya, memang aku sungguh menikmati waktu satu mingguku di Louisiana dan Illinous ini dua minggu yang lalu. Di atas sekalian aku posting beberapa foto lebih sebagai teasers dari perjalanan ini.

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#2087 – A Weekend in Beautiful Bordeaux

ENGLISH

I went on a weekend trip to Bordeaux in a weekend in early March. Not too long ago I shared about the transportation part of the trip; and now is the time for the trip itself 🙂 .

Bordeaux

In one sentence, Bordeaux turned out to be a really beautiful city!! I actually couldn’t believe I “waited” this long to finally go there, haha 😆 . It was also big (for European standard) that I walked really, really a lot that weekend to get around (I could have bought a daily pass for the public transport, which I now recommend, haha; but at the time I honestly thought I wouldn’t need it as I (wrongly) assumed the city center would not be that big).

Porte Cailhau in Bordeaux

As with other (typical) European cities, the most beautiful area of Bordeaux was definitely the city centre. The buildings were just very beautiful with amazing architecture, and were well preserved! I mean, look at Porte Cailhau in the photo above, isn’t it charming and gives away an awesome castle vibe? 😀 You could just walk around the city center and got awed by the buildings!

Cathedrale St. Andre in Bordeaux

The city lied on the Garonne River, that was very big. The quayside of this river was really magnificent. I strolled along the river there all the way from Pont de Pierre to Pont Jacques Chaban-Delmas, which was about 3.5 km long (Remember when I mentioned above that the city was big? Haha 😀 ). Closer to Pont De Pierre, the buildings were from the 18th century thus providing classic beautiful look; and got more and more modern towards Pont Jacques Chaban-Delmas.

Pont Jacques Chaban-Delmas in Bordeaux

It also helped that the weather was great too when I was there (even though the forecast wasn’t great). The sun was shining and it was actually quite warm with temperature ranging in the 15° – 20°C scale! So indeed it was very comfortable! Thankfully I brought my sunglasses this time as it was the perfect time for it to come out of hibernation, haha 😆

A Bordeaux selfie, an opportunity for my sunglasses to come out of hibernation.

To some degree the beautiful city was, sort of kinda, expected (Well, this was Europe! Duh!). However, Bordeaux surprised me big time with the … very beautiful sunset!! I mean, here is the sunset moment on my Saturday there:

Incredibly beautiful sunset in Bordeaux

Like, seriously, it was perhaps the prettiest sunset I had ever witnessed especially in a city! I mean, just look at that sky and the light pattern!! The beauty was just ridiculous, wasn’t it?

The Food

Aside from the beautiful city, Bordeaux (and the region) was very famous for its:

Red wine because Bordeaux

Yep, wine! Haha 😆 So coming to this trip indeed I made wine as a “priority”, where I would drink wine whenever I could, haha 😛 . And so I did, except on my last dinner where I opted for a cocktail because happy hour in Bordeaux was between 5 and 8 PM! Lol 😆 . Anyway, Bordeaux wine was indeed special!

As for the food, I couldn’t really find any local dishes during my research period so I didn’t go on a mission to try out something. But despite this, though, the food did not disappoint. Well, this was how I always expected from French cuisine anyway, as they always delivered in my experience!

Magret de Canard in Bordeaux

***

So yeah, I guess you can tell from this post that I really loved Bordeaux. And so indeed this means that it is likely that I will come back there in the future! Haha 😆 .

BAHASA INDONESIA

Aku pergi dalam sebuah perjalanan akhir pekan ke Bordeaux di satu akhir pekan di awal Maret. Belum lama yang lalu aku ceritakan mengenai transportasiku ke sana; sekarang adalah waktunya untuk cerita dari perjalanannya itu sendiri 🙂 .

Bordeaux

Dalam satu kalimat, Bordeaux itu ternyata indah dan kece banget lho!! Aku sampai heran sendiri deh mengapa kok aku baru sekarang pergi kesananya, haha 😆 . Kotanya sendiri juga berukuran besar (untuk standar Eropa) yang mana aku berjalan-kaki banyaak banget di akhir pekan itu untuk mengelilinginya (Sebenarnya aku bisa saja sih membeli pass transportasi umum satu hari di sana, yang mana aku rekomendasikan btw, haha; tapi waktu itu beneran aku kira aku tidak akan membutuhkannya karena aku asumsikan (yang mana ternyata salah) bahwa pusat kotanya nggak besar-besar amat).

Porte Cailhau di Bordeaux

Seperti (tipikal) kota-kota Eropa lainnya, bagian paling indah dari Bordeaux adalah pusat kotanya. Gedung-gedungnya kece banget dengan arsitektur yang keren-keren, dan semuanya terawat dengan baik! Maksudku, coba deh lihat Porte Cailhau di foto di atas, bagus kan dan ada kesan-kesan kastilnya gitu! 😀 Berjalan-kaki mengelilingi pusat kotanya saja sudah membuatku terpana oleh bangunan-bangunannya!

Cathedrale St. Andre di Bordeaux

Kota ini berada di Sungai Garonne, yang mana merupakan sungai yang besar. Di sisi sungai ini juga terdapat boulevard yang besar banget untuk pejalan-kaki yang keren banget. Aku berjalan menyusuri sungai ini dari Pont de Pierre hingga Pont Jacques Chaban-Delmas, yang mana kira-kira sepajang 3,5 km loh (Masih ingat kan aku sebutkan di atas kalau kota ini besar? Haha 😀 ). Di area di sekitar Pont De Pierre, bangunan-bangunannya berasal dari abad ke-18 sehingga penampilannya klasik kece gitu; dan aksennya berubah menjadi semakin modern ketika kita semakin mendekat Pont Jacques Chaban-Delmas.

Pont Jacques Chaban-Delmas di Bordeaux

Beruntung juga cuacanya oke ketika aku disana (walaupun ramalannya jelek). Matahari bersinar cerah dan suhu udaranya juga hangat di 15° – 20°C! Jadi nyaman banget kan ya! Untungnya aku tidak lupa membawa kacamataku kali ini sehingga sudah saatnya untuk aku keluarkan dari hibernasinya, haha 😆 .

Bordeaux selfie, kesempatan bagi kacamata hitamku untuk keluar dari hibernasi.

Kotanya yang kece mungkin masih bisa dibilang sesuai dengan dugaan ya (Namanya aja Eropa! Gimana sih? Haha). Namun, Bordeaux mengejutkanku dengan … sunset-nya yang ternyata kece banget doooong!! Berikut ini waktu matahari terbenam di hari Sabtuku di sana:

Matahari terbenam di Bordeaux

Beneran deh, rasanya ini adalah sunset paling kece yang pernah aku lihat terutama dari kota! Maksudku, lihat deh langitnya dan juga pola-pola semburat cahayanya!! Kecantikannya cetar banget kan ya?

Makanannya

Di samping kotanya, Bordeaux (dan area sekitarnya) terkenal akan:

Red wine karena Bordeaux

Iya, anggur (wine)-nya! Haha 😆 . Jadilah di perjalanan ini anggur aku buat sebagai “prioritas” dimana aku akan meminumnya ketika ada kesempatan, haha 😛 . Dan ini beneran aku lakukan, kecuali di makan malam terakhirku dimana aku memesan cocktail soalnya happy hour di Bordeaux itu ternyata antara jam 5 dan jam 8 malam dong! Huahaha 😆 . Anyway, anggur Bordeaux memang spesial!

Untuk urusan makanan, aku tidak berhasil menemukan menu khas dari daerah ini di risetku sehingga aku tidak menargetkan apa-apa dalam hal ini. Biarpun begini, makanannya tidak mengecewakan. Yah, memang begini sih yang namanya masakan Prancis, selalu enak dari pengalamanku!

Magret de Canard di Bordeaux

***

Yep, dari posting ini jelas ya aku menikmati waktu dan perjalananku di Bordeaux. Jadi memang sepertinya bisa dibilang aku akan kembali ke sana nanti! Haha 😆

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#2086 – Back in Europe!

ENGLISH

Hello from Europe! Yesterday, I was back from my one week Spring trip to New Orleans and Chicago as my Air France flight AF1640 from Paris landed in Amsterdam. And today, I am back at work! Haha 😆

So, how was the trip? Well, as my Instagram followers (@azilko) might have guessed, it was so much fun!! I liked both New Orleans and Chicago, and they were two very different American cities! 😀 It was also interesting that I went to one place in the south and one in the north, so the temperature difference was very apparent. One layer of clothing was enough in New Orleans while Chicago was basically like Europe nowadays (read: cold, especially because of the wind, haha 😆 ).

Another unique aspect of this trip was certainly the jetlag. I just pretty much recovered from it when I had to fly back from Chicago to Paris this Sunday, haha 😆 . And now, I am jetlagged again! Lol 😆 . Though, I am hoping this jetlag wouldn’t be as bad as the one I had in January 😛 .

Speaking of the flights, they were also super interesting! As I said I was taking six flights through seven airports on this trip; and two of those involved two rare birds: a McDonnell Douglas MD88 and a Boeing 717-200! Plus a new Bombardier CRJ700 for my logbook! 😀 And to top it off, I got upgraded to business class on my long-haul Air France flight AF137 from Chicago to Paris!!

Anyway, these are what I have for now!! 😀 I am really exhausted! See you later soon with more exciting stories!

BAHASA INDONESIA

Halo dari Eropa! Kemarin, aku kembali dari perjalanan musim semi satu mingguku ke New Orleans dan Chicago ketika penerbangan Air France AG1640ku dari Paris mendarat di Amsterdam. Dan hari ini, aku kembali bekerja loh! Haha 😆

Jadi bagaimanakah perjalannya? Seperti yang mungkin sudah diduga oleh followers Instagramku (@azilko), perjalanannya seru banget!! Aku suka kedua kotanya, New Orleans dan Chicago, dimana keduanya adalah dua kota Amerika yang berbeda sekali satu sama lain! 😀 Juga menarik dimana aku pergi ke satu tempat di selatan dan satu di utara, sehingga perbedaan temperaturnya terasa banget lho, haha 😆 . Pakaian satu lapis cukup banget untuk New Orleans sementara Chicago mah kayak Eropa sekarang-sekarang ini deh (baca: dingin, terutama karena anginnya, haha 😆 ).

Satu aspek unik lain dari perjalanan ini adalah jetlag-nya. Aku baru saja pulih darinya ketika aku sudah harus terbang kembali dari Chicago ke Paris di hari Minggu kemarin, haha 😆 .  Dan sekarang, aku jetlag lagi! Haha 😆 . Walaupun aku harap jetlag kali ini nggak separah yang aku hadapi Januari kemarin sih 😛 .

Ngomongin penerbangannya, penerbangan-penerbangan yang aku ambil juga seru-seru! Seperti yang aku bilang, aku naik enam penerbangan kali ini melalui tujuh bandara; dan dua di antaranya melibatkan pesawat yang sudah langka ada: McDonnell Douglas MD88 dan Boeing 717-200! Plus satu penerbangan dengan Bombardier CRJ700 untuk logbook-ku! 😀 Dan yang paling seru adalah aku di-upgrade ke business class di penerbangan jarak jauh Air France AF137 dari Chicago ke Paris dong!!

Anyway, segini dulu deh untuk sekarang!! 😀 Capek nih! Cerita-cerita lebih mendetailnya akan kubagikan segera!

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#2082 – A DST Weekend

ENGLISH

So yesterday was when the Daylight Saving Time (DST) officially kicked in in Europe, when the time was moved forward by one hour from 2 AM to 3 AM. This meant there were only 23 hours this Sunday.

I have mentioned here a few times that this is my less favorite DST of the year. And especially so this year because yesterday my Spring trip started! When I booked my ticket this January, I didn’t consider the DST and so I ended up with a morning flight departing out of Schiphol at 08:35 AM to start the trip! Lol 😆

And so to avoid this, which was a real risk that should never be underestimated:

(Forgetting to move the clock forward by an hour on a Spring DST like this Sunday would cause your alarm set at 4 AM to only beep at 5 AM due to the time change), I decided to spend a night at Schiphol on the evening prior to the trip. This way, the risk would be much lower. Plus, it would be less of a hassle for me because I would already be at the airport in the morning of departure. I would not need to worry about getting to Schiphol at the ungodly early hours on a Sunday, haha 😆 .

Having said that, this trip actually made the DST really unique. You know, my Sunday was supposed to be 23 hours in length. But my flights that day made my Sunday be 30 hours in length, due to the seven hours time difference between the Netherlands and Louisiana, haha. This was similar to my latest Winter Solstice when I was flying from Amsterdam to San Francisco that day. A day that was supposed to be short actually became (much) longer 😛 .

BAHASA INDONESIA

Kemarin adalah Daylight Saving Time (DST) di Eropa, dimana waktu dimajukan satu jam dari jam 2 subuh ke jam 3. Ini berarti hari Minggu kemarin hanya terdiri atas 23 jam saja.

Sudah beberapa kali kusebutkan bahwa DST ini adalah DST yang tidak aku sukai. Terutama tahun ini sih karena kebetulan kemarin adalah permulaan dari perjalanan musim semiku! Ketika tiketnya aku booking Januari ini, aku tidak mempertimbangkan DST sama sekali dan jadilah aku mendapatkan tiket keberangkatan dari Schiphol di pagi hari jam 08:35 pagi dong! Haha 😆 .

Dan untuk mencegah yang berikut ini kejadian, yang mana merupakan risiko yang jangan pernah disepelekan lho:

(Lupa memajukan jam selama satu jam di hari DST musim semi seperti hari Minggu kemarin menyebabkan alarm yang disetel jam 4 pagi untuk baru berbunyi jam 5 pagi karena pergeseran waktu), aku memutuskan untuk menginap di Schiphol semalam sebelum perjalanannya dimulai. Dengan begini, risikonya menjadi lebih kecil. Ditambah lagi, ini jelas lebih praktis karena aku sudah berada di bandara di pagi keberangkatan. Aku tidak perlu untuk pusing-pusing mencari cara untuk berangkat ke Schiphol di pagi-pagi buta di hari Minggu kan ya, haha 😆 .

Walaupun begitu, perjalanan ini justru membuat DST kali ini unik loh. Jadi seharusnya hari Mingguku memiliki panjang 23 jam kan. Tapi penerbangan-penerbanganku hari itu membuat hari Mingguku menjadi berpanjang 30 jam, karena perbedaan waktu tujuh jam antara Belanda dan Louisiana, haha. Mirip-mirip nih dengan Winter Solstice terakhirku ketika aku terbang dari Amsterdam ke San Francisco hari itu. Suatu hari yang seharusnya pendek menjadi (jauh) lebih panjang 😛 .

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#2079 – 2018 Spring Trip (The Destinations)

ENGLISH

While recapping my flights of 2017, I mentioned that I would like to “spice things up” for my flights of 2018. In an attempt to do so and thanks to KLM’s “Werelddeal weken” in January, I have since decided to go on a unique trip this coming Spring!

Clearly I was thinking of going somewhere not in Europe to make the trop more exciting. And it wasn’t difficult for me to decide that I would like to go to some new destinations in the US! 😀

At first I was thinking to go to Niagara and would plan from there. But after some research and discussion with friends, I decided that this Spring would not be the best time for me to visit the waterfall. And so I had further discussions and did more research, including taking into considerations the implications of the new revamped Flying Blue programme Air France and KLM would implement per 1 April 2018. Finally, I came to a decision. I would visit two cities on this trip, and they are:

1. New Orleans, Louisiana

I actually got the idea to visit New Orleans from a friend of mine, who reminded me that this city was the birthplace of the jazz music! And so a trip to New Orleans would be super “cultural” 😛 . Beside, the city center looked beautiful as well! 😀

2. Chicago, Illinois

What can I say, I love cities. And Chicago is one big American city I haven’t yet visited so I thought why not 😛 . Beside, the city appears to have good public transport network which really entices me! 🙂

***

And now as per usual, a big part of a Zilko’s trip is the flights! And this trip is no exception, where I am taking six flights on four different airlines. Here is the routing this time:

The route of this trip. Created with gcmap.com

Haha 😆 .

What excites me the most, flight-wise, from this trip is that I am adding three new airplane types to my logbook: a McDonnell Douglas MD88, a Boeing 717-200, and a Bombardier CRJ700!! They are all rare birds, especially the MD series and Boeing 717 which are basically almost extinct creatures nowadays!

A Delta’s McDonnell Douglas MD88 at Boston Logan Airport.

A Delta’s Boeing 717 at San Francisco International Airport.

And of course I am quite excited that I am going to step my foot on the busiest airport in the world in terms of total passengers air traffic: the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport!

***

I am also experimenting a little bit with this trip too, btw. In total, this trip will be one week in length. And FYI, there are seven hours of time difference between Amsterdam and both New Orleans and Chicago. So let’s see how my body would react to this jetlag-wise, hahaha 😆 .

But either way, I know that this trip is going to be fun!! 😀

BAHASA INDONESIA

Ketika merekap penerbanganku di tahun 2017, aku sebutkan bahwa aku ingin lebih “bertualang” dalam hal penerbangan di tahun 2018. Nah, untuk membuat keinginan ini menjadi kenyataan dan berkat promo “Werelddeal weken“-nya KLM di bulan Januari kemarin, aku telah memutuskan untuk pergi dalam sebuah perjalanan yang unik di Musim Semi ini!

Jelas dong dari awal aku berkeinginan untuk pergi ke suatu tempat di luar Eropa untuk bertualang. Dan tidak sulit untukku memutuskan bahwa aku ingin mengunjungi tempat baru di Amerika! 😀

Awalnya terpikir untukku pergi ke Niagara dan menyusun rencana dari sana. Tapi setelah riset lebih jauh dan diskusi dengan beberapa teman, aku berkesimpulan bahwa Musim Semi tahun ini bukanlah waktu terbaik bagiku untuk mengunjungi air terjunnya ini. Dan jadilah aku berdiskusi lebih lanjut lagi dan tentu saja riset tempat-tempat lain, dan tidak lupa juga mempertimbangkan program Flying Blue yang dirombak total oleh Air France dan KLM mulai tanggal 1 April 2018. Pada akhirnya, aku berakhir pada sebuah keputusan. Aku akan mengunjungi dua kota di perjalanan ini, dan dua kota itu adalah:

1. New Orleans, Louisiana

Sebenarnya aku mendapatkan ide untuk mengunjungi New Orleans dari seorang temanku, yang mengingatkanku bahwa kota ini adalah tempat lahirnya musik jazz! Dan jadilah perjalanan ke New Orleans itu bakal “kultural” banget kan ya 😛 . Di samping itu, pusat kotanya nampak cantik! 😀

2. Chicago, Illinois

Ya mau gimana lagi, aku memang orangnya suka dengan kota. Dan Chicago adalah kota besar di Amerika yang belum pernah aku kunjungi sebelumnya jadi mengapa tidak 😛 . Di samping itu, kotanya juga sepertinya memiliki transportasi umum yang jaringannya oke yang mana sangat menarik bagiku! 🙂

***

Dan seperti biasa, sebuah bagian utama dari acara jalan-jalannya Zilko adalah naik pesawatnya! Dan perjalanan ini juga lah begitu dimana aku akan menaiki enam penerbangan dengan empat maskapai yang berbeda. Berikut ini ruteku di perjalanan yang akan datang ini:

Peta rute kali ini. Dibuat dengan gcmap.com

Haha 😆 .

Yang paling membuatku excited, dari segi penerbangan, dari perjalanan ini adalah aku akan menambahkan tiga jenis pesawat baru ke dalam logbook-ku: McDonnell Douglas MD88, Boeing 717-200, dan Bombardier CRJ700!! Mereka semua adalah pesawat yang terbilang langka ya, apalagi pesawat seri MD dan Boeing 717 kan bisa dibilang sudah nyaris punah sekarang!

Sebuah McDonnell Douglas MD88 milik Delta di Bandara Boston Logan.

Sebuah Boeing 717-200 milik Delta di Bandara Internasional San Francisco.

Dan tentu saja aku juga merasa excited akan menginjakkan kaki di bandar udara paling sibuk di dunia dalam hal total jumlah penumpang: Bandara Internasional Hartsfield-Jackson di Atlanta!

***

Perjalanan ini jugalah sebuah eksperimen nih bagiku, btw. Totalnya, panjang perjalanan ini adalah satu minggu. Dan FYI, perbedaan waktu antara Amsterdam dan New Orleans dan Chicago adalah tujuh jam. Jadi aku penasaran bagaimana badanku akan bereaksi dengan ini dalam hal jetlag, hahaha 😆 .

Tapi bagaimanapun juga, aku tahu perjalanan ini akan menjadi perjalanan yang seru!! 😀