Wednesday 18 May: Travel Day 1

Today is the first travel day to Vienna. Last night (Tuesday night) I was hardly able to sleep due to last minute packing issues, preparing essays, and other things for the course. Since this is a study abroad course through the University of Southern Mississippi, I have homework to prepare! (This journey started long ago, and I’ll intersperse information thought these entries.) I was maybe able to only get a couple of hours sleep before it was time to depart Oxford for the airport in Jackson, Mississippi. Even though I was a bit sleep deprived, I am thoroughly ready to experience my favorite European city. Our flights are all on Delta and through the Sky Team Alliance, I might be a bit biased as I prefer Delta and Sky Team over others – a personal decision that I know many would argue with me about.

Being at the airport 2 hours before the flight means leaving Oxford at around 4:00am to compensate for any traffic we might encounter. The Jackson airport is not exceptionally large. It seemed to not be laid out in terminals but by gate numbers, with just a few behind each security checkpoint. Looking back, the need to arrive in Jackson that early was almost nonextant because of the size of the airport. There were no issues getting through security, and there was only a highly overpriced convince store on the terminal. A cold sausage biscuit and a water cost over $10! The plane from Jackson to Atlanta was perfect, no issues. I had an aisle seat, which is my favorite seat on an airplane. Upon arrival, Alonya – the other student from Ole Miss on the trip – and I finally met the other students from Southern and Mississippi State. We would have met each other in Jackson, but we were not all seated together in the airport. It was only in Atlanta we all connected at the departure board near the gate we just left. Wee then preceded to make our way to the international terminal in Atlanta, which is very slim in food choices. I ate at The Varsity – famous for their chili cheese dogs and chili cheeseburgers – which is also the same place I at during my last flight to Chengdu, China. (Hopefully not a sign!) The layover was around 4 hours, although a bit long for some, is a nice regrouping time to prepare oneself for an international flight.

Our flight pattern consisted of flying from Jackson to Atlanta, Atlanta to Paris, and finally Paris to Vienna. The flight to Paris was operated by Air France. The cabin service was wonderful. For the first half of the flight, the flight crew spoke to me in French, which I could understand somethings but not. It was not until they noticed the video board on my seat was in English that they spoke to me in English. The movie/ entertainment selection was a bit dated, but good. There seemed to be selections for everyone. As the plane took off, I watched Mama Mia 2, which is not anywhere near as good as the original – and the original is not even that good! The meal service consisted of a rice salad will bell pepper, chicken in a cream sauce with rice, cheese and a brownie for dessert, and a choice of drink. I decided to try the white wine, which was particularly good! After the meal service I had a cup of tea before attempting to sleep. Closer to the end of the flight I decided to watch Florence Foster Jenkins. As the flight came to an end, we received the breakfast service which consisted of a croissant, roll, muffin, and orange juice.

Alonya and I were once again seat partners, but this time we shared our seat with a lady of Ukrainian heritage who was flying to Ukraine on a mission trip to help in the war efforts. It was amazing her passion for the people of her family’s homeland. Her inspiration and call to action is commendable. Safe travels to her and her journey. May she serve as an inspiration to all of us.

We landed in Paris at 6:45am local time on Thursday 19 May 2022.