diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'viaggi/AU/day46/document.it.rest.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | viaggi/AU/day46/document.it.rest.txt | 84 |
1 files changed, 0 insertions, 84 deletions
diff --git a/viaggi/AU/day46/document.it.rest.txt b/viaggi/AU/day46/document.it.rest.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 53b67f4..0000000 --- a/viaggi/AU/day46/document.it.rest.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,84 +0,0 @@ -Diario - 4 Sep -============== - -last day in Australia. morning at Uni for last-minute e-mails. Closed bank -account, got an international cheque in lira (exchange: 1215 ITL/AU$). Payed -Markus for yesterday, and gave him the key to the office (so Alessio can use it -from the start when/if he comes). Wanted to say goodbye to Gina and Angie, but -I didn't find them, so I sent an e-mail msg. - -Now I have to pack everything again! Obviously it didn't fit the same way as -before, so I have to somehow reorganize the space. Oh well, the backpack is a -bit heavy, but it contains all of the books. - -Ellen and Sarah are a bit late, but about a quarter to four they arrive. Some -discussions (Sarah wants to visit a friend of hers before going to her music -lesson), but in the end we get into the car and they drop me at the station. I -buy the ticket, and I board the first train heading north. Checking the -timetable, it seems to be the 1623 train a bit early, but I discover (just a -second before getting off at Thirroul) that it reaches Sydney Central, so no -need to change. Actually I suspect it to have been the 1559 train running -really late. Anyway, change train at Central for the airport, and finally I -reach the airport, at about half past five. - -At check-in the computer system locks up, blocking all check-ins (at least all -Emirates check-ins) for half an hour. The girl behind the counter says that -it's not the first time today. Finally my baggage is labeled and sent to -wherever it needs to be, and I get my boarding pass. I take hold of a pram and -load it with my backpack. The scale at the check-in read 25Kg for the other two -bags, thanks Allah they allow up to 28Kg! The backpack should have been under -7Kg, but it's more of 10 or 12. Hence I need the pram. - -I use the time before boarding (two hours, roughly) to eat some dinner (rice -and pork) and look at shops. I point a couple of Samsung free web-booths at -`Slashdot`_ and `my NNetLib docs page`_, just for fun. I finally seat at gate -57 waiting to board. There are some little problems with the system, but they -get over them. Seat 17D, aisle on my left, Italians all around, and we take -off. Today seems to be a day of little problems: the safety procedures video is -interrupted, lights go out, nothing to worry about, but all summed up -together... - -Nonetheless, the flight goes through undisturbed, and we get to Singapore. It -is about 2am local time, and all shops in the Changi airport are closed. I walk -around a bit, then wait to board again. The airport is equipped with both -IP-over-IrDA stations, and 802.11 radio system, both connected to the internet, -and both available free of charge. Interesting use of technology. - -The flight to Dubai is uneventful. In DXB we change plane, so I have to carry -my hand baggage with me. Fortunately just inside the gate I find a pram, and it -gets quickly loaded of my burden. The shops have not changed much in two -months. I see some plush camels, but they are all laying, no one standing, so I -don't take one. Boarding again, six hours to go for Rome. My seat is 12A, -window on my left, but 12B is free, so I seat there. Moreover, 11B and 14B (no -13, of course) are both free, so I can recline without fear of disturbing. - -Passing over Arabia, then the Red Sea, Sinai, Egypt, even form 39kfeet we can -see the ground, both from the windows and from the bottom view camera: desert, -canals, mountains, Cairo, Alexandria. - -Some hundreds of Km afterwards, I see on the forward camera some formations on -the horizon: could it be Sicily? It's on the right direction, but can the -horizon be so far? After all, we are still south of Greece. Oh well, we can -find out: simple trigonometry. What is Earth's radius? Oops, I don't remember. -But I have read a couple of days ago that a nautical mile is 6080 feet, and is -a minute of arc along Earth circumference. And we are 39000 feet above ground. -A lot of calculations later, we discover that the horizon is 390 Km away from -our position. But how far is Sicily? I can see a map of our route, but without -scale. I could judge the scale if I knew some distances or areas, but I know -none. Luckily I can ask the Time Zone app to give me the distance between two -cities: say Athens and Palermo. It is more that 900 Km. So it definitely is not -Sicily. What then? Some ten minutes later the formations resolve into a bank of -clouds. Still a long way to go towards Italy! However, the weather in this area -is really clear: those clouds on the horizon were the only ones I could see. - -A turn northward lets me know that our route passes well north of Sicily. - -Actually, we just flew over Crotone, and are making our way north-westernly up -Calabria. Here also there are very few clouds, and I can see the cities and the -fields. - -.. _`my nnetlib docs page`: - http://nnetlib.sourceforge.net - -.. _`slashdot`: - http://slashdot.org |