Hello again everyone! Here goes my 3rd trip/photo report... the more I write, the more I am enjoying it. Isn't that great?! haha. Well this is a very short trip to Europe I took in mid January of 2007 (a couple of days ago), mainly due to a great double miles offer by Delta! I am such a "Miles" whore  and would do anything (well, to a certain extent  ) to collect them!! My family, coworkers and friends think I need psychiatric help, but I hope at least some of you will understand me here!!  

Delta offered a great fare to Berlin, and I couldn't resist since I always wanted to go there... the only concern was wintertime weather, which I think I lucked out... though it was still cold and windy. As for the city of Berlin, what can I say, I LOVED it. It's such a dynamic city and is in the midst of transformation, and the best part is, hotels cost half of what they would cost you in Paris or London. I recommend everyone to go and visit, it's really worth it and there is so much to see and do. Below I will post some pictures of Berlin to give you an idea of what the place looks like.

Usually I take pictures of all the phases of a flight... i.e. taxiing, take off, in flight, landing, etc... But this time, 3 of my 4 flights were exit row seats with flight attendants sitting right across from me, and you know you can get your ass kicked if they see you using an electronic device (digital camera) when you are not supposed to (I almost got in trouble on one of the flights)! Haven't they learned from all the pictures on Airliners.net that planes don't fall off the sky just for using a digital camera during take-off and landing!!?? lol. just kidding... I am sure they have their own reasons not to allow it... but that will never stop me, and I am sure most of you a.netters, from snapping photos during take off and landing!!  

Anyway, here are the details and pictures... hope you will enjoy them!

Segment 1/4:
Date: January 12, 2007
Airline: Delta (Ex-Song)
Registration: N?????
Aircraft: Boeing 757-200
Departure City: LAX - Los Angeles International
Departure Time: 7:30am
Destination: JFK - New York John F. Kennedy
Arrival Time: 3:56pm
Scheduled Flight Time: 5hrs 26min
Class: Coach (Economy)
Seat: 19A (Exit Seat)


Our flight was departing from terminal 6, which Delta uses a couple gates in addition to its own terminal 5, so after checking in and clearing through TSA, I had to take an underground tunnel to get to my gate.

With an ontime departure, we started taxiing towards Runway 24L on a beautiful sunny Southern California day:




Over Marina Del Rey and Santa Monica:


Westwood and Century City:


Century City and Beverly Hills:


San Fernando Valley and Burbank, with KBUR - Burbank Airport visible in the background:


Hollywood Hills with the Hollywood sign is visible (not very clear in this pic):


Hollywood and Glendale, with the I-5 and the LA River visible:


City of Glendale



In-flight service was basically a little snack pack (crackers, cheese spread, walkers shortbread cookie and a little bag of trail mix) followed by a drink service. Before landing, they did another snack service, a choice Sun Chips, Biscoff cookies, Granola Bar and I forget what else. Sun Chips is the most filling for me, so I know not to bother with the other stuff! They also did a second drink service. The nice thing about the 757 transcon is the Live DirecTV (ex-song product), which keeps you busy and entertained!

>> Now Fast Forward about 4 1/2 hours...

Entering the New York area via Manhattan. The picture shows Upper Manhattan, The Bronx and the Washington Bridge (I think).


La Guardia Airport:


JFK!


Crossing Long Island:


Final Approach into JFK:










Great Landing by Delta pilots! Below pics are of terminal 1, with Alitalia 777, Air China 747-400, Air France 777 and Lufthansa A340:






Our aircraft parked at T2, but my Berlin flight was leaving from T3. I headed to the Crown Room Club in Terminal 3 (have a membership), so I snapped some photos from there. Below is an Egypt Air 777 at Terminal 4:


Virgin A340-600 and North American 757 at the parking stand of T4:


A Swiss A330-200 being pushed back from gate and being towed to remote parking stand:


A Delta 767 tail at T3 and a Pakistan 777-200LR at T4:


Delta 767s parked at T3. Our bird was the second one, parked at Gate 4:



Segment 2/4:
Date: January 12, 2007
Airline: Delta
Registration: N181DN
Aircraft: Boeing 767-300ER
Departure City: JFK - New York John F. Kennedy
Departure Time: 5:40pm
Destination: TXL - Berlin-Tegel, Germany
Arrival Time: 8:10am
Scheduled Flight Time: 8hrs 30min
Class: Coach (Economy)
Seat: 17G

This flight had about 20 seats empty in coach, so the person next to me moved which was great for me!

At the gate:




Since it had gotten dark, I could not snap any good photos of the take-off. However, looking out the window at JFK with all the different international airlines is always great. We took the loooong way to taxi to runway 22. After pushback, we turned right and passed by T1, then T9, then to the taxiway to the north of 13L/31R and taxied all the way passed R04/22 then did a 180 degree and finally it was time to take off! It was very long, probably took more than an hour between taxiing and and waiting for other aircraft.

Before taking off, they passed out a mini-kit consisting of eye shades and earplugs, plus a menu:



About 45 minutes into the flight, drink service began...:


...followed by the meal service. I chose the ravioli option. It was tasty, but portions were small. At least you get 1 free alcoholic with the meal:


A view of the front mini coach cabin on the 767:


Breakfast... again not very filling, but not bad:


It was still dark when we started our descent into Berlin-Tegel:




Welcome to Berlin-Tegel!!









Some photos of this wonderful city.


Potsdamer Platz - Brand new area which used to be a dump yard before the reunification from what I heard:



A section of the wall at Potsdamer Platz:


The famous Brandenburg Gate taken from Pariser Platz:


German and European flags at the Reichstag:


The Reichstag with the glass dome designed by architect Norman Foster:


In the glass dome:


View from the glass dome:


The glass dome:


Potsdamer Platz again viewed from Leipzig Square:


For all you shopaholics, this is the Harrods of Berlin -- Kaufhaus Des Westens or KaDeWe for short:


Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church destroyed during WWII serves as a reminder. It is located on Kurfürstendamm, Berlin's 5th avenue (so they say, but I thought the new 5th Av of Berlin is Freidrichstrasse!)


More of Kurfürstendamm:



Checkpoint Charlie:


River Spree:


The Berlin TV-Tower:


View from the TV-Tower:






And the Brandenburg Gate at night!



Some airport action at Tegel! While snapping these photos, I had a great chat with Michael, a plane-crazy person like myself  . We had a great conversation and he gave me a rundown on the latest developments in German aviation! If you're reading this Michael, it was great to meet you and thanks!





Our Delta 767 bound for New York:






Another view of our Delta plane with a Lufthansa 320 taking off...


...off the ground:


More airport action:




Notice the Olympic 737-400 taking off in the above pic.



Segment 3/4:
Date: January 15, 2007
Airline: Delta
Registration: N1612T
Aircraft: Boeing 767-300ER
Departure City: TXL - Berlin-Tegel, Germany
Departure Time: 12:10pm
Destination: JFK- New York John F. Kennedy
Arrival Time: 3:10pm
Scheduled Flight Time: 9hrs 00min
Class: Coach (Economy)
Seat: 21A (Exit)


At the gate in Berlin:


Some photos of the interior of our 767 while other passengers board:




The exit-row seat... plenty of legroom!



Pushback:



Taxiing to Runway 26R:

A KLM CityHopper Fokker 70 taking off:





Take off roll:

Ah the condensation around the wing! I love it!!



At this point, the flight attendant realized I that I was taking photos and asked me to turn the camera off immediately (she was sitting right across from me)! I blushed and was embarrassed  

They also handed out the small kit with the eye shades and earplugs, plus the menu, just like the inbound flight. The following is the menu:


Busy skies over Germany:


Drink Service began about an hour after take-off...:


...followed by the meal service -- again chose pasta!


Mid flight snack - Haagen Dazs Ice Cream.... mmmm....


Pre-arrival snack:


Descent and arrival into JFK. Weather was bad and our approach was very bumpy. Visibility was at minimum:










Segment 4/4:
Date: January 15, 2007
Airline: Delta (Ex-Song)
Registration: N?????
Aircraft: Boeing 757-200
Departure City: JFK - New York John F. Kennedy
Departure Time: 4:35pm
Destination: LAX - Los Angeles International
Arrival Time: 8:06pm
Scheduled Flight Time: 6hrs 31min
Class: Coach (Economy)
Seat: 27D (Exit Seat)

I don't have any significant pics of this flight, I was tired and it was already getting dark. Plus I had an aisle seat on this leg. Service on this flight was like the one from LAX to JFK, my first leg. A snack pack and 1st drink service, then a choice of a snack and 2nd drink service.

Here is a photo of the PTV:


And a photo of the aisle... the woman next to me gave me the weird look when taking this shot!



Overall, Delta's international product has seen an improvement over the past few years. The eye shades, menus, Free alcoholic drink with meal are all positive. I always fly Delta as they are my carrier of choice in the US, but they are still lagging when compared to the European airlines. Hopefully they will emerge from Bankruptcy as independent and strong airline. All the best of luck to Delta and thanks for reading this report  


Regards,
SkyteamLAX


-- End of trip report --


Previous Trip Reports by me:
AF: LAX-CDG-EVN(Yerevan, Armenia)-CDG-LAX
BEY-CDG On Air France Boeing 777-300ER (with Pics)