Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Having just completed our first major overseas trip with a toddler, I have a new appreciation of the value of airport sprawl. Prior to this trip, I looked with disdain on many of the major airports that I have passed through in the past 10 years. No more. I have gained a new appreciation of large, sprawling, glass & chrome airports with all of the amenities...
The Toddler Test: Try spending 8+ hours in your local airport with a toddler and see if it's up to snuff. Oh, and make sure you have an umbrella stroller to help pass the time.Sea-Tac: Yes, the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport passes the test! We spent 10 hours there on Saturday when the gas gage on our airplane broke. The plusses? Long walkways for pushing the stroller (both for the parents to push and for the toddler to push), lots of glass windows for baby to pound at and through which to watch endless airplanes & trucks of all shapes and sizes. Spacious bathrooms and endless expanses of carpet for sitting and lying down on. (Okay, so the carpets were pretty dirty, but in my opinion it's better to sit on dirty carpets than on the cold, hard, dirty floor!) Quiet corners of carpeted areas for napping (or a discrete diaper change). Escalators, elevators & people moving trains... Spacious food courts for wandering (I have no idea about the quality of the food). And lots and lots of space...
Oh, and a kind note for the Seattle TSA people --they "passed" our bottles of milk through screening and even put together the stroller for me!
Dulles International: Dulles only had to pass the 4+ hour test, but it came through with flying colors. Long walkways, lots of glass for viewing tarmac activity, quiet & spacious (& carpeted) waiting areas. Yes, Dulles came through for us.
Vienna International: Sorry, guys, this place majorly fails the Toddler Test. Admittedly, we were stuck in a particular section of the A Concourse but there were no seating areas (unless you count the cramped area next to the glassed-in cancer box, where people can "smoke" without ever having to light up...), no carpet, bathrooms that could only be accessed by long flights of stairs (what about all those wheel chair passengers we saw lined up in the corridors?), and absolutely no place for a quick diaper change.
And, worst of all: after emerging from hours of dry-throated flying, there was nary a water fountain in sight! Finally, in parched desperation, Frank withdrew 100 Euros and bought a bottle of water for $4.50. And then learned (ha, ha) that despite the fact that we were deep in the bowels of the airport, he would have to drink it immediately or be forced to throw it away--in order to pass through another layer of security. Total time in airport: 1 hour and 40 minutes. Vienna: you are not a developing nation. Get some water fountains!
Erbil International: We were not at this airport long enough to have to give an opinion--just time enough to gather luggage and be on our way. Al-ham-dulillah!
