h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

We don't have lots of frogs around Chicago, but we do have some toads. And they say "CROAK!!" The little frogs we get say wee "ribbit"s.

We have visiting Californian green frogs on vacation - I think they are enjoying themselves at present. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpiIWMWWVco&feature=related
Woke up this morning with the birds again ...

Bye-the-way, Heathrow is too big and checking your bags in is really a bore (I fly back to D club class) ...

Heathrow is easy for checking in bags, I take it you've never tried Frankfurt? Now, that is a horror!

I've only been to Heathrow twice (to and from London around this time in 2003), and I thought it was a nice airport. Seemed kind of small and quiet, compared to O'Hare, where the sheer number of people is a bit overwhelming... What's Frankfort like?

I don't particularly like to fly, so I might just dislike airports on principle, but Liberty Airport in Newark, NJ, Dulles Airport in Washington, DC, and William Hobby Airport in Houston are especially *awful*. Of course, Houston and DC are pretty awful, in general.

We've heard a couple of really brave birds outside our windows this morning- they must be brave, because we've got several inches of snow and it's around -5°C out there this morning.

Frankfurt is not as crowded as Heathrow, but it's horrible. Very confusing - I've failed to find the exit when coming back from London two or three times now.
Makes me wonder how bad it must be if you don't know any German.
Security checks take ages, and staff isn't always friendly.

I hate confusing places- O'Hare's huge but easy to navigate, though I've never paid attention to how many different languages appear on various signs. I'd definitely get lost in a foreign airport if I couldn't read the signs. Of course, I get disoriented easily sometimes. I've been known to miss my stop on a bus/train I take every day. Imagine how bad I am in totally unfamiliar surroundings.

Newark Airport was stupid because the domestic terminal, where my flight from Chicago landed, was in one location, and the international terminal, where my flight to London (Gatwick) was departing, was several miles away across the NY state line. It took so long to get there and clear customs, I nearly missed my connecting flight. When I went back, I took a direct flight into Heathrow instead of messing with connections and all that.

And yes, unfriendly staff can make getting anywhere extraordinarily difficult and unpleasant.

I once won a ticket from LHR to Frankfurt from British Airways ... can't remember much about it now. When the new Terminal 5 is finished, it should help with the over crowding ... Terminal One (European Flights) is always full. I thought that LHR was one of the busiest in the world? Planes landing in high season every 30 seconds or so!

Oof! LHR Terminal is a NIGHTMARE!

It really seemed so mellow when I was there. Maybe I traveled on an off day?

Really? I think it's nice and easy - but then I speak English, and I do the online check-in, so maybe that makes all the difference.

Maybe the other terminals are nicer than 1? That's the hellhole I use to and from Glasgow. Maybe my views are coloured by the goddawful transport situation - crawling through traffic, dropping off a hire car, crawling through more traffic...

I think it's terminal II for flights to Germany, but I am not sure.

It's 2 for the US. Far more pleasant.

Then I don't know. I know it's not IV, but whichever terminal it is, it's much nicer than Frankfurt.