European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 22, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Above traditional costumes highlight the carnival Celebration in Seville Spain. Right narrow streets near the Cathedral in Cadiz Spain. To flight schedules that May land you hundreds of Miles from your desired destination. There Are Boring terminals where the snack bar is closed because of Quot managerial and there Are Long sometimes cold and sometimes hot and usually deafening flights in seats that Range from web straps to cushy airline Comfort. And there is the Ever present nagging feeling of doubt and worry that you la be stuck in this terminal forever while your a leave melts away. But sometimes you get just Plain Lucky. My Luck held All the Way through stops at Iraklion to Naples where along with the family of four i approach the ticket counter looking for a rumoured Simonella flight that a flight nurse had told me about on the plane from Rhein main. Quot of no a replies the italian Mac representative. Quot the flights go to Simonella Only on even numbered for a group that picked the 15th of the month to Fly to Sicily this is very bad news. I dump my plans for Simonella and hurriedly get re ticketed and Back on the a a. Plane i had just climbed off confusing the flight nurse who had taken the time to switch my Luggage destination tag from Rota to Simonella. The family of four May still be in that Naples terminal trying to get to Simonella. We land in Rota later that afternoon. After having no Luck finding a place to stay on base for the night Fisher and Dickerson head for the rental car Agency at the Mac terminal. I am luckier getting. Accommodations in the Navy Lodge for $33 a a Little two Days i eat at the Best chinese restaurant in Rota stroll on a wide Sandy Beach and drink Quarter per Glass Beer at the hard Rock cafe. For Only $6 i also travel by bus to nearby Cadiz one of the oldest cities in Europe. I spend a full Day in Cadiz wandering its narrow streets overhung with Flower pots and colourful laundry. I meet people from. Italy Greece and a dozen brits off a russian Citee ship anchored in the same port that Columbus used on his second voyage to the new world. My second Day in Spain is spent in a Seville Quot Savee a Quot As the Spanish and As americans who live there pronounce it. A Celebration is in full swing in this combination cosmopolitan historic City and the colourful costumes worn by the women. And men on horseback competing with cars. And buses makes for an amusing feast for the Eye. Seville has More to offer than can possibly be experienced in one Day but l. Give it a try. I miss getting a ticket to that night s bullfight by about 10.minutes, but the lowering Cathedral Lush gardens and cafes make for a great Day of giving my twin Nikon exercise. Early the next morning thursday i am Back at the Mac terminal hopeful for a ride on another medevac heading for Simonella. There is also airman Dewayne Cephas who is nervously waiting for a flight to Germany and eventually to his Home base of Raf Mildenhall. Quot my leave , and i had to get an continued on Page 58 a amps photos by Jim Derheim a Mac queen1 has seen it All k c. Pohtilla May hold the world record for waiting the longest time for a cheap flight. A she spent 32 Days with two Small children waiting in the Mac terminal at Clark a in the Philippines. She sums up that episode in. Her space a life in simple terms it was. Hell.�?�. Listening to Pohtilla talk about her life As a Navy Pilot s wife who follows her seagoing husband by hopping military aircraft is an. Exercise in self control you Don t know if you should laugh a. Uproariously at her tale of How she once had Only 7 cents to her name after a 21-Day wait for a flight in a terminal or Pat her hand Consolin Gly As she tells about being kicked awake in the Middle of the night by roving terminal monsters at Clark a. Quot i m the Mac Queen a she proclaims while on a medevac flight from Naples tie Rota,.Spain, Quot i know every horror Stop. Connected with space a Mccaue i a livid it a a a. A. V. A hyper energetic woman with Quirky ,. Movements and a relentless scam it n humor. Pohtilla take a All her experiences in stride and figures that with Mac you get what you pay Tor. Quot everyone s always extremely Nice and helpful it s just that sometimes there s nothing anyone can do a she says. So there a no one to blame for the time she was stranded in the terminal at. Ramstein a Germany on the eve of the air War against Iraq. Quot everyone was Yelling about the War starting and the announcement came Over. The . That All scheduled flights were cancelled Quot she recalls. Quot there were literally hundreds of people stuck in that terminal. A they also took All of our rims on base for the reservists that were coming in. The were saying there would t be a flight out for a month a. V Pohtilla ended up making a Midnight trek to a car rental Agency near the base and driving to Frankfurt International Airport for a a flight on a civilian Airliner to the United states a a. A. The adaptable Pohtilla sums up that experience philosophic ally. Quot it was fun. Tetter than St Ping Home and a vat thing t her. Nightmare in tit Lark a terminal began when she tried to atch a flight to Yokosuka Japan. V. Quot in those lavs his the mid bos Quot she say-., Quot if they Calk d your a flight and you weren t there you d go to the of the list. So people used to come and just Camp out in the terminal for a flight to the Stales or wherever. Quot i his created such a log am of people. That the Way they dealt with it was to Rove the waiting rooms and hallways Kilt King chairs out from under people to Wake them up. There were All these zombies stumbling around Lark was one of the most by Aire in the Mac system at least but k a a. Pohtilla has had More than her Shaie of in her space a have a been times when she has convinced. Load masters on cargo planes to move pallets aside to make one extra spar e. Once she was stud k in a Remote Corner of i Japan facing 300 Antsy marines bound Lor the same it c she was with one Lone air plane on the Tarmac. Another Lime she Vyas maim med on a desert Island runway with $ it pot Ket. It was several Days later twirl she disc i i in Ider Navy terminal will rnon1 empty put a Dav than people to fill them. She refill anber., that alter that exp Enen a she was Quot so brain dead hut Whu a i got to to ii Point in the Philippines i Laid by the put to it in v i it my and Glt re Sot h a bad sunburn i Hati to stay there in the Hoq a Talt it it a another eks a
