Notes from one Mediterranean cruise

On the way to our Mediterranean cruise, one of the first things that struck me was the difference between Japanese airports and Western-style airports. To get to Barcelona, we went through three very different airports: Nagoya, Frankfurt, and Barcelona.

Nagoya airport (or more accurately Chubu International Airport) was probably the newest and most interesting. Like most new airports in Japan these days, it is built a tad removed from the downtown area, and they have a specific area designed solely for shopping and dining. There are other areas where you can eat and buy things, but on a separate floor there is a central region of shops and restaurants arranged around a large plaza with the obligatory huge television screen. On one side are shops and restaurants in a European motif and on the other side the shops and restaurants are in a traditional Japanese motif. Both sides have winding streets, with nooks and crannies.

Frankfurt and Barcelona had shops scattered everywhere throughout the airport, but the layout is reminiscent of strip malls, with roles of generic shops and restaurants. The European airport was more spread out, and the organization of the design, if any, was not readily apparent. In Japan, each major airport tries to capture the ambience of the city, with regional products highlighted. In Europe, each airport is merely an airport.