We flew through Dallas once and our connecting flight was a few gates down. They told us to take a shuttle which we thought was the epitome of laziness and walked. And walked and walked and walked. Nearly missed the flight. Everything is bigger or farther in Texas. Several minutes after we took off we still only a couple hundred feet off the ground. Fly out of Burbank and the minute you're off the ground it's a vertical assent. Athens, Greece was the opposite. There was unrest there at the time and we descended so fast many people passed out. Been on bumpy runways but none as bad as you have.
I was on an Aeroflot flight once between Moscow and St. Petersburg- didn't want to take the overnight train, and it was a cheap flight. The lavatory had a sign saying it was out of order and there was a bucket by the door for emergencies...