SEA-IST and back with transatlantic flat beds at Mach 0.03 and calls for O+ donors
Apr 24, 2005, 4:03 pm
#1
Moderator, OneWorld
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: SEA
Programs: RAA RIP; AA ExEXP
Posts: 11,803
SEA-IST and back with transatlantic flat beds at Mach 0.03 and calls for O+ donors
For the moment Turkey is among the more inexpensive places where one can purchase business-class oneworld Explorer (herein OWE) RTW tickets, with the price differential (compared to North America) more than justifying the time and effort required to travel to the Golden Horn to collect one's sheaf of coupons. Note that "inexpensive" is a relative term - if we do too many more of these "inexpensive" leisure travel gigs we shall be washing dishes at the Menorah Home whilst others of our vintage are enjoying their sunset years playing Mah Jong. But as the T-shirt from the lamented Pacific Dessert Company in Seattle said, "Life is Uncertain - Eat Dessert First." And so we are; dessert consisting of a 20-stop lap of Gaia involving Turkey, Australia, Africa and other points yet unvisited or needing return engagements.
If you are not familiar with the OWE product, or RTWs in general, refer to the relevant boards under "Global Alliances" where all will be revealed. If you want to get serious about planning one, I recommend premedication with your drug of choice so that the headaches and eyestrain can be mitigated as much as possible.
I will post an occasional report on our meanderings. The current plan of flights (which may well be amended) to consume the 20 coupons is as follows (including two or three non-RTW segments (in parentheses) required to optimize the routing from a greedy-mileage-earning point of view.
IST-xLHR-YVR-JFK-DFW-SEA-(ORD)-ANC-ORD(-SEA-ORD)-HNL-SYD//
MEL-AYQ-CNS-SYD-JNB-VFA-JNB-CPT-LHR-(YVR-LHR)-TLV-xLHR-IST, all to be accomplished between last week and next November, hopefully with the TLV FT Do as the coda. My dear wife may not accompany me on all segments; to her the concept of mileage running and the quest for EXP status, when set against other optional uses of one's person, such as not breathing canned air or feasting on not-very-warm airline food, even if it comes with Real Metal Cutlery, is not as compelling a vision as it may be for the rest of us. The old Vision Thing again. Sigh.
For now, though, the subject is the journey to initiate this progression.
Friday 8 April, SEA-JFK, AA198, 3EF.
I thought for sure that traveling to New York on one-way tickets upgraded to First would garner interest from you-know-who, but I guess two 50-somethings, one of which seriously needs the "legroom" provided in an American 757 transcon. didn't plunk the magic twanger at the TSA. Anyway, pushback on time (1130 AM), takeoff on time, arrival on time, movie = National Treasure, made quite tolerable by newly acquired JVC noise-canceling headphones. I guess I'm not clear when or if one is to get Bose NC 'phones on AA in FC, not this time anyway.
Menu-less FEBO offerings (in row 3 of 6 in FC you generally will be able to score your choice regardless of odd-even numbering) included OJ or water, warm AAhNutz® mixture of real nuts and real Soy pebbles (>50% by weight in my case), nice lox-style salmon appetizer, Caesar salad (which when enhanced by some conserved Soy nuggets isn't half bad), choice of Mango Chicken, some Pasta with 'shrooms dish, something else - don't remember, all with appropriate well-to-over-cooked sides, and sundaes, with various alcoholic and other beverages per the usual. Not bad, not great, better than the BOB offerings in back for sure. Service was courteous through the meal, then MIA.
Lord, was this airplane tired. I don't think Goodwill would sell shoes with leather like that on the seatbacks. Seams ripped or loose, scuffed, my seatback would recline but needed to be pulled upright by hand. Compared to BA's Club Europe service and product (on a 4-hour A320 flight from IST to LHR - see below) AA's transcon F on this flight was pretty mediocre.
New York interlude - Visited future family and old friends in NYC for a day and a half. Stayed at the Millennium Hilton - the skinny one right across the street from the WTC site and had a full view of GZ from the hotel room. [OPINION] A moment of - what? - sacred and profane? - as I took a picture of the site out the window while Charles and Camilla were tying the knot on the telly. Some things matter, some don't so much. [/OPINION ] Attended Yankees game (first time at Yankee stadium) with engaged son (wife-to-be from Brooklyn) while fiancé , her mother, my wife and a portion of the mishpocha went off auditioning wedding gowns at Kleinfeld's in Brooklyn - the cosmic center of wedding gowndom and quite an experience evidently. The Yankees, thanks mainly to the contributions of former Mariners, beat the Orioles in heroic come-from-behind fashion. Sure. Swell.
Sunday 10 April, Cunard Queen Mary 2, Cabin Class B-2, NYC-SOU nonstop - er, almost…
We're talking serious jumbo liner here. 3000 pax capacity (but our load factor around 80%), around 1500 crew. Basically the size of a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, minus the nuclear reactor and the Weapons of Mass Destruction, unless you count the aggregate cholesterol on offer in the buffets.
See, Ms. 'Loo and I have been working our tukeses off all winter while dealing with a series of family crises, and we both needed some serious recovery time before leaping into RTW-land. Plus, we needed some means of getting to Europe on a one-way basis (coming back on the RTWs) so six days on the North Atlantic, with nothing more important on the agenda than reporting for Formal night in the Britannia Dining Room now and then - well, that sounded just fine. For what it's worth, the six-day passage on the QM2 - cabin with balcony, meals, entertainment, the works, is a little less than a one-way J seat on Aer Lingus from JFK to Shannon. Granted, EI will give you free booze while Cunard charges for hooch, but hey, do you get Oxford lecturers or bingo on Aer Lingus? I think not.
We sailed two hours later than scheduled (7 PM instead of 5) due to an interesting fact I learned from a veteran "Cunarder" on board. The QM2 is so big she can't fit through the Panama Canal. In addition, in order to meet the requirements set by Cunard (and its Carnival Corp. owners), regarding yield management and the number of pax onboard, with the attendant facilities, crew capacity, etc., they had to carry, they had to build the ship much taller than usual (thus more outside or balcony cabins, rather than interior cabins or porthole (i.e., low-revenue) ones down low. The result was that the limiting factor in the ship's size turned out to be the Verazanno Bridge in NY harbor. At low water, the QM2 fits under the bridge with a margin of seven - yes, seven - feet.. The week before we arrived in NYC, the rains had so raised the water level in the Hudson that they had to wait two extra hours for low-low water, or else the ship would have picked up a couple of nonrev truckers on departure.
Now then, in the tradition of FT I thought I'd transcribe the dining offerings from one of the nights for your consideration, herewith. I won't include the wine list because it's way too long, and priced similarly to most medium-class restaurants (i.e., US$20-30 for decent French stuff.) This is from Monday night (11 April) in the main dining room (there are around 6 venues for most meals.)
Appetizers and Soups
Smoked Halibut and Jumbo Shrimps on Russian Salad
Buffalo Mozzarella, Plum Tomatoes and Grilled Asparagus
Steamed Black Mussels, Saffron Veloute
Cheddar Cheese Soup with Rye Bread Croutons
Clear Oxtail Essence with Sherry Wine and Chester Stick
Salads
Lollo Rosso and Apple Salad with Vinaigrette
Frisee Lettuce, Grilled Pears and Duck Confit
Mains
Cheese Tortellini, Fresh Sage, Brown Butter and Crème Fraiche
Pan Seared Salmon, Mashed Root Vegetables and Horseradish Lemon Cream
Surf and Turf, Young Asparagus, Hollandaise Sauce
Roasted Spring Rack of Lamb, Pancetta Rosti, Rhubarb-Scented Jus
Eggplant and Ratatouille Cannelloni, Sautee Garlic Spinach.
Desserts
Chocolate Banana Tart with Mango Sauce
Mascarpone Cointreau Parfait with Cinnamon and Honey
Cherries Jubilee with Vanilla Ice Cream
Sugar-free Cherry Clafoutis
Rocky Road, Cherry Vanilla and Strawberry Ice Cream
Frozen Yogurt with Kiwi Sauce
Cheese Selections including Stilton, Herb Boursin, Munster and Cheddar
I'm always amazed at the "hotel" operations on big cruise ships - 2500 people, three (or four or six) meals per day, unlimited extra portions of anything including the lobster; in short, it's a masterpiece of planning for planned overindulgence. I'm not necessarily endorsing the cuisine or the choices many passengers make to turn a cruise into a voyage into gluttony, but still you have to admire the logistics of such an undertaking given that you're thousands of miles from the nearest Piggly Wiggly.
Anyway, I won't dwell on the QM2 or the crossing, except to say it's by far the most comfortable trip we've had across the pond, albeit at 25 knots instead of Mach 0.8 it's also by far the slowest. King-size bed, lectures from Oxford profs on various topics, afternoon tea… We've now crossed both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans at sea level (the Pacific on a freighter with us the only pax) and I heartily endorse it if you have the time. Flying is wonderful; seeing how big the ocean is up close is something else again. I know, how poetic.
There was some drama, however. On the Tuesday afternoon after our Sunday departure the Captain came on the speakers ship-wide and announced that we were diverting back (around a 200 mile detour) to St Johns Newfoundland to medevac a sick passenger - the weather at the time (zero-zero) plus icing conditions meant the rescue choppers were grounded, so the only way to get the passenger off the ship was through a ship-to-ship transfer to a Canadian Coast Guard boat. (The QM2 can't fit into the St John's breakwater.)
A few minutes later the ship's chief medical officer came on the horn and requested any passengers carrying current blood donor cards showing they are in Group O+ to report right away to the infirmary on Deck One. Yikes - now that's a first, person-to-person transfusing. The poor doctor's voice seemed wavering, and I imagine this was not something he figured he'd be signing on for, although with an average passenger age of 103 or so I presume medical crises are everyday occurrences. (Just kidding. Not 103. No higher than mid 70s.)
Sure enough, around 10 that night some lights appeared through the rain and fog and resolved into a 200-foot or so cutter, from which a launch detached itself and bounced over to the QM2, where it (apparently - out of our field of view) tied up next to an open-ish gangway door (still 6 foot seas or so, so no walk in the park). Eventually the pax looking over the rail applauded and whistled as the launch, now with a litter between the six or seven survival-suit-clad Coast Guard folk, and the passenger's wife (but not, evidently, their nine pieces of luggage) bounded back to the cutter. The QM2 gave out a long hoot on the horn (serious decibels), the cutter whooped back a couple of times, and we turned back onto our heading. Heard the following day the passenger was stable and expected to recover. And for what it was worth, the delay and detour ended up putting the QM2 right over the Titanic precisely on the anniversary of its unfortunate encounter with Mr. Berg.
The detour meant we arrived at dock in Southampton a half hour later than planned. It required about an extra half knot in average speed to make up the distance. Kudos to the bridge and engine room in all this.
Saturday 16 April, LHR-EDI, BD058, 4AC Dep 14:30 Arr 15:40
After disembarking at Southampton (bit of a zoo, nice car service shared with another couple to LHR) we had to get to Edinburgh for a couple of nights' reunion-avec-booze with old pals. The one-way price on BMI was a princely £22 (£35 with taxes) each, v. over a hundred quid on BA, so they got the biz; sorry. My pleading with the counterperson at the BD desk scored us two seats in the front of the Y cabin that were among the "convertible" Y/J seats on the A320, so we had J seats but Y service, fair enough.
To Start
Nothing
Entrée
2 Walkers chocolate-chocolate chip bikkies
Tea or coffee
Push, rotate, landing all bang-bang. Comfortable plane, nice ground and cabin staff. Y'know, if this is an indicator of general conditions on BMI it's not a bad experience at all for intra-Europe. In some future Star Alliance lifetime it might be worth checking out further.
Edinburgh interlude: There was beer. And wine. Visited the new Parliament. More beer.
We had planned on leaving on a 7 AM flight on Monday to Prague then spend 6 or 7 hours in the old city before continuing on to Istanbul, but our better senses (albeit chemically altered thanks to the Belhaven company) prevailed and I changed to the later of two - yes, two - daily EDI-PRG flights on Czech for a modest change fee. Made the call from the pub in which we "lunched" for around 6 hours on Sunday; the CSR must have heard the noise in the background and figured this was a good thing she was doing, in the interests of other pax on the morning flight.
More to follow…
If you are not familiar with the OWE product, or RTWs in general, refer to the relevant boards under "Global Alliances" where all will be revealed. If you want to get serious about planning one, I recommend premedication with your drug of choice so that the headaches and eyestrain can be mitigated as much as possible.
I will post an occasional report on our meanderings. The current plan of flights (which may well be amended) to consume the 20 coupons is as follows (including two or three non-RTW segments (in parentheses) required to optimize the routing from a greedy-mileage-earning point of view.
IST-xLHR-YVR-JFK-DFW-SEA-(ORD)-ANC-ORD(-SEA-ORD)-HNL-SYD//
MEL-AYQ-CNS-SYD-JNB-VFA-JNB-CPT-LHR-(YVR-LHR)-TLV-xLHR-IST, all to be accomplished between last week and next November, hopefully with the TLV FT Do as the coda. My dear wife may not accompany me on all segments; to her the concept of mileage running and the quest for EXP status, when set against other optional uses of one's person, such as not breathing canned air or feasting on not-very-warm airline food, even if it comes with Real Metal Cutlery, is not as compelling a vision as it may be for the rest of us. The old Vision Thing again. Sigh.
For now, though, the subject is the journey to initiate this progression.
Friday 8 April, SEA-JFK, AA198, 3EF.
I thought for sure that traveling to New York on one-way tickets upgraded to First would garner interest from you-know-who, but I guess two 50-somethings, one of which seriously needs the "legroom" provided in an American 757 transcon. didn't plunk the magic twanger at the TSA. Anyway, pushback on time (1130 AM), takeoff on time, arrival on time, movie = National Treasure, made quite tolerable by newly acquired JVC noise-canceling headphones. I guess I'm not clear when or if one is to get Bose NC 'phones on AA in FC, not this time anyway.
Menu-less FEBO offerings (in row 3 of 6 in FC you generally will be able to score your choice regardless of odd-even numbering) included OJ or water, warm AAhNutz® mixture of real nuts and real Soy pebbles (>50% by weight in my case), nice lox-style salmon appetizer, Caesar salad (which when enhanced by some conserved Soy nuggets isn't half bad), choice of Mango Chicken, some Pasta with 'shrooms dish, something else - don't remember, all with appropriate well-to-over-cooked sides, and sundaes, with various alcoholic and other beverages per the usual. Not bad, not great, better than the BOB offerings in back for sure. Service was courteous through the meal, then MIA.
Lord, was this airplane tired. I don't think Goodwill would sell shoes with leather like that on the seatbacks. Seams ripped or loose, scuffed, my seatback would recline but needed to be pulled upright by hand. Compared to BA's Club Europe service and product (on a 4-hour A320 flight from IST to LHR - see below) AA's transcon F on this flight was pretty mediocre.
New York interlude - Visited future family and old friends in NYC for a day and a half. Stayed at the Millennium Hilton - the skinny one right across the street from the WTC site and had a full view of GZ from the hotel room. [OPINION] A moment of - what? - sacred and profane? - as I took a picture of the site out the window while Charles and Camilla were tying the knot on the telly. Some things matter, some don't so much. [/OPINION ] Attended Yankees game (first time at Yankee stadium) with engaged son (wife-to-be from Brooklyn) while fiancé , her mother, my wife and a portion of the mishpocha went off auditioning wedding gowns at Kleinfeld's in Brooklyn - the cosmic center of wedding gowndom and quite an experience evidently. The Yankees, thanks mainly to the contributions of former Mariners, beat the Orioles in heroic come-from-behind fashion. Sure. Swell.
Sunday 10 April, Cunard Queen Mary 2, Cabin Class B-2, NYC-SOU nonstop - er, almost…
We're talking serious jumbo liner here. 3000 pax capacity (but our load factor around 80%), around 1500 crew. Basically the size of a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, minus the nuclear reactor and the Weapons of Mass Destruction, unless you count the aggregate cholesterol on offer in the buffets.
See, Ms. 'Loo and I have been working our tukeses off all winter while dealing with a series of family crises, and we both needed some serious recovery time before leaping into RTW-land. Plus, we needed some means of getting to Europe on a one-way basis (coming back on the RTWs) so six days on the North Atlantic, with nothing more important on the agenda than reporting for Formal night in the Britannia Dining Room now and then - well, that sounded just fine. For what it's worth, the six-day passage on the QM2 - cabin with balcony, meals, entertainment, the works, is a little less than a one-way J seat on Aer Lingus from JFK to Shannon. Granted, EI will give you free booze while Cunard charges for hooch, but hey, do you get Oxford lecturers or bingo on Aer Lingus? I think not.
We sailed two hours later than scheduled (7 PM instead of 5) due to an interesting fact I learned from a veteran "Cunarder" on board. The QM2 is so big she can't fit through the Panama Canal. In addition, in order to meet the requirements set by Cunard (and its Carnival Corp. owners), regarding yield management and the number of pax onboard, with the attendant facilities, crew capacity, etc., they had to carry, they had to build the ship much taller than usual (thus more outside or balcony cabins, rather than interior cabins or porthole (i.e., low-revenue) ones down low. The result was that the limiting factor in the ship's size turned out to be the Verazanno Bridge in NY harbor. At low water, the QM2 fits under the bridge with a margin of seven - yes, seven - feet.. The week before we arrived in NYC, the rains had so raised the water level in the Hudson that they had to wait two extra hours for low-low water, or else the ship would have picked up a couple of nonrev truckers on departure.
Now then, in the tradition of FT I thought I'd transcribe the dining offerings from one of the nights for your consideration, herewith. I won't include the wine list because it's way too long, and priced similarly to most medium-class restaurants (i.e., US$20-30 for decent French stuff.) This is from Monday night (11 April) in the main dining room (there are around 6 venues for most meals.)
Appetizers and Soups
Smoked Halibut and Jumbo Shrimps on Russian Salad
Buffalo Mozzarella, Plum Tomatoes and Grilled Asparagus
Steamed Black Mussels, Saffron Veloute
Cheddar Cheese Soup with Rye Bread Croutons
Clear Oxtail Essence with Sherry Wine and Chester Stick
Salads
Lollo Rosso and Apple Salad with Vinaigrette
Frisee Lettuce, Grilled Pears and Duck Confit
Mains
Cheese Tortellini, Fresh Sage, Brown Butter and Crème Fraiche
Pan Seared Salmon, Mashed Root Vegetables and Horseradish Lemon Cream
Surf and Turf, Young Asparagus, Hollandaise Sauce
Roasted Spring Rack of Lamb, Pancetta Rosti, Rhubarb-Scented Jus
Eggplant and Ratatouille Cannelloni, Sautee Garlic Spinach.
Desserts
Chocolate Banana Tart with Mango Sauce
Mascarpone Cointreau Parfait with Cinnamon and Honey
Cherries Jubilee with Vanilla Ice Cream
Sugar-free Cherry Clafoutis
Rocky Road, Cherry Vanilla and Strawberry Ice Cream
Frozen Yogurt with Kiwi Sauce
Cheese Selections including Stilton, Herb Boursin, Munster and Cheddar
I'm always amazed at the "hotel" operations on big cruise ships - 2500 people, three (or four or six) meals per day, unlimited extra portions of anything including the lobster; in short, it's a masterpiece of planning for planned overindulgence. I'm not necessarily endorsing the cuisine or the choices many passengers make to turn a cruise into a voyage into gluttony, but still you have to admire the logistics of such an undertaking given that you're thousands of miles from the nearest Piggly Wiggly.
Anyway, I won't dwell on the QM2 or the crossing, except to say it's by far the most comfortable trip we've had across the pond, albeit at 25 knots instead of Mach 0.8 it's also by far the slowest. King-size bed, lectures from Oxford profs on various topics, afternoon tea… We've now crossed both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans at sea level (the Pacific on a freighter with us the only pax) and I heartily endorse it if you have the time. Flying is wonderful; seeing how big the ocean is up close is something else again. I know, how poetic.
There was some drama, however. On the Tuesday afternoon after our Sunday departure the Captain came on the speakers ship-wide and announced that we were diverting back (around a 200 mile detour) to St Johns Newfoundland to medevac a sick passenger - the weather at the time (zero-zero) plus icing conditions meant the rescue choppers were grounded, so the only way to get the passenger off the ship was through a ship-to-ship transfer to a Canadian Coast Guard boat. (The QM2 can't fit into the St John's breakwater.)
A few minutes later the ship's chief medical officer came on the horn and requested any passengers carrying current blood donor cards showing they are in Group O+ to report right away to the infirmary on Deck One. Yikes - now that's a first, person-to-person transfusing. The poor doctor's voice seemed wavering, and I imagine this was not something he figured he'd be signing on for, although with an average passenger age of 103 or so I presume medical crises are everyday occurrences. (Just kidding. Not 103. No higher than mid 70s.)
Sure enough, around 10 that night some lights appeared through the rain and fog and resolved into a 200-foot or so cutter, from which a launch detached itself and bounced over to the QM2, where it (apparently - out of our field of view) tied up next to an open-ish gangway door (still 6 foot seas or so, so no walk in the park). Eventually the pax looking over the rail applauded and whistled as the launch, now with a litter between the six or seven survival-suit-clad Coast Guard folk, and the passenger's wife (but not, evidently, their nine pieces of luggage) bounded back to the cutter. The QM2 gave out a long hoot on the horn (serious decibels), the cutter whooped back a couple of times, and we turned back onto our heading. Heard the following day the passenger was stable and expected to recover. And for what it was worth, the delay and detour ended up putting the QM2 right over the Titanic precisely on the anniversary of its unfortunate encounter with Mr. Berg.
The detour meant we arrived at dock in Southampton a half hour later than planned. It required about an extra half knot in average speed to make up the distance. Kudos to the bridge and engine room in all this.
Saturday 16 April, LHR-EDI, BD058, 4AC Dep 14:30 Arr 15:40
After disembarking at Southampton (bit of a zoo, nice car service shared with another couple to LHR) we had to get to Edinburgh for a couple of nights' reunion-avec-booze with old pals. The one-way price on BMI was a princely £22 (£35 with taxes) each, v. over a hundred quid on BA, so they got the biz; sorry. My pleading with the counterperson at the BD desk scored us two seats in the front of the Y cabin that were among the "convertible" Y/J seats on the A320, so we had J seats but Y service, fair enough.
To Start
Nothing
Entrée
2 Walkers chocolate-chocolate chip bikkies
Tea or coffee
Push, rotate, landing all bang-bang. Comfortable plane, nice ground and cabin staff. Y'know, if this is an indicator of general conditions on BMI it's not a bad experience at all for intra-Europe. In some future Star Alliance lifetime it might be worth checking out further.
Edinburgh interlude: There was beer. And wine. Visited the new Parliament. More beer.
We had planned on leaving on a 7 AM flight on Monday to Prague then spend 6 or 7 hours in the old city before continuing on to Istanbul, but our better senses (albeit chemically altered thanks to the Belhaven company) prevailed and I changed to the later of two - yes, two - daily EDI-PRG flights on Czech for a modest change fee. Made the call from the pub in which we "lunched" for around 6 hours on Sunday; the CSR must have heard the noise in the background and figured this was a good thing she was doing, in the interests of other pax on the morning flight.
More to follow…
Last edited by Gardyloo; Apr 28, 2005 at 5:57 pm Reason: Used naughty word. Bad.
Apr 24, 2005, 5:01 pm
#2
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: SIN
Programs: SQ PPS, LH SEN, Amex something, nothing everywhere else
Posts: 994
Great start to your trip report! Keep the installments coming.
After all the discussions in the oneworld forum, I'm certainly keen to hear how your trip progresses. My own DONE4 beckons...
After all the discussions in the oneworld forum, I'm certainly keen to hear how your trip progresses. My own DONE4 beckons...
Apr 25, 2005, 7:23 pm
#3
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: East Ester, Alaska
Programs: Alaska Million Miler, United Million Miler, Wyndham Rewards Diamond, Choice Hotels Diamond
Posts: 12,148
Great stuff! I can't see how one could avoid putting on an extra ten pounds with all that ship food. Love the BD menu! 
Apr 25, 2005, 8:53 pm
#4
Moderator, OneWorld
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: SEA
Programs: RAA RIP; AA ExEXP
Posts: 11,803
Monday 18 April EDI-PRG, OK665 16DF Dep 14:40 Arr 18:05
I have no idea why Czech Airlines runs two flights a day (some days) between Edinburgh and Prague, but I am thankful they did on the day after the night before. We had originally intended to take the 7 AM flight and lay over in Prague for a few hours, enough time to get downtown and see some sights and a family grave or two, before continuing on to IST on the 7:15 PM flight. The weather forecast and the festivities of Sunday, however, made this plan sound increasingly silly, so in the end we changed to the afternoon flight and canceled the 5 AM wake-up call at the "hotel" Ibis which extorted £70 a night for a room that Accor should be ashamed to have in its catalogue.
Hotel note: Ibis is one of Accor's mid-to-lower-priced brands, so we weren't expecting luxury. The Edinburgh Ibis is in Hunter Square, which surrounds the Tron Church in the Old Town (and the former scene of serious Hogmanay debauchery before Edinburgh discovered that many more people than fit around the Tron would pay real money to come to Scotland in December to get drunk.) This particular property, however, featured mildew in the loo, peeling lead-containing-appearing-ish paint on some of the woodwork (probably not; that's what European Parliaments are for), dirty carpet and lots of scuffs and encrusted substances on the walls. Oh, and smoke filled lounges and surly imported-all-the-way-from-France counterpersons. Want a hair dryer? That'll be an extra £10 on your tab unless you return it to the front desk from whence checked out.
But back to flying. Nobody in J from what I could see, around 20 people in the back of the 737-500. Plane spotless, seats with - could it be? - 32 or 33 inches of legroom in Y? Smiling FAs, reasonable dual-language in-flight magazine. On-time departure, beverage service (no alcohol offered but may have been available) then a no-choice but comprehensive hot meal (on a 2:40 departure, yet.) White meat in brown sauce over long-grain and wild rice, actually quite tasty; shrimp or crab or surimi salad in mayo sauce, various veggies, good rolls, fruit/gelatin topped cake. Nothing to write home about but really quite decent; haven't had a comparable meal in shorthaul Y in the US in years.
On-time landing at PRG, easy stroll through bustling and very attractive transit area toward connecting gate. Time for a draft Pilsner Urquell (still among the best IMO) and it's time to board the clone of our first plane.
Monday 18 April, PRG-IST, OK434, 15DF Dep 19:15 Arr 22:45
Virtually the identical experience to the first flight - J empty, light load in Y. Drinks, hot meal (this time chicken over multi-colored noodles, vegetable salad, different gelatin-fruit-topped cake.) I picked up the entrée dish (so as not to noodle my shirt, a near-inevitable in-flight practice) and below it was a slip of paper with a drawing of a pig with a red line through it. Ah - en route to a Muslim country, no pork on board. A small thing maybe but I thought it showed consideration for other cultures.
(We fly on Alaska Airlines a lot and I am still rather put off by the in-flight prayer that comes gratis with every "meal" served both front and back. I'm not anti-prayer, but how are Buddhists or Hindus supposed to react to an excerpt from Psalms being served up with their snack? Oh well.)
Landing in dark Istanbul on time, nice smiley buh-byes from cabin crew. Honestly, quite a good experience, confirming things I had heard about Czech.
I had a brain cramp and forgot that one is to queue for a visa before presenting oneself to passport control, so after waiting in line for the non-smiling gent in the uniform we were barked at in the general direction of the visa desk over there. I had insufficient dollars for the two $20 visas (Turkish visas priced according to your passport - nothing to lots according to their Visa Yield Management algorithms). So I asked if he'd take Pounds. He grudgingly agreed and I was sure a double-conversion rip was in the offing, but then I handed him Clydesdale Bank notes (Scottish) and he looked at them like they were dirty postcards. No way, Charlie. Then Ms. 'Loo to the rescue with $40 in Real Money and we got glued-in visas and lots of stamping action and we were in Turkey.
Istanbul interlude: Neither of us had been here before and it was too bad that we didn't have more time. Stayed at a small hotel (Angels' Home) in the Old Town, awakened by off-key muzzein from the Blue Mosque (200 yards from hotel) and nearby rooster at 5. By this time, with one-hour-per-night time changes on the ship, then 2 hours UK-Turkey (not to mention long nights in Edinburgh) we were getting pretty zonked clock-wise.
The first morning we had the hotel get us a cab and we went to the British Airways office, located way out on the outskirts of the city in an area of new office towers and other such icons. Had to pass metal detectors, then surrender our passports at the building security desk in exchange for pass cards that operated the secondary gates and lift buttons - sheesh. Sent by the security desk to the 19th floor, which turned out to be a mining equipment distributor that spoke - oh, say - no English, then I looked on my cheat sheet and noted that BA was on the 17th floor, no problem.
I don't want to go into it at great length, but we wanted to pick up our RTW tickets from the BA office rather than the airport counter, so that I could personally thank one of the reps there, who had put up with my changing, on-again, off-again attempts at finalizing our RTW itinerary over a period of three months this last winter. Sure enough, it was worth the visit - she was a charming, professional, helpful person who, if the BA brass have any sense in their heads, ought to have a good future with the airline. I plan to write to BA to commend her patience and overall professional demeanor, coupled with her competence and good humor.
Anyway, she handed over an envelope with two wads of tickets inside along with credit card receipts and printed itins, wished us bon voyage, and we returned to the waiting cab who took us back to the Sultanahmet in typical Istanbul-taxi style. Oy.
The rest of that day we marched around the old town - Great Bazaar, Egyptian Bazaar, trams, plenty of offers for rugs, rings, gold… love it. All we ended up buying was a scarf for Herself, a couple of T-shirts, and six fezzes so that all the males in our local family could mug for photos, which we did yesterday.
The next day was Mosque and Museum day: Blue Mosque, Ayasofia (major OMG experience), Topkapi Palace. Great food, great people, definitely a city to visit long and hard. Next time.
Oh, and it's huge - 18 million at last estimate, almost up there with Mexico City. Flying out the next morning we overflew the city out over the Black Sea before turning west and it goes on and on and on…
Thursday 21 April, IST-LHR, BA675, 3AC Dep 8:55 Arr 11:00
The hotel manager (who had picked us up on arrival) drove us out to Attaturk; we got there around 7:15. Curious arrangement - all bags - carryons and checked - are x-rayed on arrival at the airport, then you check in, then you're metal-detected and x-rayed again before passport control. Thus long queues and lots of grunting grannies hefting their portmanteaus onto the x-ray belts.
Check-in at BA desk fast, passports stamped, then on to the BA lounge. The Terraces at IST is fairly small but well equipped, even unto the recorded bird noises playing on the speakers. Good coffee, some decent Turkish bread/buns, small untouched booze collection, fresh-squeezed OJ that went down a treat.
Boarding on time, then the Captain comes on the blower. Brussels says our slot is not available, so we're on a one-hour-fifty-minute gate hold. Say what? Doesn't this plane take off at the same time every day? Not that we're worried - we have a 6-hour layover at Heathrow anyway, but this is a little annoying. Oh well, there's always champagne.
No, wait. After 15 minutes he's back - we're good to go; stow the champers, lads. Push, start, taxi, kazoom, we're off. Now Europe, now Asia, now Black Sea, now Europe…
It was our first time in Club Europe, and at 4 hours in an A320 this has got to be one of the longer segments in this aircraft configuration. The afternoon BA flight is in a 767, but we couldn't make our connection on that one, so it was this buggy.
Beverage service, then a quite large (by our standards) breakfast offering - bowl of tasty raspberry yogurt, fruit plate, sticky bun, coffee etc. I'm thinking that's okay, then they come around with scrambled eggs, sausages, potato diskette, more buns/bread offerings, more champagne, more tea/coffee… and so it goes. No choices that I was aware of, but quantity aplenty.
There was only one drawback to this comfy scene (the A/C seats in CE are quite acceptable with the spacer between them; on the DEF side there are middle seats that I would not be happy at all occupying on a 4-hour flight in J.) The gent in front of me finished his meal by inhaling it, then pushed the recline button and tried to compress my orange juice glass into smithereens. I rescued it, but the seat pitch and degree of recline meant in order for me to read my book I had to recline my own seat so much that it was annoying the passenger behind me, and so on. I don't know what the pitch is but I'm guessing 35 inches? Whatever, it seems rather inadequate for business class on such a long flight. End of rant.
Meal service complete, we got the one-size-fits all IFE program, featuring BBC news from the night before, some TV comedies and a feature… National Treasure! Oh boy, what a treat! But sadly, too much time had been given to US and BBC sitcoms before the movie started, so upon entering the LHR stack the movie was terminated just as Nicholas Cage was about to be caught in the…
Landing was more or less on time, easy transfer through the fast-track line at the T1 Connections Centre to the T4 shuttle. Then to the Terraces at the Gates 1-6 end of T4 for some coffee, then herself says she wants to do some duty free therapy and get a massage at Molton Brown, so we shift to the other Terraces by Gate 10, where we bivouac for what will be a 5-hour period before our onward flight. She is massaged; we both shower at the miraculous M-B spa. Talk about a perk - this one really takes the cake.
The lounge is quite full but given the length of our occupancy we're able to use it to the fullest - food, drink, computers… by far the best time I've had at LHR in a good many years. I still don't like the airport very much, but this stay was quite tolerable.
Thursday 21 April LHR-YVR, BA085, 61JK Dep 17:10 Arr 18:35
Never rode upstairs on a 747. Very pleasant. Our NCW seats were not among those that have been refreshed; for example my tray table wouldn't stay in the "holding groove" on the opposite side armrest (if you get my meaning) thus had to be balanced on my knees; no big deal, but the seats were definitely showing wear.
My carryon just fit in the overhead bin, but the coolest thing were the little lockers next to the windows - great storage spaces for our headphones, books, other in-flight necessities. Handy for drinks, too, since the little fold-down drink shelf thingies at my seat were also worn out and listing and would send one's champagne, gin and tonic, or Irn Bru (just kidding) into one's reclined lap. So the storage bin lid served nicely to hold pre- and in-flight beverages and other goodies.
The 5 PM takeoff meant it was dinnertime right around Glasgow, so herewith the menu, copied and pasted (without permission - forgive me) from GBOAC's LGW-MCO trip report on this very board.
--
STARTERS
Ballottine of salmon with herb creme fraiche or
Artichoke and roast vegetable salad with tomato and basil dressing
Fresh seasonal salad served with vinaigrette
MAIN
Pan-seared fillet of beet with cracked black pepper sauce and potatoes dauphinoise
King prawn masala
Three cheese tortellini with wild mushrooms and creamy pesto sauce
Marinated corn-fed chicken and roast Mediterranean vegetable salad with lemon tarragon dressing
DESSERT
Tiramisu
Keen's Cheddar and Stilton cheese
Chocolates
WINES
Charles Heidsieck Mis en Cave 2000
Jekel Gravelstone Chardonnay 2002, Monterey County
Pouilly-Fuisse 2002, Marie-Louise Parisot
Gordon Brothers Merlot 2001, Columbia Valley
Chateau Ste. Michelle Syrah 2001, Columbia Valley
Chateau Verdignan 1999, Cru Bourgeois
--
Salmon - good.
Beef - okay
Tiramisu - okay.
Mrs. had the Prawn masala and deemed it tasty but wimpy; I suppose that is to be expected.
Wine - didn't have any but was pleased to see two Washington State vintages listed; the Syrah I know to be quite drinkable. Had I been a Vancouverite returning home, rather than an AAdvantage member only using the YVR service instead of SEA so that I get AA miles, I would be unhappy that so few Euros have twigged onto the most excellent BC wines that are now roaring out of the Okanagan and other BC wine-producing areas. Sometimes news travels slowly.
Then I settled into some IFE time, the system offering a terrific film, National Treasure! Man, what a deal. Also I watched The Village, which IMO should win a prize for the most un-creepy creepy (previous word misspelled intentionally) film of the year, and obvious too; various sitcoms seen en route from Istanbul, drowsiness overcame me, curtain down, noise canceling phones engaged… oh hell, I can't sleep on planes. Ms 'Loo not afflicted in this regard; she slept for 2 or 3 hours on and off. And then we were over a clear-sky Greenland and it was sooo cooool looking down on all that, followed by the Great White North for a few hours, then the Rockies, then more food (go see GBOAC's report for details - same same, except we could have a Danish but no clotted cream - shoot) and finally a spectacular descent into Vancouver, passing over various jagged Coast Range mountaintops at very close range and a 10-minute early landing. Quick passage through the gorgeous (empty) new YVR customs hall-with-waterfall, bags last off (so much for priority tags), out to the street on a glorious 65-degree evening, shuttle to Priceline hotel (not about to drive 3 hours after this trek); room service burger, rehydrate with sweet BC tap water, bed.
Next morning we rented a one-way Chevy for the three-hour drive home; only excitement was an extended bonding with US border folk; evidently the last renter of the car was a person of interest to Homeland Security. Not us, man, so after a sojourn into the Border Blockhouse we were back on dear old Interstate 5, two hours later in the slobbery embrace of Mr. Dog and accumulated bills and offers of interest-free credit cards. And on the TV that night…National Treasure!
Sorry. Just kidding.
I have no idea why Czech Airlines runs two flights a day (some days) between Edinburgh and Prague, but I am thankful they did on the day after the night before. We had originally intended to take the 7 AM flight and lay over in Prague for a few hours, enough time to get downtown and see some sights and a family grave or two, before continuing on to IST on the 7:15 PM flight. The weather forecast and the festivities of Sunday, however, made this plan sound increasingly silly, so in the end we changed to the afternoon flight and canceled the 5 AM wake-up call at the "hotel" Ibis which extorted £70 a night for a room that Accor should be ashamed to have in its catalogue.
Hotel note: Ibis is one of Accor's mid-to-lower-priced brands, so we weren't expecting luxury. The Edinburgh Ibis is in Hunter Square, which surrounds the Tron Church in the Old Town (and the former scene of serious Hogmanay debauchery before Edinburgh discovered that many more people than fit around the Tron would pay real money to come to Scotland in December to get drunk.) This particular property, however, featured mildew in the loo, peeling lead-containing-appearing-ish paint on some of the woodwork (probably not; that's what European Parliaments are for), dirty carpet and lots of scuffs and encrusted substances on the walls. Oh, and smoke filled lounges and surly imported-all-the-way-from-France counterpersons. Want a hair dryer? That'll be an extra £10 on your tab unless you return it to the front desk from whence checked out.
But back to flying. Nobody in J from what I could see, around 20 people in the back of the 737-500. Plane spotless, seats with - could it be? - 32 or 33 inches of legroom in Y? Smiling FAs, reasonable dual-language in-flight magazine. On-time departure, beverage service (no alcohol offered but may have been available) then a no-choice but comprehensive hot meal (on a 2:40 departure, yet.) White meat in brown sauce over long-grain and wild rice, actually quite tasty; shrimp or crab or surimi salad in mayo sauce, various veggies, good rolls, fruit/gelatin topped cake. Nothing to write home about but really quite decent; haven't had a comparable meal in shorthaul Y in the US in years.
On-time landing at PRG, easy stroll through bustling and very attractive transit area toward connecting gate. Time for a draft Pilsner Urquell (still among the best IMO) and it's time to board the clone of our first plane.
Monday 18 April, PRG-IST, OK434, 15DF Dep 19:15 Arr 22:45
Virtually the identical experience to the first flight - J empty, light load in Y. Drinks, hot meal (this time chicken over multi-colored noodles, vegetable salad, different gelatin-fruit-topped cake.) I picked up the entrée dish (so as not to noodle my shirt, a near-inevitable in-flight practice) and below it was a slip of paper with a drawing of a pig with a red line through it. Ah - en route to a Muslim country, no pork on board. A small thing maybe but I thought it showed consideration for other cultures.
(We fly on Alaska Airlines a lot and I am still rather put off by the in-flight prayer that comes gratis with every "meal" served both front and back. I'm not anti-prayer, but how are Buddhists or Hindus supposed to react to an excerpt from Psalms being served up with their snack? Oh well.)
Landing in dark Istanbul on time, nice smiley buh-byes from cabin crew. Honestly, quite a good experience, confirming things I had heard about Czech.
I had a brain cramp and forgot that one is to queue for a visa before presenting oneself to passport control, so after waiting in line for the non-smiling gent in the uniform we were barked at in the general direction of the visa desk over there. I had insufficient dollars for the two $20 visas (Turkish visas priced according to your passport - nothing to lots according to their Visa Yield Management algorithms). So I asked if he'd take Pounds. He grudgingly agreed and I was sure a double-conversion rip was in the offing, but then I handed him Clydesdale Bank notes (Scottish) and he looked at them like they were dirty postcards. No way, Charlie. Then Ms. 'Loo to the rescue with $40 in Real Money and we got glued-in visas and lots of stamping action and we were in Turkey.
Istanbul interlude: Neither of us had been here before and it was too bad that we didn't have more time. Stayed at a small hotel (Angels' Home) in the Old Town, awakened by off-key muzzein from the Blue Mosque (200 yards from hotel) and nearby rooster at 5. By this time, with one-hour-per-night time changes on the ship, then 2 hours UK-Turkey (not to mention long nights in Edinburgh) we were getting pretty zonked clock-wise.
The first morning we had the hotel get us a cab and we went to the British Airways office, located way out on the outskirts of the city in an area of new office towers and other such icons. Had to pass metal detectors, then surrender our passports at the building security desk in exchange for pass cards that operated the secondary gates and lift buttons - sheesh. Sent by the security desk to the 19th floor, which turned out to be a mining equipment distributor that spoke - oh, say - no English, then I looked on my cheat sheet and noted that BA was on the 17th floor, no problem.
I don't want to go into it at great length, but we wanted to pick up our RTW tickets from the BA office rather than the airport counter, so that I could personally thank one of the reps there, who had put up with my changing, on-again, off-again attempts at finalizing our RTW itinerary over a period of three months this last winter. Sure enough, it was worth the visit - she was a charming, professional, helpful person who, if the BA brass have any sense in their heads, ought to have a good future with the airline. I plan to write to BA to commend her patience and overall professional demeanor, coupled with her competence and good humor.
Anyway, she handed over an envelope with two wads of tickets inside along with credit card receipts and printed itins, wished us bon voyage, and we returned to the waiting cab who took us back to the Sultanahmet in typical Istanbul-taxi style. Oy.
The rest of that day we marched around the old town - Great Bazaar, Egyptian Bazaar, trams, plenty of offers for rugs, rings, gold… love it. All we ended up buying was a scarf for Herself, a couple of T-shirts, and six fezzes so that all the males in our local family could mug for photos, which we did yesterday.
The next day was Mosque and Museum day: Blue Mosque, Ayasofia (major OMG experience), Topkapi Palace. Great food, great people, definitely a city to visit long and hard. Next time.
Oh, and it's huge - 18 million at last estimate, almost up there with Mexico City. Flying out the next morning we overflew the city out over the Black Sea before turning west and it goes on and on and on…
Thursday 21 April, IST-LHR, BA675, 3AC Dep 8:55 Arr 11:00
The hotel manager (who had picked us up on arrival) drove us out to Attaturk; we got there around 7:15. Curious arrangement - all bags - carryons and checked - are x-rayed on arrival at the airport, then you check in, then you're metal-detected and x-rayed again before passport control. Thus long queues and lots of grunting grannies hefting their portmanteaus onto the x-ray belts.
Check-in at BA desk fast, passports stamped, then on to the BA lounge. The Terraces at IST is fairly small but well equipped, even unto the recorded bird noises playing on the speakers. Good coffee, some decent Turkish bread/buns, small untouched booze collection, fresh-squeezed OJ that went down a treat.
Boarding on time, then the Captain comes on the blower. Brussels says our slot is not available, so we're on a one-hour-fifty-minute gate hold. Say what? Doesn't this plane take off at the same time every day? Not that we're worried - we have a 6-hour layover at Heathrow anyway, but this is a little annoying. Oh well, there's always champagne.
No, wait. After 15 minutes he's back - we're good to go; stow the champers, lads. Push, start, taxi, kazoom, we're off. Now Europe, now Asia, now Black Sea, now Europe…
It was our first time in Club Europe, and at 4 hours in an A320 this has got to be one of the longer segments in this aircraft configuration. The afternoon BA flight is in a 767, but we couldn't make our connection on that one, so it was this buggy.
Beverage service, then a quite large (by our standards) breakfast offering - bowl of tasty raspberry yogurt, fruit plate, sticky bun, coffee etc. I'm thinking that's okay, then they come around with scrambled eggs, sausages, potato diskette, more buns/bread offerings, more champagne, more tea/coffee… and so it goes. No choices that I was aware of, but quantity aplenty.
There was only one drawback to this comfy scene (the A/C seats in CE are quite acceptable with the spacer between them; on the DEF side there are middle seats that I would not be happy at all occupying on a 4-hour flight in J.) The gent in front of me finished his meal by inhaling it, then pushed the recline button and tried to compress my orange juice glass into smithereens. I rescued it, but the seat pitch and degree of recline meant in order for me to read my book I had to recline my own seat so much that it was annoying the passenger behind me, and so on. I don't know what the pitch is but I'm guessing 35 inches? Whatever, it seems rather inadequate for business class on such a long flight. End of rant.
Meal service complete, we got the one-size-fits all IFE program, featuring BBC news from the night before, some TV comedies and a feature… National Treasure! Oh boy, what a treat! But sadly, too much time had been given to US and BBC sitcoms before the movie started, so upon entering the LHR stack the movie was terminated just as Nicholas Cage was about to be caught in the…
Landing was more or less on time, easy transfer through the fast-track line at the T1 Connections Centre to the T4 shuttle. Then to the Terraces at the Gates 1-6 end of T4 for some coffee, then herself says she wants to do some duty free therapy and get a massage at Molton Brown, so we shift to the other Terraces by Gate 10, where we bivouac for what will be a 5-hour period before our onward flight. She is massaged; we both shower at the miraculous M-B spa. Talk about a perk - this one really takes the cake.
The lounge is quite full but given the length of our occupancy we're able to use it to the fullest - food, drink, computers… by far the best time I've had at LHR in a good many years. I still don't like the airport very much, but this stay was quite tolerable.
Thursday 21 April LHR-YVR, BA085, 61JK Dep 17:10 Arr 18:35
Never rode upstairs on a 747. Very pleasant. Our NCW seats were not among those that have been refreshed; for example my tray table wouldn't stay in the "holding groove" on the opposite side armrest (if you get my meaning) thus had to be balanced on my knees; no big deal, but the seats were definitely showing wear.
My carryon just fit in the overhead bin, but the coolest thing were the little lockers next to the windows - great storage spaces for our headphones, books, other in-flight necessities. Handy for drinks, too, since the little fold-down drink shelf thingies at my seat were also worn out and listing and would send one's champagne, gin and tonic, or Irn Bru (just kidding) into one's reclined lap. So the storage bin lid served nicely to hold pre- and in-flight beverages and other goodies.
The 5 PM takeoff meant it was dinnertime right around Glasgow, so herewith the menu, copied and pasted (without permission - forgive me) from GBOAC's LGW-MCO trip report on this very board.
--
STARTERS
Ballottine of salmon with herb creme fraiche or
Artichoke and roast vegetable salad with tomato and basil dressing
Fresh seasonal salad served with vinaigrette
MAIN
Pan-seared fillet of beet with cracked black pepper sauce and potatoes dauphinoise
King prawn masala
Three cheese tortellini with wild mushrooms and creamy pesto sauce
Marinated corn-fed chicken and roast Mediterranean vegetable salad with lemon tarragon dressing
DESSERT
Tiramisu
Keen's Cheddar and Stilton cheese
Chocolates
WINES
Charles Heidsieck Mis en Cave 2000
Jekel Gravelstone Chardonnay 2002, Monterey County
Pouilly-Fuisse 2002, Marie-Louise Parisot
Gordon Brothers Merlot 2001, Columbia Valley
Chateau Ste. Michelle Syrah 2001, Columbia Valley
Chateau Verdignan 1999, Cru Bourgeois
--
Salmon - good.
Beef - okay
Tiramisu - okay.
Mrs. had the Prawn masala and deemed it tasty but wimpy; I suppose that is to be expected.
Wine - didn't have any but was pleased to see two Washington State vintages listed; the Syrah I know to be quite drinkable. Had I been a Vancouverite returning home, rather than an AAdvantage member only using the YVR service instead of SEA so that I get AA miles, I would be unhappy that so few Euros have twigged onto the most excellent BC wines that are now roaring out of the Okanagan and other BC wine-producing areas. Sometimes news travels slowly.
Then I settled into some IFE time, the system offering a terrific film, National Treasure! Man, what a deal. Also I watched The Village, which IMO should win a prize for the most un-creepy creepy (previous word misspelled intentionally) film of the year, and obvious too; various sitcoms seen en route from Istanbul, drowsiness overcame me, curtain down, noise canceling phones engaged… oh hell, I can't sleep on planes. Ms 'Loo not afflicted in this regard; she slept for 2 or 3 hours on and off. And then we were over a clear-sky Greenland and it was sooo cooool looking down on all that, followed by the Great White North for a few hours, then the Rockies, then more food (go see GBOAC's report for details - same same, except we could have a Danish but no clotted cream - shoot) and finally a spectacular descent into Vancouver, passing over various jagged Coast Range mountaintops at very close range and a 10-minute early landing. Quick passage through the gorgeous (empty) new YVR customs hall-with-waterfall, bags last off (so much for priority tags), out to the street on a glorious 65-degree evening, shuttle to Priceline hotel (not about to drive 3 hours after this trek); room service burger, rehydrate with sweet BC tap water, bed.
Next morning we rented a one-way Chevy for the three-hour drive home; only excitement was an extended bonding with US border folk; evidently the last renter of the car was a person of interest to Homeland Security. Not us, man, so after a sojourn into the Border Blockhouse we were back on dear old Interstate 5, two hours later in the slobbery embrace of Mr. Dog and accumulated bills and offers of interest-free credit cards. And on the TV that night…National Treasure!
Sorry. Just kidding.
Apr 25, 2005, 11:57 pm
#5
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Stockholm/Tokyo/Los Angeles
Programs: AA EXP, Hyatt Platinum, SPG Platinum
Posts: 558
This is really great reading....thanks so much for the excellent writing so far. I'm looking forward to more, and I'm curious when your next flight is (unless I missed that somewhere).
Apr 26, 2005, 2:17 am
#6
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: LAX
Posts: 282
Fantastic report. The QM2 must be great. I have had the pleasure of several pond crossings on the QE2. I loved the "over Asia, over Europe, over Asia departure from IST. I guess we will be following your adventure for some time to come. When is your next leg to JFK? Keep us informed.
Again, a great report and a wonderful read. ^ ^ ^
Again, a great report and a wonderful read. ^ ^ ^
Apr 26, 2005, 2:37 am
#7
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Chicago
Programs: Formerly: UA 1K, SPG Gold, Marriott Silver, FT Addicts Anonymous; Currently: Grounded
Posts: 829
Reading all these trip reports makes me want to travel even more.
Great reading, I think IST would be a cool place to stay for a bit.
Great reading, I think IST would be a cool place to stay for a bit.
Apr 26, 2005, 8:55 am
#8
Moderator, OneWorld
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: SEA
Programs: RAA RIP; AA ExEXP
Posts: 11,803
Originally Posted by bombayhog
This is really great reading....thanks so much for the excellent writing so far. I'm looking forward to more, and I'm curious when your next flight is (unless I missed that somewhere).
Link to next segment.
Last edited by Gardyloo; Jun 16, 2005 at 8:45 am