USA & Canada 14.9. - 5.10.02

Saturday, 14.9.

We flew via London - BA had a special deal going which included the hire car in the US. Departure in Germany was something of a disappointment since it turned out that BA had its very own departure area which DID NOT INCLUDE A LOUNGE! Majorly pissed off I had to buy an overpriced coffee and sit with the great unwashed.

Flight to LHR was pleasant enough in that the FAs were friendly and there was a Chardonnay to be had (French, alas) and the snack consisted of salad with fish cakes - which is bad news if one does not eat fish (me!). Anyhow, the transit signs at Heathrow were legible enough, and I had to migrate from T1 to T4. This was accomplished by means of a bus ride which I thought at one point was going to end up in the centre of London - that's how far apart the terminals were.

Once there, however (through yet another security check) I found that there was indeed a lounge available for mere BA Club World pax. There, I stocked up on the little packs of chocolate chip shortcakes (which should now last for the first few day's worth of tea in the US). After a short stay in the lounge it was time to board, where we were confronted with what was for me an entirely new and novel way of seating: The 2 pax sitting next to each other are actually facing each other, offset of course (no entangled feet), so that half the pax in Club Class are flying facing the rear of the plane. Each seat sits in a kind of cradle, walled off to the rear, as it were, so that one is never bothered by the guy on front of you reclining. Speaking of reclining: there is a little footrest which is located about a metre (!) away from one. Lower that and you may sit with your feet up and legs stretched out! It gets better: you can recline the seat so that it is totally flat, joins the footrest, and produces a perfectly acceptable bed! I wonder what First must be like if Business has so much space... Then there's an oversized personal video screen, and 18 channels to choose from (via remote control which snaps out of your seat; turn the remote round and it is a telephone). There are some basic video games (pacman like), and power plugs for your notebook. The only thing they haven't got yet is Internet.

As you might have gathered from this description I find the accommodation arrangements rather acceptable.

Now we need to satisfy Danny's curiosity - lunch:

Loch Fyne smoked salmon, or
Marinated mushrooms and feta cheese with fresh rocket.
Fresh seasonal salad with vinaigrette.

Seared fillet steak with Worcestershire jus and seasonal vegetables, or
Chicken biryani with fried shallots and coriander, or
Baked cod with rarebit topping, spinach and parsley mash.
Roasted vegetable salad with Mozzarella cheese.

Summer berry trifle, or
Worcester Gold, Somerset Camembert and Shropshire Blue cheese.
Fresh fruit, coffee, tea.

Afternoon Tea will be Egg and chive brioche roll, smoked salmon and cucumber on wholemeal bread, or
Grated Cheddar cheese and pickle brioche roll, chicken and tomato chutney on malt bread.
Warm fruit scones served with Cornish clotted cream and strawberry preserve.
Afternoon tea pastries, coffee, teas.

Now, all this food is fine and dandy (you notice the distinct English flavour in that selection, whilst trying to adopt from other culinary areas?) it would be nothing without a drop to go with it. The list includes:

Charles Heidsieck Champagne

White wines:
Bonterra Chardonnay ("Organic Chardonnay from the Fetzer winery in Mendocino county")
Geyser Peak Sonoma County Chardonnay ("full of creamy, textured stone fruit flavours and spicy oak")
Chateau Thieuley, Cuvee Francis Courselle ("one of the best of a new generation of wines from Bordeaux, a classic blend of Sauvignon and Semillion")

Red wines:
Ravenswood California Zinfandel ("California's native grape from one of the trendiest wineries - succulent mouth-filling bramble fruit with a hint of oak")
Rodney Strong Sonoma County Merlot ("An elegant wine with fresh berry flavours and a smooth, velvety texture from some of the best sites in California")
Beronia Rioja reserve 1996.

Of course, I rejoiced, picturing myself sampling one wine after another (with the possible exception of the European ones) . However, one mustn't forget that BA is a *British* airline. Thus it turned out that these wines might be on the wine list but weren't *actually* available. On the other hand, there was a Chilean Chardonnay which wasn't half bad. Plus, it turned out that the Geyser Peak Sonoma County Chardonnay was available after all, from First. And this was a most enjoyable little drop.

There was another, most enjoyable little irony. One of the films was a documentary on Terry Gilliam's attempt to make a film of Don Quichotte, which was a complete disaster because every possible thing that could go wrong did go wrong. This docu was supposed to be shown on the plane's channel 13, but the channel didn't work and the film was defective...

Well, air travel remains air travel, and we arrive suitably dishevelled. A surprise was the very smooth and fast entry in to the US - hardly a queue, only one question ("Why do you want to come to the US?"). Quite nice terminal (T5 at ORD), shuttle bus to the car rental, and there we were given a choice of cars ("See those? Pick any one."). It was dark by now , but the hotel was close (pre-booked the first night, to save the hassle). The Hyatt Regency O'Hare turned out to be rather less Hyatt-like than advertised, but what the hell. It's 8 pm local, but 3 am body time, so we're somewhat jet-lagged...

Sunday, 15.9.

Chicago turned out much more impressive than I thought. Usually I'm not all that keen on American cities (much of a muchness?) but there are exceptions like San Francisco, and Chicago. Michigan Avenue, of course, is the most representative part - luxurious hotels and condos facing a park, with the Lake right behind it; but the rest of the city, too, seems worth spending a week in.

Today, however, we turned North, towards Milwaukee (South Side and Buddy Guy's Blues Club will have to wait.). Milwaukee (with a mere 1.5m people) was much neater and pleasanter than one would expect from the Machine Building Town US, even after the major breweries closed down. I even passed the Harley Davidson factory - a nice, neat, clean-looking affair (somehow I'd always imagined it as some grubby redbrick 19th century holdover...). Unfortunately, the town as a bit on the quiet side (Sunday) and none of the recommended restaurants were open or to be found.

So we carried on up North to a place called Kohler (the whole area is crawling with German / Scandinavian / Polish names) where we tried The American Club, a National Heritage Site, supposedly the nicest place to stay in the whole region. We thought that it can't hurt just to have a look... Next morning we booked a second night.

Turns out, Kohler is a sort of company town (Kohler being THE manufacturer of bathroom stuff - sinks, tubs, taps, the lot) and was only founded in 1917 around the factory. So it's all very neat and tidy - planned, not organically messy. The hotel's excellent, to be sure (it started off as housing for immigrants in the 19th century but looks much more the English Manor Estate now).

"America's Finest: the Top 5 Public Restrooms

The Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, was named the No. 1 public restroom in the United States, reports CNN. The Mediterranean-style bathroom won the honour in a listing made by Cintas Corp., the largest uniform supplier and provider of restroom hygiene services in the US.

The contest attracted 200 entrants and thousands of voters participated on the Cintas Web site.

The winning loo is pleased with the honour. "Where else can you use a restroom and simultaneously pretend you are a pharaoh amongst the pyramids, or a Caesar surrounded by Rome's classical architecture," says Ruth Kohler, the centre's director.

The winners were chosen based on originality, unique style or theme, exceptional hygiene maintenance, and free access to the public.”

Source: http://www.thecleanzine.com

There's no phone reception... I'll be isolated - aargh!

Monday, 16.9.

The day was spent quietly and most pleasantly in Kohler and Sheboygan (the locals remember the name with "She Had A Boy Again"). The weather, luckily, is holding up just fine - a pleasant 21° during the day, even though the nights tend to get chilly. There was a lovely golf course (Whispering Straits, part of the hotel) which was a very demanding links course, very hilly to boot, and so exclusive that there were no golf carts, nobody carried their own bags, but everyone had to take a white-clad caddie...

Tuesday, 17.9.02

A leisurely drive north past Manitowoc (eerily quiet for a Tuesday midday; claim to fame of this town is an old W.W.II submarine) and Kewaunee into Door County , a peninsula at the Northern edge of Wisconsin. Very romantic place, one of those remote corners where time seems to have stood still (well, sort of - there are no standard motel chains in sight, and that means something around here!). We ended up in a very quaint 1950's sort of place right by the water, a bit like Bate's Motel. It's wonderfully quiet, you can sit by the seashore and watch the sunset, sipping a glass of wine, and just forget about everything. A dinner consisting of baguette, some local cheese (this is farm country, so they're proud of their cheese), and a bottle of Australian "Yellow Tail" Cabernet Sauvignon (excellent!) seems the most wonderful way to end an evening - beats any restaurant!

Miscellaneous asides: the whole area so far is extremely flat. There hasn't been a decent hill in sight all the way since Chicago. Another thing: since Chicago we haven't seen a black face anywhere. De facto segregation still seems very much a part of today's US of A. Also, I had no idea there was such a thing as dried cherries - to be used just like raisins...

Wednesday, 18.9.02

A tad cloudy this morning - and it turned rainy during the day. Never mind, we did the American thing, and toured the rest of Door County by car. Real purdy - a bit reminiscent of New England, lots of farms with red painted barns (red? No idea. Some collective quasi-Scandinavian subconsciousness?), a lot of quaintness, cute little bays, forests, with more than a hint of autumn in the air (but no proper Indian Summer yet), plus some impromptu shopping (jeans!). Whilst we were looking for a local attraction (a lighthouse) we thought it a good idea to ask for directions from a cop who sat in his car next to the highway - only to discover that there wasn’t a cop in the car but a mannequin! Just the thing to fool speeding tourists... Thus the day was pleasantly spent, still far out of reach of any GMS network...

Thursday 19.9.

Time to move on, and we drove first back down South to Green Bay to find our way off the Door County peninsula, then back North past Marinette and Escabana to Munising. Now we were in Michigan, in a different time zone (Eastern Time) and on different shores: Lake Superior. A mere 250 miles crawled along at 55 mph on vast empty stretches of road... I was sorely tempted to speed up a bit (something reasonable, maybe 100 mph) but then I remembered being arrested by this cop in Texas - enough to set the cruise control at 60 mph and take things slowly.

Munising is your archetypical small town, USA. It did have a nice little motel at the edge of the lake though, and we even ventured into a local restaurant - only to marvel at the kitschy decor, people in baseball hats (worn indoors), and very wide bottoms. As usual, the bill is dumped on one's table barely a second after one has finished one's plate. US restaurants are not designed to sit and enjoy a whole evening. Eat, pay, and get out, and by 10 pm the place shuts anyway. Ah well, when in Rome... There’s also an Indian casino not far away. We dutifully fed the slot machines with nothing to show for it. Casinos are easy - walk in, deliver your money, walk out again.

Friday 20.9.

"Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore", at the edge of Lake Superior, in the Upper Peninsular of Michigan, can be crossed by car - through lovely tunnels made up of lush trees, with lots and lots of lakeside spots to stop, sit, and enjoy the quiet... So wonderful to be away from the noise and bustle of major cities!

The border to Canada was crossed at Sault St. Marie, where the US authorities were nonexistent. Apparently they're only interested in who enters rather than leaves the country. Sault is an industrial town, completely uninteresting to the occasional tourist - unless one takes a keen interest in the locks allowing ship traffic between the Lakes. So we fled - even the enormous shopping mall did not hold us. It got late, so we took a chance and turned off onto St. Joseph Island.

The Intrepid Explorer was pleased, and somewhat startled, to find an island which time seems to have forgotten, an island which barely rates a mention in missives submitted by previous travellers, an island which seems populated by a mere handful of locals who tend to hide in wooden dwellings hidden deep inside vast forests which seem to cover the whole isle. Your faithful reporter had been forced to retreat to this far corner of the North American continent by approaching darkness and a dire lack of suitable accommodation elsewhere. However, he did discover, after erring about for many miles, an unprepossessing small place which, as common as it seemed from the outside, was actually most pleasant on the inside, basic, certainly, but roomy and clean, facing a garden consisting mainly of proud old trees, and extremely quiet. The Intrepid Explorer finds that quietness is one of the attributes most appreciated on this particular trip. Normally quite content to nourish himself with provisions acquired at a local trading post he nevertheless ventured into a local tavern after having claimed his bedstead, but must admit that this had not been a wise choice - the tavern, that is, for it boasted a mere minimum of decor, that by itself not necessarily being a drawback but what minimum there was, was also arranged in a haphazard and unappealing way; further, other - native - patrons thought it perfectly in order to entertain themselves with voices raised to such a level that it became difficult to concentrate on one's own conversation and also forced one to listen to the trite banalities which these locals thought it so important to convey to each other. Further, the innkeeper only had some local brew available, his excuse being that this was the end of the season...

However, the whole next day was spent by the Intrepid Explorer hacking his way through the dense bushland of St Joseph island, discovering the beauty of this spot, and learning all about how the local fort saved Western Canada from those ghastly Americans down south during the war of 1812. It is always fascinating to discover how history can be perceived in a completely different manner, depending of how you look at it.

Life seems so full of odd little things: Richard's Landing , a tiny little village on St Joseph, actually boasts a grocery store, and, as so often the case, it was run by Koreans. Imagine my surprise when a young Korean girl at the checkout counter starts to talk to me in fluent German! Turns out she lives in Frankfurt (!), does her A-levels, and is currently visiting her aunt and uncle in Canada. Her uncle had spent some six months in Frankfurt, but it was "too quiet", as he said grinningly. Yeah, right. In Richard's Landing the rising of the moon seems to be the most exciting thing happening all day.

Sunday, 22.9.

It's raining. And it didn’t let up all day as we drove from St Joseph to Manitoulin Island - apparently the largest sweetwater island anywhere, plus the island with the most lakes amongst all islands on lakes. Or some such. It also has a lake called Manitou Lake, and is home of a First Nation (as they call Indian tribes over here). It seems the Brits quickly realised the usefulness of auxiliary forces in their fight against those revolting Americans, and in turn honoured the Indians by recognising each tribe as a separate nation. Canadians have a reputation of being ever so nice, so they bent over backwards to make sure the Indians are as happy as possible, considering they robbed their land in the first place...

We ended up at a place recommended by our guide book (Rock Garden Terrace Resort; I'm a little puzzled about the local usage of the word "resort" - it certainly has nothing to do with the Ozzie resorts I got to know!); quasi-Bavarian, of all places! Not that we want to encourage the foreign perception of Germans as comic -book clichés of Lederhosen-wearing rednecks - but it was pouring down with rain, plus one has to drive for miles on end (actually, kilometres in Canada) before one encounters any sort of human habitation of any sort, and the rooms were comfy enough. Dinner was included - a proper Wiener Schnitzel at last!

Monday, 23.9. The sun is out! So we changed accommodation, and toured Manitoulin Island. Very quiet little country places, hamlets really, picturesque bays, the onset of an Indian Summer - absolutely gorgeous! Especially the evening sun bathing an autumn countryside in warm, full light, with imposing cloud formations above, all against a background of endless water - lakes over lakes everywhere... just the thing the doctor ordered. I've no idea if Manitoulin is on the web; I only recently discovered it's existence.

Some miscellanea:

• At one point on St Joseph there was a speed sign limiting one's speed to 19.5 kmh. Eh?
• Drivers are more European than American: they speed more and are less considerate.
• Satellite dishes can be seen, and they are quite large and at a flat angle, pointing more to the horizon rather than the sky.
• This is a dry county; wines to be had only at liquor stores and not at the supermarket. Am currently on a SA Cape Province red Cabernet Sauvignon / Merlot - a most becoming drop!
• Most motels do have coffee makers in the rooms; the coffee itself invariably comes in bags (like tea bags) so it is advisable to bring your own coffee.
• Distances on the ubiquitous ads along the road are often indicated in minutes, not km.
• Out in the country, pick-ups and 4wd are more common than sedans.
• Roads are all numbered / named and easy to find but towns are hardly ever signposted - so as you enter a town you need to look for "Midville Safeway" or "Newtown Chamber of Commerce".

Tuesday, 24.9.

A 250 km drive to Parry Sound (back through Espanola on to the highway). We decided not to take the ferry to Owen Sound - driving promises more stops along the way. Unfortunately, rain sets in, and continues on and off until Parry Sound. Sudbury along the way was described as a "modern and bustling town, world-leader in ecology-friendly timber industry." However, they neglected to say it's also very ugly. In Parry Sound there were hardly any hotels with "a view on the water", so the local info directed us to the Tapatoo Resort on Otter Lake (there are literally thousands of lakes here). A touch larger than we like it, but cosy (non-smoking) rooms with a fireplace (gas), and a balcony facing the woods, the lake and a little beach (Tim might want to take out a kayak...). And the sun is back! I'm sitting on said balcony and getting hot!

Wednesday, 25.9.

What can I say? I sat at the lakefront this morning, enjoying the sun, reading a bit, and making silent fun of American tourists... why are they always so loud?

Siesta, tour of Parry Sound... watching bushpilots landing their little Beavers on the water, a Coast Guard cutter steaming away, and apart from that - lots of water, crested by thick forests, and the sun shining benignly on everything..... <sigh of contentment>.

Thursday, 26.9.

Totally foggy this morning. Could hardly see 100 metres which makes for fun driving. But the sun then burned it all off, so by 9.30h it was clear again.

Off we were towards Midland, where they recreated / rebuilt "St. Marie among the Hurons", a Jesuit settlement built in 1639, which survived for a whole ten years before they were pushed out by the Iroquois who didn't really see the point. Good on them. I don't like missionaries of any sort, especially the sort who introduce new diseases among the locals and wipe out half the population. Still, it was interesting to see how they lived. There might be something here .

We then thought that Owen Sound might be a good place to stay. The drive from Midland to Owen Sound took us through a rather heavily populated coastal area, which somehow reminded me of the Italian Rivera - lots of touristy thingies stretched along the beach. Driving was tiresome since there was a lot of traffic at a slow pace. Some keen sheriffs at work, no doubt.

Owen Sound is a lot less interesting than it sounds. Pretty utilitarian. Will not stay a second night, but couldn't be bothered to carry on either since tired from the day.

Friday, 27.9.

Today was a great exercise in new geography. The trip took us through Southampton and Kincardine, through Dublin, Perth, Stratford, Shakespeare, Hamburg, Baden, Petersburg and Waterloo. Turnoffs led to Lucknow or Zurich, London or Dresden . Somehow, the old Indian names did not survive here. Ah - one mustn't call them Indians any more, they're not born in India, after all. Nowadays they're called native or First Nations.

Kitchener was not a great bundle of joy - a lot of traffic, and plenty of confusion since street names exist several times: Kitchener and Waterloo have grown together over time and it's difficult to judge in which city you happen to be. We saw a lovely place in Elora , an old mill converted to an Inn, but it being the weekend it was booked already. So we settled in St. Jacobs , in Mennonite country, and expect a Mennonite Farmers Market tomorrow - horse buggies and all.

Saturday, 28.9.

Oh what a lovely day! The sun is out in force, a lovely 20° or so. This being farm country we investigated the world-renowned Waterloo Farmer's Market (well, the locals think it is world -renowned, anyway). A few Mennonite ladies selling home-made salami, and many, many stalls with all sorts of stuff - including Indian-run (Indian as in from India) stalls with cheap clothing. Then even more food outlets of any description. I'm not surprised that 75% of Americans (and I include Canadians) are overweight or obese - just watching the masses stuffing themselves with slices of pizza, hot dogs, etc makes you put on weight.

We stroll through St. Jacobs (a, as the locals call it, "quaint" village - the quaintness being that it's actually suitable for pedestrians!) (one of the shops was selling odds and sods, including street signs saying "Harley Parking Only - all others will be crushed" or "Biker Babe Lane"), have a (weak) coffee, listen to street "country" musician, then idle over the countryside, to Elora and back, with a picnic at the riverside.

Sunday, 29.9.

After due consideration we decided to stay yet another night here. Even though it was cloudy in the morning, the weather improved steadily during the day, and turned sunny and pleasant in the evening. We ambled once more through Kitchener / Waterloo, nearly got lost again, and once more drove around Guelph, Fergus, Elmira, Elora and St. Jacobs, stopping here and there, enjoying the countryside. I was once more impressed by the friendliness of the locals. We met a group of four sisters who met here for a bike tour, had a lovely chat with them, and on another occasion were told all about Canada from a more nationalistic Canadian (who was not too keen on the English attitude towards the "colonies") and who enlightened us about the "National Plan" which which the Natives (Indians) receive all sorts of benefits, and who had a bit of a rant about politicians (seems they are the same everywhere).

Monday, 30.9.

Toronto seemed a bit daunting to us, having got so used to the wilderness, the wide spaces, lakes and forests. It's a different universe - all of a sudden the gently rolling farmlands have disappeared, and we were erring about in a concrete jungle. Admittedly, Toronto does not seem half bad for a big city. One of the striking aspects is the sudden mix of ethnic groups (previously everything was 99.9% WASP), and for the first time I saw some halfway decent looking girls (as opposed to the slightly overweight dumpy farming girls; amazing really, all the beauties must congregate in California. Or something...). Parking was well nigh impossible - again a huge contrast to the expansive parking lots available elsewhere - and if there wasn't a lot, then there were no other cars, and you could stop anywhere. I stopped anyway to have a coffee at a streetside cafe (one of the few times we ever saw one of those; they don't do espresso out in farm country) and promptly picked up a parking ticket. Oh well. We'll see if they pursue me to Frankfurt, or deny entry the next time round...

Next stop Niagara On The Lake, about an hour down the QEW. Good Lord, was there ever a lot of traffic! And everybody was speeding - 100 kmh allowed, and they did 120-130 kmh. Piddling by German standards where mopeds go at that speed but extraordinary for North America.

Niagara On The Lake is actually a very nice little resort town, very cute, prim and proper, with some amazing houses, no, palaces by the lakefront. The high and mighty of Toronto must live here.

Then down the Parkway to Niagara proper - a very beautiful drive. Niagara was another surprise - I had expected a booming tourist industry with all its negative side effects, but the site is actually quite tastefully done - a green park-like promenade along the falls with wonderful views. Standing just a few metres away from where the water tumbles into the depths one can feel and hear the sheer power of those masses of water going down. Watching the falls became quite mesmerising...

Tuesday, 1.10. Overnight at Niagara Falls, then down the I90 to Eerie, South on the I79, then West on the I80 / I76 to Akron, then South to Amish country (Berlin, Millersburg). Some 400 km all in.

Wednesday, 2.10.

Are having a lovely time here! Wonderful countryside. Country roads clogged with buggies (did you know there are many types? 2-seaters, 4 or 6 seaters, "hacks" (!) aka pickups to carry your pig to the market, even "sports" models - light 2 -wheelers to zoom along?) Weird people, make the Canadian Mennonites look normal. They even speak German, albeit a mediaeval dialect no modern German can understand any more... Do not allow drink in restaurants or supermarkets but get drunk quite happily on their festivities...

Amish are in fact Mennonites too, but of a different order. There's dozens of orders, it gets very confusing theologically (there's some deeper theological meaning behind beards and buggies and not using "electric", but I haven't really figured that one out. The non-Amish locals haven't, either.) I also thought they're in PA, but it seems they moved because PA got too crowded and "worldy"; the Canadian Mennonites moved to Waterloo from PA after 1776 - loyalist, you see.

Was at a true and honest farmer's auction today - you know, the sort where the auctioneer keeps talking in an *extremely* fast monotone, and bidders just twitch their fingers? It really does happen that way.

Thursday, 3.10.

Today we drove some 400 miles from Walnut Creek, Ohio, to Saugatuck, Michigan. The weather has turned cold, thanks to, apparently, Lili the Hurricane. Driving in Michigan is *way* different to Ohio! Speed limit is jacked up to 70 mph, which means everyone does 80, and more. They don't indicate as much, which is fun when a truck pulls into your lane at short notice - say, 10 metres. They don't keep their distance, which is even more fun when said truck fills your rear-view mirror at 80 mph. Apart from that, the countryside has also changed dramatically: from the gently rolling hills of Ohio it's become the flat plains of the Great Lakes area again. The people are different, too: more "city-like", more aggressive, more "in-your-face", more worldy than in Holmes County.

Friday, 4.10.

Saugatuck is a cute little town, "quaint", a resort place for those escaping Chicago for the weekend. It would be nice for us, too, if it wasn't for Lili. It's pouring down with rain, it's dark as night. It's even worse in Chicago, apparently, according to the Weather Channel. However, there’s also a beach which makes you think you’re actually at the edge of the sea...

The drive from Saugatuck was easy and without problems - but that was no doubt due to the fact we left Saugatuck in plenty of time (if you're in a rush, there *will* be a jam on the motorway!).

However, for someone used to the wide open country the motorways around Chicago can be daunting: 5 lanes each way, everybody speeding, especially the trucks, with you in the middle trying to read the road signs and the map at the same time and and searching for the right exit... I managed to switch several Interstates successfully, but was defeated by local terminology - all over the US motorway rest stops are called rest stops. Not here: here they're called "Oasis". Why, pray, why???

Our car had developed a slow flat, i.e. I had to add some air every few days. I dutifully reported this when I returned the car, was told that it would be taken care of, and a few minutes later I saw our car being given to another customer - same tyre and all.

~~~

Am now in the BA lounge at ORD. No newspapers. Yes, really, no newspapers! However, they do have a Rosemount Estate Chardonnay. Still, as so often, this is the boring bit about travel - hanging around airports.

~~~

The flight back to London takes place in a 747. We're upstairs; they've moved First to the lower front bit of the aircraft. Dinner is beef fillet, which was a bit dry but ok, some more Chardonnay, and then the movie - "Reign of Fire", an apocalyptic, predictable and illogical dragon flic. Then, a few hours of kip - remember those flat-bed-sleeper-seats? The in-flight entertainment system mostly worked, this time round - after a reboot...

Slept a few hours - did I tell you the seats turn into flat beds? ;-), then breakfast. A little time to go - we were early, and LHR wasn't ready for us. Faffing around in the air; I played a quiz on the TV, and scored 70% for lifestyles and history (all these odd Scottish and Welsh history bits threw me), and 90% on Geography (again, the British bits I didn't really know, like What were the 5 Roman ports in Britain knows as?). Once in Heathrow, we sat in the lounge for a bit, quite shattered, then I delivered my mum to the gate to Munich, and I'll be off to FRA soon...

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