HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY: Reunited with my United Hostees
BUMMER OF THE DAY: Train stress and airport stress
WORD OF THE DAY: Are you serious?
DISTANCE TRAVELLED: 1275km
A travel day today. This is nothing new. What made me a little nervous was that I wasn’t in the city that I was actually flying out of. I was 2 hours away, but with the timings that I had left myself I was quite content that even if something went to the wind, I have enough ‘snaffu’ time to cover any unforeseen circumstances. I also re-assured myself if I missed my flight for any reason I would be able to either change my ticket, it was a round world, or purchase another ticket to get me to Chicago. It wasn’t like it was a flight to Australia or Africa.
My alarm was set for 5am and I set my phone as well as my IPod for a backup and I got up without any issues. I thought my train was at 7am, so I wanted to be out of the hotel and in a cab by 6am. So not knowing how long a taxi would take and to also check out I was downstairs at 5.45am. I gave in my room card and was pulling out my credit card to pay for my additional 2 nights when the receptionist said that I was all squared up and that the authorization they were holding on my card would be reversed in a few days’ time. Hmmmmm, the first 3 nights were booked and paid for on Amy’s credit card through Hotwire, so I know that I hadn’t signed anything for the additional nights charges with my credit card. I checked with the gentleman that the original card wouldn’t be charged and he said that was booked through Hotwire and they didn’t have those details on file. I have a funny feeling that there has been a mix up when the receptionist from a few days ago swapped my booking over that the voucher was for the 5 days when in reality it was only for the 3 nights. I will keep an eye on my credit cards, but I have a feeling that I may have got my last 2 nights for free!!! Now that would be nice. That also reminds me that I have to follow up with the hotel in Barbados, as they did take a deposit from my card and it hasn’t been refunded to my account of 200AUD. I must remember to send them an email……
The taxi was called and was there within minutes, so from the time of checking out and actually arriving at the train station it was 6.05am. I checked myself in with my reservation number from my IPod and then realized my train wasn’t until 7.25am. I had an hour and a half to kill at the train station. MAN that could have been some extra time in bed. Oh well I would prefer to have too much time than not enough for a travel day like today. So I found some seats and off loaded my bags and sat on Via Rail’s free Wi-Fi for the next hour. I did use my time wisely and I got out some emails that were long overdue and I also sent one to the Bougainvillea Resort to ask about that charge on my card. 200 bucks is 200 bucks right.
The train was called at 7am and we made our way down the escalators. The train operating the service didn’t have the big bag storage at the end of each carriage, so as I came off the escalator there was a guy there taking the big bags from people, not that there were many, and we were given a tag and would be able pick them up when we arrived into Ottawa. I am totally fine with this as it means less fussing around on the train as I hate to hold people up when I am organizing my crap. I did remember to reserve a window seat for this journey and the seating configuration on the train was 2 x 1 seats. I had the single seat, and there really wasn’t enough room to store my rolly bag and my red backpack. I walked to both ends of the train looking for a smaller baggage hold and there wasn’t any and what the train staff had done was packed us all into the one carriage, so we were told that we could sit anywhere in carriage 4. This wasn’t such a big deal as there weren’t a lot of people anyway so I stored both my bags at my feet and had no room to actually put my feet till I looked over and there was a recess underneath your seat that your rolly bag could slide down. So I did this which freed up a lot of room when the guy sitting across the aisle said that I could use the spare seat next to him to put my backpack. Thanks buddy, so with that sitting in a seat next to me I was now comfortably in for the 2 hour journey. Imagine if I did have another bag!!! I did the right thing.
Pulling out of Montreal I have to say I had a great time here this week. Between this amazing city and my day trip to Quebec City it really was like stepping into Europe / France and I did sometimes forget that I was actually still in Canada. It really is like chalk and cheeses the west coast and east coast of this marvelous country. I have always been a Canada fan and know that I will be back. There is so much to see and do here that it will be one of those destinations that will be re-visited again for sure. At 8.45am we came to a stop, not at a station, just in the green fields and then 10 minutes later an announcement came over the speakers that there was a signal problem and that we would be stuck here for 20-30 minutes. Ummm this was okay; as I had a 4 hour window, but this is what I was hoping would not happen. I wasn’t stressed at this point and at 9.15am we were on our way again. We got a second announcement that due to the signal problem we would not be able to travel faster than 15km per hour till we hit the outskirts of Ottawa and that we would now be arriving in at 10.30am, an hour later than planned. This is still okay, as I had the window; it just meant that now I couldn’t fluff around too much to get my butt to the airport and checked in as I was still on an international flight, even though it was only a 2 hour flight. I have said it before and I’ll say it again I LOVE train travel and it was a great way to start the day, even with the time delay and a 2 hour trip turning into a 3 hour trip. We were offered as compensation 50% off our next rail ticket for the inconvenience. Yeah like I will be able to use that! It’s just a shame the delay wasn’t on the way up then I could have used it for my return ticket. Never mind that is the way the travel cookie crumbles.
My bag was waiting on the platform when I got off the train and after hefting it onto my back I walked from the platform, through the tunnel that goes under the tracks, up the stairs and through the terminal straight to a waiting taxi that was out the front of the station. It was all pretty straight forward and I was out of the train and in the taxi within 15 minutes. This was all okay. The taxi was a 20 minute ride from the front door of the train station to the front doors of the airport and cost me 35CAD. The airport check-in is divided into 2 sections. To the left is the international and to the right are the domestic and the US flights. I found the American Airlines counter and know they are anal about self-check-in. This is where you have to scan your passport, enter some details, pay for any extra luggage and then you’re boarding pass is issued. Most American carriers give you one piece of checked luggage for free and then additional pieces there are a charge. American charge 35USD for an extra piece. I only had the one, so after I had my boarding pass walked up to the counter where I had to weigh my bag and get it tagged to Chicago. You complete USA immigration here in Canada, so after your bag is weighed and tagged you need to take it back and then take it with you to the TSA screen, where you drop off your bag after it has been scanned and then you complete the rest of the security procedures. I popped my bag onto the scale and my bag was 58 pounds, working that out quickly in my head it was around 24kg. I was actually quite proud of that and was mentally patting myself on the back when Yin Lang told me I was overweight. Ah ha and we looked at each other. So I asked her nicely what she wanted me to do and she said I had to take out 8 pounds. My hand luggage was at capacity and at this point I still had my handbag out so I could see Yin Lang looking at the rest of my bags with raised eyebrows. I asked her how much would it cost to pay the excess and she told me 105CAD. Right, so I pulled my bag off the scales and told her I would be back as I was going to buy another bag. On my round world ticket I am entitled to 2 pieces of checked luggage for free and this would solve all my problems. There was a bag shop the other end of the terminal so I walked in there and asked the sales person for their cheapest bag that was wearable as I was going to check it in. I ended up buying the 2nd most expensive bag at 35CAD and found some seats where I could open my bag and off load some clothes to the newly purchased bag. I wasn’t sure how many clothes entailed 8 pounds, so I just put in enough things to fill the new bag and while I was there I also added in my red backpack while I was there. I wasn’t going to give Yin Lang any further cause to pull me up on my luggage, so I was now down to the 2 pieces for cabin luggage. So with an extra bag on the trolley, I really looked like I had a lot of stuff. I haven’t had this many bags on the whole Odyssey! But I am on my way home now, I don’t have to justify myself to anyone but I am a little cranky as I now could have bought some more clothes in Montreal now as I had the second bag. Never mind.
By this time there was now a lineup at the bag drop and an additional staff member also checking in people. So I patiently waited for 20 minutes till my turn came and I was ‘lucky’ enough to get Yin Lang again. So I popped on my big backpack and it now weighed 48 pounds to which she and myself had a sigh of relief until I showed her my second bag and her smile turned into a frown and proceeded to tell me I had to pay for the second bag. I disagreed quite nicely and told her I was entitled to 2 pieces for free and showed her my ticket that clearly stated 2 pieces. I was secretly high fiving myself when she again told me I would have to pay. I said that I wasn’t, with a smile on my face and she then asked the check-in chick next to her and between the 2 of them they had to manually override the system to let my second bah on for free. By the time she had fluffed and over rode the system, for all the hassle it was she may as well have just let my nag through with the extra 4kg. I didn’t care and I thought the more work for her the better, that my friends is called Karma. It also did me 2 favors. One, I got a new bag now so I won’t have to get one further in the trip and 2 I now only had 2 pieces of hand luggage. Thanks Yin Lang for being anal retentive today.
So with my filled in customs formed and a check into the security area, TSA were there where they scan your big bags, you are required to wait, and then waved through once there are no issues. I went through the security screen no problems, even though the scanning lady was eyeing off my Ethiopia bangles, they didn’t go off and then I proceeded though to USA passport control. This is where we clear US immigration in Canada, so when we arrive into Chicago we don’t have to do this process and we are immediately good to go without all the security fuss. There was no-one in the queue and I was called to an officer called Sedrick. He looked at my paperwork, asked me the usual questions, where do you live what do you do for a job and then he asked for my boarding pass leaving the US in 3 week’s time. I said do you mean my ticket? And he was quite adamant that it was to be a boarding pass and as part of my visa waiver acceptance I had to have this ‘boarding pass’. I told him that I had never been asked for this before and that I didn’t think any airline would issue one so far out in advance. He said I’m going to find the working on the computer and print it out for you. The exchange was all pleasant but I was a little worried at this stage but then as the time wore on I knew I was RIGHT and Sedrick was WRONG and I just had to wait it out and not make him look like an idiot. Well I was there for 15 minutes while he looked on the computer and then I cracked a joke that he had found it and that it was a ticket and not a boarding pass and that I was okay to go through. He smiled, but said he wanted to check with someone so he left with my passport and e-ticket and returned 2 seconds later saying that they could now accept e-tickets. This was 25 minutes later and I had a feeling that maybe Sedrick was new. Either way I was allowed to pass with a ‘have a nice flight’ and I was finally at the gates. Man what kind of travel day is that? I guess they all can’t go plain sailing, but that was all just stupid stuff, but I was thankful I made it, thankful I did have such a buffer between train and plane and I had an hour to get something to eat and spend the last of my 15CAD. There was actually a lot of stuff I could get for 15 bucks so I decided on some maple syrup cookies for Cheryl and an Ottawa stick pin, I even had enough money for a packet of tic tacs. I literally was left with a purse of change and pennies. I used the remaining time on the free Wi-Fi and received a message from Teegs for my next stop after Chicago. I’m not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing being back in the land of Wi-Fi. I had free Wi-Fi at the hotel this morning, free Wi-Fi at the train station, free Wi-Fi on the train and now free Wi-Fi at the airport. We really are living in an electronic world aren’t we!!!
The same plane was taking me back to Chicago an EMB, so our bags were collected from us at the bridge of the aircraft and then would be returned to us when we arrived into Chicago. The seating configuration was 1 x 2 and again I was smart enough to change my seating at check-in to a single window. I was allocated a seat next to someone up the front. The flight was 1 hour and 55 minutes and we landed into Chicago 10 minutes earlier than expected. The beauty of doing the US immigration in Canada was we were able to head straight to the baggage carousel from the gate. After being given the wrong baggage carousel number, I literally had my bags in my hands and ready to go when I was actually supposed to be landing. So Cheryl and Joe were 5 minutes away and we kept in touch via text messaging and I was picked up without any problems. Man it is so good to see you!!!!!!! Cheryl, David and I met on a Costa Cruise of the United Arab Emirates 3 years ago and have caught up a few times and kept in contact over the years and I was finally in their home state. This was going to be a great week and I was happy to be here. It was the first time I had met Joe, Cheryl’s boyfriend and then we were on the freeway heading home.
It is a long weekend here in the USA, Memorial Day weekend with Monday the actual public holiday. Memorial Day is an American federal holiday observed annually on the last Monday of May. It is a day of remembering the men and women who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. Formerly known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the Union soldiers who died in the Civil War. By the 20th century Memorial Day had been extended to honor all Americans who have died in all wars. It typically marks the start of the summer vacation season, while Labor Day marks its end. Funny that I was in Canada for a public holiday and now I was in the US on a public holiday. So needless to say the week-end traffic was a nightmare, apparently, but we made it back safe and sound to Cheryl and Joes just after 3.30pm. The afternoon was spent just catching up and waiting for David to arrive to complete my Reunited with United Hostees. He arrived just after5pm with a bunch of flowers and a great big hug and it felt really good to be here.
On our way to dinner I was given a driving tour of some of the neighborhoods in downtown. This was my first taste of what everyone was talking about in regards to the architecture of the city. They weren’t kidding and some of the buildings are just awe-inspiring! It really is an architectural heaven here. I was also show where David lives, the beach area and some point so of downtown that we would go back to tomorrow for a proper visit. After talking to everyone, Chicago really is a foodie’s paradise and between the 3 of them they pretty much have all the good restaurants all pinned down and seemed to be foodie connoisseurs themselves. The restaurant was something straight out of Masterchef. The food was amazing, the service was exceptional and even after a few attempts at ordering certain items, where they didn’t have any left, we were given a free desert wine each after dinner as a sorry which was a nice touch.
So I am now in the USA, in Chicago and I think I am really going to like this city very much.
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