The best and worst…
…of our first day in the land of abundance…or overstimulation, depending on how you look at it.
The Kiddies and I made it to the US…eventually. To be honest, every little thing that could go wrong…did.
Delayed flight out of Dublin…layover in New York not very long anyway…will have to be efficient.
Have to identify luggage in New York, go through customs and put on conveyor belt for next flight, but no luggage coming from Dublin flight.
Still no luggage.
Amount of layover time swiftly running out.
Aha……we’ve all been standing next to the wrong luggage carousel…possibly because it said ‘Dublin Flight DL165′ on the sign.
Finally have luggage.
Rush through customs.
Baggage trolley tips and nearly takes out leg of by-stander. Profuse apologies.
Go to lift…lift not coming…waiting…waiting.
Queue at security check-in.
Jump queue at security check-in.
Grumbles from rear of queue at security check-in…wish I had an Irish accent at the moment and plead ignorance.
Unload all electronic gear, computer, shoes, belt and dash through metal detector.
Run to other end of airport to departure gate, checking periodically to make sure children are still behind me.
Our departure gate is the very last one on the concourse.
Find that next flight is also delayed, feeling stupid for having just run a mile with my shoes, belt, computer, handbag and children trailing wildly behind me.
Initial delay is extended and finally arrive in Ohio 3 hours late.
Find our luggage is still in New York, or possibly New Guinea, both start with the word ‘New’. Will have to wait and see.
But, even at that, a new toothbrush, a hot shower and a good night’s sleep put everything to rights. And the luggage showed up a few hours later. So far, so good. The Kiddies were absolute stars for handling the stress of the trip without complaint. Not too many adults, including me, would have done so well.
The first few days have been a bombardment on the senses, overloading eyes, ears, taste, smell and touch with way too many choices. Now, if it was yarn we were talking about, that would be a good thing!
The Best
Easily the Columbus (Ohio) Metropolitan Library. A superior wealth of services interlinked between multiple branch libraries in the city. Sitting here I have access to internet on their computers, wireless internet for my computer, computer games for kids, endless media, a plethora of world-wide magazines, audiobooks, used books for sale…all with a library card which I could get in an instant. The kids had fun and so did I.
The Worst
Well…..I hate to mention Starbucks again so soon, but I have to say it was the worst cup of cappuccino I have ever had. Full stop. A cup of foam….light on milk and lighter on espresso. Sigh. Asked the servers for a solution to this predicament. Received polite but unhelpful young blond stares. Never again, I vow.
After the to-ing and fro-ing settling into proper holiday mode, hope to be back to fibre…
Ohh, yuk, that sounds stressful. Glad you all made it safe and sound and all in one piece though - with your luggage too - for a while while I was reading I thought I might have to put together an emergency care package of lavazza, lyons, and cadbury!
02 Jul 2007 at 8:40 pm
Glad you arrived safely and have found a good internet source. Travel 2007 is a far cry from “the good old days” - that’s meant to be a joke. Seems to me that air travel has always had a tendency for things to go wrong. Enjoy your time in the U.S.!
02 Jul 2007 at 8:41 pm
I am pleased to hear you and children arrived safely…loved the detailed description of your adventure across the pond. I have visions of the airport scene being made into a movie….
02 Jul 2007 at 8:52 pm
visions galore of you guys hightailing it across the airport, scattering fellow travellors and luggage in all directions. glad you all got there in one piece, and hey, good excuses to go shopping for new atire! Why stop at the toothbrush!!
02 Jul 2007 at 9:30 pm
Sorry the journey was a bit of a nightmare, enjoy your summer.
02 Jul 2007 at 9:31 pm
I got 400-something posts behind in my blog reading!
Welcome to the USA (I’m only 20 min away from the border)! The only real mayo is Hellmanns. Remember that.
Darren always made fun of the giant wall of milk, especially in cincinnati. He thinks you only need homogenized, 2%, butter, and skim. He does not believe that you need an entire dairy case full of milk selection. I miss my wall of milk.
03 Jul 2007 at 5:46 am
Glad that you all arrived safe and sound.
I never drink the coffee at Starbucks on pure principle. I hate paying 3 times as much for coffee that is worse than Tim Hortons coffee. I have never had a cuppa from Starbucjks that I have liked. I’m sure that there are plenty of alternatives around.
03 Jul 2007 at 12:13 pm
So glad you made it without too much trouble. I was talking to someone the other day whose flight finally arrived at Heathrow at 1.30am (hours late) and as they were approaching the stand the captain announced that there were no bags at all on board. There were families with young children, elderly people, disabled passengers, and no luggage. A near-riot ensued, I’m told!
04 Jul 2007 at 11:18 am
If in dire need of a cappuccino and you can’t avoid Starbucks again, ask them for double espresso. (Don’t say double, they think that means two - ask them how many shots in a normal cup and then YOU do the math, cuz they won’t.) I usually go for a quad nonfat latte, and it tastes almost like the ones I make for myself at home…
13 Jul 2007 at 5:27 pm
I just get the coffee, any more. It’s made with those nasty burned beans of theirs, and is somewhat tolerable plain. If you let them add anything to it … well, you’re in for it.
They look at me like I’ve got horns, though, ’cause I’m young enough to be buying the foofie drinks, yet I buy the “old guy” drink of “just plain coffee, no, don’t leave me any room for cream or sugar.”
15 Jul 2007 at 1:43 am