YUL: An Addition to the (Non-) Moving Walkway Photo Collection

Montreal is joining the big time... Move over Toronto. Step aside Vancouver. YUL now also has an out of order moving walkway. (For what it's worth, Beijing also had an out of order escalator, but that doesn't quite qualify.)

Sorry for the blurriness. I was tired from the extra walking that was required.

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YOW: Daylight Savings Time is over

Changed all the clocks in the house and set two alarms last night to make sure I got up in time to make it to the airport for the 7 AM departure. I was reasonably certain the BlackBerry alarm would work, with the time automatically changing over while I slept. But I set the clock radio as well. As it turned out, both worked and went off at the right times. My only brief moment of panic was en route to the airport. Not having changed the clock in the car, for about a second or two, I thought I was late for my flight. Made it.

Now for a noisy, cramped, but short flight to Montreal, then on to Saint John.
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PEK-YYZ-YOW

Interesting... I took the pic of the walkway at YYZ on arrival, and it's the last photo I've taken using my BlackBerry. However, it wasn't the last photo showing up. It was mixed in with a bunch of pics I took at the airport in Beijing. Why? Because we landed in Toronto about half an hour before we took off from Beijing. So when I changed the time on the BB, it already had pictures on it from the future, and that's after a 12 hour flight. How crazy is that?
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YYZ: High Speed Walkway

After years of waiting and hoping, today I finally got to use one of the high speed walkways at Toronto-Pearson. A little freaky, a little loud, but it really moves.

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PEK: Things I have learned from Beijing

It is nice to be back in Canada. Beijing was interesting, for sure. But how anyone could stand living there, I don't know. If the traffic doesn't kill you (either figuratively or literally), the smog might. It was definitely a busy few days. Several days were packed with meetings and networking; a couple more were filled with sightseeing; the remaining time was spent trying in vain to catch up on work stuff.

Anyway, here's a few interesting things I learned or observed in Beijing.

I need to use my horn more when driving. Despite several "no bugling" signs, car horns are a constant everywhere in Beijing. It can mean anything from "do not even think about inching forward into my path", to "hey, I'm about to cut you off", to "hey, I just cut you off", to "it's been 5 seconds since my last honk, so...". It was pretty crazy driving though. U-turns from 3 lanes over. Bicycles and pedestrians distributed randomly throughout traffic lanes. And strict adherence to the bigger is better rule. And then on the other hand, they had a great innovation I've never seen. At some major intersections, there's a digital countdown clock, telling you how many seconds until green or red.

Just to confirm, smog is really bad for you. When we arrived last Friday, it was a beautiful clear blue sky because it was fairly windy. Luckily it stayed that way for Saturday for the trip to the Great Wall. But by Monday the smog had really returned. Tuesday and Wednesday were worse. On Wednesday I tweeted that it was the worst smog I'd ever seen (which is true). Long time Beijingers scoffed at this. Apparently, somehow, it gets worse than that. All I know is that by Wednesday, my throat was really sore and you could barely see the sun. Happy to be back where the air is fresher.

On a related note, I think the smog might have something to do with the reputation Chinese people have for being frequent spitters. Don't think I've ever been so phlegmy as I have been for the past few days.

A couple of interesting tidbits from the flight home (PEK-YYZ). I learned how to repair an aircraft seatbelt. This is something I taught myself. Of course, I first learned how to break it...accidentally. If you're in 11K on a 777-300 anytime soon, check out my work. I'm confident it meets Transport Canada safety standards.

In an effort to soothe my scratchy throat and fend off any possible illness, I also made the cabin smell of oil of oregano. Sorry to those around me. Necessary evil.

Anyway, I do feel lucky to have visited the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, Tian An Men Square, the Great Hall of the People, and even the Silk Market (which wasn't what I expected).
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PEK: No Social Networking

I don't know if this message will make it through to my blog because Blogger as a web site is not reachable here. Nor is Facebook. Nor is Twitter. Sometimes it works on the BlackBerry, but not consistently. Actually, emails and phone calls are also sporadic.

The most interesting thing is that somehow all my photos of the Great Wall got deleted from my camera. I don't know what secret - yet powerful - forces did this. I do know that it wasn't me... this time. I know this because I did do it once accidentally, and it's not something you can do without knowing it.

Other than that, it was a great day. It was sunny, clear and warm, but not too hot. There were strong winds yesterday that may have helped blow away some of the smog and haze. A good day for the Wall. If I had any photos left, I'd post them.
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YYZ: Actually a pretty great airport

Although it's frequently maligned for a number of real and imagined issues (and sometimes just remembered issues... Mom, I'm looking at you), Toronto's Pearson Airport is actually a pretty great airport.

It's big, spacious, clean, and for the most part is pretty well designed to meet the needs of the traveller. It's also become one of the best places to plane watch. I just saw Jet Airways (India) taxiing. If I sit here long enough I'll see either Etihad or Emirates (but not both on the same day, right?). I can't see T3, but there's always something interesting over there... Air France, KLM, Cathay Pacific, Korean, TACA, Malev (are they still flying here?).

I have no firm data to back this up, but I think all the good parts are thanks to GTAA's crack government relations squad. And air service development team. And concessions. But that's it.

Before I board, please remind me to get (a) some hand sanitizer, and (b) the latest GQ.
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YOW: en route to PEK

I'm sure I'm forgetting something. It's been months of preparation and frantic weeks in the lead up to departure, so there should be no excuse not to be ready. Either way, there's not much I can do about it now... Already through security and in the lounge. YOW-YYZ boards in 20 minutes.

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YUL: Long time, no blog

The past few months haven't had a whole lot of exciting travel. Although this is the second time in the past couple of weeks that I've been in Montreal... Same hotel no less.

In early June, the weather was pretty miserable. It was cold and rainy and wasn't really a fair representation of typical Montreal summer weather.

When I came back to town yesterday, it was beautiful... 25-28 degrees, sunny, calm winds, and a perfect day for a BBQ (check) and for a beverage on a patio (check, and later, check again). Sitting on a terrasse on Crescent St. is one of my favourite things to do in Canada. Today is back to miserable weather though. It's warm enough, but it's raining pretty good. So much so, that I decided to have lunch in the hotel today instead of going to Reuben's for smoked meat. (No raincoat, no parapluie.)

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New Habs Coach Jacques Martin with Kirk Muller

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CZM: Pier

The view of two ships (including ours) from the rebuilt cruise ship pier in Cozumel, Mexico.

Carnival Legend and Ruby Pricess.

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TPA: Funshadow

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YOW-IAD-TPA

As we were taxiing out from Gate 2 at YOW (with an all-female cockpit and cabin crew), my seatmate noticed an odd-looking man in a suit on the airport apron. As the plane swung around so I could see the guy, he appeared to be a security agent (with several others in the area) guarding a plane in front of the Canada Reception Centre. I am pretty sure it was the Prime Minister's plane. On his way to the G20 thing maybe? They followed us out to the runway.

Got into IAD slightly early, but left for TPA slightly late after a minor maintenance issue. The 3rd guy in our set of 3 seats (Economy Plus!) reeked of smoke for the whole flight. Pretty disgusting. We also had to fly around some bad weather, so we didn't get to TPA until 1AM. Somehow our luggage was first onto the belt and we were off to the hotel and in bed by about 2.

Heading to the port now.
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YUL: Bell Centre

24 Stanley Cup banners; 15 retired numbers.

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YOW: View from the Top

Looking west from Merlot Restaurant, atop the Ottawa Marriott. The building in the foreground? Tower C.

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YOW: Ignatieff

Also saw Michael Ignatieff last week walking through the airport. Apparently the woman he was with is his wife, not a staffer.

YOW: No. 29

Blurry photo of a man I have reason to believe is Ken Dryden. Browsing the bookstore.
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AMS: Sleeping in Airports

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LHR: Don't read this story

Here's a portion of an AP news story about a flight from Amsterdam to London-City Airport. This flight was flying at the exact same time as my own flight last night from Amsterdam to London-Heathrow Airport. Guess I went to the right airport. Also, this was the same day as the crash of the Colgan/Continental Q400 near Buffalo.

***

Jet's nosegear collapses during landing in London
The nosewheel of a British Airways passenger jet collapsed with a loud bang as it landed Friday evening at London City Airport, sending the plane scraping across the tarmac with 71 people aboard, officials and witnesses said. All aboard escaped by emergency slides, but one person was taken to a hospital with a minor injury.The plane was arriving from Amsterdam about 8 p.m. when the front landing gear failed and the front of the plane slammed onto the runway and skidded, officials and firefighters said."As a precaution the emergency slides were deployed and passengers were evacuated down the slides onto the runway," British Airways said. "One passenger suffered a minor injury."The airline said it did not yet know what caused the landing gear problem on the Avro 146 RJ100, which had been carrying 67 passengers and four crew members. The government sent three investigators to the scene."There was obviously quite a loud bang as the plane scratched in," passenger Justin Fletcher told the British Broadcasting Corp. "The stewards and stewardesses were quick to evacuate everyone off. There was a few scrapes and cuts due to hitting the asphalt. All in all everyone seems to be doing quite well now."In addition to the person who received hospital treatment, four others were treated for minor injuries at the scene. There were no further details on the injuries.The east London airport's only runway was closed, forcing 11 flights to be diverted to other airports, officials said. The airport handles about 80,00 flights yearly, mainly domestic and European.

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LHR: Where's my Passport?

Today was the second time in my life when I have thought I've lost my passport while travelling internationally. Luckily, both times I was just an idiot.

The first time was 5 or 6 years ago, when I thought I'd lost it in Pearson Airport sometime between going through pre-clearance and getting on the plane (Jetsgo to EWR of all things). I remember panicking on the plane and holding up the line of people boarding while I frantically searched everywhere in my bag and around my seat. It probably wasn't very long, but it felt like forever. Found it in a place that's hard to describe. People with Dell laptop bags might know what I mean: it's the space between the thin back pocket and the bag itself, where the handle from a larger piece of luggage goes.

Today's panic was a little worse. It was in a more foreign place (arguable). It lasted longer. It happened on a Friday night. And I'd just got out of an untraceable taxi having come from one of the world's busiest airports. On arriving at my London hotel, I got out my credit card and reached for my passport as ID. I had just had it minutes ago while clearing UK immigration. On this trip, I have been wearing a suit every day, so I've been keeping my passport in the inside breast pocket of my suit. I reached there and it wasn't there. Uh oh. I checked the same breast pocket in my leather jacket. Nope. The backup location is usually that thin pocket in my Dell bag. So I pulled everything out of that pocket (a lot of brochures, receipts, boarding passes and everything else I've picked up on this trip) and put it on the check in counter. Sifted through it all. No passport. Meanwhile, the front desk agent was asking for my patience: "Our system has just frozen... It'll just be a moment". I told her, in what I assume was a panicky voice, to take her time. Checked my pants pockets for the passport. Nope. Checked all suit pockets. Nope. Checked all leather jacket pockets twice. Nope. Started methodically checking each pocket and compartment of the Dell bag, even though I knew I hadn't put it in there and it would have been incredibly unlikely it could have made it there by accident. Not in the bag anywhere. Panic panic panic.

So I start thinking to myself... I have about 15 hours here before I go home. If I have no passport, how am I going to get on that flight? The High Commission surely can't get me a replacement that fast on a Friday night or Saturday morning can they? And also, what the heck happened to it? I had it at the airport, there was no opportunity to put it down anywhere, but now I don't have it. Must have fallen out in the taxi. Check the receipt, maybe I can call the company. Nope. Nothing on the receipt. How many black cabs could there be in London anyway? Panic panic panic.

"Just one moment sir, thanks for your patience."

Start retracing your steps, I tell myself. Had it at immigration. Put it away before getting to the baggage carousel. What could have happened? Could have dropped it in the airport, in the cab, or could have put it somewhere unusu-- wait! That's it! Found it. It was in the breast pocket after all... of my shirt.

All's well.
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AMS: Back by Popular Demand...

Another seemingly extraneous apostrophe. It's not an English speaking country, so maybe it's correct in Dutch. I can confirm that the establishment was not called Ciabatta's.

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AMS: Neat View

This is the view from my hotel room at Amsterdam Airport. Not a bad view, if you like airports.

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AMS: Bullet with Pheasant Wings

I guess the maitre d' was serious when he warned me to watch out for bullets in the pheasant. I thought he was saying it for dramatic effect.

Why was I having pheasant? Good question.

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AMS: Y'know...

You know you've been on the road for too long when... You're in your 4th hotel in 5 nights and when you go to the hotel restaurant for dinner, you really have to think hard about what room number you checked into 10 minutes ago.

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BRU: Italian Hosptality

I'm in Belgium, flying out on a Dutch airline, sitting in an Italian airline lounge. Get a load of the "food" they have on offer. Seriously, that's it.

Also note the real live Italian in the background. He's the one talking with his hands.

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ORY: Gare du Nord

It's not really CDG, even though it's still Paris. And I started my trip to Gare du Nord closer to ORY than CDG, so they deserve some love too.

Gare du Nord is one of the large train stations in Paris. I'm on a Thalys train to Brussels. Thalys goes very fast, but is not quite the same as the TGV, which is 2 tracks over, and also serves CDG airport. Eurostar to London is a couple of tracks over the other way.

Gare du Nord is also cold. Feels colder inside than it did outside even. I'd say that maybe it was designed to keep undesirables away, but that's clearly not the case. Not successfully at least. Paris overall is winning the "people asking for money" contest. Airport, city centre, metro, RER, train station... I've been asked probably a dozen times for money in 24 hours. At least some of them are creative, like the guy trying to sell me a newspaper. A free newspaper. A French newspaper. I didn't bite.

So anyway, Gare du Nord is cold. But they do have heat zones. They must be infrared heaters set up in a column and they kick out quite a bit of heat in a small area. They're scattered around the waiting area and people are all huddled around them.

Paris also wins the insane driving challenge. I now understand the model used by Montreal drivers.

Train's picking up speed now... 90 minutes to Brussels.


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CDG: Place Charles de Gaulle

In a word: Triumphant.

In two words: crazy driving.

CDG: Arago Medallion

Quite possibly the nerdiest half hour of my life was just spent looking for this thing (not to mention researching it on Google on the BlackBerry). But as a geographer, how could I not look for it?

CDG: The Louvre

I think we all know what's in there. (If not, please read The Da Vinci Code.)

CDG: Protest

Look, a real life Parisian protest, right at the airport. I have no idea what their problem is. They seemed to be marching for while, then they stopped outside of what looked like airport (ADP) offices. They were drumming drums and chanting something that sounded to me like "Yves St. Laurent! Yves St. Laurent!". I'm guessing that's not actually what they were chanting though.

Best travelling protest I've seen since the great hotel-workers-walk-out in Montreal back in '08. Why is it always the French speaking cities?

Heading into the city now...

Fw: CDG: Emergency

------Original Message------
To: Go Blogger
Sent: Feb 11, 2009 13:57
Subject: CDG: Emergency

Uh oh. My BlackBerry holster broke.

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CDG: LHR T5 photo and CDG photo

The CDG photo reminds me of Euro-Itchy and Scratchy Land. ("Allo?)

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LHR: T5

Today -- after a couple of long, disrupted rides on the underground, plus 2 bus rides and a taxi ride -- I had my first experience at Heathrow's new Terminal 5, departing from London en route to Paris.

It's quite a terminal. One visit is never enough to really judge a place fairly, but if you're used to the other terminals at LHR (I guess I'm only familiar with T1 and T3), then T5 is quite different. It's spacious and open and the ceilings are more than 6.5 feet high. The shopping is what you'd expect at a BAA airport, with Harrod's, Coach, Mont Blanc et al, and Plane Food, which is Gordon Ramsay's first airport restaurant. Tempted as I was, especially after dining at Maze in NYC last year, I headed to the BA Club Lounge instead.

Glad I did. BA seems to have about 3 different tiers of lounges at T5. I assume I was in the lowest end one. And it was still good. Basically everything AC's MLL has, and then a bit more. And it (the South lounge at least) is HUGE. I had red curry chicken on rice, and some penne arrabiatta. And watched some planes take off.

Arriving at Paris-CDG, it seems to be a bit of a letdown after T5. I was also looking forward to this hotel in Paris because it's right at the terminal. However, the view out my window is terrible. Plus, nearly everything in the terminal was closed by the time I got here. Couldn't even find a bottle of water. And couldn't bring myself to pay €6.50 for a small bottle in the minibar. So I boiled water and made tea.

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LHR: Want the good news first?

Good news: Turns out I was worried for nothing. Flight made it to London right on schedule. Weather is cold and rainy but not snowy.

Bad news: I go to Paris tomorrow and the airports in Paris are closed until at least 10 AM due to high winds.

And I can't sleep.

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EDI: Departing

I tried to get on the earlier EDI-LHR flight, but it was oversold. Of course, because I got to the airport so early, I'm not allowed to check in yet. So I'm scanning the check-in level to see what BAA Edinburgh does well.

In a word: promotion.

There is advertising everywhere. Pillars, doors, backlits... Everywhere. They (JC Decaux) either do a very good job selling EDI, or it's easy to sell ads at EDI when they're part of a package that also includes LHR, LGW, GLA etc.

They're also good self-promoters. There's plenty of ads telling people just how much BAA has invested in Scotland, how many jobs are generated by the airport, and even how much they've reduced their CO2 emissions.

Food is also advertised wherever there's an unsold ad space, and on video screens adjacent to their FIDS. And a giant banner on the carpark.

Must be a BAA thing, because here at EDI, they like to control your movements too, just like LHR. Check in at a specific time. Wait in the holdroom until they decide to tell you the gate number.

Not a big fan of this bmi lounge though. It's big and fairly nice and clean, but has two big drawbacks. One: no washrooms. Or restrooms. Or even toilets. Have to go out of the lounge. Two: it has nice big windows, but they look out onto the groundside area: the airport approach road, parking, taxis, etc. Boo.

Also, to close the loop, there is a separate international arrivals area where presumably customs procedures are more stringent than just the placement of signs and a phone.
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EDI: Extraneous Apostrophe

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EDI: One last facilitation thing

When collecting my baggage in Edinburgh, our flight from LHR had its bags being delivered to carousel 5. However, there was also a sign stating that if your journey started outside the EU that those bags would be delivered to carousel 6. Carousel 6 is adjacent to 5, but is separated by a sort of half-wall. Carousel 6 is, I guess, in the HM Customs area. There were signs all over, indicating all the things that you can't bring into the EU. But no people. And no paperwork. It seems that everything is on the honour system (for inbound connectors at least... might be different for inbound international flights). There is a red phone for making declarations, but, not surprisingly, I didn't notice anyone using it.

So quite a process from beginning to end, with the immigration/passport control, biometric screening (twice), and finally customs at the final destination.

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EDI: Welcome sight of snow

It snowed overnight in Edinburgh. Just an inch or so I'd guess. But it's slowing down traffic apparently.

I'm more worried about the fact that the weather in London later today is supposed to include heavy rain, gale force winds, and snow. I'm flying there this afternoon. Well... I'm *scheduled* to fly there this afternoon. I'm concerned that if things go bad in London, it'll start around the time that I am flying. I've also been told that when things go bad at Heathrow, short haul and domestic flights (like mine) are often the first to be cancelled.

Hoping for the best...

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EDI: The Castle

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LHR: Gate Notification

What if we North American airports didn't tell passengers which gate their flight departs from until 30-40 minutes before departure? That's how they do it at Heathrow. Probably wouldn't work well in North America, largely because of the way our airports are laid out. Here they force you to hang out in the central shopping area as long as possible.
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YOW: Still Departing

Further to the guy referenced below... After going through security, I saw a guy wearing a t-shirt with the word INFIDEL on it, and some writing below that in Arabic. I wonder if the guy going to Afghanistan would have found that funny? I also suppose this blog just got flagged by the CIA.

Also... Why is the Maple Leaf Lounge in Ottawa showing the Toronto vs. Montreal game on HNIC instead of the Ottawa vs. Buffalo game, which is also on HNIC tonight?

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YOW Departure

Just about on my way to London then Edinburgh. As I was checking in, I overheard the guy next to me checking in as well. He would have been checking in for London (like me) or possibly Frankfurt, which departs about 15 minutes earlier.

The guy had been trying to check in at a kiosk, but had some difficulty. So the check in agent says, to confirm with him: "So you're connecting on to Dubai." (At this point, I thought that sounded pretty nice.) "Then you'll need to collect your bags and re-check them directly with Afghan Airways."

So I guess it's a reminder that even though my own trip keeps me away from family for a long time, has a lot of gruelling travel, tight schedules, important and difficult meetings, and not much down time... I'm still pretty lucky I'm going where I'm going, and not to Afghanistan.

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Calm Before the Storm

It's been a quiet December and January, but things will really start happening in February. Stay tuned.
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