Got home last night. Flew British Airways from Budapest to Heathrow, then BA's new non-stop service to St. Louis. Big convenience! The flight arrived early although the food was remarkably bad and the little international arrivals area in STL wasn't a good introduction to our town. But we're happy to be here after a fascinating if tiring trip. Now to get our body clocks reset seven hours.
Adventures in winter travel. As each flight from Chicago to St. Louis yesterday was canceled we were put on another, which was then canceled. Eventually all of them. Our flight from Flint, Michigan, to Chicago amazingly got through - seven hours late. It was still snowing at O’Hare when we got this far. Found a hotel and now booked on a noon flight Sunday. Success to be determined.
Tough winter travel day yesterday. Ice in the morning and mid-day in Chicago messed up everything at O’Hare. Skipping the details, we missed our connection but there was space on a late flight that got us into Flint, Michigan, about 11:30 PM. Too late to drive to our son’s city. Fortunately, the car rental desk stayed open for us and I found a hotel room near the airport. Flint was once a big auto manufacturing city. General Motors was founded here, but all that is gone. Tough times since.
So, okay, Mrs. C and I were going to have a long weekend in my much-loved home town. Some good dinners, theater, a special art show, maybe some touristy stuff. As mentioned, hot new restaurant on Thursday, the first night. Food poisoning, up much of the night with bi-directional GI eruptions. Exhausted, in bed asleep most of Friday. Managed to get out to dinner Friday to a favorite place and couldn’t finish an appetizer. We had theater tickets Saturday and did get out to a very funny show called The Play That Went Wrong, although I wasn’t always following it well. Dinner at a little Italian place, where I made it into the second course before giving up.
Then things got worse. Our flight home Sunday wasn’t until 6 so we got to the Metropolitan Museum for the show we wanted to see. It was raining when we went to La Guardia and, as the day ended, a heavy fog settled over the airport. Close to half of the AA flights were canceled, including ours. Got online looking for alternatives. No non-stop seats the next day. Got an airport hotel and booked us through Chicago with a 5.5 hour layover. But La Guardia had high winds Tuesday morning and only one runway was in use. We sat on a taxiway for more than an hour before leaving on a two hour flight. Few seats had been available, so 6’ 3”/ 190 cm me was stuck in a middle seat for 3+ hours. When we got to Chicago our STL flight was running 90 minutes late just because. It turned out to be 3.5 hours late, with a change of aircraft because there was a pressure leak in a cockpit window of the original plane.
So we got home 30 hours late, but we’re here. First world problems, right?
Off again on our umteenth trip to Costa Rica. The immigration agents smile when they see all those stamps in our passports. We fly American, overnighting in a hub to get a mid-morning flight down. This time it's at the enormous Dallas-Ft. Worth International Airport. The people here are not shy about their culture.
An old photo illustrating tonight's transport. London is not our final destination, just a connection point. The Latin quote is from the opening of Virgil's Aeneid, which some &^$%& Jesuits made me read in high school: driven to Italy by fate. Well, in our case, more driven by British Airways.
We reach our landing place tomorrow night. Weird Al provides a theme song for the city we're heading to - https://youtu.be/hikh0d0q7HA?si=MdO517fWpjuFlNhM We expect to eat well.
Greetings from beautiful Dallas-Ft. Worth International Airport, where we are overnighting on our way to more scenic climes. We are not exactly Texas people although, to be fair, the political and social situation isn't any better than Missouri although the climate is even worse and the scale is way bigger. Flying out this morning to one of our favorite places.
We were supposed to leave for Japan today but it's still not open to foreigners. Mrs. C and I were left with a bunch of air credits and came up with Plan B, which we're calling the Tale of Two Cities Tour. Big time destinations that, except for size, could hardly be more different. However, the friendly airline canceled our non-stop flight for the first goal, forcing us to make a connection. That airport is totally in the wrong direction but the timing gets us where we want to go at about the right time. Lots more to come as STL DPB hits the air and the road.
It's been a long time but we are flying again today. I've been fascinated by flight since my first time at maybe 11 or 12. It was just New York to Washington but I'll never forget it. I never tire of its near-miraculous qualities, especially when we cross large bodies of water. Just land today but sea tomorrow. It's about time.
The Crowe family will not be wasting any time breaking out of the confinement doldrums. This is Playa Tamarindo, on the northwest coast of Costa Rica. Our trip planned for January was canceled, of course, but we will be heading back in early July. Then a road trip to Kansas in August and a few places in central Europe in September, if they let us in. Travel is the best education, teaching us that our habits at home are not the only way to live.
There are many responsible people in Kathmandu. Too many.
Guest photo by Mrs. C., taken in Kathmandu a year and a half ago. A young Buddhist monk walks past Boudnath Stupa in the sunset. You can see more of her Nepal pictures here.
An American Airlines Boeing 757 glides over the St. Louis riverfront. This is a day in the air. I won't have Internet service where I'm staying unless I go to the bar down a street with free WiFi. The blog is posted ahead. a couple of days Details to follow.
