Seeing the World

Boston and New England are just over three weeks away.  The two weeks of touring the six states are almost an afterthought.  This is all about the flying experience.

I’d collected a large number of Avios.  Enough to get two people first class flights to the Middle East or the American Eastern Seaboard.  A terminal diagnosis made this seem like a good time to cash in the points – they die with you.  I’ve done New York and Washington DC.  The Arab world in June didn’t appeal.  So with little dithering and a failed search for posh new planes on the dates I wanted I booked British Airways flights from Manchester to Boston via Heathrow.

Lounge and help yourself alcohol in Manchester.  Impressive spirits bar.  Short hop to London with a salad and champagne.  Land at Heathrow and head to the Concorde Lounge – British Airways’ showpiece.  The home of waiter service, knives and forks, unlimited food and drink (including champagnes and spirits) and, at 4pm, a pre-flight neck and shoulder massage.  Because I can!  Then onto Boston in the poshest of the posh seats.

Would I pay the £4,000 a head for this?  Never!  When I get back I suspect I’ll remember more about New England than having my back rubbed.  But for now it’s the flying experience that appeals.  It’ll never happen again.  And I intend to enjoy it.

I have booked far too long between flights.  Vague regrets.  But I think we will cope.  In a refined environment.  Semi-sloshed.  The ideal way to start a driving holiday!

Get your charitable donation doubled

The recent fire at Manchester’s world renowned Christie’s Hospital has had the knock on effect of damaging and delaying vital research work.

With more and more people being diagnosed with cancer, and more and more treatments being developed to treat the disease, getting that research back on track will be the difference between life and death for many.

My daughter in law Emma is part of a team taking on a gentle jog with an assault course in June to raise funds for the Christie.

Because her employer is matching the funds raised, ANY amount you give will double.  More if you tick the gift aid box.

£25 will become £57.50.   £10 will become £22.50.  A simple fiver will become £11.25.

So please CLICK HERE TO GIVE WHAT YOU CAN KNOWING YOUR MONEY WILL BE MORE THAN DOUBLED.

No harm in sharing the opportunity to double your money with friends and family.

Thank you.

When Your Bag Doesn’t Fit in the Overhead Locker

My Northern Ireland trip ended with more superb weather, alas this time I was only able to drive to the airport in it.

My unreliable sat nav was ditched so I enabled google maps on my phone and received the direction I needed back to the airport.  A petrol and wee stop at Tesco was entertaining as yet again I parked up on the wrong side of the pump and needed to wrap the hose around the car.  I then took my phone to the gents.

As I was staring straight ahead while engaging a different hose a fellow bald gentleman moved into place two urinals away.  At which point my phone blurted out “in 150 yards turn right at the roundabout”.  I wasn’t really in a position to adjust the settings as it went on to say “continue straight on”.  My aim was clearly in question!

Flybe is a civilised airline that allows you to print out your boarding card on a machine at the airport without charging you £40.  I took a wander through security and sought out the lounge where I was the only customer.  Coffee, scone and chocolate cake were consumed while a can of Guinness and a bag of crisps accidentally fell into my hand luggage.

Half an hour late the call came for my flight.  I somehow ended up at the back of the queue at the gate and waited.  Suddenly remembering the horror of the outbound flight.  My bag wouldn’t fit in the overhead locker!  I had to spend the whole flight with it on my feet in the tiny propeller driven machine Flybe call a passenger aeroplane.

Same plane to get me home.  Same nightmare.  Thankfully the flight is only 45 minutes.  As I board, last, I realise there are a dozen empty seats at the front of the plane and several dozen passengers battling to squeeze their bags into the tiny overhead lockers.

Opportunistically I ask the stewardess if I can sit in two of the empty seats.  One for me.  One for the bag.  I’m last on.  Nobody else is heading this way!  She agrees and comfort is found.

My big problem comes in July.  Our flights to Chile start in Milan.  To get to Milan we use Flybe.  They use small Embracer aircraft on the Milan route.  Small hand luggage bags needed.  The same hand luggage that will be used for the thirteen hour slog to Santiago.  I need to give some thought to change of clothes and choice of toys to take with me.  Something I’d given no consideration to.

Game of Thrones Got Here First

I started watching Game of Thrones last week.  Five years behind the rest of the world.  And completely coincidental that I was due to hit the Antrim coast this week.

My day started with nothing more than a walk down a country lane.  The sheep stopped munching and stared at me en masse as I passed.  Perhaps they smelled Yorkshire on me.  It was like the pub scene in American Werewolf in London where the bar fell silent as the strangers walked in.

A random drive took me to Ballypatrick forest and a chilly walk before I took in numerous harbours and beaches as the sky became clearer and the sun warmer.

My favourite location of the day has been Dunluce Castle.  A fiver to get in.  Excellent historical references throughout.  Amazing views.  And the scene setter for the Iron Islands in Game of Thrones, albeit touched up a tad for the telly box.

And GoT has been everywhere on this coast.  I found a quaint harbour and had a chocolate ice cream.  Later I discovered a picture of a GoT character on a boat in the same harbour.  Other headlands and rock faces have had similar stardom too.

If I’d planned it better I could have made a specific tour out of the series.  But then I shunned Titanic for the Mourne Coast on Monday so perhaps it’s not my way.  And I’m only just past the bit where Sean Bean gets his head chopped off so I’m no expert.

The trip?  Brilliant.  Another highly recommended destination.  Where else can you get an ice cream for £1.20?

Spectacular Coastline

The day started badly.  The Holiday Inn Express I’d stayed in overnight (free with points) en route from Belfast to the Giant’s Causeway was struggling for hot water.  My shower was brief and unpleasant.

They redeemed themselves by having added back bacon and mushrooms to their previously uninspiring, but always appreciated, breakfast.  The day was improving so I decided to change my plans again.  Rather than heading straight north I decided on east and Carrickfergus Castle.  This effectively meant that I’d stayed in the wrong location overnight but that didn’t really matter.

My useless sat nav wasted twenty minutes of my ever decreasing life expectancy by looping me around two roundabouts five miles apart and telling he to return back the way I’d just come, over and over.  I guessed an alternative and she eventually said “recalculating route”.  Sure enough, the coast and then the castle came into sight  and, as is customary in most of Northern Ireland, free parking made my short stop easy.

The castle quite an impressive structure from the outside and apparently saw action in World War Two, despite more ancient battles involving French, Scots and English.  I didn’t go inside but I could certainly understand why it has been used as a set in Games of Thrones.

And then I drove the north east coast of this lovely island.  As good as yesterday’s Mourne Coast was, this was better.  Quiet roads, stunning views of coast and countryside, numerous short stops to take it all in and all doable within a few hours and with minimal effort.

Cheap flights.  Cheap car hire and loads of different accomdation types make this a must do location for anybody who loves a wild coastline, driving on the left and being able to converse with the locals in something resembling English!

I crossed a rope bridge.  I had a pint of Guinness.  Then the Giant’s Causeway.  I waited for the National Trust people to go home so that I could avoid their £10.50 site fee.  They even charge this if you use their shop!  And the ten minute walk down the hill is a stunner on its own.

The Causeway itself is on my bucket list.  Ticked off today.  It was pretty much as I expected it to be and I walked across the stones.  Pondered the nonsense of the story that goes with it and failed to see Scotland in the distance.  I stared at the stones under my fee and was reminded of the 1980s teen quiz Blockbusters.  Who could forget the line “Can I have a P please Bob”.

This day had so much more.  Glorious weather.  Location after location.  And a remote bed and breakfast place to finish it off that’s an absolute steal.

When You Pick Up Your Hire Car and Do Something Completely Different to Plan A

Flybe have supplied pleasant flight times from Leeds to Belfast.  I arrived at George Best City Airport pondering great Northern Ireland footballers.  Three seconds later I headed to the Avis desk and then out to the car park to collect my Peugeot 205.  A decently sized cabin and acceleration like a slug.

I had four hours to kill before meeting friends in the city early evening.  Former colleagues who I have a strong affinity with and, despite my deaf ear inhibiting me a little had a fab time with.  They even subbed me for dinner which was an emotional moment.

Anyway, my plan had been Titanic.  Museum and bits of film set.  As I exited the airport in my battered French hire car, all wing mirrors in tact, I saw a brown tourist sign “Mourne Coastal Road”.  All bets were off.  Nature beat the ship yet again and I headed off down a coast with many small villages, large beaches, free car parks and undoubted natural beauty.  And a lack of chippys!

A few minutes here and there to smell the sea and take some photos.  No real purpose but to relax.  I couldn’t even tell you the names of many of the places I went through, although some are mentioned in Van Morrisson lyrics.  Bangor to Portaferry where I elected not to get the ferry and instead returned to Belfast via the east coast of Strangford Lough.

The weather has been kind to me on lots of my trips.  This one has also started with perfect blue skies, the fleece discarded to the back seat and warmth from location and people.  Two full days to grasp.

Desired For So Long and Finally I’m Inside Her

My previous visits to Leeds Bradford Airport have seen me walk past the Yorkshire Premier Lounge without being allowed to touch.  Today I’ve been able to wander in and play thanks to my Priority Pass.

It’s a comfortable haven away from the rest of the world and has supplied me with a tea cake (that’s the thing with currants that you toast, for those who think it’s a bread roll) and a bacon sandwich.  Coffee and orange juice capped off the meal along with an Alpen cereal bar sneakily secreted into my hand luggage.

As lounges go it’s quite compact.  They don’t care about seeing your boarding pass to let you in, the wifi is far superior to that in the distant corners of the airport and, quaintly, they actually call out your flight rather than expecting you to read the screen.

Theres a decent range of breakfast foods including cereals, toast and scones in addition to my preferences and, despite only being 10am, everybody else seemed to have beer or wine self-serviced to their chairs.

Airport lounges aren’t necessarily exciting but I certainly like to step away from the crowds to chill before a flight.  The Yorkshire Premier Lounge certainly let’s me do that.

I just wonder why the fine folk of Yorkshire have to include the name of the county in everything they do.  Then again, if they’d gone for the Arthur Scargill Premier Lounge instead it might not have felt quite the same.

Packing the Essentials

Three nights in Northern Ireland.  Becoming more experienced travelling.  And I’ve packed and repacked my bag several times.  Always double, triple, quadruple checking.

My bag is a hold-all with an inside pocket.  I put my “emergency stuff” in there and it lives there permanently, never likely to be used.  A tiny first aid kit.  A sewing kit long since harvested from a posher hotel.  Spare cables for iPad, android phone and a long since discarded iPhone.  A USB plug connecter.  A European adaptor that I won’t need for this trip.  Three cherished plastic bags.  A spare set of headphones, although I rarely listen to music these days.  Contingency charger with cable that I topped up overnight.  Old pair of driving glasses.  Emergency socks and undies.  A pack of all my painkillers, unused since December, and diarrhoea tablets to counter side effects.

Next is the essentials.  Sat nav and all cables for it.  iPad USB cable.  Android USB cable.  iPhone USB cable.  USB plug adapter.  European adaptor even though I won’t need it this time.  Posh Bose headphones as I’m now watching Game of Thrones on the iPad.  The case for those includes another unnecessary Euro plug adaptor, another iPad cable and another Android cable.  A small rechargeable torch, just in case the lights fail.  Another charging bar and cable already topped up.

The food.  More to avoid having to spend at an airport if the lounge don’t let me in or there’s a flight delay.  Three bags of crisps and three bars of chocolate.  Big free breakfasts and early evening meals make these a possible lunch too.  Tea, coffee and sweeteners in sachets, just in case supplies at hotel and B&B are inadequate.

The clothes.  Three pairs each of socks and undies.  Swimming shorts that I know I won’t use.  A plain t-shirt.  Slippers supplied by my private hospital following my operation in October.  A terribly designed pair of pyjama bottoms, just in case there’s a midnight evacuation.  Although it might be better to be seen starkers than wearing just my travel oonly jamas!

The clear bag.  Tiny toothbrush.  Tiny toothpaste.  Tiny deoderant.  Tiny scissors.  Tape to hold down my eyelid at night.  Eye drops.

I’ll top that up with my vital iPad and folder with insurance documents, print outs of car park, flight details, boarding pass hotel and B&B.  Passport and afatinib pills will go in my pocket – I don’t want to lose those if I’m stranded elsewhere.  More important than the iPad!

And that’s it.  Anybody would think I’m paranoid about USB cables not working and phone or iPad failing!

Pondering How Friends Will View Me

As I prepare to fly to Belfast tomorrow I ponder for the first time how people will view me.  I’m not a particularly vain person, and was never exactly blessed with pretty boy looks, but I’m meeting up with half a dozen guys I’ve not seen in a couple of years and certainly won’t have been exposed to the Bell’s palsy on my face.

I’ve chosen to be very open about revealing my cancer.  That’s had a mix of responses from people getting in touch and meeting up to others disappearing a little, presumably not quite able to handle the situation.  I’ve probably been guilty of the latter with others in the past, so I get it.  Knowing what I now know I’d certainly not repeat it though.

It’s on to Belfast.  They’ll have to endure my face.  Put up with me using a finger to support my lip.  Cope with my newly developed shuffle.  Understand why I don’t stand up or sit down with ease.  Ignore the spots and dry skin.  And I’m sure they will all be fine.

It’s strange that this trip is the one that’s suddenly making me feel more self-conscious.  As has been the case for the last six months, it’s strange how I seem to dislike the Bell’s palsy more than the thing that’s going to finish me off.

My Not So Reliable International Sat Nav