Flights, Drives, and Puerto Rican Gigglers
Today we woke up in sunny Tampa, Florida after traversing the United States yesterday on American Airlines cramped older planes. We arrived a few hours early to the Sacramento Airport to find that 3 upgrades to First Class were available at a minimum charge – so we took them! It never occurred to ask if the three seats were together (or at least two of them) and sure enough, they weren’t. AA staff COULD have told us that before selling them to us. So we asked them how to remedy the situation and the lady said we’d just ask other people in First Class to move to accommodate us. Sure, because First Class people chose to sit up there because they AREN’T picky about where they sit.
I just figured we’d get the airline rep at the gate to help us. Unfortunately, it was the same lady who sold us the tickets at the ticket counter. Grrr. So we boarded and promptly asked the lady whom we needed to move to move and she said “No” (didn’t like window seats). Then the guy across the aisle offered to move – and that solved our problem. So Jule and Alyssa sat in row 5 seats A&B and I sat in row 4 across the aisle in 4F (window). The added room and comfort was well worth it and they served us a nice lunch (turkey croissant sandwiches) which they did NOT serve in coach – airlines have all but cut out the meals. This proved to be the best deal of all since we barely had 15 minutes to spare in Dallas to catch our flight to Tampa and not enough time to purchase food.
I sat next to a nice guy from Brazil who was reading a bunch of articles he had downloaded about the Italian region of Umbria (region east of Rome). He was heading home to Sao Paolo to gather the family and then head to Italy in a week or so. He had never been, so I talked to him for a few minutes about the Veneto, and the region where his family was from, Calabria. Next topic, of course, was soccer. He said he was not much a fan, but when I mentioned that I had read reports that Kaka was thinking of leaving AC Milan, he perked up. Kaka was originally from Sao Paolo and this guy seemed a bit bitter still that the young Brazilian stud had left the local squad in favor of AC Milan. So, to burn Milan in favor of Real Madrid seemed like a balance of karma for this guy.
The flight moved along, the Brazilian took his share of the generous elbow room, fell asleep and snorted once. I alternated short naps, reading The City of Fallen Angels, and glazing out of the window at endless basin and range. Occasionally, I would hear Alyssa yelp or giggle or say something happy. Quick eye contact with Jule assured me that all was well. Alyssa even did very well when Jule had to use the restroom and left Alyssa alone to read her books. Alyssa looked across the aisle at me and said “Where is Mamma?”. When I said, “She’ll be back sweetie!” Alyssa without hesitation said (for all to hear) “Mamma went potty!”. A number of admiring giggles and smiles popped up in First Class – glad we could entertain.
We arrived at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport just about 10 minutes late due to having to circumnavigate a large thunderstorm that caused us a 3 minute thrill ride at 33000 feet. Now I know why they call it Dallas-Fort Worth – because you apparently land in Dallas and drive to Fort Worth to get to the terminal. Jeezus Criminey!! I swear we drove forever to get to the terminal. I’ve never driven that far in an airplane. Most other airports have grasped the concept that you can actually fly the final 5 miles!!
Anyhow, we finally got off the plane at 5:20 and our next flight boarded at 5:40 – so we quickly hopped onto the tram to get from Terminal A to Terminal C (those move quickly at Dallas-FW) and arrived at our next gate with about 10 minutes to kill – but we all had to use the bathroom, so that time went by quickly. Next thing you know, we were in the air and on our way to Tampa. Alyssa fell asleep after picking through some Chex Mix and Jule and I did our best to get cozy, now that we had been spoiled by First Class during the previous flight (we were relegated to Coach…how passé.) Anyhow, the Tampa flight was smooth – no food unless you wanted to buy a pack of M&Ms for $3 (not kidding!). Apparently overpriced M&Ms will save American Airlines.
Arrival went fine, our bags were there which was nice, and Jule found a place to buy sandwiches to go – so we ate dinner awaiting our shuttle to the Embassy Suites. The driver was cool – a Puerto Rican who had lived everywhere, giggled a lot, and may have been gay. But thanks to stereo-typing in America, all Cubans and Puerto Ricans who are happy now sound gay to me. Not that I care – but it is interesting that just because he giggled a lot and spoke with an accent, he seemed gay. The service at this Embassy Suites has been great, and the room is nice – but the breakfast buffet this morning was not up to snuff with other ES’s. It was hard to fine cold juice or milk, most food was picked through, and some choices were not very appealilng by their looks.
So we’ve eaten, we are back in the room and ready to go visit the mall across the street before we leave for the port around Noon. (Its about 9:30am). Next time you hear from us will be on the ship…
Today we woke up in sunny Tampa, Florida after traversing the United States yesterday on American Airlines cramped older planes. We arrived a few hours early to the Sacramento Airport to find that 3 upgrades to First Class were available at a minimum charge – so we took them! It never occurred to ask if the three seats were together (or at least two of them) and sure enough, they weren’t. AA staff COULD have told us that before selling them to us. So we asked them how to remedy the situation and the lady said we’d just ask other people in First Class to move to accommodate us. Sure, because First Class people chose to sit up there because they AREN’T picky about where they sit.
I just figured we’d get the airline rep at the gate to help us. Unfortunately, it was the same lady who sold us the tickets at the ticket counter. Grrr. So we boarded and promptly asked the lady whom we needed to move to move and she said “No” (didn’t like window seats). Then the guy across the aisle offered to move – and that solved our problem. So Jule and Alyssa sat in row 5 seats A&B and I sat in row 4 across the aisle in 4F (window). The added room and comfort was well worth it and they served us a nice lunch (turkey croissant sandwiches) which they did NOT serve in coach – airlines have all but cut out the meals. This proved to be the best deal of all since we barely had 15 minutes to spare in Dallas to catch our flight to Tampa and not enough time to purchase food.
I sat next to a nice guy from Brazil who was reading a bunch of articles he had downloaded about the Italian region of Umbria (region east of Rome). He was heading home to Sao Paolo to gather the family and then head to Italy in a week or so. He had never been, so I talked to him for a few minutes about the Veneto, and the region where his family was from, Calabria. Next topic, of course, was soccer. He said he was not much a fan, but when I mentioned that I had read reports that Kaka was thinking of leaving AC Milan, he perked up. Kaka was originally from Sao Paolo and this guy seemed a bit bitter still that the young Brazilian stud had left the local squad in favor of AC Milan. So, to burn Milan in favor of Real Madrid seemed like a balance of karma for this guy.
The flight moved along, the Brazilian took his share of the generous elbow room, fell asleep and snorted once. I alternated short naps, reading The City of Fallen Angels, and glazing out of the window at endless basin and range. Occasionally, I would hear Alyssa yelp or giggle or say something happy. Quick eye contact with Jule assured me that all was well. Alyssa even did very well when Jule had to use the restroom and left Alyssa alone to read her books. Alyssa looked across the aisle at me and said “Where is Mamma?”. When I said, “She’ll be back sweetie!” Alyssa without hesitation said (for all to hear) “Mamma went potty!”. A number of admiring giggles and smiles popped up in First Class – glad we could entertain.
We arrived at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport just about 10 minutes late due to having to circumnavigate a large thunderstorm that caused us a 3 minute thrill ride at 33000 feet. Now I know why they call it Dallas-Fort Worth – because you apparently land in Dallas and drive to Fort Worth to get to the terminal. Jeezus Criminey!! I swear we drove forever to get to the terminal. I’ve never driven that far in an airplane. Most other airports have grasped the concept that you can actually fly the final 5 miles!!
Anyhow, we finally got off the plane at 5:20 and our next flight boarded at 5:40 – so we quickly hopped onto the tram to get from Terminal A to Terminal C (those move quickly at Dallas-FW) and arrived at our next gate with about 10 minutes to kill – but we all had to use the bathroom, so that time went by quickly. Next thing you know, we were in the air and on our way to Tampa. Alyssa fell asleep after picking through some Chex Mix and Jule and I did our best to get cozy, now that we had been spoiled by First Class during the previous flight (we were relegated to Coach…how passé.) Anyhow, the Tampa flight was smooth – no food unless you wanted to buy a pack of M&Ms for $3 (not kidding!). Apparently overpriced M&Ms will save American Airlines.
Arrival went fine, our bags were there which was nice, and Jule found a place to buy sandwiches to go – so we ate dinner awaiting our shuttle to the Embassy Suites. The driver was cool – a Puerto Rican who had lived everywhere, giggled a lot, and may have been gay. But thanks to stereo-typing in America, all Cubans and Puerto Ricans who are happy now sound gay to me. Not that I care – but it is interesting that just because he giggled a lot and spoke with an accent, he seemed gay. The service at this Embassy Suites has been great, and the room is nice – but the breakfast buffet this morning was not up to snuff with other ES’s. It was hard to fine cold juice or milk, most food was picked through, and some choices were not very appealilng by their looks.
So we’ve eaten, we are back in the room and ready to go visit the mall across the street before we leave for the port around Noon. (Its about 9:30am). Next time you hear from us will be on the ship…
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