Travel Day(s) Part 1

A pleasant ride to the train station, courtesy of neighbour Dean, the always nice train into town followed by a bit of fuss as we navigated the construction at Union Station. Quick shuttle bus ride once we got to one of its stops and there we were in the Maple Leaf Lounge at Pearson, stoking-up for the flight with a couple of caesars and some not bad chicken satay. Unfortunately the wifi connection in the lounge was having a bad day and so I was not able to indulge my addictions.

Experiencing a bit of twitchiness regarding my lack of a CrackBerry. Left hand keeps reaching for my belt. First time in some years that I have been on vacation and had a replacement. Am used to a steady stream of calls and e-mails. Not like a work day but pretty steady. Not happening this past week. Usually I have to get on a plane to Cuba to be this cut off. Was back and forth on bringing or leaving for a while but the low volume of calls and e-mails this week sealed the deal.

Impressed with the new gen Open Office: Libre Office. Handles all the latest doc formats, the Pretend Power Point seems to flawlessly read and displays PP decks and the menus are much better – and bigger – than they used to be. Thanks for the tip Bob. I've switched/upgraded on my Mac and would on my laptop but it's a work machine, so...

We're not going to make it to the business class lounge this trip. Geri woke feeling nauseous close to arrival in Frankfurt and we're instead just hanging out near our gate. My reunion with the fancy electro-mechanical self-cleaning toilets will have to wait for another trip.

Other than the nausea, which is fading, all well here. A decision to make on the flight to Barcelona re. Whether to take the train (free with transit passes) or the bus (only a few Euros but it takes us to within walking distance of our hotel. Further problem is whether to walk to the hotel or cab as the only way to get there is down La Rambla. Bit of a tourist way and if we're going to run into pikck-pockets or grab-and-run artists it would likely be there. Not sure we want to be humping two big suitcases and a couple of overnight bags 6 blocks through that. We'd be somehing of a target, even if the stories and warnings about the boulevard are exaggerated.