I think that perhaps one of the signs of ageing, at least in me, is that I have lost the ability to write narrative prose. After too many years of reports and such I am reduced to communicating in point form. It may also be that iPads are not the best device for me. Frankly I think the word processor on my BlackBerry is way better featured than this thing and certainly the keys don't bang my finger joints that way this keyboard's dobut hey, I'm lying on a bed looking out on a bunch of kite surfers working the edge of a fine sandy beach, it's 27 (later additions poolside with a cappuccino or four) and I'm looking forward to scooping another spoonful of Sandwich Spread straight out of the jar the next time Geri leaves the room for a moment. :-)

Though there's a certain irony in me deliberately leaving all my gizmos behind and taking notes on paper, reading paperbacks while she sends email on her iPad while listening to podcasts on her Touch and reads on her kindle.

I find me having to restrain myself and not review the iPad. :-)

Can't resist but will keep short: useless for anything other than games but great at that.

FYI, this intended as a postcard for friends and family as well as serving as a review/report for our Happy Faces companeras/os.

On the Obama announcement yesterday, here folks think it a good thing and seem pleased by the prisoner exchange announcement, but no Cuban I have spoken with sees this as changing a great deal since while Obama has some flex under the terms of the Helms'Burton act )sorry, can´t find all the characters I need on a Spanish keyboard= but the meat of the Embargo can only be dealt with by Congress.  I don´t follow US politics all that closely but as I recall both chambers will have a Republican majority come January.

There´s more excitement amongst the Canadian guests here )a majority of the guests are Cdn=.  Much bar discussion re. where we will be looking to shift to if or when our southern cousins appear in large numbers in a few years.  If Caibarien is going to look and feel like Jaco CR or San Juan Nicargua in 5 years, do we want to be here_  Will we be able to afford it, that kinda thing.

I watched the CNN coverage and thought it way over the top.  The Cuban coverage more restrained and focussed on the diplomatic recognition and the prisoner exchange, the Pope´s role.


1. The food is, I think regrettably for those who arrive without having done a tiny bit of research and so for whom it comes as a surprise, pretty much standard for one of these places. But even so, in the sea of food ejected from a sous vide the size of an Olympic swimming pool, there are the odd bright spots. Last night's fish was fine but the bits on the side not too appetizing. Mashed that I could have sworn came from a box and overlooked veg. But the appetizer was not bad at all. A fried egg over mashed potatoes covered with Serrano ham shavings. Almost certainly the chef's addition to the corporate menu as the mashed real and made tasty with some herbs. We've seen this before and know from asking around that the chefs at these places will often find ways of escaping the set menu and ingredients. I enjoyed and spent some time by the pool this afternoon thinking about how to make a few changes and serve at home. I think perhaps some toasted garlic in the mashed and a dusting of parmasan along with the Serrano. We've also had a quite nice chateaubriand and last night's 'returning guests' dinner featured a surf and turf worthy of a chain restaurant at home and even better, a very short speech of welcome (back).

2. Air Transat the best-organized airline there is I think. The multi-line check-in system with one for upgraded passengers, one for families with young kids etc. is very efficient.

3. Seat fine. It came with a split of pro secco and a $15 food credit. Which I used for a glass of white and a snack. Pleasant enough flight, standard arrival procedure.

4. A few of the staff/guides in the parking lot and on the buses were wearing gloves and toques. It must has been 15:-).

5. The Melia has reasonable wifi, as reported by other travellers, but still only in the lobby. So far seems reliable and fairly fast. $4 per hour wifi or with desktop rental included. I will admit to now oscillating wildly between being glad I had the self-discipline to leave all my gizmos behind and wishing I had at least brought my Blackberry.

6. The resort is about 40% full. Mostly a good thing for the guests who are here but it does mean that the a la carte restaurants are open only in rotation.

7. I do wish that new guests were given a map to the resort that not only showed them where their rooms are to be found but which identified the chairs poolside and the tables at the restaurants, the stools at the bars which Geri and I have staked-out as ours. My forehead may be permanently wrinkled from the number of glares I have had to unproductively send.

8. The pool grill is empty at breakfast and when we mention the possibility of an a la carte (and quite good) breakfast by the pool and under waving palms to other guests it comes as a surprise. Which is why I keep mentioning it here.

9. We've been invited to a birthday party for one of the staff near Christmas. This stuff always makes me a bit nervous as I prefer to keep a bit of distance but this one seems ok.

10. The Melia is one of those resorts with a loyal clientele and so we have lots of old friends amongst the guests, not just the staff. Some appear to have been occupying the same stool at the swim-up bar since we were last here.

11. Having BBC on the TV means staying up to date on things like the general strike in Belgium when the pension age was raised to 67 for no particular reason (unlike home, where the same was done for as little reason and all that resulted were supportive editorials in The National Post) and the latest in cricket.

12. Lots and lots of familiar staff. Always a good sign. Unhappy people move.

13. Little rituals: sleep-in or read until 0730, then head out for some more reading and fresh orange juice, a couple of cappuccinos; then back to the room to deliver tea to Geri. And to swipe her iPad so I can work on this.

14. This is what retirement will be like for me. Geri got there first and has done all the scouting, made all the contacts.

15. Weather not great last week I am told, but dandy so far this. Just too windy for the beach. Waves and flying sand. One of the down sides of so fine a beach.

16. It is possible that I will die of poolside bar service. I shall be interested to see how that cause is listed on my death certificate.

17. Have already made some friends amongst the resort's cats. Ours would enjoy these the palms here as they are easily climbed.

18. There are more kids than we've seen here in the past but the little jeezers seem well-contained in the Mini Club. Even so some razor wire along the top of the fence that surrounds it would be welcome.

19. Three weeks (four for Geri) will see us well into stir-crazy territory so we're looking at a few nights in a Havana casa particular. It's the getting there that's the problem. Car cheap, plane fast...

20. Good thing I was able to come as Geri needs to be regularly told that she is wearing her tops inside out.

21. Some decent sparkling wine here these days. Mimosas a nice hot day drink. And even better, you can start in on them at breakfast. ������

22. I brought a bunch of books to read and then leave in the library. Mostly stuff I haven't read in decades but thought enough of to shelve for the future. The future would appear to be now. But odd choices. The first two up were The Communist's Daughter and Count Zero. Both set partly in Barcelona. A much different read when you've been to the settings. Am not going though them as quickly as a result, but still averaging one a day. 'Bug Jack Barron" is so wildly dated I'm finding it unreadable. And P. Jose Farmer's take on Jesus (Yeshua in one of the Riverworld novellas, JC on the Dude Ranch and Jesus on Mars) fun but not nearly as profound as it seemed to me at age 15. The Jungle Rot Kid on the Nod just seems pretentious (which coming from me is harsh indeed ������). I'm afraid of what I will think of the Moorcocks I brought. All by way of saying that I hope the resort's swap library is well stocked as I may run short.

23. Gym a necessity after the flight and the time we spend on pool loungers.

24. A wedding here every week.

25. Twins should not be forced to wear identical clothing past the age of 6. Parents should be flogged for encouraging it after 10 and children's aid called if it is allowed after 14.

26. Geri has already established a relationship with the general manager and with one of the sUb-managers. Her personality and inclination to do so aside, the fact that we're here for so long helps. Good guy to know for future visits.

27. Fewer musicians than when the place is full but very good and all playing son or jazz. Very enjoyable when the Muzak is avoided.

28. Ken Barger owes me CUC3 for getting the lobby bar band to play Yolanda last night.

29. It was a mistake to store my jars of Sandwich Spread on the shelf over the TV. In view from my pillow. I woke from a nap yesterday with a craving and finished one off. A true junkie and spoon less I used my toothbrush to scour the bottom clean.

30. Geoff D did not warn me that Australian baseball caps use dyes that bleed. The red bill of the CPSU hat he gave me years ago makes me look as though I have a serious scalp wound when it is wet.

31. As always the lack of tips and tippers is to be lamented. It is noticeable that regulars do. The foursome from the Stratford area who every year stake out some stools at the swim-up (I call them The Lizards in recognition of their ability to sit there no matter what the water temperature) seem determined to make up for the parsimony of others. From what I have seen they are paying as much for their included drinks here as they would at home.

32. There are Xmas decorations here and there, especially in the lobby. On the up side they all appear to be flammable.

33. Scratch-made piña coladas...

34. A couple of the bartenders setting aside Geri's favourite cava for her. And, FINALLY, you can get a Cesar. Mind you, we have to buy the clamato juice in cans at the shop but the bars will then hold them for you with a note identifying the owner.

35. Going for a walk around the place inevitably turns into something resembling a pub crawl as, unfathomably, we seem to know all the bar staff and they pull us over for a chat. At least that is how I remember it.

36. Walked around the Sol next door. Homier place, if it had just a couple of more restaurants it would be our choice for a long stay like this. On average the food there superior to here but how many times can you enjoyed a nice BBQ chicken with great fries in a month? Nice chats with a couple of the old timers there. Turns out we probably first ran into Vivian M at the first Cayo Coco hotel about 1993. Now we need to find someone who was at the 50's classic Internacionale a few years earlier.

37. The Sol folks report that it is full all year now with Cuban guests filling it all summer.

38. Sol habitués will want to know that Elsa eventually did retire. The first time wasn't retirement at all but a long vacation to clear her bank. She got bored at home and returned at the end of it rather than retiring. When she had to retire she did but has moved to Havana, presumably for the excitement. ������

39. They seem to be building an aviary at the Sol. On the east side of the buffet restaurant.

That's it for now. Likely more later. It would cost a tonne to upload them from here but I have a few photos of the Melia facilities for anyone think of booking here as well as a few exteriors of the Sol. Not much has changed so I offer them only as proof the places still stand and are in good shape.

Iceland Notes and Motes

Of course the real reason for our trip was the Corrie Street tour (see entries below) in Manchester UK.  We bought the tour tickets (cheap) last spring when the tours were announced just on the off chance that we would have enough points for a freebie business class (bad backs) flight over a long weekend.  We didn’t and we were wanting to save the points we did have for our next big trip (looking like Southeast Asia) so I spent a few minutes searching for a cheap flight Toronto-Manchester direct and came up with Icelandair at $711 (all-in).

Photos of the Iceland bit of the trip can be found HERE.

Icelandair also had two interesting features to their flights.  Free stopovers of up to seven nights and an auction system (which we have not seen elsewhere) that allows you to put in a standing bid for any upgrades with the airline then notifying you of whether you have won or lost business class seats a few days before your flight.

I bid $150 each and, hey, presto we got business class seating on every segment and full business class treatment (food the only difference) on the Reykjavik-Manchester-Reykjavik segments.

We truly were accidental tourists so didn’t have any real plans though Geri wanted to get to the seriously active volcano while we were there.  In the end we couldn’t as the amount of sulphur dioxide it was putting out meant airpacks for anyone within a couple of thousand metres.  

Still, the town was fun and the 5 days we were there was about perfect.  We’ll likely be back too as we were/are quite impressed with Icelandair and would almost certainly use them to get to Europe when we’re pointless (so to speak J).

Random thoughts and musings:

1. The drive in from the airport is over a huge lava field about 1000 years old and so pretty desolate.  You can appreciate the beauty of it after a while.
2.   Only native tress a kind of birch that is really not much more than a shrub.
3.   Lot and lots and lots of moss on the rock.
4.   Only native fauna worth mentioning are arctic foxes.  Everything else imported.
5.   I did not have my BlackBerry and missed it greatly.
6. Homes in the lava field have raised boxes full of trucked-in earth as gardens.
7. The stuff very rough.  Must be hell to try and walk it.
8. Dirt roads scrapped into the lava are blacker than asphalt.  And beaches all black sand.   Reminded us of Nicaraguan beaches – also volcanic.
9. The only lineups we saw the whole trip were at the airport and at hot dog stands.  The hot dog culture a little odd.  Real frankfurters though, so worth the wait.
10. The Blue Lagoon very touristy but worth a visit and very pleasant.
11. Heating here by hot geothermal water.  Virtually free.  Electricity also geothermal-=generated and cheap.
12. Home heating is a total-loss system (water goes in at 85 degrees, heats house and then goes off to do something else at around 30 degrees.  So owners use hose and tap into heating system to clear snow and ice from driveways etc.
13. While we couldn’t get to any of the really active volcanoes in person this trip we did go to a couple of film presentations.  One at a funky little place in an attic over an old fish cleaning plant that has been turned into a tourist attraction in the old harbour area.  Fun as much for where we were as what we were seeing, plus I managed a nice nap too.  :-)
14.   The Frederikson Ale House down near the harbour was our local for the trip.  The folks who work there were all really, really nice and they had a reasonable selection (given our short visit) of beers.  Even a decent stout.  Ate there once and very good fresh fish and chips with “socialism sauce”.
15.   Beer only legal here since 1989.   Brewers here do a good job of catching up.  :-) Especially Einstock.
16.   Happy hours very big here.  VERY.
17.   Got to watch a couple of Icelandic films on the flights, plus The Grand Budapest Hotel.  The Icelandic film very Scandinavian – only more so.  And full of fish(ing) metaphors.
18.   Everybody takes credit or debit cards and cash a bit frowned on.  Hot dog stands and street vendors included.
19.   There is not a single McDonald’s in Iceland.  Despite their apparent enthusiasm for their own varieties of fast food.
20.   The Salvation Army runs a backpackers hostel, not a shelter.  Pretty impressive social benefits here.
21.   Look for photos of the corrugated siding on older buildings.
22.   With heating virtually free people leave doors and windows open even on chilly evenings.
23.   Icelanders are water wastrels.  Water bubbles-up everywhere, sometimes hot, sometimes not.  Lots of lakes with large rivers flowing out but nothing visible going in.
24.   Iceland the opposite of California.  Here the tectonic plates are moving apart and then the gaps being filled-in by lava.
25.   At one point on a geotour we drove from the European plate to the American plate.
26.   Lava from a volcano will follow river beds leading to some spectacular sights.
27. The geysers and hot springs we saw lots of fun, very impressive.
28.   Swimming lessons are mandatory by law.  Can you guess this is a fishing culture?
29.   Schooling/daycare starts at 2 years.  Daycare fees but free or dirt cheap by our standards through uni.
30.   All schools, even in tiny villages, have hot pools.  Dig a fencepost and you have a hot spring.
31.   Headstones are decorated with lights for Christmas. 
32.   Hot water-heated greenhouses now provided 50% of their fruits and veg.  Bananas and grapes even.
33.   Hot water lines coming into the city are on the surface (at least partly due to the difficulty of trenching lava).  Are on wheeled trolleys so that in earthquakes they can move and not break.
34.   There are a LOT of earthquakes.
35.   Gullfoss (gold falls) waterfall very pretty.  Explanatory signs compare it to Niagara Falls “in the United States.”  :-)
36.   Huge muni library.
37.   Almost as big as the factory trawlers offloading fish already cleaned and packaged and frozen.
38.   Overall very expensive place since the 2008 meltdown.  Mostly imported items driving inflation, but an island in the middle of the North Atlantic with a population of 325,000 imports a lot.
39.   The hop-on, hop-off buses here the first and only disappointment we’ve with them.  Didn’t help much in figuring things out.  City small enough not needed I think.
40.   Police unarmed.
41.   No trained seal ‘have a nice day’ from servers etc.  But some real conversations, some of them taking a minute or more.  Friendly, small-town feel.
42.   Our photos include some of the southern tip of Greenland on the flight home.  Wow.
43.   Icelandic films not for anyone but the interminable cheery who are looking for a downer.  A danger to all others.  But fab especially when you consider the size of the country.  While most speak English their culture benefits from not having the same first language as Hollywood.
44.   Made the Phalleogical (i.e. penis) Museum almost literally on our way to the airport.  Just popped-in the front door for some photos in the gift shop.  At least I can prove it exists.  :-)
45.   I bought two ab-fab hats as sounvenirs.  Pretty snappy, see photos of.

Check here again in a couple of years and you’ll see another e-postcard as we fully intend to go back.

Manchester's People's History Museum

Lovely place, quite impressive really.  And a more than decent cafe on the main floor (inevitably named The Left Bank).

The Chartist etc. bit triggered memories of long ago English history classes.  The more recent displays a bit depressing in that I lived through and can remember many of them (even participated, in a small way, as with the Miners Strike).  Next thing you know I will wake up to find myself stuffed and in a display case.

Lots of hands-on things for kids.

I LOVED the union banners on display.  Just wish there were more.  Nobody does a good banner like the British.

The only down side to the place is that it pretty much killed the day for us, especially as we (yet again) did not bring one of our little folding stools for Geri and her back started to go after a couple of hours.

With a bit of luck and a shitload of money the Workers Heritage Centre in Hamilton will be like this in 50 years or so.

After we made off to Mr. Thomas' Chop House, a very nicely maintained Victorian pub turned slightly trendy restaurant.  Food fab (picture a 21st century take on corned beef hash) and a couple of pints of Black Sheep.

Photos of the museum HERE and of the walking we did before and after and of Mr. Thomas' HERE.  But best of all, shots of a couple of nice oddities in the men's and women's WCs at the museum HERE.

G and D on the Street!

Geri and I have both been fans of Coronation Street for decades.  Fans since before we became fans of each other, so to speak.

Before the show went to the 5-days-a-week schedule tours were offered by the studio and we were planning on using up some of our Aeroplan points to fly over and take it, make a cheap fun weekend out of it.

But in 1999 the schedule was bumped-up and the tours stopped as the set had no down time.

This past spring however, they resumed as the old set was abandoned for a brand new one across town.  There won’t be any tours of the new set either (for the same reason) but for a limited time there would be tours of the old one before it as torn down to make way for housing.

So we decided to give it some thought.  Pending a conclusion we booked our tickets for what was announced as the last day for tours, 4 October.

In the end we couldn’t resist and while we didn’t have the points for business class seats (needed because of back problems) we did manage to find cheap seats on Icelandair with the added benefit of a possible stopover at no extra cost on the way back.  We were quite impressed with the airline.  Not least because they run an online auction for available seat upgrades and we got biz class seats for the Keflavik-Manchester-Keflavik segments.  The bits into and out of Toronto not, but not too terrible as there was a stop in Iceland long enough for some stretching and because we paid for ‘comfort class’ (economy seats but with the centre seat covered with a tray and somewhat more legroom, what  Lufthansa tries to pass-off as its business class) and the flight is only about 4 hours.

So, for a mere $30 or so plus airfare we got to spend 2 hours playing on the old set.  Which I think works out to about $25 per minute if you take the estimated cost of our trip as a whole and divide it by 120.  :-)

Anyway, here’s the lowdown on the tour:

1.          The tour crowd was 40 in number with a new group going through every 10 minutes from 0800 to 2230 every day.  Even with breaks for the guides still over 20,000 through each weekend day.  Many fewer on weekdays I would expect.

2.          75% women, broad age range.

3.          One in our group doing a Bet Lynch imitation, another dressed as Hilda Ogden.

4.          Overall much more fun than the Tower of Buckingham Palace I must say.  :-)

5.          Real royalty too: Reg Holdsworth put in an appearance in a bright pink jacket.  Geri asked him if the jacket put him in character and he replied “Yes, along with the matching underwear.”  He was quite the sport and must have stood for hours for photos, autographs and was quite chatty.

6.          The indoor behind the scenes stuff was mildly interesting.  No photos allowed there or on the indoor sets except for the tour-does-you-pay shots of tourists at the bar on the Rover’s set.

7.          Green room, dressing rooms, make-up room, interior sets of various houses along the Street all on the tour.

8.          The costumes kinda fun.  They have an archive of old clothing for each continuing character.

9.          Bit of an explanation of where they shop for costumes for each of the characters, who buys their own etc.

10.    Quite the collection of wedding dresses too.

11.    Apparently the actor who plays Norris falls asleep every time he is having his makeup done.

12.    Small theatre with video of highlights of the show over the past 60+ years.  A lot of beer has been wasted over the years by being thrown at or poured over characters.  :-)

13.    People on the tour found the theatre got rather dusty now and then during the sad bits.  A couple behind me we quite sad after the Haley retrospective.

14.    Bit of a history of Liz’s boobs too.  And yet she still denies having had enhancement surgery done. :-)

15.    Some uncaught bloopers that made it to air.  Kinda fun.  Sets and equipment exposed, that sort of thing.

16.    Display of props.

17.    Only two coffins every used in the 148 funerals on the show.  One for 146.

18.    Diedre’s glasses collection.  :-)

19.    102 weddings, all dresses kept.

20.    The Rover’s interior much more realistic than I had expected.  Photos of Geri pulling me a pint and of me along behind the bar are amongst out photos (see end of this postcard for the link to them all).

21.    Horror expressed by all that Betty’s hotpot was bought at the local Tesco’s and often eaten cold by the actors if many takes required.

22.    Roy’s train set was on display.

23.    The Jack and Vera was fun and includes their urns

24.    Hilda’s hair rollers and the Sharpes hairnet there too.

25.    Outdoors was the best bit other than the Rover’s interior set.  See our photos.  Some of the fans used their access to photo or video their re-enactments of various famous scenes (there was a lineup at one point as a bunch of women took turns being photographed lying where Tina did after she was pushed.

26.    Yes, yes, I did one.  See the photo and guess. :-)

27.    The tour is so popular (see the numbers above) that it has been extended to the end of October and permission from the Council to keep it going for the rest of the year has been applied-for.

28.    #corrietour is the officially-encouraged hashtag.

29.    See our photo HERE.  They say a great deal more about how much fun it was than anything I could write.

Settled in Manchester

So, settled with our hosts, Geri’s friend Anne and husband Roy, in Manchester. 

Love Icelandair and am thinking that at their prices even with no stay over in Iceland they might come in handy after I retire and our source of aeroplane points disappears.  We were upgraded at the airport to business class for the Toronto-Keflavik segment.  All for $200 less than Air Transat and about $350 less than Air Canada.

Very friendly folks in the airport in Iceland, hoping that carries on outside the doors when we get back there on Monday.

British border officer not only a Corrie fan but says as most of the cast live in or near Manchester she sees them regularly returning from holidays and tours.  Didn’t even blink an eye when we told her we were entering the UK for three days to visit the set before it is torn down.

That’s the old set.  Rumour here has it the new set on the edge of town may be open or opening soon for tours.

Not much to report.  I am watching an episode of allo Allo (HA!) and doing this while people fuss about various things.  Dinner her and then a pub.

Tomorrow is the big day as our tour tickets get us onto the set at 14:40.  I had thought later, closer to midnight when it closes for demolition.  Was thinking that the closer to closing the more cast and producers would be around (a least one of each supposed to be there all day for speeches and photo ops).  Would have enhanced my chances of being discovered and getting a role, even if just a walk-on.  Was thinking I could pitch a mysterious character who follows Ken home from his extended trip to Canada. Lurking in the Rover’s with a pint in every episode would be perfect for me.  Uses my skills too. :-)

No photos yet as I see to have charged all our camera batteries but neglected to return them to the camera case.  My obsession with only buying cameras that use AA batteries pays off finally as I just need to buy a set or two on the way to the pub tonight after dinner and I can take another of my obssesive-compulsive behaviours out for an airing and shoot lots of photos for uploading tomorrow morning.

More later, inevitable.  :-)

Couldn't Resist, So...

We're off to Manchester (UK) and Iceland in early October.  We've always wanted to take a tour of the Coronation Street set but the tours ended when the show went to a five nights per week schedule.  No time for tours around the shooting.

Anyway, the production company built a new set (hence the overnight increase in the size on every room on the show) and the old one has been in use as a tour site since April.  On 4 October that ends and the demo starts, but on that same day we're doing a tour.

The cheapest flights direct Toronto-Manchester-Toronto were Iceland Air and so on the way back we're spending 5 days in Iceland.

In Manchester we're staying with friends but we're HERE whilst in Reykjavik. 

Treat number two results from Geri inheriting a sum from her father when he died (see below).  She'll be in Cuba for 4 weeks over Christmas and New Years while I will be joining her for three weeks.  Letting us both celebrate Christmas and New Year's on the beach at the Melia Cayo Santa Maria.

I Lied – Here’s More

Just some random notes on the trip home:

1. The men’s washrooms at the Aix TGV station have little realistic flies painted on the insides of the urinals.  The attendant told me she thinks they are meant to provide an aiming point that minimized splash.  Not as much fun as the little soccer nets and balls you see here now and then, but more effective I suspect.  Interesting how automatic aiming for it was, even before the realization that it was fake dawned.
2. They also had hand-dryers with UV lights in addition to hot air.  If ever I get skin cancer on my hands I shall know to sue SNCF.
3. We were serious when we said we’d look at returning to the same apartment in Aix to get in that last week there.
4. We’re not so serious about getting in the 5 days we had planned for Paris.  The afternoon and evening we spent there while in transit reminded us both of how much of the city we have seen.  And while the hotel itself was fine for a cheap stay, we really didn’t like the neighbourhood.  Too busy, too much traffic, little street life.  So we not only don’t really miss the time we lost there, Geri the Birthday Girl is not sure they needs to get those days back.
5. Instead we’re thinking of combining our tour of the Coronation Street set in Manchester with a week in Aix, giving the Eurostar a go.  Stay tuned.
6. I had forgotten, if I ever knew, how 70’s space-age-ie de Gaulle is, why it was used as the setting for so many cheesie S-F films.
7. The SAS lounge at de Gaulle was not anything like the Maple Leaf lounges we’ve seen.  But the coffee was good and the croissant fresh and nice, so who cares?
8. Once we got to Brussels, our first plane change, we had to flag down a cart and get a ride to our gate as our incoming flight was late.  Fun.  We got to see some of the access tunnels under the building etc.
9. Pod seats on an Airbus 330 (one of my fave planes, just for the quiet) to Montreal, where we had a 4 hour long wait between flights in the lounge, and then again on to Toronto.
10. I did a mini Steve Coogan film festival.  Liked Philomina, loved Alan Partridge.  Lots of champagne and a nap.
11. Home about 20:00.  Long day.  Up the next early to pack for the funeral and we were on the road by 0730.
12. Photos of the sprint home and a tiny bit of Paris are HERE.