Bucket List Trip #1

[drron]

That is a great shot of Tromso.
We also loved the Finnair J class on the A340.
A little basic on the E-170 though-no wonder J isn't very full.

 

[SimonM]

SK4423 TOS-OSL B737-700 Seat 5a

The flight looked to be very full. Around half the passengers boarding appeared to have no boarding pass, but instead used a fingerprint read. A small receipt style printer then gave them a boarding slip. I got a slip too despite having a boarding pass.

The seat pitch was definitely greater than on Norwegian and I would be happy to do something like trans-Tasman in this config.

The crew served complementary tea & coffee, but I dozed instead.

Tromso airport is modern and quite large considering that there's only 35,000 people in the town (65,000 in the whole region).



There wouldn't be too many places of that population that have multiple 737 services per day from competing airlines, plus some regional shuttles too.

When I go back to Tromso, I'm going to spend some time on the hill between Tromso and the airport at Langenes. While on a bus, I caught sight of a departing 737 and was more or less looking directly at it on the same level and it was quite close. Would make a great photo.

 

[SimonM]

AY652 OSL-HEL A319 Seat 1F.

Late incoming aircraft meant a 10-15 minute boarding delay. No problem to me as I had a 3 or 4 hour layover in Helsinki.

Breakfast was an omlette, sausages and tomato, with a side of ham and cheese, plus some yoghurt and rolls. Coffee and orange offered. Pretty good breakfast.

 

[SimonM]

AY005 HEL-JFK A330.

Initially I was given a boarding pass for my selected seat, 7L. After being seated, an FA asked me to move to seat 2L. No explanation, but no sweat. A few minutes later, an exasperated CSM came and asked me to move to 5L. Still no explanation, no sweat, but slight embarrassment with the curious looks from the other pax. No one sat in 2L and I can't remember if anyone sat in 7L. Strange.

The lunch was cream of cold Reindeer soup and I selected pan-fried arctic char as the main. I got a bit of a taste for Reindeer. It has a smokey flavour that I really quite like.



The cabin layout wasn't as nice as the A340, with slightly higher seat backs. Still OK of course, just not quite as cool. Watch out for the tray tables. Mine sprung out so fast it whacked me in the stomach.



The seat back monitor has one on my favorite features, the forward and down cameras. This is crossing the coast of Greenland. The next shot is out the window of the same thing.



Although it wasn't on the list, I'm going to add seeing Greenland from the air to my bucket list after the fact. It was awesome. Now I know why people pay to fly over the Antarctic.

 

[samh004]

The flight looked to be very full. Around half the passengers boarding appeared to have no boarding pass, but instead used a fingerprint read. A small receipt style printer then gave them a boarding slip. I got a slip too despite having a boarding pass.

That’s very cool with the fingerprint read. Probably would blow NGCI out of the water!

Tromso airport is modern and quite large considering that there's only 35,000 people in the town (65,000 in the whole region).

There wouldn't be too many places of that population that have multiple 737 services per day from competing airlines, plus some regional shuttles too.

Queenstown, New Zealand readily comes to mind, and it’s a lot closer

You can also do some cool plane spotting there.

The lunch was cream of cold Reindeer soup and I selected pan-fried arctic char as the main. I got a bit of a taste for Reindeer. It has a smokey flavour that I really quite like.

If you’re looking for some of that in Australia, IKEA sells the meat, and probably soup and other foods with it in

The view of Greenland looks amazing! :shock:

 

[SimonM]

Queenstown, New Zealand readily comes to mind, and it’s a lot closer

Excellent analog for Tromso. Opposite end of the country to the major city but a very popular destination. I was thinking of the service to regional NZ towns when I wrote, but most are pretty lame by comparison.

If you’re looking for some of that in Australia, IKEA sells the meat, and probably soup and other foods with it in

Looks like I'm off to Springwood next weekend.

The view of Greenland looks amazing! :shock:

I know 1000's of people a day fly over the same thing, but I felt so privileged to see it so clearly. Here's another shot, ice breaking off a glacier this time.

 

[SimonM]

That is a great shot of Tromso.
We also loved the Finnair J class on the A340.
A little basic on the E-170 though-no wonder J isn't very full.

I was on an award flight, but if I was paying for the one hour flight, I'd sit in Y.

Thanks about the photo. I've put another few Tromso shots on my Flickr page. Flickr: Simon.Morris' Photostream

 

[SimonM]

DL1634 JFK-ATL B757-300 Seat 37a.

Flying with Delta is like flying in a mad house. The pax are just weird, myself excepted of course.

Delta's JFK terminal looks pretty run down. Actually, JFK generally looks pretty run down to me, but this did stand out.

Once on board, I noticed all the window blinds were down. Apart from myself and one other close by, I think they all stayed down for the duration of the flight.

The people around me seemed very odd. The lady behind me requested a seat belt extension lest "her womb be squeezed out" and then after a lengthy and loud invocation of the Lord's protection, she sang a selection of songs, the only one of which I can remember was a five minute repetition of the chorus from Leaving on a Jet Plane. At least 3 people around me made telephone calls telling people that they were on the plane, one of which was quite a long time after the turn off your phone announcement. To top it off, the dead-heading Captain and FA in front of me flirted in an awkward 40-something way for virtually the entire trip. I was very glad to get to Atlanta.

Here's a plus though. Check out the Delta safety video YouTube - Delta's In-flight Safety Video

Atlanta airport is another huge place with at least 5 terminals and a train between them. I arrived at E and departed from A, so got a few minute ride.



This is the ATL departures and arrivals board. 10 screens of departing flights and 2 of arrivals. Quite a big range of destinations too. Being used to the Aus/NZ model of separate terminals and departing procedures, it struck me as odd that both international and domestic departures are in the same place with no apparent customs check on leaving.

 

[SimonM]

DL177 ATL-MCO B757-300 Seat 19f.

Not as new a plane as the previous flight. Loved the safety video again.

An amazing thing happened on approach to MCO. On the last leg (no more turns), a twin prop plane flew underneath us, across our path. I wouldn't know how to pick heights, but we couldn't have been at more than 2 or 3000ft given the time to landing and the other plane was certainly closer to us than the ground. I know US skies are busy, but I've never seen another plane so close.

MCO - another huge airport, another train. This time we needed to take the train to get to the baggage claim.

The bags did take a while to come, but not surprising given the distance they had to travel.

Picking up a car from Alamo took a while. They'd had a computer crash and had to process everything manually on paper forms. Nicely handled though, with the manager by the queue letting people know what was going on and apologizing.

I don't rent cars very often and am still affected by my early 1990's Hertz experiences where the car was minutely examined on check out and God forbid you might have a new stone chip on it when you get back. However, that's not how it works with Alamo. After completing the contract, you walk over to the car park and just choose a car from the row covered by your agreement, in my case mid-size. Hop in and drive off. At the security gate, the guard checks you out and you're on your way.

I have to apologize for the lack of photos around this time. Somewhere along the line, I'd picked up a sinus infection and my mind was more on medical than photographical. First mission (after conquering left-hand drive), find a pharmac_.

 

[SimonM]

Orlando to Key West - Road Trip!

After getting some stuff from the pharmac_, I had a great night's sleep at the Comfort Suites hotel near by MCO.

Bucket List Item #4 - Visit Kennedy Space Center

The drive to Kennedy Space Center from Orlando took longer than I thought, but is a nice, easy, well sign-posted journey. Very glad I took the toll pass option from Alamo though as Florida seems to have quite a few toll roads.

KSC was nearly empty. So empty that I asked a lady at one of the booths what the story was. She said it was just the time of year and being mid-week.



Of course that meant no queues, so good for me!

The highlight of KSC for me was the Saturn Five display.



Touching a piece of moon rock was pretty cool too.

Sadly, the main reason for visiting Orlando, to see a Shuttle launch, was off due to a postponed launch.

After leaving KSC, I drove to Cape Canaveral and stayed the night there ready for my drive down the coast to Key West.

The intention was to drive the length of Florida Road A1A, assuming it would all look like this:



but in fact a lot of it is in 30mph residential zones and it was just taking too long and I hopped on to the I95 and sped towards my next overnight stop, Florida City.

Bucket List Item #5 - Drive down the Overseas Highway in Florida to Key West.



I was really looking forward to this drive and enjoyed it immensely. Even though 10,000 bikers were also heading for Key West that day for the Peterson's Poker Run, you can see that road just isn't that busy.

Bucket List item #6 - Eat a slice of Key Lime Pie in Key West



I read about Key Lime Pie and a trans-American journey to get some many years ago. It sounded pretty tasty & Key West seemed like a good location, and here I was.

The pie was pretty good. I'd have quite happily had it for breakfast, lunch and dinner, but a $5 a slice, I was going to have to find somewhere cheaper. I didn't as it happened, but will quite happily go back and look again.

 

[straitman]

People seem to love or hate Key West. Personally I think it is great and is one of the best places I've been to for people watching. A great Karaoke bar (I did not sing) is Two friends Bar where I've been a few times and acquired a few headaches.
Another is the Bull and Whistle. (Check out the top floor bar :shock

 

[SimonM]

People seem to love or hate Key West. Personally I think it is great and is one of the best places I've been to for people watching.

I get that as I went there expecting to hate it (10,000 bikers, reputation as a party town where the dags and the try-hards go 'crraazzy'). But I loved it.

I walked around, people watching, soaked in the atmosphere and Key West totally hooked me.

Here's some more snaps. Click for larger versions.

Mile Marker 0 for US1


South Beach, looking back at the Southernmost House


Harleys on Duval Street.


The Southernmost Point


The Harley riders weren't the only cruisers in town. These two left within minutes of each other, and made a great sight. The closer one is the Grandeur of the Seas.

 

[serfty]

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View attachment 1232

Sorry the photo isn't clear, but it does give the gist of just how big this airport is. I reckon there would be about 10 of those walkways end on end and, I would say the round trip took about half an hour. ...

There is actually a train running in both directs well underneath those travelators.

You could have used it one way from East to West. [West to East is for arrivals (and transit PAX before passing through security)].

[Search for 'serftymobile' ]

 

[SimonM]

There is actually a train running in both directs well underneath those travelators.

You could have used it one way from East to West. [West to East is for arrivals (and transit PAX before passing through security)].

[Search for 'serftymobile' ]

I could have added to my collection of train trips within airports. Seems to have been quite a few on this trip!

 

[SimonM]

AA4932 EYW-MIA ATR Seat 17b.

EYW airport is quite a nice place, but a little limited in shops, etc compared to the big airports.



Happily they do have Key Lime Pie for sale in the cafe, so I had another slice for breakfast.

Typical for smaller airports, the plane is parked outside and you walk out to it.



The US fixation with taking huge amounts of carry-on luggage doesn't work out well for the ATR and so you have to deposit your larger carry-ons onto trolley by the aircraft door. That's then loaded into the cargo hold with the checked luggage.

I'd chosen the wrong side of the plane for the views as we flew up the western side of the Keys and I suspect that if I'd been seated on the right of the plane, the views would have been terrific. I did get this as we climbed out.



The journey to MIA is fairly short and so the FAs (both male) simply handed out bottles of water.

On landing at MIA, there was an announcement asking us the open the air vents and pull down the window blinds in order to keep the aircraft cool, which might explain my Delta experience a few days before.

I was first off the plane (door at the back on ATRs). Passengers with carry-ons that were stowed needed to hang around for a few minutes to get their bags.



This meant I was waiting on the shuttle to the gate for a while.

I understand that MIA has three terminals and that I was in the 'D' or North terminal.



It has quite a few food outlets and being lunch time and needing to eat with my meds, I had to find something. I was struck that they didn't have a McDonalds, Burger King or other really big chain. Perhaps they're in the other terminals. Instead I found a Nathans Famous hotdog stand (never heard of them) and had a hotdog and fries.

Oh, and they have a train here too, but I didn't need to use it. Next time.

 

[SimonM]

AA816 MIA-LGA Boeing 757 Seat 18F.

Scheduled for 14:05, I was a bit surprised when boarding started at 13:30. The usual vast amounts of carry-on probably to blame.

I'd actually been booked on AA2036, but it was cancelled, so AA816 was pretty full.

18F is an exit row and I was grateful for that, but perhaps next time I'll go for a seat that's not overwing as the approach into LGA is right over Manhattan and the views are great.



I'd use LGA again just for the approach, which seems to be quite complex, but interesting to look out the window.

Our plane was parked right next to an old American Airlines hangar.



I remember thinking that if he gets any closer, he'll stick that wingtip through that glass.

LGA isn't the newest airport around, perhaps that's just an NYC thing, but the people were more relaxed and friendly than at JFK, so it was well worth trying it out.

The shuttle ride into town was typically Big Apple, fast and furious. The LGA ground transport desk people call the shuttle for you and I waited perhaps 10 minutes. Another guy was mad because he'd been waiting an hour, but my experience for $14 plus $3 tip was great.

 

[Bundy Bear]

Good trip report so far.

Some of the 757s operated by Delta were used in their short lived airline within an airline called Song and those aircraft had IFE.

Orlando can have some of the worst lines for car rentals in the world.

I was in Miami a few months ago but never did look around for food options as I was flying AA First.

 

[SimonM]

New York

I'd only allowed myself two nights in NYC, one evening and one full day, then out to the airport by 7am. I had a couple of bucket list items to check off, so it was going to be busy.

My hotel was the Candlewood Suites on West 39th Street. Loved it. It's a long stay hotel, so no daily cleaning, but great rooms.



I'd done the Wotif, Expedia, TravelAdvisor thing and found that for my timing, rooms under US$200 were likely to be rented by the hour and a little name-brand luxury was going to be costing me 400+.

The Candlewood came in at $255 per night and I'd stay there again for sure.

Bucket List Item #7 Visit White Castle, the burger joint.

White Castle sell 'Sliders', small burgers that you can eat in about 4 bites. Simple little things, a bun, a patty, pickle and onion.

The burgers didn't really live up to the hype I'd given them, so perhaps a little disappointing, but then it is just a burger. On the plus side, I'd ticked another item off my list.

Bucket List Item #8 See an F4 Phantom in the flesh.
Bucket List Item #9 See a Concorde in the flesh.

Happily the Intrepid Museum in New York allowed me to do both these things and even walk inside the Concorde.

As a kid in the late 60's and early 70's I read about Concorde (and the 747) in the long stories at the back of my Dad's Reader's Digest magazines. A huge regret is that I never got to fly in one. Around that time, perhaps a little later, I was also building airplane kitsets flat out and the F4 Phantom was always my favourite.



The Intrepid people are trying to get one of the Shuttles for the displays. You can sign the petition at Intrepid Space Shuttle Home

8th Avenue was closed off from 34th Street to about 55th Street for a market while I was there. Great fun. Many food stalls and loud music, with big crowds out.



I also found the Soup Man (Seinfeld's Soup naz_, closed on Sunday), walked in Central Park, visited Apple's 5th Ave store and also B&H Photo. I managed to eat my way through a blueberry Muffin, a Philly Cheesesteak, a slice of Pizza and some cheesecake, plus some other bits and pieces.

I booked a Dial 7 car to take me to JFK and will definitely do that again. My last US cash was a $20 note and so I decided to give it to the driver as a tip. He looked at me as if not sure what to say, so I guess a $20 tip is too much. Still, I wasn't going to use it and I had asked him to wait while I visited yet another Walgreens on the way.

All in all, a terrific stopover in NYC and I can't wait to go back.

 

[SimonM]

AA33 JFK-LAX B767-200 Seat 7J. Sched 07:45

The lounge lady pointed out that there would be no annoucements and that I should be at the gate by 7:15am. A bit cautious, I got there at 07:10 and the gate lounge was empty, making me think I was at the wrong place. Actually, just about everyone was already on board. The stragglers were carrying the usual removals van load of luggage and that provided a bit of pre-flight amusement.

Breakfast was a choice of cereal or eggs. The cereal got taken first, but I wanted the eggs anyway, so that suited me.

For business class, I was surprised that the IFE was shared screens and single channel due to that. Entertainment kits were handed out, but I couldn't be bother mucking around with the DVD player thingy. No amenity kits were offered, which I thought was strange on a 5 or 6 hour flight.

I spotted Meteor Crater, Arizona out the window (click for larger image). Pretty exciting for me, as it's another bucket list item.



That wasn't the only thing I spotted out the window. I'm still stunned by the number of other jets you see go by. The best was a Continental 737 going in the opposite direction, but seemingly at the same height as us and very close. I sort of imagined the captains (and TCAS) yelling 'Break Left!'. With a combined passing speed of over 1500kmh, it was just awesome to see and I think the only time I've ever really had a sensation of high speed in an airliner. Another few went by heading east and a couple of other airliners shadowed our progress, while two crossed our path below us, but all were too far away or too fleeting a look to determine type. A smaller executive jet was in sight for a while and what looked like a fighter went over us, but again too far away to tell the type.

 

[drron]

On this last trip most of our AA flights boarded early.

For business class, I was surprised that the IFE was shared screens and single channel due to that. Entertainment kits were handed out, but I couldn't be bother mucking around with the DVD player thingy. No amenity kits were offered, which I thought was strange on a 5 or 6 hour flight.

No different really from the last J BNE-PER sector i did.it is a domestic flight.
Yes when flying in the US you really do see a lot of other planes when you look out the window.On our LAX-DFW sector we were routed to the west of DFW for approach.The Southwest flight into Love field certainly looked pretty close below us.