Make Them Smile

I’ve been at this travel game for a very long time - and starting with my first flight in the Spring of 1966, until now - I’ve been to one hundred and eleven countries (not just stopovers in airports, but stamps in passport), traveled at least seven million miles on commercial airlines, and stayed in so many hotels that I can’t count them anymore. And after all of this, I’m still excited by the adventure of travel and the people I meet on these adventures. 

I remember early on I met someone who was much older and well traveled, and he said that the one important thing to do when you travel is to assume you are an ambassador for your country.  That means you should never do anything that would reflect poorly on you or your country, and try to make as many people smile as you can.  A simple guiding statement that has served me well over these past fifty years of travel.  (The older gentleman was Langhorne Bond, former director of the FAA during the Carter administration.)

If I had to give someone travel advice it would be this: Carry lollipops!  Most of you know that I never travel without my See’s Lollipops and I use these little sweets to try and brighten the day of hard working people who more often than not lack any positive reinforcement for the job they perform. I’ve given them to folks when checking in for a flight, thanking them for their efforts. We always have a little bag of these wrapped with ribbon and that we present to the senior flight attendant for distribution to all the other FAs. Sometimes, as with our last flight, you never hear anything from them; other times each of the FAs will come and personally thank us. Once on a flight to Singapore we were treated to Champagne (we were in coach) and cake and at the end of the flight presented with a card that every one of the FAs had signed. Those experiences make the effort to carry these all worthwhile.

On Christmas Eve we were in a small Seven/Eleven type of store in the train station here in Brussels where there were lines of people getting last minute things like bread and water and wine. There was one clerk who had been working all day and was rather glum. After she checked us out I presented her with a lollipop and best wishes for Christmas, and for all the world to see it would have appeared that I gave her a bar of gold. She lit up with the biggest smile and kept thanking us and holding the candy to her heart.  It was truly one of the best Christmas gifts I’ve ever received.  She has not forgotten and every time we go to that store (pretty much daily while in Brussels) she is her usual glum self until she sees it is us checking out.  We love it. 

I’ve always been a good tipper, but eight years ago after checking into a hotel Cindy said, “You just gave the bell cap five dollars for bringing two suitcases to the room, how much are you going to leave the housekeeper?” Well that sure surprised me since I rarely tipped housekeeping:  out of sight, out of mind!  Starting with that trip we always leave money and a lollipop or Tootsie Roll on the pillow each morning with a thank-you note. Most of the time they leave a note of thanks, sometimes heartfelt. When we were in Tampa helping Megan during all her procedures, we stayed in a Hilton Garden Inn for about thirty days.  We left money and candy and notes, but we also got to know the entire housekeeping staff and if they didn’t leave a note of thanks they found us in the hall or reception area and thanked us personally, always asking how Megan was doing and letting us know that she was being prayed over by the housekeeping staff.  When we finally left they all came to reception to say goodbye and wish us well on our journey; it was like having seven mothers!

They say that money can’t buy you happiness, but it can buy you sweets that you can give to hardworking folks, or children, and it just brings a bit of happiness to everyone on the receiving end (especially the dentists of the world).

Best wishes, Cindy and Wm

Nice, Lovely Nice

We arrived on Monday after a flawless trip on Brussels Airlines where we had the exit row and an empty seat between us; it was just like first class without the service.  After our climb out we experienced something called SUNSHINE and it made us smile for the remainder of the short trip.  Soon after flying over the snow-covered Alps we were over the Med and Nice was shimmering in sunlight beneath us. Within an hour of landing we were in our lovely apartment and soon we were as giddy as newlyweds as we walked hand in hand on our beloved Promenade. Blue sky above, blue water below, all bathed in that glorious sunlight that has attracted painters, poets and Embees for years.  The sunset was radiant and lit up the sky over the airport in hues of red and orange and purple for twenty minutes, a wonderful way to start our month-long adventure.

As soon as it became really dark we headed to our favorite café/bar and received ever so warm and welcoming hugs from the owners, whom we have known for three years. We caught up with one another, saw videos of their ten-year-old daughter’s tennis matches and enjoyed our drink. We said our goodbyes and headed to the restaurant where we have always had our first and last meal in Nice for the past five years. There is absolutely nothing special about it, the ambiance is minimal, the food is fine but nothing special, but the smiles and the service are what keep us going back.  After having endured such horrible service in Belgium, we were somewhat taken aback by how quickly they came to take drink orders and we had to tell them to come back in five minutes since they wanted to take our dinner order right away. Once they knew we were in no hurry, everything went well and we had a lovely first night dinner followed by a long walk home.

Our apartment is quite lovely, but as with all the apartments we have had in France, a bit odd. The living area and dining area are modern and filled with light, no problem there. The kitchen is small but open, and the only issue is that I keep hitting my head on the overhead fan/light for the stove top. It is suspended from the ceiling and could have been a foot higher,= but it is  less than two feet above the range. I could understand this if it was a venting issue, but there is no vent to the outside, the fan just blows things around.  The bathroom in our bedroom is too small for one person, even a petite person like Cindy. The only toilet in the apartment is outside our bedroom and across the hall from the second bedroom. Then there is a spectacular large bathroom farther down the hall towards the kitchen with a double sink, huge walk-in shower and a towel heater. I just took a shower in this lovely space and the ‘rain forest’ overhead shower came out from the ceiling and sprayed water all over the bathroom. I suppose the treks from toilet to shower to bedroom and back are a great way to increase the number of steps we get each day. Two photos from our front and back balcony show that it is all worth it, and the unit is blessedly quiet.  Here is the link to the apartment:

https://www.nicepebbles.com/apartment-to-rent-in-nice/?search=1

The link will probably open to the Pebbles rental agency not to our apartment; if so type the keyword Imperial in the space on the left about halfway down.

One of the great surprises after arriving was when we realized that the prices for food, drink and groceries were about 25% to 35% cheaper than Belgium. We never thought of Nice as a bargain before, but wow, after Belgium we feel like we are in a duty free paradise!

With best wishes,  Cindy and William

The Concorde

The Concorde
In 1970 I was in England for the first time arranging sites for student teachers at British Primary schools. I was in the play area at a school in Bournemouth talking with some of the teachers and children when my eye was drawn upwards by the sound of an airplane. It was like nothing I had ever seen before, sleek, delta-winged, small for a commercial jet and large for a military jet. I had no idea what it was and neither did any of the teachers with me. One of the students however not only knew what it was, but where it was going. “It’s the new Concorde”, he said, “it’s on test runs out of Filton”. I never asked how this nine year old knew this but that day I was determined to find out all I could about this plane and to ride it as soon as possible.
What I didn’t know was that there were only two of them at the time, one French, one British and that they would be undergoing intensive tests for the next six years before the first commercial flights in 1976. These first flights went to locations other than the USA since we had lost the race and scrapped our Super Sonic Transport (SST) program and we were not keen on letting the winners come to our shores. It would take another year for the politics of change to allow the first commercial flights to the USA but the price tag for such trips was well beyond my --and most everyone else’s travel budget.
Twenty eight years later the opportunity to fly the Concorde from New York to London presented itself and I took it! The night before the flight Cindy and I stayed at a hotel very close to Kennedy Airport so that we would not be rushed for the 0845 departure of British Air flight 002, JFK/LHR. I thought that evening as I was lying in bed that perhaps I would be disappointed in the flight since I had hyped myself up so much for this experience. I worried a bit about feeling claustrophobic in the small cabin; I worried about foolish little things that crept into my brain moments before sleep.
The next morning I was up with the sun, which isn’t hard to do on December the 7th. The day was clear and bright and I was as giddy as a child at Christmas. Cindy tells me that I had a smile on my face from the minute I woke up until we arrived at the airport. I know I was excited and I remember seeing the Concorde sitting at the gate as we approached British Air on the overpass and I could hardly believe that we were only 90 minutes from takeoff.
Check-in at the special Concorde area was as I would expect for a First Class cabin. Very professional, organized and, well, it was fun! The woman ahead of us had on a full-length sable coat and checked in nine Louis Vuitton bags, one of which was a hat bag. I haven’t seen hat bags in years, especially one

by Louis Vuitton. We were given our boarding passes for the Concorde flight and our connecting flights to Frankfurt, along with directions to the Concorde Lounge. As we were heading for the lounge Cindy said that she didn’t think we were sitting together. I assured her, as only a very experienced traveler can, that of course we were sitting together, that I had made the reservations months ago and had requested row 11 so that we could be right in front of the Mach meter and told her to relax. She then reminded me of the alphabet and said that it seemed strange to her that a plane with only four seats in a row would have 11B next to 11C. Of course she was right! We were supposed to have seats 11 C/D so I brought this to the attention of the hostess in the Concorde lounge who checked the computer and found that in fact someone was already in seat 11D but she would do what she could to fix the situation and ushered us into the lounge. There another hostess was taking winter coats from passengers to store them on the Concorde for delivery at the door when departing in London. A nice touch given the limited storage space on the plane. Our carry-on luggage was sized and approved. Many passengers had their carry-on luggage tagged and checked since it was too big for the plane’s overhead compartments.
The Lounge was already filled with other Concorde passengers, mostly businessmen who were reading papers, working the phones and playing with computers. There were about fifteen couples that seemed to be going on holiday and they were grazing at the breakfast bar, which was plentiful. It was now 0800 and since on one was drinking I resisted the temptation to have a glass of something. I sat down with a glass of juice for Cindy and water for me and watched as Lord Andrew Lloyd-Weber sat next to us with his wife. I was tempted to ask him how Julian was doing but decided that I would respect his privacy since he was respecting mine. I called my Dad to thank him for preserving democracy, a ritual I perform on Pearl Harbor Day and D-Day. The hostess came over with our boarding passes indicating seats 11 C/D and soon it was time to begin the boarding process.
We were screened, x-rayed and patted down and checked for bomb residue before allowed onto the plane, a precaution that I most definitely supported. We could not see the plane from the boarding area, which disappointed me, but I had been looking at enough pictures of it and had seen two of them as we landed the day before. Entering the plane I could certainly see why they were so keen to take coats and large baggage. It is a small plane. It has about six feet of headroom and the width is only about seven feet. It is very tastefully decorated with shades of gray and silver. The seats are rounded on the top for better visibility and are very comfortable with their combination of leather and cloth. We were at the bulkhead and had foam pillows for our feet, other seats had small foot rests on the seats ahead of them to allow you to adjust your feet and legs during flight. Our tray tables were really well

designed. You could unfold them in three stages allowing for a drinks tray, a writing tablet and a dining tray. Lots of room, comparatively, on the bulkhead. The real reason for wanting those seats however is the fact that the digital readout of Mach, altitude, temperature and distance to destination is on the bulkhead screen, and I wanted to be very sure that I had a good view.
In the seat pocket we each had headphones, with soft leather ear cups, in flight magazine and a leather folder that contained our menu, wine list, stationery pad, official Concorde Pen, leather note pad, Concorde Flight Certificate and Concorde fact book. Flight attendants came by to make sure we were all comfy and secure, took our drink order for after takeoff and gave us pillows and wool blankets if desired. At exactly 0845 we pushed back from the gate and began our journey. The Captain came on to welcome us and tell us our flight information and assure us that we would have a smooth and fast flight to London. We taxied out and had to wait a moment next to a 747-400, which looked enormous. The windows on the Concorde are very small, almost like portholes on a small boat so if you are on the aisle you need to lean very close to your neighbor to see anything. Fortunately Cindy is a very good sharer and we had no difficulty.
0905 and we are lined up on runway 22R and accelerating. The Machmeter was not yet on but the Captain had told us that the four afterburners would kick in somewhere between 75 and 80mph and our V1 speed (committed for flight) would be 185mph, and V2 speed which is wheels up would be 225mph. Almost immediately after takeoff we made a sharp bank to the right for noise control and began to climb. At +5min into the flight we were already at 11,000 ft and traveling 570mph or Mach.72 and the afterburners were turned off. We made one more turn towards the ocean and continued our climb to 25,000 feet and Mach .95 awaiting permission from Air Traffic Control to break the speed barrier. The Concorde is only allowed to do this when flying over water or deserts in order to minimize any damage or noise problems with civilian populations.
The Captain came on and told us that they would soon be receiving permission to break the sound barrier and he told us exactly what to expect. He said that first the outer two engines afterburners would be restarted followed by the two inner engines and that we would perhaps feel a bit of a ‘nudge’ as each set is ignited. He also told us some details that would bore most but had me intrigued. The whole process of having to transfer fuel from

the forward tanks to the aft tanks prior to going supersonic was something I had never thought about. At +10mins into the flight ATC gave permission to go supersonic and we felt the two nudges and the Machmeter jumped to Mach 1 and we were at 28,500 feet. For the next five minutes we stayed at Mach 1.1 and climbed to 34,000 feet at which point the flight attendants began their service by presenting each of us with the drinks we had ordered. We had Dom Perignon 1990 and our own little one-ounce pot of buluga caviar complete with ivory spoon, lemon wedge and itty-bitty bread slices. This I think was the perfect moment, sitting next to my honey, traveling faster than the speed of sound and enjoying some of my favorite food groups. It was heavenly!!
We continued to climb and gain speed and the champagne continued to flow. At +28 minutes into the flight we were at Mach 1.96 and 50,000 feet. The outside temperature of –68C while the temperature on the nose of the Concorde was +100C, or boiling. This is why they have very little problem with corrosion since all moisture is boiled away on every flight. At +29 minutes into the flight we hit Mach 2 and leveled off at 52,000 feet so that the food service could begin in earnest and my oh my was it earnest.
The Brunch menu had us starting with wonderfully fresh fruit plates and warm rolls, banana and blueberry breads. Now what wine do you think would go with this course? If you said a 1991 Corton-Charlemgne Domaine Bonneau De Matray go to the head of the class! This is a classic French Chardonnay that Californians can only dream of. It was delightful and I truly think the second glass was even better.
We then had a choice of Entrées and Cindy choose the Maine Lobster and Cantaloupe melon with an apple, walnut, celery and sour cream salad while I opted for the lamb cutlets with minted gravy, rosemary and garlic mashed potatoes and sugar snap peas. This was not your normal airline food and it was prepared and presented with a great deal of care. Cindy stayed with the luscious white wine while I went right to the Charmes-Chambertain 1990, Domaine Taupenot-Merme, a wonderfully mature Burgundy Pinot Noir. Goodness it was tasty.
The cheese course consisted of Stilton and Double Gloucester, as you might expect on BA, and a very nice Chaumes with more fresh fruit. We both stayed with the Charmes-Chambertain rather than the Dows 1978 Reserve Tawny Port, although as I write I can’t for the life of me figure out why I

didn’t at least try the Port. Oh, I remember, I was told that I could now go up the cockpit and with an offer like that, I would refuse almost anything else. I peeked at the Machmeter and found that we were still at Mach 2 and an altitude of 58,500 feet. I realized that we were flying at the very edge of the Stratosphere, high above any weather, which accounts for the incredibly smooth flight. Here you can see the edge of space and the deep, deep indigo that goes beyond our atmosphere. Some said you could see the curvature of the earth, but I did not detect this nor did Cindy, possibly due to the heavy cloud cover below.
The first thing that amazed me about the cockpit was the ancient technology. This was really early 1970’s stuff; the kind of thing you still find in DC-10’s which were built around the same time as the Concorde. There was a check pilot in the jump seat and he was very gracious with his time and gave me all the information I requested and then some. He showed me the three inch gap between electrical panel, the only place he said where you can see the expansion and contraction that takes place on the Concorde. On the ground there is no gap between these panels! I asked him about the nose, which drops on take off and landing and is flush with the rest of the fuselage during flight. He explained that with a Delta wing the angles of attack are rather great, 14 degrees, and if the nose did not come down 12.5 degrees then there would be no visibility from the cockpit. He also explained that with a Delta wing there was no need for flaps, they landed in ground effect on a cushion of air beneath the surface of the wings at a reasonable 170-mph. I asked a lot of questions about flight characteristics at supersonic speeds and other pilot stuff that I found interesting. I did find out that the cabin pressure was kept at the same pressure you would experience at 5,500 feet, which is lower than most other jet aircraft and accounted for the lack of ear popping so common on other flights. I asked why they had never upgraded the Concorde to include new avionics and electronics and was told that if they did that they would have to recertify the plane and that would take years and lots and lots of money.
I don’t know how long I was up there, but I was told that they had to prepare for landing and that I should return to my seat, which I did just in time for a pre-landing glass of Dom Perignon. The flight attendants had given us our Concorde gift, which was a leather bound daytimer with maps of the New York and London subway systems, nice touch. In the English twilight we had a lovely view of London and flew directly over the Thames affording us a view of Big Ben, the West End, Hyde Park and other London landmarks. We touched down at exactly 1727 local time for an elapsed flight time of 3 hours and 19 minutes.

The flight to Frankfurt on an Airbus 300 was rather anticlimactic but gave me a bit of time to think about our Concorde flight and the entire process of flying the Atlantic. There is something wrong with the progress or lack thereof that we have made in the past twenty years. It now takes longer to fly across the Atlantic in two engines, fuel efficient, small and uncomfortable jets then it did ten years ago when only three and four engine jets, that were big and comfortable, flew the routes. Why did we not improve on the Concorde? Why did we not make fly supersonic the only way to cross large oceans? I’m sure the answer is involved with politics and economics but that doesn’t make it any less sad that we have allowed a technology to go undeveloped. The remaining 13 Concordes in service today will most likely be out of service by the year 2005 leaving a great record of service and speed that will surely be missed by folks like me. In the unlikely event that I might forget this trip, Cindy, during my absence while visiting the cockpit, purchased silver Concorde cufflinks, which she presented to me a week later on my birthday on the QE2. While I’m not absolutely sure, I do think that they make me stand straighter, look richer and feel like a million bucks!

Brussels Odds and Ends

I spent four days in a museum yesterday afternoon! This was an immense space, ten floors in a Belle Epoch building with a soaring atrium so large that buzzards were circling overhead waiting to pick off those without the strength to find an exit. There were remnants of tour groups that had been separated from their leaders weeks ago. There were also lots of pictures hanging everywhere. (twenty thousand plus and we saw them all!)

The Royal Museum of Fine Arts (Musée des Beaux Arts) in Brussels is truly magnificent and certainly worthy of several visits, especially when there are no crowds as there were today.  The Christmas holiday here in Europe extends until January 6th and the tourists are still out in force. Surprisingly there are a vast number of tourists from Spain, all on group tours since they always seem to be in clumps of dozens, just like the Chinese, who I think are angry there are some tourists who are louder and pushier than they.  The museum visit was a way to get out of the cold and damp that seems like the permanent grey shawls on aging grand dames. For some reason unknown to us, they still publish sunrise and sunset hours - this in a city that hasn’t seen sunshine for weeks so who can tell if they are telling us the truth?

When my sister and I were young we spent a summer with our grandmother in Long Beach Long Island. One time we went to a matinee with some kids we had met there and it started with a cartoon about the Sunshine People. We didn’t know at the time that it was produced by Borden’s Dairy, but we sure liked it and I am still singing the main song “We’re happy when we’re sad; we’re always feeling bad” whenever I see someone who is being a royal pain.  I should beam this to everyone in Belgium as a public service.  If you have a spare eight minutes, watch this oldie but goodie cartoon.  Got milk?

I’ve mentioned this before but the Belgique claim to have a cuisine that is far superior to the French and I say to that PHOOEY!  You can’t find a decent vegetable here that hasn’t been sliced, diced, minced or pureed and served in some stew, soup, or gravy. Their two most famous dishes are Carbonnades Flamandes, which is beef stew cooked in beer, and Waterzooi which is either fish or chicken cooked in some kind of cream, egg and butter sauce. Both are served with what we call French fries but which are known here as simply frites and are always served with mayonnaise, aka stroke in a bowl.  Here is a list and you tell me what you can’t live without. (Yes, the mussels are swell but at 25 euros a serving they are twice as expensive as those in Nice, which are also fabulous!) However, I have to admit that the cookies and the chocolate are fabulous, and this from a person who is not a big fan of chocolate.

Service continues to be a problem in Belgium.  Not sure if the unions require all employees to take a fifteen minute break every fifteen minutes, but that is what it feels like.  Never go to a restaurant in Belgium if you are hungry; you could starve!  I’m guessing that everyone here has a substantial snack before going out to dinner.  We have waited twenty minutes to get a menu and then another fifteen to order a drink before dinner.  Order the drink, not get the drink.  It is universal, top notch restaurants are as bad as middle of the road; just sit tight and hope to get food before sunrise, which of course no one knows the exact time.

Love from Brussels, Cindy and Wm

New Year's Day, 2019

It is always a good idea to find a little time to reflect on things on the first day of the New Year. Recently I’ve been thinking of the little things that I do when I travel that make a difference, at least to me, and I hope to others. Some readers have asked me what I can’t travel without, what makes me happy when traveling, and what ‘hints’ I have for others. So here are some of the things that I bring along to make my travel experience enjoyable.

What do I always take when traveling?

The most important thing is Cindy!  So, got that out of the way, here are the other things in no particular order:

1. I have always traveled with a wrist watch that has the ability to show the time in two time zones and can be read at night. For the past twenty years it has been a Timex Expedition with a cloth band. This is an inexpensive watch, under fifty dollars, and lasts for about five years. I once tried to change the battery after it died but then the light didn’t work so I just order two or three at a time so I always have one. Nothing is more reassuring than waking up on a long flight in the middle of the night and touching a little button to know what time it is and how much longer you have to fly. 
2. You should always have a very powerful flashlight in your carry-on bag. For me it is a Stealth Angel that can be adjusted to “pinpoint powerful” (enough to temporarily blind someone if shone in their eyes) to wide angle which will light any hotel room. I use this on almost all of my trips; in fact just today the lights went out and it was dark as sin, but with my flashlight I was able to find the circuit breaker and fix the situation. 
3. Cash. I try to never use credit cards when traveling, relying instead on cash. There are places you will go that will not take credit cards and if they do you are never sure how much you will be charged for ‘courtesy fees,’ exchange service fees, or exchange rates. Nothing ruins a trip more than getting home and facing large credit card bills.  ATMs are everywhere and with a little prudence, they are quite safe. I’ve negotiated discounts on lots of things using cash and when the bill comes for lunch or dinner and then the waiter disappears, you can just put down cash and leave.  
4. Walking shoes are a must for me since I walk everywhere. On a typical day I’ll walk six to ten miles and my feet need to stay supported and healthy. I carry two pair of shoes on my trips (not counting cruises where I also carry two pair of dancing shoes).  For years I have relied on Rockports for city walking, and ASICS for the serious morning and afternoon power walks. There are others that are great but these have proven themselves to be winners for me for the past thirty years.
5. I always have a small backpack that packs into itself, weighs nothing and occupies very little space. I use it for shopping, day trips, excess baggage on the way home and sometimes as a pillow on flights. There are lots and lots of brands but don’t spend a lot of money since they all last about the same amount of time.
6. For all the time that we have traveled together we both have carried an LL Bean small toilet kit.  Cindy’s is red, mine yellow and they last forever, carry everything you need for a month of more, and when dirty can be washed, either in the sink, or at home in the washing machine. These things are amazing, well organized and durable. Can’t imagine a trip without them.
7. You should always have a packable rain coat that can be placed in your carry-on for emergencies, like RAIN, SNOW, SLEET. Ours packs into its own pouch, which when open has a large pocket. It has a hood with bill, very important, that is hidden when not needed and fits over most normal jackets and coats so that we can just use it by itself or as a protective layer in bad weather. 
8. A hat - no, 2 hats.  In the winter, a wool cap and a wool Fedora; in summer a baseball cap (for the walks) and a straw Fedora. Nothing says, ‘made man’ than a snappy Fedora!
9. And last, but by no means least, a Swiss Army Knife - with corkscrew, bien sûr!  No further explanation required other than to say that I check my luggage so that I can carry this knife; that is how important it is for me to have when I travel.  

So that is my short list of material things; later this week I’ll write about the really important things about people-to-people travel.  Happy New Year, Cindy and Wm