Memphis, Part One

Memphis,  Part One

Cindy wanted to celebrate her birthday in Memphis Tennessee, and boy did we celebrate.  We arrived for our six-day visit at the huge and empty Memphis Airport. When Delta and Northworst merged, Memphis was dropped as a hub from the Delta schedule and there are scores of empty gates.  Since Memphis is the home of Fed Ex, the airport is still very, very busy, but all with cargo flights as opposed to passenger flights.  A short taxi ride took us to our hotel, which was right in the center of Memphis, and in no time we were wandering the streets looking for a place to have dinner.  Memphis is a very lovely city on the Mississippi with grand old buildings, ornate decorations and a grand Trolley system.

Our dinner was acceptable but marred by the worst waiter in the world.  A young man who was obsessed with using the royal plural first person, as in, “Have we decided on an entrée?” and “Have we chosen a wine?”  Cindy finally looked at him and said, “WE don’t know what WE want but WE will let YOU know when WE have decided.”  His English was only one distraction from his ability to be a decent server, but we had a good chuckle and a decent meal.  We walked a bit more after dinner since it was a balmy night and retired to our room for a nightcap before a lovely sleep.

After our morning exercise routine and a very good complimentary breakfast at our hotel, we cleaned up and headed out for a day of excitement.  Our first stop was Mud Island.  Anyone who has seen the film “The Firm” will remember Tom Cruise running away from the albino killer on the pedestrian bridge and Monorail that connects Mud Island with Memphis.  We chose to walk the bridge and got there just before the heavens opened up and it rained like it rains in the tropics.  Luckily it’s a covered pedestrian bridge and it was glorious to be standing there looking at the Mississippi on one side and the skyline of Memphis on the other while the rain hit the tin roof with a staccato beat worthy of Buddy Rich.

The Mississippi River Museum was a delight and captured our attention from the minute we entered until a few hours later when we exited. It is interactive enough to keep you engaged and strikingly beautiful. One minute you are looking at static exhibits tracing the history of the area, then you are wandering though a juke joint complete with music and menus, and at the next turn you are stepping into a full scale Mississippi River Steamboat, complete with the sights and sounds associated with life on the river.  We walked though the grand salon, looked into the staterooms and wandered the decks looking at the wheelhouse, cargo and boiler area.  We both had a ball.

The weather was much better by the time we exited, and feeling a bit peckish we looked for a place to have lunch.  We were drawn to a little bar called The Brass Door and as soon as we sat down, we knew we had found a place that we would frequent often during our visit. The bartender was a delightful, the chef talented, and the manager was a Brit who had a doctorate in medical chemistry but was working at the bar since St. Jude had cut back. It turned out that he and the bartender were husband and wife and she was almost done with her law degree. Talk about a lot of talent behind the bar.  It rained again while we had lunch and when it stopped we headed out to the National Civil Rights Museum, yes, two museums in one day!  This was a very moving experience and highly recommended for anyone in the area.  It has recently been renovated and is truly well done.  It ends at the room at the Lorraine Motel where MLK spent his last night before being shot on the balcony. We spent another few hours at this museum and I was emotionally exhausted and needed to take a nice walk back to the hotel.

We dined at a restaurant right next to our hotel, McEwen’s, and it was really good, so good that we made reservations for Cindy’s actual birthday dinner. After dinner we took a walk to Beale Street, home of the blues, and the joint was jumping.  The entire street had been blocked off to traffic and after a pat down search we were joining the throngs who were listening to lots of live music in all of the clubs, bars, restaurants and gardens.  We wandered into the W.C. Handy Park where a five piece band and a wonderful singer were playing the old blues that Handy had made famous. We broke away around midnight, when things were just getting interesting, but we had an early morning planned and needed to get some sleep.

More tomorrow…..

Bangkok to Charles Town

Bangkok to Charles Town

I had a 0255 departure from Bangkok to Abu Dhabi for the first leg of my trip home.  It is never a good idea to start a long trip exhausted, but when you depart at that ungodly time, it is hard not to be tired from the get-go.  I was surprised at how crowded and lively the airport was at that hour, apparently because lots of tour groups leave between midnight and two am. Ours was the last flight to depart until 6 am so as we were boarding the airport was deserted. Until then it was filled with Brits with third degree sunburns, as proof to the pale that they had indeed been in the sun.  There were lots of older Germans with their shorts, sandals and dark socks, as well as a smattering of Swedes, Norwegians and other Nordic types clutching souvenirs and duty free booze.  By far the largest population was kids from 18 to 25 with their backpacks, stained clothes, and hair in need of soap and water.

I slept my way across India and woke up about thirty minutes before we touched down, which was at 6 am local time.  My flight from Abu Dhabi to Dulles was scheduled to depart at eleven, which gave me four hours before boarding time.  It was a long walk to the first security station, made longer by a poorly designed airport. With all the money they have in Abu Dhabi, you would think they could have hired someone who understood efficient airport design.  All arriving flights are funneled into a small area where everyone must take ONE escalator down to security. Twenty feet before the escalator there is a sharp left turn and right there on the wall is a large screen with connecting gate information. Of course everyone stops to see where to go next, and the long backup is inevitable. 

Once through the security checkpoint there was a man with a sign indicating that passengers for flights to New York, Chicago and Washington were to go to gate 61, where I dutifully marched.  Upon arrival the gate agent told me that since I had so much time I should go and wait at the business class lounge, which was - you got it - right back at security where I had been a scant fifteen minutes before.  So off I went in search of a cup of coffee in the lounge. I was told at reception to depart the lounge by 8:30 for Pre-Clearance.  I dutifully departed at 8:15 and was at the gate at 8:30 to be confronted with enormous lines at yet another security area.

 I had not known that US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) had instituted a pre-clearance facility that had opened at the end of January at this airport.  It is one of the dumbest things I’ve ever encountered in travel.  Etihad has three flights to the US all departing within thirty minutes of each other. They funnel everyone on these flights into a separate wing of the airport where everyone must go through a very tight security screening and then line up in this vast hall to have passports and entry documents checked.  It is not an exaggeration to say there were more than four hundred people in this slow snaking line, most from the Indian sub-continent and most with young children for whom discipline is only a spelling bee word.

There is no separate line for US Citizens, and certainly no machines for Global Entry. Everyone is in the same line and it took me two hours and ten minutes to get to an inspector, and that was after a thirty-minute wait at security.  The inspector was very gracious and understanding but could not answer the question: “Why not a separate line for US Citizens?”  He said it would certainly speed things up but that the suggestion had not been acted upon, and he told me to write to CBP to get an explanation.  I can’t wait to see what they will say.

There are at least three problems with this procedure:

1.     It does not save any time.  There are only three international flights that arrive at IAD between 1700 and 1900.  Immigration is certainly geared to handle those few arrivals in a far more timely fashion.

2.     It unnecessarily delays the departures of the flights since there are always folks still stuck in immigration lines. The flight crew noted that since this began, they have been routinely delayed from forty to sixty minutes. We were delayed for seventy minutes, the flight to JFK by ninety minutes, and the ORD flight was also delayed by more than ninety minutes.

3.     You can’t purchase any duty free liquids for this flight since they will be confiscated at the security screening and there is no duty free after that. There were at least six folks that I saw who were arguing that they had not been told this as their expensive Scotch and Cognac were taken from them. (This isn’t a big issue unless you spend a lot of money on booze.)

We boarded an hour late and sat at the gate a further thirty minutes for reasons not explained.  Finally we were up and heading to Dulles, which was a mere 14.5 hours away. I’ve said this before and it bears repeating, modern aircraft with nice screens and tons of movies and TV shows have made us live like moles.  The minute the seat belt sign went off, the flight attendants came around to lower all the window shades.  I told her I would keep mine up and she was shocked.

There isn’t a movie that has ever been made that could be any more exciting for me than watching the history of man unfold beneath the plane. It was a crystal clear day and we flew up the Persian Gulf towards Kuwait. I could see the Tigris flowing through Kuwait and entering the Persian Gulf and we followed it up to the junction with the Euphrates River and then on to Baghdad.  There I was looking down on the cradle of civilization instead of watching Mad Men. Our flight took us right over the Crimea, Poland, and Berlin - and most beautiful of all, Bergen, Norway - where I could actually see the fjords. At that point I lowered the shade, sad that I would not see Iceland and Greenland, but I needed to sleep - and sleep I did until an hour before we touched down.

It was a lovely trip and I was happy to have Hungry Blake along for the ride. I sent this note to Grandson Blake, which seems an appropriate way to end this saga.

Dear Blake,

I wanted you to have these two little gifts from our trip to Bangkok.  The bag is from the airline; they said that since Hungry Blake was traveling with me, he should have his own amenity kit.  The other gift is something to remind you of Bangkok. It is a very special icon for the Thai people and I hope you enjoy it. (It is a hand carved elephant, with an elegant paint job.)

Traveling with Hungry Blake reminded me about how much fun travel can be if you keep your eyes open and take your time exploring the people, culture and the geography.  There are two ways to travel around the world.  You can be a tourist and collect stamps in your passport and pictures in your iPhone. You’ll have lots of stories and short-term memories of the places you have seen.  In the end, you’ll spend too much time in hotels that have nothing to do with where you are and eat in restaurants where you’ll always be able to find a hamburger and a club sandwich.

The other way to travel, and the way I know you will travel as you get older, is to think of yourself as an explorer.  You’ll go with an open mind and a conscious decision to expose yourself to all manner of experiences.  You’ll find a way to communicate with the local population, even if you don’t speak the language. You’ll experiment with foods and drinks and herbs and spices that you have never seen before. You will question everything and then set about answering your own questions.  In short, you’ll become a part of the places you visit and they will stay with you forever.

It was great fun to travel with Hungry Blake and sometime soon, I’m sure Oma and I will be able to travel with the real deal!!  Love, Opa

Bangkok Part 3

This is a letter I wrote to my grandson Blake, whose surrogate Hungry Blake is accompanying me to this conference for international school educators. I had told him that I was going to a fancy pool party and would take pictures of the exotic foods that were to be served.

Dear Blakers,

Well if you woke up feeling hungry, it is because the reception last night was a real bummer. I walked over to the big pool area where the reception was held. It had been decorated very nicely with lanterns and there were local young women dancing and singing, but the singing was, shall we say, strained and dissonant to the western ear. There were about a thousand hungry teachers who, when they know there is free food and drink, circle and circle the buffet like vultures over carrion. (You need to look up some of these words as part of your continuing education)

When I could get close enough to the food stations, which was a real challenge, I noticed that most of it was really what they call western food, as opposed to local food.  Hunks of ham, dozens of roasted chickens, and oodles of pig parts I couldn’t identify, were being hacked and tossed on plates for the multitudes, who appear to have not eaten in several days.  The only local stuff was a noodle station but they were already out of noodles by the time I got there.  There was something that looked like Sushi, but all the good bits were gone and what remained had not improved in the 90-degree heat.  Even the wine, which was really not very good, was warm, as was the beer and juices so I decided that it would be best to skip dinner, rather then eat bad food or risk getting sick.

So you can imagine how Hungry Blake and I were looking forward to breakfast this morning.  After a brisk walk on the crowded sidewalks, there are no parks or running paths here since we are on the edge of a river right downtown, I headed back to the hotel to wash up and go to breakfast.  Boy, did we eat well this morning.

For starters we had little sweet Chinese bananas. They are only about three to four inches long and are delicious.  Papaya, guava and watermelon were also available and I had to be careful not to eat too much of them since I was saving myself for the main course.  Today I chose to have pineapple fried rice with cashews, grilled salmon with ginger and garlic, cauliflower and carrots in a Thai red curry sauce that really opened up my sinuses, and some crisp pickled assortment of vegetables to go with the curry.  Every time my mouth got too hot from the curry, I would take a sip of my peppermint tea and that cooled things off for the next bite.  Goodness, everything tasted so wonderful that I might not eat again tonight!

I’m told there is a food market tomorrow morning, not too far from the hotel. If so, you can be sure that Hungry Blake and I shall be there to see what is available and hopefully to take some pictures.  More later, love opa.

Bangkok Part 2

Over Egypt

I had a lovely seven-hour nap and we have just crossed the Red Sea, two hours out from Abu Dhabi.  I’m following the flight on a moving map and just realized that Israel is not marked. They have the Sinai Peninsula marked but no Israel.  It’s like Abdul said to the Map Maker,  “Hey I got an idea, if we don’t show it on the map maybe it will go away!”

Anyway the flight has been just fine. Especially since the Puligny-Montrachet flowed freely and the Saint Julien was a perfect foil for the cheese course.  I only had the meze, which were lovely, having had the tuna in the lounge.  Aside from the food and drink, all of which is top shelf, there are two things that stand out on this carrier, as opposed to the last long flight I had in business on United. The first is the interior of the plane. These are both almost identical 777 aircraft, they both have 40 business class seats with about the same amount of pitch and width. The difference is that United has eight across (2-4-2) in a crazy herringbone pattern with some seats facing forward and other backward so that you have zero privacy since you are always looking at the person in front of you.  Etihad has only four across staggered seating so that everyone has access to an aisle, no dreaded middle seats, which shouldn’t exist in business anyway.  The seating is one-two-one which gives everyone lots of space and privacy.  The pillows are huge and comfortable and the duvet is attractive and functional.

The other big difference is in the personnel who work for the airline.  They are all extremely well trained, polite and seeming happy in their work. They are constantly moving about the cabin to see if you need anything, the toilets are cleaned after every use, and the smiles are wide and for real.  I’m not picking on United, I understand that most of the US legacy carriers are about the same, but when you can fly a foreign carrier for less money and get more service and comfort, I’m all for it.

Our flight landed a bit early and after the normal transit procedures, I was in the lounge waiting for the next flight while Skyping with Cindy. I must say I was none too thrilled to be back in the Middle East! I had almost forgotten the many things I am not fond of, but my stay was short and the connecting flight was as pleasant as the first and in no time I was in Bangkok.

I depart today on a rather short trip to Bangkok to attend a conference.  Several years ago I took a much longer trip around the world and accompanying me was Flat Kalie.  Flat Kalie was a laminated cut out figure representing my granddaughter Kalie Hayes.  I would take photos of her everywhere I went and write little stories about what we saw and ate and experienced and sent them to Kalie who would read them in class and follow our adventures on a map.

Today, I’m traveling with Hungry Blake, who is standing in for the real thing who is in school in Florida.  Hungry Blake is a mouse pad with Blake’s photo on it and he and I are going to be eating lots of strange and wonderful food.  Blake is the most adventurous eater I know.  He loves grilled octopus for breakfast, garlicky spicy angulas for lunch and a heaping helping of squid in black sauce pasta for dinner.  I thought he would be the best companion to experience Middle Eastern and Thai food, so we are off tonight at 22:30 for Abu Dhabi, connecting tomorrow for a three-day visit to Bangkok.  Can’t wait!file:

Hungry Blake

The driver arrived right on time to take me to Dulles.  Staff were waiting at the curb to guide me to the check in.  I kept thinking they have the wrong man, but didn’t break the spell.  I was soon escorted to the Etihad Lounge, which is huge, well staffed and filled with delights. The bar is like something from an old movie with all of the bottles displayed on glass and with mirrors behind them. The staff isn’t terribly well verse with alcoholic drinks but they do pour a mean glass of vintage Champagne.  

The receptionist was thrilled to hear about Hungry Blake and  was happy to pose for a photo with him. They offer a full dinner at lovely set tables for those who want to go right to sleep after takeoff.  I had a little tuna which was great and took a photo of the menu so that Blake can tell me what he would have had.  I asked for a wine list and they asked what I wanted. I said Petite Chablis and they said ok!! What kind of Lounge is this???  The wine was delightful and now we are getting ready to board so I’ll end this and attach a few photos and continue in Abu Dhabi or Bangkok!  Best to all, William and Hungry Blake

The Lounge Menu

Blake at Ethiad