So, there I was standing in the cold pouring rain at the corner of
Sandwich & Alma waiting for the
605 to Windsor. Getting on I plunked in $4 for what I thought was a $3.75 fare. I'd checked. But apparently not enough, driver said. $5.25 from the 'burg since we’re “out” of Windsor. Fare enough (get it?) Three buses and two hours later I was at
Windsor airport. Was it worth the slog through the rain and the transfers? Sure. I save $65-$75 compared to
Uber. .... But the weather played havoc with my flight to
Toronto. The last 6.45 pm AC flight was delayed to 7.10 then 7.20 due to late arrival from TO. Then we were “grounded” more than half an hour while awaiting something to do with weather and appropriate slots in TO; had never heard of that before.....I stepped off the plane 9.05 and my
Frankfurt flight was departing 9.25. Anyone knowing TO airport knows the small regionals fly into the airport's far north end Concourse D, while European flights leave Concourse E. Believe it or not that’s about one mile distance. I did a combo run-walk, arriving at the gate about 9.22. Too late. The agents checked and the bridge had just swung away. Off to the AC service desk. A pleasant lady helped me get on an alt flight – that night or tomorrow? Seemed travelling that night would be awkward including a flight to
London Heathrow then a cross town transfer to
London Gatwick (70 km). No thanks! So I stayed overnight at the airport
Crowne Plaza, which was actually pretty good. An impeccable hotel room is always nice and a generous number of plump pillows even better. I even slept in and checked out as close to 12 noon as possible as my rescheduled flight wasn’t until 4.30. AC also provided two $15 meal vouchers so I was in good shape for my new Frankfurt flight....The AC service rep had booked the last available seat on the new flight but I lucked out as it was on the aisle, my fave. But thank god I don’t check luggage anymore; god knows where my suitcase would have ended up, or where. Probably
Malaga, my destination, but when?....But what is it about fellow passengers? A seat companion is hit and miss, at least from a conversation standpoint. Half the time or more we’re on non-speaking terms if at least initial acknowledgement. This time my companion was a middled aged woman from
Thunder Bay, flying to see her daughter in Germany. We began talking and she was pleasant enough but then the questions were all one-sided: me asking them, and I eventually ran out; there’s only so much I can ask about Thunder Bay. A conversation relies on a two-way process and this wasn’t evident.....Arriving Frankfurt and transferring between terminals, I noticed a couple of things about my new gate. For one, there was a coffee machine (top photo), where fresh ground coffee was dispensed. I hadn’t seen anything like that before, even if you had to pay. Second, perhaps German efficiency (a stereotype) but boarding zone lanes were painted on the floor (photo). It wasn’t snowing in
Frankfurt but below zero and our
A320 Lufthansa Neo taxied to a broad apron where four boom trucks dispensed de-icing fluid (photo). Wow. There was a fleet of them readying for every aircraft.....The under three-hour trip to Malaga was uneventful and I tried to get some shut eye. I got the window seat (beggars can't be choosers) and my middle seat companion was tall and kind of spread his legs, making me think of those
NY subway ads admonishing men for just this behaviour. He also didn’t talk. Fine....Upon arrival in Malaga all was sunny and a variety of narrow-bodied jets lined the boarding gates at this holiday destination – Ryanair (which even had airport buses), Wizz, EasyJet, British Airways, Vueling, Air France, Baltic. My silent companion didn't want to get up - “I’ll do so at the right time,” he said when I asked. Oh, okay, but I didn't want to wait until I was among the next to last passengers. And deplaning etiquette means passengers behind wait for those in front, which I kind of indicated to him. “Well, I’m getting off anyway,” I said. He then got up from his seat.....The delightful – and always surprisingly large – Malaga airport was teeming with people - largely holidaymakers - last/first weekend of the month, I suppose.
- Ron Stang, Windsor Ontario Canada, a frequent traveller
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