A RTW study tour, mostly on Star Alliance

[RooFlyer]

Thank you.

The Udvar-Hazy Centre is wonderful to visit, but if I had to make a choice, I think the Seattle Museum of Flight is a better visit. As you know, you get to go on board things like Concorde and a former Air Force 1 there and I think its laid out better. The U-H Centre has become over-crowded with exhibits - they are strung up everywhere and crammed in and overall a bit over-whelming.

I hadn't visited DC for about 15 years and I had intended just to visit the U-H centre (including the time to get out there and back), but when I got back to Arlington by about 1pm, I was drawn again to the Mall and had the luxury of just wandering around and appreciating the details rather than rushing from exhibit to exhibit. Its an amazing collection of memorials and museums, and I've already said how fantastic the Smithsonian Natural History Museum is. You could visit it 4 times and still have a reason to go back.

 

[RooFlyer]

I only had one full day in Jamaica, so priority destination was the Jamaica Archives. Unfortunately they were located in Spanish Town, Jamaica's second biggest town and located just to the west of Kingston.

The Spanish first settled here in 1534, calling it Villa de la Vega. When the English conquered Jamaica in 1655, they re-named it Spanish Town. It remained the capital until 1872, when Kingston took over.

Sugar cane growing between the town and we eventually found our destination, after some enquiries of locals by the taxi driver. I got an ordinary taxi, but they are not metered. We negotiated a price J$2,000 (about $20) which was likely too much, but the taxi was clean and well maintained and the driver was a likable guy.



Goats wandered around the back of the building. I've always found goats and archives not to be a good mix. Inside, I was pleasantly surprised to find some wi-fi, so I naturally tried my luck.

But only briefly.



Inside I was disappointed with the collection. We had corresponded beforehand, to see if the trip was worthwhile, and the reply was enthusiastic and held out all sorts of documents. However not many were actually relevant. There was also a US$5/IMAGE fee for taking photographs. Tthis is in-line with the wi-fi fee (ie ludicrous). Most Archive offices don't charge for photograph taking, or levy a modest daily fee. So, US$5/image? Ya kidding me??

So I entertained myself learning a bit more about Jamaica's slave past and the now national heroes that led the rebellion (they graciously let me photograph the posters for free )



I went to walk around, then suddenly realised where I was and froze a bit. How dodgy is this place, really? Immediately outside was 'Freedom Square' and I decided to be brave and have a look.

The Rodney Memorial commemorates the victory of Admiral George Rodney RN who saved Jamaica from a combined French and Spanish invasion in 1782 at the battle of All Saints. The cannons in front are off the French flagship.




Fronting Freedom Square on the east side is the House of Assembly, erected 1762 and now the parish council offices. Opposite is the Old Kings House, also built 1762 as the official residence of Jamaica's Governors. Its mostly a ruin behind.

 

[PaulST]

Thank you.

The Udvar-Hazy Centre is wonderful to visit, but if I had to make a choice, I think the Seattle Museum of Flight is a better visit. As you know, you get to go on board things like Concorde and a former Air Force 1 there and I think its laid out better. The U-H Centre has become over-crowded with exhibits - they are strung up everywhere and crammed in and overall a bit over-whelming.

I hadn't visited DC for about 15 years and I had intended just to visit the U-H centre (including the time to get out there and back), but when I got back to Arlington by about 1pm, I was drawn again to the Mall and had the luxury of just wandering around and appreciating the details rather than rushing from exhibit to exhibit. Its an amazing collection of memorials and museums, and I've already said how fantastic the Smithsonian Natural History Museum is. You could visit it 4 times and still have a reason to go back.

You're probably right about the MOF in Seattle. I must admit that your photos did remind me of how crowded the U-H centre was! (but nonetheless incredibly exciting for this young avgeek!)
Yep the Mall is a fascinating place. I loved just wandering aimlessly and constantly stumbling across fascinating memorials...etc. In fact I think you've convinced me to spend a few days in DC again on a RTW award next Mayish.

 

[RooFlyer]

It was pouring with rain when I went to leave, so I called the same taxi guy and he was there within 20 minutes. Negotiated a fare again, and we made our way, with 2 quick photo stops.

First - the St. Jago de la Vega Cathedral. I was amazed to find out that, built in 1714, it is the oldest cathedral in the former British Colonies, anywhere. A church has been on the site since 1525. The RH pic is of the 'iron bridge' on the Rio Cobre, built 1801. It was restored in the 2000s with funding from AMEX. Wikipedia today notes that: More recently, violence in the area has prevented the bridge from achieving the status of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.




We drove into Kingston and the taxi driver proudly took me past the Red Stripe brewery, home of the iconic Red Stripe beer, known to generations of Caribbean cricket followers.





The Bank of Jamaica office, and my next stop, the National Library and also the Jamaica Institute (museum).




The Library wasn't much help in my quest, but the museum was interesting, albeit more than half under renovation. I was wondering who was in the Caribbean before the Spanish came, and it turns out the Taino people - totally gone now, but some artefacts and even some petroglyphs remain.




Also on display was an "Ashanti stool" - the Ashanti of Ghana were obviously ancestors to many present day Jamaicans. An Ashanti stool was a symbol of authority and local kingship in Ghana. I was pleased to see the one on display - remarkably like the one I have at home (I bought it quite cheap in an Africana shop in Sydney, following a trip to Ghana many years ago). They are valued between $800 and $2,500 these days.

 

[RooFlyer]

My last night in Jamaica, and of my study tour, on the ground. Didn't want to spend that much so it was soup and a club sandwich in the Sports Bar. Adequate.




Next morning it was up before dawn (groan) for the trip to the airport for my 7:30am flight KIN-MIA-LAX on American; a miles redemption trip in whY. The moon was just setting as we approached ... hey, I always called it the Bob Marley Airport.




Check-in and security was a breeze. Its then up the escalator, through a bunch of shops (naturally), with some views back towards town and the continuing dawn ...




Then down an escalator to the "Club Kingston" lounge, another Priority Pass lounge (thank you AMEX). Its a GREAT lounge for a smallish airport and Priority Pass. Good food offerings, large, quiet areas, good Wi-Fi etc. I had brekky and settled in for boarding.





The lounge has "direct access to the boarding gates" they told me. What that meant is that I didn't have to go back up the escalator and then down another one, but could nip across to join the other boarders at the bottom of the escalator. Hmmm ... what other boarders? In time, they appeared, then it was a bit of a strange walk to the plane ... very long walk through a pretty spartan concourse, reminiscent of T4 at Tullamarine. And so I bade Jamaica farewell ...

 

[RooFlyer]

I meant to say that for my AA flights in whY BDA-MIA and MIA-KIN I got the coveted TSA 'Precheck' on my BPs (I had my QF FF number in the booking with OW Emerald). Quite useless - BDA-MIA has 'preclearance' in Bermuda, and no pre-check facility there, and landing at MIA I stayed airside for my connection.

For KIN-MIA and MIA-LAX I again got a pair of TSA prechecks. Again, in Kingston they were useless. How would I go in MIA?

The KIN-MIA flight was again in whY main cabin extra (no charge for this due to my OW status, but at the time of booking I was blissfully unaware of this!) and the flight was uneventful, except they boarded 55 mins ahead of departure (A321) and we were all ready to go 15 mins prior. Departed on time.



We arrived at MIA a bit early, however the pilot managed to only find a gate in Siberia - or that's what it felt like. One of the most ludicrously long walks to immigration that I've experienced. Fair dinkum - the person who designed this, and those who approved it must be taking a lend. Electronic gates again worked well, but then another long-ish walk to complete entry and customs.

Bag on transfer belt, then through security. TSA 'pre' line hadn't opened yet (it was 11:30am) :evil: so we were given 'Enhanced security" cards to hold - or some words like that - which allowed us to keep belt and shoes on using the regular queue, but laptops still had to come out. Popped out into Terminal D and my AA flight MIA-LAX was leaving from ... gate 1 again. Another visit to the Admiral's Club lounge for some cheese and nibbles and to involuntarily listen to loud telephone conversations.




I took the LH pic to remind myself that I was surprised that there is no enforcement of 'biz toilets for biz pax only'. whY pax used the business toilets, and nobody seamed to mind. RH pic is the semblance of lunch on the AA flight - that's a 1/2 bottle, not a full sized one!!




Landed LAX a bit early, went to collect bags. The AAplication told me that my bags had been unloaded at LAX, so that was good. It took a further 25 mins for them to appear on the carousel.

Anyway, by this time it was about 5:30pm and I walked down to Terminal 7 to check in for my UA flight LAX-MEL that evening. Uneventful (or so I thought - I had just sewn the seeds of some discomfort later) and then I had about 4 1/2 hours to kill until boarding. I arranged to arrive early at LAX in case my MIA-LAX flight was delayed - unconnected flights, so I wanted some padding. Happy to do some more walking, so inspected several terminals which were just a few days away from the 'big terminal move' of a number of airlines, the biggest of which was Delta. T6 was very empty and I hope legal types will forgive me for capturing this sign.




Then back to T7 and unfamiliar territory. I couldn't remember the last time I was inside there.

 

[RooFlyer]

A small confession. Until a week or so before my arrival at LAX, I imagined I'd be leaving from Tom Bradley (where I always departed LAX from!) and I was looking forward to trying the Star Alliance lounge there.

Ooops. Oh, well, we'll see what the United Club at T7 is like.

The answer, for me, was pretty good. Entrance up some snazzily lit escalators (looking down them in LH pic) and enter into a big space .. this is only a fraction of it.




Unfortunately the food offerings are limited, as usual .. soups and salads and a pile of cheese identical to those in Admiral Clubs.




Good eating/table area; bar with usual basic drinks for free and pay (a lot!) for 'premium' drinks (and no premium chits?)




But the best thing about the lounge is that it sits atop the terminal and has fantastic light and views, including a small outside area where you can just smell the kerosene ..aaaah! On the LH pic, one of the small alcoves which I also found good, except when people came to these quiet spaces to have their loud phone conversations. Eventually, I on behalf of others there who were equally exasperated, asked one guy to quieten down. He took it well .




My ride arrived - B787. Had mixed feelings - a B787 is good, but how would United fit it out? I knew already that it was NOT decked out as the new Polaris Business, in spite of that being all over the booking. And then I also noticed. Hey, where I have I seen that type of table before?

 

[drron]

Didn't devour a pattie in Jamaica.My son and I had at least one every day when we were there for the world cup.Walked through some rather dubious areas to get some.
https://theculturetrip.com/caribbean/jamaica/articles/the-best-places-for-patties-in-kingston/

 

[RooFlyer]

I had one in the Lounge at KIN, but that probably doesn't count.

 

[RooFlyer]

We boarded on time and I immediately saw I had made a rookie error - I didn't check my seat on my BP at check-in. Well, I did, but at 5D it sounded right ... bit it wasn't. I had been bumped back a row from my selected 4D (row 3 wasn't available) and so I was right next to the toilet and had the galley immediately behind me. RH pic at night but J in the UA 787 are two smallish cabins which is a good lay-out. As it turned out the toilet wasn't too much of an issue (no queues) but the galley was a source of noise; during cruise when the FAs had their own meals and chatted, it was a bit bothersome to this light sleeper.




The seat. Sitting up its OK; there is a moderate amount of storage space, although its behind your shoulder where there's also the power point and headphones plug. IFE was good. But the bed didn't suit me. Its narrow, there is b-all privacy about your head; only just long enough stretched out (I'm 5'11" in the old money) and my bete noir - the foot well. Some genius had designed it so that the far end of the foot well is lower in height than the 'front' 2/3. Hard to describe, sorry, but that means is that there is a non-rounded 'edge' on the upper surface 2/3 the way in. The small privacy screen between you and the next seat is ... translucent. How does that work? you can't see through it, but it transmits some light? Light is shed right across the cabin from all of the adjacent TVs. My usual apologies to those who don't get to travel in any type of J, but this is all just coughpy design. I hope UA's new 'Polaris' business will be a considerable improvement.

Pre departure 'Champagne' was a Californian sparkling.

You got a thin mattress type thing, a sheet type of thing (with ties down one side which I never figured out), a blanket and a good pillow.




Menu; I thought it a bit on the basic side, but OK. Service was very good - the right amount of attentiveness for me. Row 5 gets served from the galley behind, whereas the front 4 rows get served from the galley at the front, so 5 was always served first. Oh, the toilet on the LHS was a baby change one, so was extra-large and good for changing in; actually F class sized. The RH equivalent was normal sized.




Wines were OK too. I was very happy to see not one but two Argentines there - a malbec from Mendoza (not great, but one wouldn't expect a great one on an airliner) and a white from Valle de Uco (recent memories ...). As soon as I showed some interest in the wines, I was offered a flight to try of the three whites. That's a nice touch.




Meals themselves were OK, but possibly the lower end of the J class meal spectrum with presentation being below scratch. I had the duck which was a large piece of breast, pretty dry and I didn't finish it.

 

[RooFlyer]

The UA business amenity kit is pretty good.



We landed more-or-less on time and while the immigration hall was crowded, the self service gates at MEL dealt with the masses efficiently. 'Priority' bag of course came out pretty randomly, as did others I observed.

For me, it was then up to Virgin for the flight to Hobart. I had checked in at one of the kiosks and tagged my bag. Where now? What ... THAT queue? It was enormous, but I had no option but to join it (not having any VA status ). 25 minutes to reach the agent. Why should such a long queue form for bag drop? The check-in line WAS shorter by a margin; what's the point of self serve check-in and 'bag drop'? It was then off to the lounge courtesy of AMEX plat card.

Anyway, on that less than ideal note, that's the end of the report.

Aside from research findings, highlight for me was Bermuda - its a lovely place to visit and if you are on holiday in good weather, it would be great. Washington was very interesting, as always. LH's A380 was very good, especially the crew on this occasion and bed configuration; my trip on their B747-9 wasn't as good in both regards (but I wouldn't condemn the B747-9 on the basis of just one trip! ). Western and northern Wales looked good for a return visit.

Lowlights were the UA business bed; Manchester airport the Novotel West London. Coupled with hassles I've had at other Accor places in London, that's the last Accor stay there for me. I unfortunately remain disappointed in SQ's business class.