A RTW study tour, mostly on Star Alliance

[RooFlyer]

Then things went pear-shaped. First, a message on the screen that there would be a 30 min delay. A while later I checked again and the delay was gone, so I hot-footed it to the gate.

... where the agent announced that due to JFK not giving a landing slot, we would board, and then park until we got the JFK clearance. A remarkably sanguine crowd hardly murmured.

After 45 mins, the pilot came on and said they still didn't have clearance, so 30 mins to the next update. Eventually we departed 2 hours late, for the 45 min trip. The reason for the delay was apparently that President Trump was rolling-delaying his trip to New York for his dinner with Turnbull to celebrate the anniversary of the Battle of the Coral Sea (so JFK had a rolling closure of landings). I was never convinced of that this was the real reason, as Trump would have taken his helicopter to New York and wouldn't have landed at JFK.

They allowed phones etc during the on ground delay but when we were about to leave I was shocked at the lack of regard by the FAs to cabin safety. Just about everyone was still using their mobile phones during taxi, of course (as usual), but the guy in my row on the other side of the aisle has his laptop out and on his table until the point we turned onto the runway. Tthe FAs walked past twice in their 'final cabin check' and must have seen this, but did nothing. Ditto the guy next to me who had his phone on his lap (showing a call in progress), using earphones and mike, obviously on a call during taxi, but again nothing said or done about it.

Anyway by the time I landed I had missed my Bermuda flight - one of the only several flights I have ever missed. Help from AA was OK ... they re-booked me the next morning, but wouldn't pay for accommodation as it was 'ATC'. I'll claim on my travel insurance. By the time I got to the Admirals Club after all this, Australia had woken up so I called my Travel Agent and had a room at the Airport Hilton within minutes.

View of the Manhattan skyline from my room. My TA was pleased to find that a 'club room' was only US$10 more, so I took it. Bit of a mistake. the 'Executive Lounge' possibly one of the saddest I have ever been in. No food at 7pm except bags of chips and some forgettable wine or beer, brought out to you on request. I had a couple of Heinekens to cover the cost and departed for dinner downstairs.




Next morning, at the AA 'First Class International' lounge in terminal 8. Fine Dining not finished, but food offerings better than usual, and the lounge itself is pretty impressive (for a USA lounge)

 

[drron]

Actually stayed at the Hilton JFK when I had HH status.yes the lounge was walk in,pick up a bag of chips and walk out.not surprising it hasn't changed.

 

[RooFlyer]

Finally on my AA flight to Bermuda. Unfortunately being bumped to the flight the next day meant I lost my Main Cabin Extra seat and was pretty well back in the bus.




Its a pretty ancient B737 and again, I observe the casual attitude of the FAs to in-flight safety. While the seat belt sign was still on, people started getting up, going to the toilet. One guy, with his infant son on his shoulders got up and walked towards the toilet. FAs in their seats doing nothing about this. Incredible!

Immigration at BDA was a bit slow, and I was anxious to get to the Archives, as this was my only day (Friday) to do my Uni research here. Late arrival meant I'd be up against time. Taxi took some time too, as the airport is at one end of the group of islands, and Hamilton, the capital, at the other and all the roads on Bermuda are narrow and winding. Interestingly, you cannot hire a car on Bermuda (motor scooters you can). I believe this is because the roads are so narrow, and winding, that anyone not familiar with the conditions would be an accident waiting to happen, possibly with lethal results. Another thing is that there are virtually no footpaths outside of the city center. You walk along the road, usually with walls eith erside. No-where to go except to flatten yourself against the wall!! :shock:

Anyway, dropped my bags off at the B&B and into town. Archives office in the basement of a government building; next the National Library which at least was pleasantly situated.




The Archives closed at 3pm, so I had a bit of time to walk around Hamilton after that. I knew the America's Cup was coming, as the hotel prices were astronomically high when I went to book, in January (hence the B&B). RH pic is the harbour front street of Hamilton.




Bermuda is a self governing Crown Colony of the UK (sort of like Hong Kong used to be). Has its own Parliament, courts (with access to the Privy Council in the UK, though), currency, taxes etc etc. However American influence is very high. The Bermudian dollar is pegged to the US$ and both circulate freely.

Hamilton was settled in 1790. Geographically the city is very small, and has a population of only about 1,200 people. Its the home of many of the 'special purpose vehicles' or business entities that make use of Bermuda's very low corporate tax rates, and other benefits (the industries are mainly insurance related). There are a disproportionally high number of modern office buildings downtown for the economy of just the island. Bermuda had one of the highest GDP per capita for most of the 20th Century, more-or-less until the GFC hit.

The Spanish were the first visitors to Bermuda, in 1503. Shipwrecked Portuguese came a bit later. In 1609, members of the English Virginia Company (established to form the colony at Jamestown) formed a colony after one of their colonising ships had to land to avoid a hurricane. The capital was established at St Georges in 1612 and St Georges is the oldest continuously inhabited 'English' town in the New World. The English Crown took over administration in 1684 and the island became an important naval outpost for Great Britain in the 1700s-1800s (which is why I'm interested in it ), particularly during and following the US declaration of independence.

City Hall on the left, Anglican Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity on the right (c1900)




Sessions House, home of Bermuda's House of Assembly and Supreme Court; RH pic is the Cabinet Building, home to Bermuda's Senate.

 

[RooFlyer]

Hamilton Harbour properly termed the 'Great Sound' is serviced by a great ferry service and my B&B was a short distance from one of the ferry wharves on the south side, opposite the city. There is also a very good bus service accessing the whole island(s) - the yellow lines on the map.




One of the things that immediately strikes you in Bermuda is the houses. Just about 100% white roofed and painted in various shades of mostly pastel colours, but some bolder ones. The ferry trip, which happened to be a bit of a milk run, in this case, showed some gorgeous houses overlooking the inner harbour.

 

[RooFlyer]

I'll post the answers to the RooFlyer "How well do you know Washington DC touristy bits" quiz tomorrow. Any takers?

 

[coriander]

The reason for the delay was apparently that President Trump was rolling-delaying his trip to New York for his dinner with Turnbull to celebrate the anniversary of the Battle of the Coral Sea (so JFK had a rolling closure of landings). I was never convinced of that this was the real reason, as Trump would have taken his helicopter to New York and wouldn't have landed at JFK.

TV Footage here in Australia did show Trump's Airforce One 747 landing at JFK for the delayed meeting (humiliation?) with Prime Minister Trumbull on board the Intrepid (why take Marine One when you can use Air Force One instead). I'd have thought Malcolm would have taken the time to have a look over the items on the Intrepid (Concorde and Shuttle for example) but apparently he remained holed up in his NY hotel.

 

[RooFlyer]

Oh ... thanks for that, good to have the story confirmed. Our flight on an E175 took 45 mins; his would have taken I guess 30 mins with straight up and in!! When you also get an helicopter ride to and from the airports, I guess it makes taking the big bird worthwhile, and he can take a bunch of hangers-on as well.

 

[RooFlyer]

Bermuda has no highways. It has several 'main roads' up and down the main island (as I mentioned, the airport is at one end of the island group, Hamilton the capital is about 2/3 the length of the group from the airport and The Royal Naval Dockyard, major tourist destination, is the other end of the island group). Few of the main roads get above what in England might be termed 'charming country lanes' and they are frequently bounded by limestone block walls 0.3 to +2m high. Oh, and mostly no footpaths. You hold your breath when (say) two busses pass each other and in any event, the busses are often brushing vegetation on the sides of the road.

Here are some typical situations:





Now, I wouldn't want this to deter any prospective visitors to Bermuda. Sensible people would catch taxis or busses to get around. I, on the other hand need all the exercise I can get, am too impatient for busses and detest paying for taxis. So I walked along the roads a lot. The motorists don't travel that fast (impossible) and mostly give you a wide (-ish) berth, but when both lanes were occupied, it was a matter of pressing against the bounding wall and regretting that last serving of pudding I ate!

Back to some more houses.

 

[RooFlyer]

.
Map of Bermuda to give some bearings. For scale, the width of the main island at Elbow Beach (look south of Hamilton), is 2km. The length of the entire 'fish hook' from the Royal Naval Dockyard (central west tip) to St Georges (NE) is about 34km.

 

[JessicaTam]

Thanks for reminding me how much I enjoyed Bermuda when I visited with blackcat20 a couple of years ago.

 

[RooFlyer]

Ah ... I just found blackcat20's TR. At least you got a swim in!

 

[RooFlyer]

Saturday, and first stop was the ferry to the Royal Naval Dockyard, site of Bermuda's National Museum and there I hopefully was going to meed the Deputy Director, if she was there (only got an indirect message, unfortunately).


Ferry trip was very pleasant, and we headed out of Hamilton, passing the inevitable colourful houses ...




Approaching the Royal Naval Dockyard. It was built in the early 1800s (mainly as a bulwark against the newly independent United States) and served as a major naval base for the Royal Navy up until the cold war. In WW2 it was an important trans Atlantic convoy link. After WW2, and with the US now 'firmly' an ally, the British Admiralty had little need for the base, and it was progressively closed through the 1950s and ultimately transferred back to Bermuda's local authority in 1958, except a small part that was retained as a base but this, along with several US facilities in Bermuda, was also closed in 1995.

The base fell into disrepair after the 1950s closure and this was accentuated by hurricane damage. It was only with the increase in tourism in the 1980s that the place began to be looked after. Cruise ships now dock here.

The 2017 Americas Cup challenge, starting later in May is centred here; no yachts on view, unfortunately.

On the left, the Commissioners House, built about 1820, from the ferry as it approached. Was almost a total ruin before a beautiful restoration, now a museum. On the right, the old storehouse, now a tourist trap of artists, cafes etc.




Going into the dock area.



Panorama of the small boat dock area.




Panorama from the Commissioner's House. Cruise ships berth along the left; thankfully none while I was there!

 

[RooFlyer]

The Commissioner's House, and views from it. The base was well defended!




Unfortunately no Deputy Director of Museum in attendance, so just a bit of a look around, as the facility is after the dates of my interest.




As mentioned above, the House has been the subject of a massive restoration effort, and much 'sponsorship' money was raised. You'd never know it was once derelict.



Cruise ships dock to the left. RH pic shows, in the distance, and new island created for the America's Cup. To be honest, other than the obvious national 'sheds' and this bit, the area is pretty low key for what's going to be a huge event. The sailing is going to occur in The Great Sound, so for the first time is in an 'arena', as opposed to offshore. The very many reefs and shoals in The Great Sound should make things additionally interesting!!




One thing I hadn't come to grips with was the history of slavery in Bermuda. It was rife of course, and I think about 50% of Bermuda's current population of about 65,000 are of some African descent.

 

[RooFlyer]

Done with the Royal Naval Dockyard, my next destination was historic St Georges, at the complete other end of the island chain. There is a ferry service between the two, but it doesn't run on weekends, so it was the ferry back to Hamilton, and then the bus to St Georges.

On the ferry out, we went past the USA America's Cup sheds. I took the RH pic in Hamilton to illustrate the traditional roofing method. Virtually the oly rock on the island is limestone coral - no clay for making bricks etc. So the coral limestone is sawn into slices and used as thick 'tiles' (hence the stepped profile). But as its highly porous, it is capped with some sort of barrier, and waterproof white paint.




Astute readers of my trip reports would realise that before this one, the word 'bus' had never appeared. If I can't fly, I hire a car, or a tour; failing that, its rail and then usually, that's it. However on this trip, I did go by bus (coach) in Norway and the cost of a one way car hire was eye-watering, and besides, I'm a poor student on this one - so it was the 'Coast Bus' between Bergen and Stavanger. In Bermuda, you can't hire a car and I wasn't confident of a scooter, so a bus it was!! I soon learned that the timetable is more 'aspirational' than fact on weekends, but I eventually found one at the bus depot that was going my way.

it was a bit hair-raising due to the narrow roads and some very tight corners, but we made a number of stops, including at the airport (tip - catch the bust into town when you arrive, and save yourself about a US$30 taxi ride). Some wistful glimpses of the warm Bermudian water, and sometimes the surrounding reefs ... no swim for me.






Now St Georges is of interest as the guy I'm researching spent some time here. It was settled in 1612, and although this was after St John's Newfoundland and Jamestown, Virginia, St Georges claims the title of the oldest continuously inhabited town in the New World, as the others were not permanent to start with.

I looked forward to soaking up some history, but the first few buildings I encountered made me wonder ... The pink place was built in 1794 and the Bermuda National trust describes it as a 'unique double house'. Imagine if you tried to paint a very old, 'unique' heritage place in Australia, bright pink!! :shock:

 

[andy2015]

They allowed phones etc during the on ground delay but when we were about to leave I was shocked at the lack of regard by the FAs to cabin safety. Just about everyone was still using their mobile phones during taxi, of course (as usual), but the guy in my row on the other side of the aisle has his laptop out and on his table until the point we turned onto the runway. Tthe FAs walked past twice in their 'final cabin check' and must have seen this, but did nothing. Ditto the guy next to me who had his phone on his lap (showing a call in progress), using earphones and mike, obviously on a call during taxi, but again nothing said or done about it.

Phone/electronic device use is allowed gate to gate by the FAA these days. Tray table out with a laptop on it I'd guess not. Laptop on lap I don't know?

 

[RooFlyer]

Laptop on lap not allowed on any airline for take-off and landing, that I'm aware of (although I've documented it in the US before).

St George's is a World heritage site. many buildings from the early 1700s and one, the State House, Bermuda's first stone building, built 1620 to act as its first House of Assembly. Remarkable. RH pic is St Peter's Church, which has sections also dating from the early 1600s (wooden parts regularly partly destroyed by hurricanes etc).




LH pic a statue to Thomas Moore (Irish poet) who visited in 1803, with Buckingham House (mid 1700s) and the State House behind; RH pic the Town hall, 1782 on King's Square.




Not everything is old. the odd private 'cruiser' and decent house on the hill behind the old town.




I thought there might be a church on top of the hill, so I headed up there and found this oddity. The 'unfinished church'. Begun in 1874 to replace St Peter's, down the hill. A spilt in the congregation complicated things, and then the Cathedral in Hamilton needed re-building after a fire, so funds were diverted. The roof was finally added in 1899, however at the same time it was decided to renovate old St Peter's, and the 'new' church was abandoned, and damaged in hurricanes later.

A sign near by points to 'the beaches', so I kept walking, to find 'Tobacco Bay', a very sheltered beach unfortunately spoiled by very loud disco type music.




I kept walking and found St Catherine's fort, and a very nice beach beside it. Unfortunately I was unprepared for a swim, so, very thirsty by now, made the trek back ...

 

[RooFlyer]

I stayed at St Helier B&B; more-or-less chosen off Trip Advisor as being reasonably priced and well located. The owner told me they don't use credit cards - cash only and a deposit via Western Union. When I noted that WU was expensive to send via (Post office also involved in Tas), they said don't worry about a deposit! . It was a very comfortable house with their own chooks laying breakfast eggs. Afternoon tea was properly served!




I've ignored the food again, haven't I? Not far away was a small 'resort' with a couple of restaurants overlooking the sound. One was a 'tapas' place, serving small portions, and I went there. Bouillabaisse which was excellent and dishes of fish cakes (topped with banana) and scallops with mashed potato. Don't judge by the pics - all were delicious!







Lunch at St George's, a meat pie and iced latte. Nice.



That night, I had a mis-understanding with my hosts. We were discussing Paraquete, a local café type of place. I thought they were recommending it, and Trip Advisor mapped it just along the road, so I went there. Couldn't find it, because it was no-where near where Trip Advisor mapped it :evil: . Anyway, I took a considerably longer walk to it to find it was pretty cough - I had completely mis-understood what my hosts were saying about the place! The pea soup was OK, but the mains was much like you'd get in KFC. Entirely my fault, and an early night!

 

[RooFlyer]

The next day (Sunday) was overcast and a bit stormy, so my planned beach excursion didn't happen. Am I the only person to visit Bermuda and not get into the water? :evil: A few walks and I contemplated a bus trip to see a bit more of the island, but after nearly 3 weeks on the road, I declared it mostly a day of rest. Next day I was off to Jamaica via Miami.

So next morning I got a taxi to the airport, getting there a bit more than 2 hours before departure, as there is US pre-clearance in Bermuda. Surprised to find that check-in wasn't open yet and in fact I was the first person in the priority queue. Even more surprised that check-in didn't open until about 1hr 40 mins before my flight and in fact there was an earlier flight and it was the same check-in ... so less than 90 mins prior for that flight. Lesson learned. And I quickly saw why. US pre clearance was virtually deserted, as was security, and I was quickly through. I observed during boarding of that earlier flight that a large number of pax arrived 'just in time' .

Looking at my BPs, I was pleasantly surprised to find 'TSA Pre' on both BPs (BDA-MIA and MIA-KIN) - but of course this was completely useless. No TSA Pre queue at Bermuda pre-clearance, and in MIA, I kept airside during my transit!!

Check-in area (during the time the check-in agent was there, and we just waited for check-in to 'open') and the lounge.




No AC but there is a Priority Pass lounge (thank you, AMEX). Fairly plushly furnished, but food and bev restricted to some soggy Danishes, bagels (ie otherwise known as stale donuts) and some coughpy coffee.



An interesting innovation in the bathroom. Do you stop at the wash basin and watch the monitor, or ...?



After a fix of wi-fi I went back out to the concourse and in doing so realised it was cooler there than in the lounge. Some entertainment watching the stragglers come up for boarding the flight before us. Seems to be a correlation between lateness of pax and size of their carry-ons. Good luck with those!


BDA-MIA on an AA A319 and I again had Main Cabin Extra but in a rookie mistake, chose a bulkhead, where the extra legroom disappeared! We arrived at MIA a few minutes early, to find that our gate was still occupied, and there was a mechanic on board. Pilot comes on and says 'the company' wants us to still have the same gate, so we park and wait. :evil: After 25 mins we move but only briefly; after a series of stops and starts, we arrive at the gate 45 mins after landing. Get on skytrain, as my connecting flight is predicably at gate D1, the other end of the terminal. Brief appearance at Admiral's Club 15 mins later as boarding was imminent, and the agent assures me that I have plenty of time, as D1 is "right next to us". Fortunately I knew that it wasn't and after grabbing a few cubes of the cheese, hurried off to the gate where boarding just started as I arrived. Economy MCE again, and got the legroom this time. I was not a happy camper at this stage, having a terrible connection and no lunch due to AA's stupid gate policy.

Oh, and in another demonstration of AA FA's casual adherence to flight safety rules - the lady in the pic here, in the bulkhead row, kept her bag during take-off. Several FAs walked past for the 'final cabin inspection' not saying anything until one did, and then she walked on. The bag was then put by the lady's feet. To be clear - I don't feel greatly endangered by the odd purse or even laptop not stowed properly during take off and landing. But I do wonder if the AA FA's casual attitude to enforcing flight safety rules extends elsewhere in the company. Do their mechanic type people also choose which rules they adhere to and ignore others?

 

[RooFlyer]

Touchdown ... Jamaica! I should have been excited but I was apprehensive about the safety aspect and the consequent expense. I was staying in Kingston, the capital and my Archive destination was Spanish Town, about 3/4 hr taxi ride away from the hotel, in off peak traffic. I arranged a hotel pick-up car from the airport as I wasn't sure about the taxis. Amazingly, it was cheaper than the posted 'official' taxi ride cost!! The ride took about 50 mins as the airport is on a reef peninsula way out of town, and the traffic was pretty heavy. First impressions of Kingston was that sure, its a third world city, but there wasn't the "cough everywhere" look you often get in such places and not a lot of kids wandering about the place.

My hotel was the Terra Nova 'All suite hotel'; chosen because it was the least horribly expensive of the 'better' places and looked decent on Trip Advisor. It turned out to be a bit of a strange one. Done out in Spanish style with a large front area which shielded us from the traffic noise. There is a casino out the back, but I didn't venture there.




First, the rooms were not 'suites' - but were large and comfortable.




The whole hotel is done up like something out of the 1930s - dark wood panelling, chandeliers, black and white check tiled floors, white-jacketed staff. Quite elegant, really. A$310/night incl breakfast, wi fi etc was probably worth it - the other name hotels were much more expensive. I put the pic on the right in as about 6pm, this guy opens up with his leaf blower outside my room ... and goes on and on ... often chatting to his mate while leaving it going. I got fed up after nearly 30 mins and went to the front desk, who told me it would probably go on for 15 mins more. I think he caught my withering look and it stopped soon after, (only to start again at 6:45 the next morning ... take that!).




Dinner at the mid restaurant - there is a fine dining one; this is the Terrace and there is a 'sports bar'. Started with prawn bouillabaisse, notable for the 'pepper sherry' that accompanied it (lop left of RH pic). Wow! Rocket fuel, but a little was delicious with the soup.




Main of blackened reef fish. OK. RH pic was breakfast next morning - I went the 'Jamaican option' - some spicy mackerel, spinach, some other things I didn't quite identify, and grilled breadfruit on the left. 'Different'.

 

[PaulST]

Loving the TR! I've been a little behind so some of my comments are in response to posts a few pages back.

I'm really keen to fly the 748 although my allegiance to OW is making that difficult. It's such a beautiful bird! Sounds like a bit of a pity that the soft product wasn't great, though.

I enjoyed your photos of DC. I visited two years ago and it was fascinating, but my dislike of the American culture (well, mostly it's tipping that irritates me... ) made me less keen to revisiting but your photos have got my interest again. I found Arlington cemetery really interesting too, especially as you can see the Pentagon in the background. It was quite poignant having the crosses in the foreground and the Pentagon in the background... From memory you could also see Northrop Grumman's offices from the cemetery, which again, was interesting...
How impressive is the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Centre out in Dulles? I'm undecided if it, or Seattle's Museum of Flight is my favourite aviation museum. I felt like a child in a toy factory! Amazing!

I love the whole national mall too. Many conflicting emotions. A fascinating place!

[h=3][/h]