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2022 US Trip – Day 3 (Getting into New York)

Still on UK time, I got up at 06:00 and let to head to central New York at 06:45, just as it got light. I sent a message to the lovely host that I had left the key in the appropriate place and was good to go.

It’s been a long time since I’ve visited the United States and since then my phone contract allows me to roam which makes things like seeing where buses actually are has become much easier. The bus turned up just as Google promised at the stop it said that it would. What a time to be alive…. Travel is made so much easier with Google, I can’t begin to imagine the horrors of using paper maps. I got to try my contactless card on the screen of the bus (the one by the door, I didn’t put my card on the windscreen) and it worked, my first of many trips this week.

I was lucky to board when I did as I got a seat and the bus was completely packed by the time it arrived at Jamaica Metro station. The school kids on the bus looked exhausted, but it looked like they were facing a 40 minute bus journey each way, and then perhaps more, and it was certainly an early start.

There has been a station around here since 1836 although it has been rebuilt since then, not least as it deals with enormous numbers of passengers every day, not far off 250,000, which is more than railway stations such as London Liverpool Street which is around 180,000 people on average per day. I got fortunate here as I wasn’t rushing (as can be noted by the fact I took time to take a photo) to get the E train into central New York, but I noted it looked packed. There was then an announcement that the train on the other platform, where I was standing, would be leaving first and the stampede was like a thing of natural beauty. I was fortunate as I was near that train and had already darted in to get a seat on what would be another very busy journey. Comfortable and cheap transit, it was good to be back in New York.

As my Metro train stopped off relatively near to Hudson Yards, I thought I’d go and look at the huge development that they were building there as I’ve heard so much about it. It won’t be completed for another couple more years, but they’ve finished a fair chunk of the structures, although more of which in the next post….

September 23, 2022
2022 US Trip – Day 3 (Vessel at Hudson Yards)

This rather exciting piece of architecture is Vessel and is part of the artworks at Hudson Yards. It was designed by the British architect Thomas Heatherwick, who also designed the ill-fated Garden Bridge project in London. Not to be done with that, he designed the 2012 Olympic Cauldron and the new Routemaster bus, so something of a modern day George Stephenson.

In all of this are 154 flights of stairs, 2,500 steps and 80 separate landings, so some considerable opportunity for exploration is possible. The cost though was ridiculous, at $200 million, and there’s no way that a sum of money that large should have been spent on an art project. That would have been enough to endow an art museum, despite the excitement of pretending you’re in a honeycomb. Although to be fair, I doubt they would have started off on the project if they had realised the cost, it was originally meant to be much cheaper.

Unfortunately, it can’t be climbed at the moment, due to a series of suicides meaning that they’re putting nets in and adding some other safety features. It must be sad for a designer to see their project become a suicide hotspot, but at least there are efforts to re-open it. It was free to climb initially, but the cost of safety improvements means that there is now (or will be again when it re-opens) a $10 fee other than for those arriving in the first hour of opening and they can have a walk around free of charge.

Looking out over the Hudson River, those aren’t roofs in the foreground, they’re trains parked up and it’s part of the High Line behind them. More of that later in the week.

Looking out from the shopping centre, there was some controversy for a long time at the lack of disabled access at Vessel, although they’ve made some changes to improve that as well. As if all of that wasn’t enough controversy, they also got into a mess with their photo policy, but more about that at https://ny.curbed.com/2019/3/21/18275790/hudson-yards-vessel-photo-policy-social-media. It looks good though, I have to give them that and perhaps I’ll get to have a bit of a walk about on it one day.

September 23, 2022
2022 US Trip – Day 3 (Dylan’s Candy Bar)

Not a particularly in-depth blog post this, I just liked the name, as did someone called Dylan that I know ? They don’t seem to sell much branded stuff, it’s just an emporium of sweets, which is something I think the Dylan that I know would think was quite marvellous. This is their grand outlet at the Hudson Yards shopping centre, a rather upmarket boutique type of place.

September 23, 2022
2022 US Trip – Day 3 (Flixbus in the United States)

Oh good, they’ve expanded to the United States now….. I’ve had mixed journeys with Flixbus, mostly poor, and it feels a shame that they haven’t fixed a lot of the problems with their European operations before starting on the United States. I saw their bus terminal in the city, which is effectively a small car park. There’s a sign saying “if you’re early, don’t stay here, go and stand by the blue wall” as if passengers are some sort of sheep that needed to be herded into standing in the corner. There are no facilities such as seats (let alone toilets or something similar) by the wall, it’s all part of their low-cost operation.

I think this article at https://farawayplaces.co/flixbus-usa-review/ on Flixbus US seems reasonable, the booking of a ticket can be cheap, but the operation is hugely variable depending on who they’ve got the management arrangement with. It’s a risky operation getting a Flixbus, although they’re a bit cheaper than Amtrak. I’m writing this in Richmond, Virginia, and the bus would have been $40 or so, which is around what I paid for the Amtrak service. Strangely, because American rail takes so long, it would have been quicker to get the bus, but I enjoyed my comfortable rail journey. Oh, and their silly $4 ticket fee annoys me, it would be much more honest to just add it to the ticket price.

I’ll stop going around the houses, and mention buyer beware with Flixbus…. Anyway, I’ve digressed once again.

September 23, 2022
2022 US Trip – Day 2 (Terminal 2 to 3 at Heathrow Airport and a Quick Couple of Lounge Visits)

I don’t often do much transiting at Heathrow, but today I was going from Terminal 2 where my Aer Lingus flight landed to Terminal 3 where my American Airlines flight was departing. I had four hours or so deliberately in the schedule when planning this (so that I could enjoy the lounges), and despite the potential delays from the Queen’s funeral, that schedule worked out.

Here’s the transfer bus stop within T2 with a sign saying that there are regular buses every ten minutes. Anyway, 24 minutes later the bus arrived. Another couple were getting edgy as their flight was quite close in terms of time, whereas I was losing lounge time. Obviously mine was the most important situation that needed resolving, but I didn’t say anything.

Wooo, here comes the bus. The process was all quick from there, with another security check required because that’s what UK airports do, but there was a minimal delay with that and I was through and into the lounges within fifteen minutes of that bus setting off.

I do take decadent photos to surprise and delight readers…. This is one of the bathroom units at Cathay Pacific, which also has shower facilities. Note all the complimentary stuff in the little boxes, but I decided to just take the toothpaste as I’ve decided to keep my bag as light as possible during this trip. Fully refreshed, it was time for food.

I’ve written about the T3 lounges many times before on this blog, so a search will help any readers wanting to read my previous missives. In short, Oneworld status passengers can use the BA, American Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Qantas lounges regardless of which Oneworld airline they are travelling with, although the American Airlines one is currently closed. This is the menu from the Cathay Pacific lounge, where food is cooked to order, although there’s a self-service British section as well.

I went for the BBQ fried pork rice although with my regular order of the Mix Dimsum basket. As ever, it was delicious, as was the Guinness which is the first time I’ve seen that in this lounge.

I then rushed off (there’s no time to waste on days such as this) to the Qantas lounge as I’m just a little obsessed with their salt and pepper squid, but here’s the rest of the menu options. I’m not travelling next year so will lose my silver Oneworld status, but I’ll likely be getting it back soon enough in 2024 as I can’t miss out on the delights of menus like this. Yes, there’s more to life than this, but this is a bloody useful contribution to it.

Beautiful, melt in the mouth stuff…..

I remained in the Qantas lounge until it was time for my flight and I was slightly surprised to see that the majority of everyone there was watching the build-up to the Queen’s funeral on the lounge’s TVs. By nature of the lounge, most of the people there seemed to be Australian and some people had built themselves almost like little nests packed with food and drink where they could watch proceedings from. It was a reminder to me of the level of interest that people around the world have in the life and work of Queen Elizabeth II.

It was a lovely few hours, but I had a plane to New York to catch…..

September 21, 2022
2022 US Trip – Day 2 (American Airlines Flight from Heathrow T3 to JFK T8)

Suitably refreshed after visits to the Qantas and Cathay Pacific lounges, it was time to board the American Airlines flight from Heathrow T3 to JFK T8. See, I did tell readers that this trip would eventually get to the US! There was strict adherence to boarding by groups, despite the best efforts of some passengers to try and get on earlier than the group number on their ticket. The staff member said “group 3 now and anyone from groups 1 and 2 yet to board” and a passenger said to her “does that include group 8?” to which she replied that no it didn’t. Boarding was sluggish though, the flight departed 45 minutes late given the slow boarding and stowing of bags.

I had a bulkhead seat which gave me plenty of space and legroom. The aircraft was a Boeing 777-300, registration N722AN, which has been operated by American Airlines since they acquired it new in 2013. I was happy with this seat which I had been able to book for free before the flight, it felt comfortable on what was an entirely full flight. Apparently there was just one empty seat on the flight and that was someone at the airport who had cleared security but gone missing. I could hear the crew member say that he was likely asleep in a lounge and that it was too late to get anyone on stand-by onto the aircraft to replace him. With American Airlines, you can see how many people are on stand-by for each class and they got nearly everyone on board.

Legroom on the other seats looked manageable, but not entirely comfortable, especially if someone reclined into that space. I didn’t have to worry about that issue fortunately and I think the person behind with child was likely relieved that I didn’t recline either.

I didn’t use the in-flight entertainment as not much seemed particularly interesting, despite their claims of hundreds of hours of content with something for every taste. I did though watch an episode of the US version of The Office before getting bored and reverting back to podcasts.

The main meal service, I went for the chicken, green beans and starch option, although I was puzzled as to what that starch was. There was also a salad with dressing, a roll, crackers with cheese and then a carrot cake. I thought it was entirely satisfactory, nothing exceptional and the starch didn’t sound overly appetising, but it all tasted OK and it kept me amused for fifteen minutes or so.

I went for American Airlines over British Airways as they offer Dr. Pepper and have air vents. Simple things and simple minds….

In between naps, I went for Sprite as I managed to run them out of Dr. Pepper. I had quite a lot of little naps during my flight. Fortunately, there were power points on board so I had everything fully charged, and still had chance to lend the charger to my neighbour (on the plane, not in Norwich) as they couldn’t get theirs to work.

The personable crew member came to offer everyone an ice cream, mentioning to give it twenty minutes as it was so hard. He took a long time getting through the cabin as he kept talking to passengers, I got the impression that he rather liked his job, or he certainly looked like he did judging by his interactions. Indeed, all of the American Airlines crew were friendly, informal and they seemed to work well as a team, it give a positive ambience to the arrangements.

The breakfast options were beef or vegetarian pockets. Everyone else seemed to be going for the vegetarian one, but I was brave and went for beef and the crew member commented on my bravery. Not the most encouraging thing to say after ordering a meal, but the food was fine, although it was mostly pocket and not much beef.

A little girl came to talk to me as she wanted to look at my phone and see photos of my children. After checking her parents were content with this plan, which they were as they were trying to deal with a crying young baby, I checked she would be satisfied just with photos of a friend’s children. She was and we then went through hundreds of photos of Liam’s children who she decided that she liked. She thought Liam’s girl was her favourite as she looked the naughtiest.

The problem with airbridges is that it makes it hard to take photos, as opposed to when passengers are allowed to walk down steps. Anyway, the aircraft is in the photo to the left and that’ll have to do. There were a ridiculous 45 minute wait on the ground to get a stand, before another ninety minute wait at border control. They didn’t try any interrogation on this occasion, the officer just checked if I was in the US for tourism or business. I remember when a border control agent asked me a few years ago if I believed in the JFK rumours that he was killed by the secret service, which is quite a tricky question to know how to answer when arriving tired into a new country.

Anyway, the flight had made good time and there were no delays to the services I had taken during the time because of the Queen’s funeral which was potentially going to impact operations at Heathrow. It had been a good day.

This is terminal 8 where American Airlines and British Airways are combining operations, after many years for BA at Terminal 7. There’s a fair chunk of construction work going on at the moment and there’s going to be one large Oneworld lounge, albeit separated into three sections depending on class (of the flight, not of the individual) and loyalty scheme status. This model is likely to become more common I suspect, it feels odd that there are four Oneworld lounges at Heathrow T3, much as I like that situation.

September 21, 2022
2022 US Trip – Day 1 (BA Flight from Heathrow to Dublin)

The sun shines through the terminal windows at T5 lighting up the delights of Gate A9, which was fortunately not the bus gate (which is A10). The boarding process was all orderly and no-one stood in front of the queueing area, which made things much easier for the staff. Although the flight is to Dublin, this is effectively a domestic flight for purposes of border security, the staff don’t need to check passports at the gate, it’s just a photo image they take and that’s an automated process.

I boarded early, but the flight transpired to be relatively busy. It’s aircraft G-EUOF, an Airbus A319 which British Airways have had since October 2001. They really get their money’s worth from these aircraft, it’s doing six flights today, from Geneva to Heathrow, from Heathrow to Dublin, from Dublin to Heathrow, from Heathrow to Madrid, from Madrid to Heathrow and from Heathrow to Amsterdam.

My exit row seat, with the middle seat not being filled on the flight. I fell asleep soon after boarding, fortunately waking just as they handed out the water and cereal bar (which are still in my bag) before having another little sleep. Very restful. This is the big advantage in British Airways over Ryanair or WizzAir, who bang and clank down the aisle trying to sell things. It’s not the fault of the hard-working crew at these airlines, just the model in which they have to work. It was the usual professionally operated flight, the pilots were reassuring and gave useful announcements, whilst the crew were endlessly polite and efficient.

Safely in Dublin, arriving around five minutes early.

There are only six Play aircraft, the relatively new budget airline which operates from Iceland.

The border control process at Dublin is easy for UK passport holders. They do no checks on the passport on their computers, they just check that it’s a UK passport and that the image looks like the passenger in front of them. I think I was at the desk for around three seconds, it was almost as good as being in Schengen, not that that’s looking likely for the UK in the next few decades.

September 20, 2022
2022 US Trip – Day 1 (Dublin’s Keavan’s Port Pub)

I think I got a bit over-excited on the last post and published it early, that’s just my slight sleepiness….

Liam and I tried to visit this pub when we were in Dublin a few months ago, but it was just too busy. These were the days when Dublin was still enforcing table service only and despite the cavernous size of the building, its popularity was just too high for the number of seats available. I won’t get political, but it seems strange that the biggest investments that JD Wetherspoon are currently making are in the European Union. Indeed this pub is the most expensive they’ve ever done in their history, it cost them €27.4 million for the renovation and €6 on buying the building.

This is the history of the pub which JD Wetherspoon provide:

“The pub, named Keavan’s Port, has an adjoining 89-bedroom hotel. The pub takes its name from the history of the local area, where Camden Street Upper and Camden Street Lower form part of an ancient highway into the city of Dublin. The two streets were previously known as St Kevin’s Port. In a series of old maps and records, the name is listed as Keavans Port (1673), St Kevan’s Port (1714), Keavan’s Port (1728), St Kevan’s Port (1756) and then St Kevin’s Port (1778) – renamed after the first Earl of Camden.

The name Keavan’s Port/St Kevin’s Port was derived from the church of St Kevin, in nearby Camden Row, said to have been founded by a follower of the sixth-century hermit. St Kevin also features in the poem ‘St Kevin and the Blackbird’ (1996) by the Nobel prize-winner Seamus Heaney, in which he describes how the Irish saint held out a ‘turned-up palm’ for a blackbird to nest. Until the 1940s, the property had been the convent of the Little Sisters of the Assumption, established in the 1890s. The sisters nursed the ‘sick poor’ in their own homes, and their former chapel has been preserved and forms part of the new pub and hotel.”

It is a stunning conversation, there’s a glass walkway above the bar and this whole area is filled with light. Actually, I think it makes the bar area too hot, but there are plenty of other areas which are much cooler for customers.

Looking back the other way, all rather modern.

The entrance to the former chapel which is located within the pub.

A modern artwork within the historic former chapel.

I perched myself in the side aisle of the former chapel.

I can’t quite imagine that the builders of this chapel quite imagined that it would be repurposed into a pub.

Down to another large seating area and a separate bar, with what I assume (but don’t know) are reclaimed windows from the site. The bulk of the former site is taken up with the 89 room hotel, converted from a row of eight Georgian properties, which must be a profitable exercise as it seems to often be full.

The selection of real ales, priced much lower than other bars in the city, which is proving to be a big selling point for the chain just as it is in the UK. The staff here seemed friendly and helpful, the service was efficient and welcoming.

I went for the Rampart from Conwy Brewery, a very acceptable English brown ale (that’s in terms of the beer style, it’s actually brewed in Wales and being sold in the Republic of Ireland, so it’s not overly English) which was well kept. Real ale isn’t a huge thing in Dublin, but they seem to be shifting a fair amount of it here.

The pub is generally well reviewed and it was relatively busy for a Sunday afternoon. I liked the plentiful power points and wi-fi, all rather handy, and it’s got a relaxed vibe to it which is really quite calm. That feels most appropriate given the building’s history, of which this is a delightful conversion that the chain should be proud of. Well, other than for the leak downstairs which they were mopping up from a dripping ceiling.

September 20, 2022
2022 US Trip – Day 1 (Dublin’s South Strand Pub)

So I went to Dublin and went to two JD Wetherspoon outlets? Well, yes, although there’s another non JDW one to come, but I’d better add here that I’ve been to Dublin many times and visited all of what I consider to be the traditional, interesting and craft beer venues. I’m intrigued to see how JD Wetherspoon are developing and this is an outlet which wasn’t open when Liam and I visited the city a few months ago.

South Strand is another huge investment by JD Wetherspoon in the European Union, I’m impressed, a big vote of confidence from Tim Martin. Although I’m getting political, so I must stop. The pub is located at Hanover Quay and they give the history as:

“The south dock was once a large area of ‘marshland sprinkled with an occasional apple tree’. On one of the earliest maps (1673) of the city of Dublin, by Bernard de Gomme, there are no buildings marked on the south side of the River Liffey. This marshy riverside area is named on Gomme’s map as ‘South Strand’. He noted that it was ‘overflowed by the high tide, with up to five feet of water at neap tide, dry at half tide and dry enough at low tide to walk across the sand’.”

Unlike their conversion of Keavan’s Port, this building was already in use as a restaurant, having been known as the HQ Bar and Restaurant.

There’s my Beamish resting on the counter, a drink I consider to be better than Guinness. But, best not start a dispute about that, they’re both lovely drinks. It’s a large building, with plenty of external seating and another large seating area downstairs, with a map and compass being recommended to find the toilets.

I got a seat near the bar and was I felt very productive despite feeling slightly sleepy. There were plenty of power points dotted around and two kids storming about the place that the staff did well not to trip over. I’ve been a slight idiot (again) as I forgot that Ireland has the same power point holes (or whatever the technical term is) as the UK, and so I’ll be traipsing around with an EU adapter for a month now. Incidentally, someone came over to me and left his phone charging saying that he wanted to go drinking outside and needed it charged. So, not for the first time, I became a guardian of someone else’s phone.

Anyway, I liked this pub, although a few people in reviews have complained that there’s no music. All I can note is thank goodness for that, a little bastion of peace and quiet. It is of course also cheap and whether or not that’s what is attracting the locals, it was very busy.

September 20, 2022
2022 US Trip – Day 1 (Train from Dublin to Howth)

Nice pub name at Tara Street railway station.

The railway station opened in 1891 and it’s served by Dublin Area Rapid Transit, or DART, which is the service that I was getting to Howth. I was travelling on a Sunday and there seemed to be trains to Howth around every thirty minutes.

It’s not the most modern and sleek design for a train that I’ve seen, but it’s functional and that’ll do me. The majority of the fleet was built between 1983 and 1984, although they have a few more recent engines, although nothing later than 2004. It’s cheap though, but more later on the public transport card that I had.

This is a very good idea and I didn’t notice anyone on the train put their feet on the seats. It’s a very British problem though, it happens frequently on British trains and very rarely in Poland, where I’ve only seen it happen once. And when it did, the elderly Polish ladies nearby looked as angry as a Brit when someone has barged into a queue. I remember once on a service hearing the announcement say something along the lines of ‘if you see anyone with their feet on the seats, please call British Transport Police’ which seemed a bit excessive. I suspect it was said by an angry guard trying to scare some of the unruly passengers that he had.

It’s also not the most stylish inside the carriages either, but for a rapid transit system, I’ve seen worse. It was a relatively busy service until near Howth, which is the end of the line.

Wooo, safely into the delights of Howth, where I’ve been meaning to go for some years. Howth is a former village which has now become effectively a suburb of Dublin, but it retains that rural feel to it. However, more on that in the next post…..

September 20, 2022