People are always saying to me, “you’re so lucky, to be able to travel and live in different cities must be so glamorous.” In fact, I was told this last week… while in the midst of chaotic 9-11 travel and one of the worst hotel experiences in Boston so far.
I don’t talk too much about the ins and outs of travel; each post is generally wrapped in a blanket of logistics that I forget about the moment it’s done. Some times it’s really awesome and some times it really sucks. This week it was really awesome and infinitely better compared to the last week of travel.
One of the perks of being Super Elite is the concierge service, which means when Air Canada pulls the big planes out, I get upgraded.
Honestly, it happens so infrequently that when it does it’s a real treat. And, it’s always on flights that are less than an hour-long so the moment is fleeting. The tricky part is to remember to recover all my gadgets before departing because they tend to get scattered when I have enough space to spread out.
Speaking of gadgets, every flight is now a constant reminder of Samsung’s mistake and to turn off your Samsung Galaxy Note 7… it’s one step shy of announcing that everyone with a Samsung Galaxy Note 7 should have it confiscated at security and be detained for daring to carry a bomb.
Turning off the Note 7 on my flight was announced no less than 8-times by a breathy panicked stewardess. If you count the dual language aspect of being Canadian, it was announced 16-times.
There were no explosions on the flight and going through Toronto was easy because there were no fires in the air traffic control tower.
I’ve never been in the AC lounge on the U.S. side of Pearson before. It’s a better experience than Montréal where the lounge experience is worse than sitting at the gate.
The domestic flight lounge in Montréal should be avoided unless you like sitting on the crumb covered floor, waiting in long lines to use the washroom, and constantly bumping into people because the space is too small to walk around in.
This is Toronto…
There are two showers in Toronto. I like a lounge with a shower because sometimes you just need to shower.
This week’s hotel is the Ames hotel, which is across the street from the Old State House (1713). Already I’m happy because I can walk around at night and not feel like I’m trapped in my hotel room.
The ceiling is hand tiled. I geeked out and spent a while trying to figure out how long it would take to hand tile the entire ceiling. My guess is 4-months for the lobby alone because each tile was individually set and nothing lines up symmetrically.
Also, the view is awesome. If I’m going to be in Boston, I might as well get to be in Boston.
Now everyone is freaking out about the Galaxy Note 2… let me tell you… I bought a Galaxy Note 2 while on a project in Vancouver and carried that sucker around for 3-years in San Francisco and for 1-year in Los Angeles before abandoning it.
It’s now in my device graveyard because the GPS kept failing… which really sucks for a frequent traveller. For me that phone was solid and I put it to hell and back and on an airplane and through an x-ray machine twice a week for 4-years without incident.
It lasted LONGER than any other phone I’ve ever owned.