25 MARCH 2012

 

A new dawn and a new day ...... woken up all philosophical!

Nice comfy bed last night, so slept really well. The mini bar was actually warmer than the room and would have involved a small mortgage to imbibe anyway. So just a cup of tea before bed last night.

Didn’t risk robbing a bank, so I settled for my previous day’s uneaten ham and mustard sandwiches and stayed out of trouble. I look crap in a balaclava anyway – it messes up my hair.

I took the Hoppa a tad early and ended up having to wait to check in my cases. Got a bit bored so I decided on an upgrade to Premium Economy and offset the cost of taking an extra case from the charge.

 Now in 14J with an aisle seat. Let’s hope the TV works OK.

As you know I am an observer of life on these solitary journeys I make and today I saw one of the strangest sights I’ve ever had the luck to see. It was so odd I took a photo with my phone and bluetoothed it to my laptop. (Just slipping in a few technical details to prolong your agony and also impress you all)

It was either a women with the most horrendous facial hair – even a walrus would have been proud, or it was an elderly gentleman(?) in a knee length flared black skirt! Oh yes, not forgetting the mid calf socks and Jesus sandals.

 Photo attached as proof! I couldn’t get the lower legs in the photo as I had to grab a quick snap when he wasn’t looking.

 (See photograph 1)

Now then, back to my flight, 14J was a comfortable seat next to a nice Danish man who was taking his family to Orlando. Unfortunately the tray table had Brewer’s Droop and I had to change seats.

 However luck was on my side as I ended up on an aisle bulkhead seat with nobody next to me. Cue to spread out and make the most of it!

 Nice lunch – seared beef and bits, lemon posset, Tempranillo, all very scrummy but an hour later I was starving. No snacks available for any plebs below Business Class, so had to wait for afternoon tea.

Saw a film with George Swooney Clooney whose wife had had an affair with a Dork. All very believable – NOT! Also saw a really weird film with Daniel (007) Craig as a cowboy fighting off an alien attack which was strangely watchable but as Bond – I don’t think so, bring me Pierce on a plate anytime!

Anyway, we arrived at Miami, slightly late as the was unable to kickstart the engines of our 747 at Heathrow and lost his slot time for departure. We were then held for approximately 30 minutes on the jetway whilst an Iberian flight which landed after us was ushered through Immigration before us. Damned Miami Hispanics, just because they speak Spanish
it shouldn’t mean that us Brits are held back. Our economy is better than theirs – so there!

So we eventually crawled our way through immigration only to find our luggage had been piled up off the belt and with more arriving t the same time – utter bloody chaos! Miami airport is dire. The belt stopped and a porter had to climb down the tunnel and shift someone’s case blocking the entrance.

Ooh, a blue Tripp holdall with a Union Jack ribbon?
That’ll be mine then!! Sorry chaps!

Then there was another long queue for Customs and then another wait whilst the Celebrity shepherdess gathered her flock and finally we were on our way to the Hilton at Fort Lauderdale Marina via a nice comfie coach.

Just one more queue for registration and no porters, so I have now decided to either have one ginormous suitcase next time or just try and cut down a teeny bit on my clothes.

The Hilton is very swish and I feel quite at home (!). 

 Lord only knows how much breakfast will be but a glass of Sauvey Blonk cost me $12.50 which must be at least eight quid! I think it was watered down as well!

The hotel is right on the marina and the outside space is truly luxurious with a long glass-enclosed firepit – just the job in 85 degrees! Also a very trendy seating area around the fire – this is gonna be one of those kinds of holiday!!

Well, I’m off to bed now , I have a choice of 8 pillows so probably will take the rest of the night finding that none of them are right for me. Two beds too, I feel a bit like Goldilocks, spoilt for
choice.

Free WiFi in the lobby so I should be able to send this tomorrow before our transfer to the ship.

Stay tuned for the next exciting episode ......