by Paul » Mon Jun 07, 2010 1:05 pm
I am sure most of you couldn't careless but here is a debriefing on my trip
It all started off well, got to O.R Tambo at about 17:00 on the 17th, the nice lady at the check-in saw that we had a long trip so she changed our seats and gave us better ones with more leg room.
We got to London on time, did the whole transfer thing and again got better seats. Oh I forgot to say that there were 4 of us travelling together, Me, Jackie, her brother and his girlfriend.
Well we get to New York and come face to face with US security for the first time, they have NO sense of humour!! Jackie and myself pass through immigration without a problem but her brother and his girlfriend are detained. No one will tell us anything and we just have to wait. Turns out they sent him for a "Secondary Soft Search", it took an additional hour and a half. He didn't want to talk about what happened. We then get to baggage claim and find that his luggage didn't arrive, takes another hour to find out that it never left JHB.
By this time we have missed out connecting flight to Austin by an hour. The wonderfully helpful (I AM BEING SARCASTIC) people at the airline tell us that there is not flight available for the next 2 days! But we managed to get a help line number from one of the baggage handlers, we phone them and after about an hour we manage to get on to a flight leaving the next day at 6:30!
It is safe to say that I was not please with America at this point. So we phone out hosts to let them know about the new plan, told them we would find a motel, shack up for the night and we them the following day.
Well now then, this is where the Texas hospitality starts. Turns out our host Ted is a frequent flier and is a platinum member just about everywhere. So he manages to get a room at the Marriot opposite the Airport and access to the VIP lounge.
The next day we flew to Austin, no hiccups. The first thing to greet us is the heat! It was 8:00 am in Austin and about 30 degrees (and it only gets hotter)
We spend the next few days in Austin, just checking out some local sights, shops, pubs etc. To give you an idea what Austin is like imagine Cape Town without the sea or Mountain with Upington Heat and Durban Humidity.
If I remember right there are 2 universities in Austin so it is pretty much a Varsity town. Everyone there just wants to help you and make sure are having a good time. There were 10 houses in the street we stayed in and we met 8 of the neighbours, 2 of them came for drinks with us.
Considering I don't even know the names of my neighbours at home, this was weird. When we were out for the whole day and couldn't take the dogs for a walk (this was our payment for staying their) the neighbours would do it for us. Seriously that whole arrogant American attitude only applies to the New Yorkers.
On the 22nd it was time for me to go to Houston for my brothers weddings, once again Ted managed to pull some strings and got us into the Sheraton 5 star for like $100. The room had an actual lounge and bedroom separate which is a big deal for a pleb like me. The wedding was very nice. I was best man but didn’t have to speak much so that was cool except Houston is about 100 times hotter than Austin, if that is even possible. Wearing a suit and having the ceremony outside meant that I looked like I had been thrown into a pool.
I did not know but Jackie had planned (as a Birthday present) a trip to Las Vegas. We left straight after the wedding for the airport and flew to Vegas. Guess what the weather was like? It was freezing, that is right, a city in the middle of the desert and we were wearing long pants and a jacket.
That is enough for now. I will expand more later
I am sure most of you couldn't careless but here is a debriefing on my trip
It all started off well, got to O.R Tambo at about 17:00 on the 17th, the nice lady at the check-in saw that we had a long trip so she changed our seats and gave us better ones with more leg room.
We got to London on time, did the whole transfer thing and again got better seats. Oh I forgot to say that there were 4 of us travelling together, Me, Jackie, her brother and his girlfriend.
Well we get to New York and come face to face with US security for the first time, they have NO sense of humour!! Jackie and myself pass through immigration without a problem but her brother and his girlfriend are detained. No one will tell us anything and we just have to wait. Turns out they sent him for a "Secondary Soft Search", it took an additional hour and a half. He didn't want to talk about what happened. We then get to baggage claim and find that his luggage didn't arrive, takes another hour to find out that it never left JHB.
By this time we have missed out connecting flight to Austin by an hour. The wonderfully helpful (I AM BEING SARCASTIC) people at the airline tell us that there is not flight available for the next 2 days! But we managed to get a help line number from one of the baggage handlers, we phone them and after about an hour we manage to get on to a flight leaving the next day at 6:30!
It is safe to say that I was not please with America at this point. So we phone out hosts to let them know about the new plan, told them we would find a motel, shack up for the night and we them the following day.
Well now then, this is where the Texas hospitality starts. Turns out our host Ted is a frequent flier and is a platinum member just about everywhere. So he manages to get a room at the Marriot opposite the Airport and access to the VIP lounge.
The next day we flew to Austin, no hiccups. The first thing to greet us is the heat! It was 8:00 am in Austin and about 30 degrees (and it only gets hotter)
We spend the next few days in Austin, just checking out some local sights, shops, pubs etc. To give you an idea what Austin is like imagine Cape Town without the sea or Mountain with Upington Heat and Durban Humidity.
If I remember right there are 2 universities in Austin so it is pretty much a Varsity town. Everyone there just wants to help you and make sure are having a good time. There were 10 houses in the street we stayed in and we met 8 of the neighbours, 2 of them came for drinks with us.
Considering I don't even know the names of my neighbours at home, this was weird. When we were out for the whole day and couldn't take the dogs for a walk (this was our payment for staying their) the neighbours would do it for us. Seriously that whole arrogant American attitude only applies to the New Yorkers.
On the 22nd it was time for me to go to Houston for my brothers weddings, once again Ted managed to pull some strings and got us into the Sheraton 5 star for like $100. The room had an actual lounge and bedroom separate which is a big deal for a pleb like me. The wedding was very nice. I was best man but didn’t have to speak much so that was cool except Houston is about 100 times hotter than Austin, if that is even possible. Wearing a suit and having the ceremony outside meant that I looked like I had been thrown into a pool.
I did not know but Jackie had planned (as a Birthday present) a trip to Las Vegas. We left straight after the wedding for the airport and flew to Vegas. Guess what the weather was like? It was freezing, that is right, a city in the middle of the desert and we were wearing long pants and a jacket.
That is enough for now. I will expand more later