Saturday, 01 December 2007Today we fly to Montréal. We got off to a horrible start. The plan was to catch the shuttle from the hotel to the airport at 7:30am. We missed it. I won't go into the how and why. So we caught the 8:00am shuttle and I am beside myself. I thought I was pissed yesterday. This is a whole new orbit of pissed off.
Originally we were supposed to fly Atlanta to Detroit, Detroit to Montréal. For whatever reason Northwest changed our flights twice to now fly Atlanta to Minneapolis, Minneapolis to Detroit, Detroit to Montréal. Except now the first flight was a code share on Delta. To save some time I thought I would call NW and see if we should check in with Delta or NW. I was told Delta.
So we get to the airport, we have a 9:44am flight and it is now 8:15am and I am in a panic. I ask a Delta representative where to check in because I don't know if we have to check in International or not. She says we can use a kiosk. I don't think so but I dutifully follow. She tries to check us in through the kiosk but it won't work. She says that in order to check our bags all the way to Montréal we need to go to the full service counter. The line is long enough to double back. This is becoming a theme for the day, me listening to people who I know damn well are full of it.
Finally we get to the counter representative who has a voice so soft I can barely hear her. I tell her we are trying to go to Montréal and check our bags all the way, the kiosk won't work and we were sent here. She asks if I have a ticket for Rose and I say no. Well she needs one for international travel. I'll have to buy one. DAMN! I hand her my itinerary and all three passports. Now she starts talking about how we are on the wrong flight, missed our flight, why did I change our flight. She looks at me like I'm an idiot. I know she's an idiot but I look like I'm about to cry, because I am.
Now, it's after 9:00am, our flight is in 45 minutes, we are still at the ticket counter and I'm worried about how long security is. We're never going to make it. Kimberly, our lovely Delta agent is on the phone with Northwest and now she's mad at me and at Northwest because this is their problem not hers. So much for that Sky Team Alliance. Finally she says that we need to go over to Northwest and talk to Robin. If you don't know, Delta is in the South Terminal and Northwest is in the North terminal. It's not forever away, a long walk, but it isn't just the next counter over.
So we trudge on over to Northwest. I find a rep and ask who is Robin. I get a blank stare. She walks with us to the ticket counter which luckily doesn't have any customers. I keep asking for Robin and finally one of the agents behind the counter speaks up. There are three or four agents behind the counter. Compared to the mute agent in front and all of the Delta staff, these four are super friendly. One plays with Rose while Robin gets us taken care of. She gets us on the Detroit flight, our original itinerary for 10:20am. Thank God, we can make that flight. And no, we did not have to buy a ticket for Rose. Just as I thought, Delta was full of it.
After such a rough start, everything was smooth after that. As a treat to Dinah I had bought first class tickets for the whole trip. I think she enjoyed her free Bailey's on the rocks. Rose is an easy flier. She cried for about 20 minutes on the way to Detroit but she was 20 minutes past due on her nap. She loves looking out the window and her fear of takeoff was apparently a one time deal in Columbus. She also doesn't mind the elevators or train in the airport anymore.
Before Rose referred to planes as ta taas, accent on the second syllable. Today they were beese with a long 's' sound not a 'z' sound, like geese. Singular seems to be "bee." She also has a cute sign that she has made up on her own. Touching her two fingers almost like one does tsk tsk tsk. Who knows why but she is consistent and cute.
Customs was a breeze. We had to stand in the cold for quite a while waiting for a cab though. With the stroller and two bags we needed a mini-van which were in short supply. We almost got one but some rude guy with a briefcase wouldn't switch with our taxi in front of him. It was about another 20 minutes before another mini-van came around.
The Intercontinental in Montréal is very nice. There was a sale on Priority Club points, 5000 per night, so it was too good of an offer to pass up. Much of the opulence is in the name though. I think the Holiday Inn in Brunswick may actually be nicer.
I asked the concierge where we could get some poutine nearby. She recommended a place called Briskets. She said they also had smoked meat. Even better! We probably pushed too hard. It was only a three block walk but it was 7°F with a -1°F wind chill. Rose was bawling by the time we got there. I ordered a petite poutine Québécoise with a smoked meat platter and Dinah just got a grande poutine Québécoise. Québécoise means it comes with cheese curds. They had maybe 20 variations of poutine. For example, poutine Jardinière, which is a favorite of mine, poutine with peas and chicken. I first had poutine on a business trip to Quebec before we got married and Dinah and I had both kinds at Chez Ashton in Quebec on our honeymoon and we have been in love with it ever since. Rose seemed to prefer regular fries to the poutine but she really liked the cheese curds.
The smoked meat was outstanding. Again I first had it on that business trip to Quebec and love it. I'm not sure what meat it is but I think it is beef. I've seen some places list lamb. I'm not sure how it differs from pastrami but I don't eat pastrami. If you order, order medium fat. My platter was probably about a pound of meat. I think you are supposed to make your own sandwich with the rye bread provided. I made one with mustard but ate the rest with just a fork. Rose liked the rye bread dipped in the poutine gravy.
On top of that we had regular Canadian Cokes. They still use sugar here instead of high fructose corn syrup. It is so much better. Like I remember as a kid. It's all I'm drinking here. A negative consequence is that after just a few sips, Rose has developed quite a taste for it and is quite demanding if she sees you are drinking it. We'll break her of that when we get back home. The meal was heaven. This was why I dieted so hard since October (I've lost maybe 20 pounds and an inch).
We came back to the hotel fat and happy but chilly. Rose had a bath and fell asleep in 2 minutes.
