Top 3: Best Flights Ever

1. 2001 - Chicago to Hartford: I was going to visit my best friend in Connecticut for a weekend and was just settling when this guy approaches me and we have the following exchange:

Him: Excuse me, but you happen to be sitting next to an old friend of mine that I just bumped into here at the airport. Do you mind switching seats with me?

Me: Of course not, where are you sitting?

Him: 1A, thank you so much

Me: Not a problem. Enjoy catching up with your friend.

We trade tickets and I make my way up to first class. I plop myself down in my new, lush seat and take in the 1st class sights. Soon after take off I have the most memorable plane meal ever. Fresh baked muffins, a mimosa, eggs any way I wanted them. I wish I could travel like this always. I had the might to even steal the individual size salt and pepper shakers but I restrained myself.

2. 2001 - Los Angeles to Sydney, Australia: You'd think that the longest flight I've ever been on would be far from one of my best flight experiences, but you'd be so very wrong. Besides the fact that the airline I flew is the best ever, all 14 hours of this flight I'd do again in a heart beat. First of all I was given an exit row seat next to the window, and the middle seat was free. The flight attendant comes to me before take-off and politely asks if I would mind switching seats with someone a few rows back with a stiff leg. I don't think too hard about my decision because I know my short self doesn't really need all that leg room. The flight attendant tells me she is grateful for my generosity and says she'll do all she can to make sure I have a great flight.

Well, she told be no lie. Once I had gathered my things and was on my way to my new seat I realize she gave me an entire row to myself. I settled in and she brought me a cocktail. Even better. Then we take-off and after another cocktail and a bottle of wine with dinner I layout on my row and fall asleep for a good 5 hours, until another round of food and drinks is brought to me, as well as a water bottle to myself. I arrived in Sydney well rested and ready to take on Australia, rather than exhausted and delirious. Service goes a long way in my book, but I guess so does being a nice person on in a while.

3. 1998 - Washington D.C. to London: The best thing about this was the sheer amenities on board. I hadn't flown across the Atlantic since my trip to Finland and that was a couple of years earlier and was with a group. This time I was on my own, I was 19 and on my way to London for the first time. I get one the plane and there's a little gift pack on my seat, with socks, toothbrush and paste, sleep/eye mask and various other travel goodies. Then I settle into my seat and see the magnificent entertainment center on the chair back in front of me. I had a host of movies to choose from and could watch them according to my own schedule, plus I could opt to play video games. What made this great flight even better was the booze. A cocktail, then wine with dinner, the some Bailey's then all over a gain a few hours later. It was the first time I experienced the international flight liquor policy and I was loving it. I didn't love so much finding my way into London at 9 in the morning, while arguable drunk. I only wish the flight would have been longer to take more advantage.

Honorable mention: 2002 - Burbank, CA to Oakland CA: The flight attendants were what made this flight truly memorable. They gave their pre-take off lecture in versus, then as the flight was in slanted take-off mode they launched peanut bags down the aisle for people to take as they pleased and pass on to others. Once safely in the air they passed around a hat and people could donate $1 to a pool. They picked random seats to win the pot. It was a short flight, but sweet.

Top 3: Worst Flights Ever

Now I'm not normally a fearful flyer, in fact I tend to rather enjoy being on planes, but there have on occasions been moments when I thought to myself "This is it, we're going down" and started in with the Hail Mary's, and there have been other times when the entire experience from arriving at the airport to claiming my luggage has been one nightmare after another. So here are my 3 worst experiences:

1. 2003 - Santiago de Cuba to Havana: Yes, I was fully warned not to fly within Cuba, but when faced with unappealing option of driving for 10+ hours from Santiago de Cuba to Havana, my travel companions and I decided we'd take out chances with the flight. We should have driven like we did on the way down, but we did that over the course of a week.

We'll start with the airport experience. Granted that a group of 15 American (13 of them women) would raise some eyebrows of interest, but at security each and every one of us had our bags completely taken apart and searched with a fine-toothed comb. I honestly think this was more out of curiosity that anything, given that our toiletry cases we're of got the most scrutiny. I think they just wanted to know what kind of stuff we had.

So we go to board the small, old Russian plane and are fully checked again. We claim some seats and are up and away. To say the interior was dilapidated would be a huge understatement, but the duct tape on the wing as what appeared to be a form of repair was just too much to handle. Add to that the fact that the flight attendant flight pin was missing a wing, and we all wanted to be back on the ground. We look out the window and realize we're only about 1000 feet off the ground and bumping and shaking all around. Then a strange noise and then some hazy looking smoke coming through the edges of the plane adds to the terror. It turns out the "smoke" was the air-conditioning mist, and the plane flew that low to the ground the whole way.

We stopped in some coastal town to pick up some more passengers and pick some up, but this wasn't a scheduled stop on our itinerary. We all have to deplane, go through security AGAIN and then re-board. None of us were very excited about this, and very wearily went up the steps for another 45 minutes of torture before landing in Havana.

When we landed in Havana (only 5 hours late mind you), we all literally kissed the ground. Never again will I fly in Cuba. I think any old beat up car would suit me just fine. This one wins by a LONG shot. No other experience even comes close.

2. 1996 - San Francisco to JFK-New York: It's my first time flying to Europe, and I'm on my way to Finland with a layover in New York. We took off 4 hours late so out connection was now pretty minimal. We're descending to the runway, and suddenly within 50 feet of touching ground, we bee-lining it back into the air. Turns out, as the captain so kindly informed us, that there was a plane taking off on the runway we were landing on. Hello, air traffic control? So now we're even later in landing, and all scared shitless because we almost collided with another plane.

The saving grace to this experience was because we were a soccer team representing the US, we were able to get off the plane before everyone else, and were met by airport staff and taken to our departing flight, which had waited for us for an hour. Loved the treatment, but could have done without the harrowing first round of landing games.

3. 2004 - Krakow, Poland to JFK-New York: Now not that anything frightening happened on this flight, but the experience was one of the strangest I've had. First there was all the people that crowded the gate when they made the announcement that the flight would board in 20 minutes. Come on people. Then there was the guy I sat next to for the 9 hours flight that drank half a bottle of vodka and then passed out literally on me. I've actually never had this happen before. And it wasn't easy to move him. I was helpless.

Lastly there was the landing. The plane touches ground, everyone claps and then EVERYONE (I am not exaggerating) get up and starts getting their bags down and stretching. If you've ever flown into JFK you probably know that a good 20 minutes is usually spent taxi-ing around the airport, so I'm looking around at all these people in wonder. Non announcement was made to return to your seats, but I don't think anyone would have listened anyway. Clearly I was not on a US based airline, where the mere sound of a seatbelt unbuckled prompts the flight attendants to make announcement to stay in your seat, with your seatbelt on until you've reached the gate and the light is turned off. This was another animal, and it was amusing and surreal at the same time.

Honorable Mention - CDG-Paris airport: I can't qualify this as a "worst" flight experience because the flight itself was just fine, it was the wench at the ticket counter I wanted to strangle. I booked my ticket but somewhere along the way my flight had been changed to an earlier flight which I had missed because I was never informed. The manager of the ticket counter would not let me on the flights I was there for until I paid a ridiculous fee. I showed her my itinerary print-out but she could have cared less. Many rude comments were exchanged (I'll spare all the details because I am sure it will be a post of it's own one day), and in the end I had to pay to get on the flights I had booked in the first place. Needless to say I brewed a shit storm on the airline's refund and customer service departments and got my money back. Bastards.

Stay tuned for other "Top 3" entries, including Best Flights Ever coming very soon...

Belize: Chapter Three

The Greatest Hotel

Well after a couple nights in San Ignacio we were moved to another area of Belize known as the Mountain Pine Ridge Reserve (not too far from San Ignacio actually). They had booked us for a couple of nights at two places and divided the group. Lucky for my Mom and I we were taken to Blancaneaux Lodge, which is easily the nicest place I have ever stayed. I look forward to a return trip on day because it is so serene, relaxing and comfortable. Check out the link for more info and on the lodge:

http://www.blancaneaux.com

The Pine Ridge Reserve is kind of a sad story in itself because apparently there is some bug that is killing all of the trees and they don't know how to solve the problem. It was beautiful though when I was there with plenty of trails to hike and I saw a large cave with a beach and river going through it that was a pretty amazing site. Hopefully it is still as pristine 4 years later.

The lodge itself is located along a river, which is great for swimming, and if you follow it for a few minutes you reach huge waterfall and pools for swimming and lounging about. I however made the mistake of walking through 10 foot-tall grass in search of said amazing waterfall in a bathing suit and towel and was eaten alive by mosquitoes. That night I counted 47 bites on my back alone. Needless to say I was uncomfortably itchy for a few days. Let's not even get into the probability of snakes that must have been lurking in grass just waiting for a nice piece of flesh to bite into. I still can't believe I escaped that trek relatively unharmed.

Anyway, the resort is comprised of various cabanas around the property, which have lavish decorations and showers that look out into the wilderness (not to worry, no one but the animals are going to see you because each cabana is secluded). It was founded by Francis Ford Coppola (yes the movie maker) and he flies in wine from his Napa Valley vineyard and fresh food each week on their private landing strip. The resort also has an organic garden of it's own for fresh vegetables, fruits and herbs. The one little restaurant serves the most scrumptious food, and they offer an abundance of activities if you want to explore the area.

Anyway, Blancaneaux will always be fresh in my mind as a place I spent a couple of glorious days of natural and quiet surroundings. I can't wait to get back there one day.

Belize: Chapter Two

Of Cows and Bandits

So like I said, our lovely hotel in Belize decided to pack us all into a bus so that we could continue our vacation in another part of the country without fear of being blown away in the hurricane. In case anyone is wondering the hurricane did in fact hit Ambergris Caye and a significant portion of the island's properties were severely damaged.

So off we were to a place called San Ignacio in the Cayo district. It's a forested region close to the Guatemalan border. We stayed in a hillside hotel with cabanas (with thatched roofs and porches with hammocks) perched above the town. While figuring out what the hell we would do over the next few days in the interior, a few of us realized that we weren't all that far from Tikal and requested a trip to the world-renown ancient ruins.

After some negotiation about the logistics we were off for a 3-hour drive into the jungle. Being an architect this was a dream. I've always had an interest in ancient sites, which resulted in a trip across Mexico to visit the places so famous there - Chichen-Itza, Tulum, Uxmal, Palenque, Teotihuacan, and the like. Now if only I could get to Egypt, Peru and Cambodia to round out my interest. Along the way we had a lunch at a roadside dive, which might not have been the smartest choice, but it was damn good. I'm still suprised I didn't suffer some serious stomach ailment after that.

We arrived at Tikal just after 1 and were told to be back on the bus by 4:30 because if we didn't make it back to the border by a certain time it would close and we'd be in Guatemala for the night. Now nothing against Guatemala, but this didn't really seem ideal. I had taken notice of the border town on the way in and I certainly didn't see a Holiday Inn, or anything else inviting for that matter.

Okay, a good few hours wandering the ruins, climbing temples, and being scared out of my mind when I heard an animal roar. It sounded like a lion, but it turns out it was just some howler monkeys in trees. Man those things are loud. Tikal is beautiful. It reminded me a lot of Palenque with these massive temples peeking out of the jungle. It was great, but like a good little day-tripper I made my way back to the van by 4:30 to ensure that we could leave as scheduled. I shouldn't have bothered.

First 10 minutes go by and we're still missing a good handful of people. A few minutes later a couple trickle in, but by 5 o'clock we're still missing a few. I of course am freaking out at the thought of not being able to get back into Belize. I'm an adventurer, but when I signed up for this trip I wanted to sit on a beach for a week watching my skin grow browner and enjoying having nothing to do, and so I wasn't exactly mentally prepared to be sleeping on a floor with 10 other people, 100 cockroaches and 1000 mosquitoes.

I go in search of the remaining stragglers and find them haggling at the outdoor market for some tacky souvenir that doesn't even represent the culture of Guatemala but rather something you can get in any tourist destination. I drag their asses back to the bus. As we're heading back to the border (a good 2 hour drive), my Mom converses with the driver in Spanish about what happens if we don't get there in time. Now I might not be able to speak Spanish so well, but I sure as hell can understand it. He is uncomfortable for a moment and then says that the border doesn't really close, it's the bandits he was concerned about. Excuse me?

According to our guide, the bandits are notorious for attacking tourist cars once the sun goes down. Sometimes they just want to rob you, but sometimes they attack people and worse things happen. Well, in my opinion that's worse than being stuck in Guatemala for a night, so I very wearily look out the window at the setting sun. We probably still have an hour and a half to go and it's going to be dark in 20 minutes. I try to ignore my fears by closing my eyes, only to be awoken 10 minutes later when the car comes to a screeching halt.

I think to myself - this is it, we're going to be attacked. I look out the front of the car, but instead of being held up by bandits it’s a herd of cows in front of us, moving ever so slowly along the highway. We all had a nice giggle over it, but 20 minutes later we're still behind the cows and now we're all more or less annoyed. We're finally able to maneuver around the bovines and make our way to the border without incident. Back to San Ignacio and the safety of my cabana on the hill. Thank God.

Belize: Chapter One

Swept Away (Almost)

In the last decade, my mother and I have instituted a little bi-annual mother-daughter get away, so in 2001 my Mom suggested we go somewhere beachy and left it up to me to decide where. It crossed my mind to hit up one of those all-inclusive resorts so prevalent in the Dominican Republic or Jamaica, which was more along the lines of what she was thinking in the first place. I call her one day:

Me: I think I picked a place for our trip
Mom: Oh good, where?
Me: Ambergris Caye, Belize
Mom: Uh, where?
Me: Belize, in Central America.
Mom: Couldn't you have picked Hawaii, or Tahiti or some place I've heard of.
Me: Supposedly the beaches are great and it's very relaxing and relatively un-touristed.
Mom: Mmmmm…Okay, I guess we should get started on the details then.

Needless to say, she was not too pleased when she discovered we'd have to get in a little 10 seater prop plane to the islands. For those that don't know, Ambergris Caye is an island of sorts set off the mainland of Belize. It's part of a group of such islands in the middle of the Barrier Reef. It's actually closer to Mexico than it is to Belize.

For more information than you'd ever really want check out:
http://www.ambergriscaye.com/

So we booked ourselves for a week in a thatch-roofed beachfront cabana at Captain Morgan's Retreat (that's where they filmed that retarded reality show Temptation Island if you saw it way back when, retarded yes, but I still watched it religiously every week). http://www.captainmorgans.com/

After landing at the closest thing to a dirt landing strip I've ever seen in Belize City we are whisked away to a small plane for a 15 minute flight to Sand Pedro - the city on Ambergris Caye. There we meet someone from the hotel, load onto a high-speed boat and find ourselves on a sandy beach 2 miles down the coast. We immediately have cocktails, throw on the suntan lotion and lie in a hammock. We proceed to stay in this position for the next few days with brief forays into the city to eat, parasail and shop when we tire of the resort life.

Then with 4 days left to go in our trip we get an announcement from hotel management that they are evacuating the island because a hurricane is heading straight for it. I didn't sign up for this. Lucky for us the hotel realized that most people didn't want to be put on the next US bound flight, so they planned an excursion to the Belizean interior for those interested in continuing their vacation.

In reality, this was a blessing because we got to explore more of the country than we had anticipated, and made good friends with many of the people staying at the resort, except the few honeymooning couples who were not too pleased to have their romantic vacation squashed. In all honesty, I think I would have gotten a little stir-crazy being lazy like that for too many more days.

We all boarded a boat and were taken to the capital, watching dolphins jumping around the boat along the way, and put on a private bus heading to the jungle area bordering Guatemala. More on the rest of this experience in another entry. This is only Chapter One after all.

Ambergris Caye is exceptionally beautiful and relaxing. There isn't much to do other than beach/water related activities, so if you're looking for a cultural experience then look elsewhere. But if you want to lie on a clean beach in peace, go for a dip in warmish water, drink tropical cocktails and generally be pampered, then book a flight now. For all I know tourism has built it up over the last 5 years, but I certainly hope not. It was a gem when I was there. Perhaps check out the other nearby islands that are even more secluded.