Luxury in LA!

The last Blog Entry of this Trip

We decide to taxi to the Rome airport rather than the cheaper option of train because of lugging luggage across Rome again has lost appeal.  The taxi driver is a real character and engages in lengthy, energetic and passionate conversation with Kathy about wide ranging subjects.  He says he knows why no one visits NZ is that if you go there, you will never come back, it is so beautiful!  Nice man…He regales us with many stories and we enjoy this, as it will be the last time in a while that we have this pleasure.

Exiting Rome at Fumicino was a breeze, except for one thing.  Going through security, they pick up that Kathy has a couple of Limoncello bottles in her pack.  She tries to go back to check them through, but finds she will be slapped with an excess baggage fee way out of proportion to the value of the Limoncello, so she donates the lovely nectar to some Australians who happen to be checking in behind her.  Nice (for them).

As the plane lifted off from Fumicino Airport, we were conscious of the fact that our contact with our favourite country (apart from NZ) was waning rapidly now.  Italian conversations would shortly become a rarity again.  We move with mixed emotions of a feeling of having accomplished what we intended to in Italy, gratefulness for having had a wonderful time pretty much everywhere we went, grateful for the love shown to us by our friends, grateful for new friendships and relationships and yet also feeling the time is right for us to return to our “normal” life.

We arrive at Heathrow Terminal 5, which is the newest of Heathrow's Terminals.  It certainly is not as frenetic as last time we passed through Heathrow and the train you take to Terminal 1 where our next flight departed from was state of the art and brand new.  Wifi throughout, integrated and active TV instructions and information in each carriage.  Wow.

When we check in for the flight to LA, we were surprised to see that we were meant to be at the gate 2 hours before departure.  Oh well, who knows what security surprises were in store for us.  Last passage through Heathrow in 2007 involved 3 cascading levels of security for outbound passengers.  We had hoped to do some mooching and shopping, but no time for that.  Terminal 1 is vast and we are at Gate 50, which is a long way from anywhere.  We arrive at the gate to find lots of people sitting around and frequent announcements encouraging everyone to get to the gate.  Nothing is happening here though.  Finally, boarding commences.  Annoucements about random security checks and the need to co-operate with security personnel.  Oh yeah, whatever..

Just before our rows are called, I have this sneaky plan to ensure we get overhead locker space and we are the first in the queue when our rows are called.  Boarding passes, passports all check OK, just about to enter the air-bridge when we are selected for the random security check!!  Dang..  Firstly you have to sit and watch all the passengers behind you in the queue with huge bags board, which is torture for me anyway.  Then we look at all the other passengers of various Asian and Eastern European descent and it feels like we are the token white middle class selection to make this appear random.

Oh well, finally we are called to the secret screening room with frosted windows so you can't see what is going on inside.  A nice Sikh man greets me and apologises for all this.  Firstly he needs to frisk me and asks me to "assume the position".  I raise my arms out horizontally and there is a problem.  Firstly my arms are wider than the edge of the cubicle we are in and poke into the airspace of adjacent cubicles above the partitions and my Sikh friend is a bit short and he can't pat down my arms!  Ah well he says, no problem.  He then needs to see everything in my bags and apologises at least another couple of times for this.  I suddenly realise I don't know what one of the packages is that I am carrying for Kathy and tell him it is gifts.  "No problem sir" he says and we pack it all back in and I am free to go.

I look over to Kathy, who is not having such a good time.  Her female security officer is far more diligent and Kathy is carrying all our Murano Glass purchases, each package carefully wrapped in paper and bubble wrap.  Oh no, they want to SEE EVERY ITEM.  This takes forever.  I wait for a while and then wander slowly down the air-bridge.  Kathy finally turns up and is the last passenger to board a full 747!!  Whilst the procedure was onerous, the people were lovely and we really did not leave with a sour taste in our mouths.  We sit down and they announce we can go, except we can't.  Air traffic control have advised there is a 45 minute wait before we can push back!!  Oh well, at least the entertainment systems are all operational right from the word go these days.

Next stop LA customs... Oh yea!!  We complete the entry forms with some trepidation and approach the first security clearance being unsure quite what to expect.  However, apart from the finger printing and picture regime, it is really not too bad.  Now for customs.  We are quizzed extensively on exactly what it is we are carrying and the guy attending to us is at first frosty and then warms up when we try to explain to him what Murano glass is.  He finally smiles when Kathy says "They are really a lot nicer than they sound".  After he has typed up copious notes on MY U.S. entry record, we are free to go and are the best of friends!

We then catch a shuttle to the hotel, which the driver has never heard of.  He appears to have never even heard of the area (Manhattan Beach) which is a bit of a concern.  Never mind, he has a GPS and I am really impressed with the sensitivity and accuracy of this technology.  It tells him continually which lane to be in on the freeway, when there is a ramp approaching and what to do about it.  It finally deposits us at the front door of the hotel.

Hmm... impressive.  The hotel is modern, but the entire design and decor is mediterranean, but not only mediterranean, but luxury mediterranean.  Behind the front desk is a massive and I mean massive tapestry of a victory celebration in the 1500s.  The walls are covered with carefully lit art works. There are statues and statuettes everywhere and a central courtyard, complete with fountain, olive trees, cypresses and statues.  When we get to our room, it is spacious and completely fitted out with beautiful period furniture.  The bathroom is almost as big as our entire room in Rome!  The bed is wonderfully huge, soft and inviting after a 10 and a half hour flight.  We sink in to it and listen to the droning of the freeway outside...

Breakfast the next morning is amazing.  Not only is the food excellent, the service is the best we have encountered on the entire trip and the ambience of the dining room even includes electric candles that have flames that waver just like a real candle would!  As breakfast is included in the room rate, we don't hold back!

After enquiring about local day tours, we opt for more of a low key option and the hotel offers free transfers to some local areas, so we set off to mooch the local mall.  It is not highly exciting, but it does offer us the low key relaxation we need before the next long haul flight.  There are some nice things here, but the prices are not very attractive when converted to NZ$.  The come across "Fry's Electronics" which is like the Warehouse for all electronics.  They have someone at the door to greet everyone and welcome them to Fry's.  They have aisle managers sign posted up for each aisle.  They have someone standing by the checkout queue to tell you which checkout becomes free (even though each one has a flashing light as well) and then they have someone to reconcile the goods in your bag with your receipt.  We found it very hard to understand some of them as well.  They are so process driven that they have a patter that they rattle off in a drawl we could not decipher.  Still, we got some good stuff there.

One highlight of this day was spotting the security guy who was cruising around the carpark on this Segway like device, but with a third wheel.  I was a bit wary of taking a photo of him without his persmission, so asked and he was only too pleased and posed for the photo nicely!  He told me these machines were brand new and only available to security and police at this stage.  He looked like a Roman on a chariot haring around the car park.

Another thing we noted about the US, was that they still have the edge of anywhere on understanding what customer service is all about.  Rather than in our culture if you are queuing, the person will tell you to get your fanny right there, in the US we found them saying "The next guest is mine" and had such a great attitude it was a pleasure to do business with them.

This continued in the hotel, who extended our checkout right through to 6pm with no extra charge.  This gives us a really welcome opportunity to have a good rest before a 12 and a half hour sojourn in the silver cigar box.

We set off for the airport, quite pleasantly surprised with our experience of the US this time.

As we walked in towards our gate after check in, who should we walk in to, but Graeme Sumner, my former boss from Transfield Services.  We had a great time chatting to Graeme in the airport that really helped the time go quickly.

Well, that's it for this blog for this trip.

Thanks so much to everyone who has the patience to read all this.

Ciao until next time.