Last weekend I returned from a two week trip to the USA. The real purpose of the trip was to attend the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, but a small diversion via New York City found its way into the itinerary… 
We flew out on US Airways flight US75 from Manchester to Philadelphia. Three things struck me about this flight. Firstly, it was the first time I’d been on a flight with, let’s say, ‘mature’ stewardesses - I’d never really thought about it before, but how often do you see cabin crew who are well into their fifties? Secondly, the captain kept the seatbelts sign on for almost the entire 8 hour flight… that’s a long time to sit very still… Which brings me on to the third thing - if it wasn’t the most uncomfortable flight I’ve ever had, it must have been close. In fact, I think it was the least comfortable I’ve been since I was last on an A330 with Emirates. The seat pitch (which I’m guessing was about 31″) must have been the absolute limit of what they could get away with. Given that I have quite long legs, I could only sit straight in the seat if I sat bolt upright, which isn’t what you want for that length of time!
Immigration at Philadelphia wasn’t the nightmare I’d imagined - maybe five minutes waiting in line, answer a few questions, have your fingerprints done and you’re away.
We were staying at the downtown Marriott in, not surprisingly, the Convention Center district of central Philadelphia. It was a lovely comfy base that I would definitely stay at again… as long as someone else was paying of course! Our “special” rate was something like $205/night for a room with two double beds. Our conference sessions were just across the road in the Loews so at least we didn’t have to brave the cold too much whilst not really dressed for it, plus the Marriott had a Starbucks in the lobby to provide warmth at extortionate prices (although somewhat less extortionate than their UK prices, it must be said.) The conference itself went well, all of our talks went smoothly and were well received.
We spent our last day in Philadelphia in the historic district and went to see the legendary Liberty Bell (or at least it seems to be legendary to Americans!) Having a tour of Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution were signed, was quite cool too. We had previously visited the Philadelphia Museum of Art, famous for the “Rocky Steps” leading up to the entrance. We took the compulsory photos with the compulsory pose but resisted the urge to run up the steps… to be fair it was dark, cold, snowing, and I’m lazy 
We travelled to New York by train from 30th Street Station, which it has to be said puts Sheffield train station to shame! Our hotel in NYC, Hotel 31, offered a somewhat more compact room, but it was perfectly fine and at a rather more compact price! It was also situated brilliantly, two blocks from both a subway station (6 line ftw!) and the Empire State Building.
We did all the required sights: the Rockefeller Center, the Statue of Liberty, Central Park, the Met and the Guggenheim amongst others. Something less well known that I would definitely recommend is the Ground Zero Museum, a small museum in the Meat Packing district that covers the recovery period following the September 11th terrorist attacks. It was very tastefully thought out and offered comprehensive audio commentary on each of the exhibits, whether they be photos or items recovered from the scene.
We also went to see the Knicks play at Madison Square Garden - although basketball doesn’t really appeal to me that much (my attention span can stretch beyond five seconds, just,) the experience of an American sporting event was brilliant - I can’t imagine the organ music and half time display by the frisbee catching dogs (honestly) working at the Stadium of Light!
It was Thanksgiving during our week in NYC so the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade was a must see. It did mean getting uptown at 7am to stand still for three hours or so, but the dazzling display of balloons, floats and marching bands was well worth it! We also got to eat something approaching a traditional Thanksgiving dinner at a bar called Legends near our hotel, that I would also recommend.
The journey back involved a short shuttle flight, US3995 from LaGuardia airport to Philadelphia. I was amazed at how easy it was to get out of the USA! Being a small domestic terminal solely for US Airways Express, the check-in queue was zero and the security queue was about three people long. Even better, there was both a Dunkin’ Donuts and a reasonable view of the airfield from the departure lounge, what more could you ask for? :) After that, the short flight on the little CRJ200 was one of the most enjoyable I’ve had. Firstly, I had loads of legroom, in stark contrast to the mainline US Airways seating. Also, the ~50 minute flight had a laughable cruising altitude of 7,000 feet, meaning the view of the ground throughout the flight was great and my ears didn’t give me any trouble :) Philadelphia airport provides an airside shuttle bus between terminals so we didn’t have to go through security again to get to our international departure gate, which was nice. We had central seats on the A330 for the flight back to Manchester that had slightly better legroom, although this was cancelled out by the person in front having their seat fully reclined for the whole flight… grrr. At least the return flight was over an hour shorter than the westbound leg. Also, the meal on the flight, allegedly a risotto, was one of the worst meals I’ve ever had to eat - and anyone who knows me will know how bad it had to be for me to say that!
We got out of Manchester airport smoothly (no long wait for the bags) but thanks to our friends at Network Rail we had to wait for a rail replacement bus back to Sheffield. It was a sign of our tiredness that upon getting home neither of us could remember the burglar alarm code!
All in all it was a great trip and great to be back home. Guess which bit of that previous sentence is actually true…
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I took a short trip to ENEA’s site near Rome for a meeting last week. It wasn’t a sightseeing trip, but I did get to take three flights, which is always a pleasure, even if they all turned out to be 737s… anyway, I digress. What concerned me most was the hilarious size of some of the bags that people were bringing on board as hand luggage.
The airlines have a maximum size of around 56×45x25cm and a weight limit of 10kg. My little bag was well inside the limits, but some people were clearly taking the mick. We were slightly delayed leaving Rome because people who just boarded in time were trying to fit hugely oversized bags into the overhead lockers when space just wasn’t there, partly because other people were also pushing their luck. The ground staff in Rome weren’t paying any attention to the size of the hand luggage they were letting through.
The first point about this is how many flights are delayed because space runs out in the cabin and bags end up having to be checked into the hold? I guess this must already happen, it very nearly happened on the flight I was on. Secondly, I wonder if the overhead bins are being overloaded? I can’t imagine it would have a huge impact on the takeoff weight, but if the bins are too heavy that could become a safety hazard in itself.
The airports need to start enforcing the rules properly for everyone’s sake!
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