RKS Travel: How Has COVID Changed Air Travel?

  1. Getting to and From the Airport

In Toronto little has changed although airport taxis and limousines now have protective plexi-glass screens separating you from the driver. Going to and from the three Greek airports I passed through there were no screens in taxis/limos taking you to and from the airport.

  • Seats Need to be Booked Before Check-In

Of the 5 September flights I was on each was sold out. However there was ample seat selection to choose upon booking our 3 Greek flights. Two flights I took in Greece were mostly on short turbo prop flights with seating two and two. Air Canada from Toronto to Athens was a different story. I booked a month or so before those flights and don’t recall being given the option by my points provider to choose a seat which was not disconcerting because pre-COVID you checked in 24 hours prior to flying and there were plenty of seats available. This time checking in for 2, 24 hours prior to departure on a huge plane there were only 3 seats available. I sat in the last row by the galley and the WC graced by line-ups and noisy vacuum flushes for nine hours. It would seem many people were spooked by flights being oversold they booked a seat just to ensure they would not be bumped in an oversold situation or perhaps I was penalized for booking with points? If you don’t want to be marooned like me choose your seat upon booking despite the annoying nickel and dime approach of airlines to charge for anything they can possibly charge for. They are not charging to use the toilets yet. Ryanair tried that a few years ago and suffered withering public criticism. On my return flight from Athens to Toronto I paid close to $100 for an aisle seat.

  • There May Be Delays

For the three internal flights in Greece two were “rescheduled” weeks before departure. Due to labour shortages for security staff, baggage handlers and customs officials expect possible delays at major airports. Further delays may be expected for the airplane to access the runway and connect to a deplaning gate. You may experience a delay in exiting the airplane particularly at Toronto Pearson Airport as connecting passengers are whisked off the plane with priority in groups with a wait between each “release” so customs was overly swamped. I had over a 40-minute wait in Toronto to leave the plane.

  • Stick to Carry on Baggage

If you have the option as I did for my September flights to survive a trip out of a carry-on bag you just, for the time being, may wish to restrict yourself to a carry-on bag. Toronto Pearson Airport had horrible stories of thousands of checked in bags sitting unclaimed so Toronto passengers were paranoid about checking in their bags. The airlines nickel and dime passengers in many instances to grab revenue for processing check in bags yet there are so many carry-ons, many not policed for permissible dimensions, there is no place to put them on the airplane so free check in may be offered at the gate. The offer of free check in on my Toronto Athens flight was offered to the mirth of waiting passengers failing sufficient passenger take up mandatory check in was required!

  • Major Airports are Crammed

Stir crazy and formerly virus terrified passengers are crawling out of their shells. Airports and airplanes are crammed. Lineups may be the norm for airport shops and restaurants. I had an hour wait at Toronto Pearson Airport to access Plaza Premium Lounge. Given the poor quality of food and beverage that was a big mistake. Mandatory masks are no longer required in many airports or on airplanes.

  • Arriving Early for Your Flight?

Suffering from Toronto Pearson Airport horror stories we arrived three and a half hours prior to our flight. In and through security without any wait. In Greece arrival in a regular time frame was fine. With the resolving of labour shortages normalcy of arrival time at airports if not already in place may surface again. Probably best to check the relevant airport website to determine appropriate arrival to airport time.

  • Decreased Legroom?

On my last transcontinental flight in 2019 on Air Canada from Paris to Toronto I seem to recall having four inches between my knees and the forward seat. My knees were touching the seat ahead of me on my September Air Canada Toronto-Athens flight. Could it be that some airlines financially pummelled by COVID in an attempt to recoup revenue have repositioned seats to fit more passengers in?

In summation flying has evolved into a most unpleasant experience and it is often an evil that has to be suffered. As the air travel world normalizes it is hoped the aggravation subsides. If you are caught in a web of unpleasant experiences chances are you can little to alleviate them so just accept and avoid stressing yourself.

RKS Wine: Alentejano Wines Keep Charging Ahead

If we discuss Portuguese imports of wine to Canada the Douro leads the pack but over the past few years the wines of Alentejano are catching up.

Let’s try Valcatrina from the Alentejano from well known producer Casa Santos Lima. Unfortunately, the label only states the wine is made from “typical grape varieties”. Hardly helpful for one curious and willing to learn about Portuguese wine.

The wine pours purple. On the nose stuffed like a Christmas bird with blackberry, black cherry with a bit of cherry liqueur. There is a gentle nudge of what I think is older oak. On the palate more black fruit with a certain tartness to it. One might call it juicy counterbalanced by a wide swath of milk chocolate. Low tannins. Straightforward and simple. The cork powder that settled on the wine after the pull is worrisome to one contemplating ageing the wine. A cheap cork on the pull doesn’t auger well for ageing.

For tomato lovers in Ontario we are just about at the end so eat eat and eat them as who can stand hot house tomatoes or Mexican imports. I think this wine suited a late fall pasta sauce made with field tomatoes, red peppers, onions, local sweet garlic with a good dash of red wine.

(Valcatrina Tinto 2020, Vinho Regional Alentejano, Casa Santos Lima, $15.95, Liquor Control Board of Ontario # 25249, 750 mL, 14.5%, RKS Wine Rating 89/100).

“Travels to a Different Time” : March 2004: Puntarenas Costa Rica: A Gringo Tourist for a Moment: Canopy Trail Zipper Ride

In some countries you can escape being typecast as a gringo tourist. Costa Rica is not one of them. You participate in gringo attractions you predominate even more. So off to the Canopy Trail Zipper Ride with son Andrew. We were picked at the hotel at 15:30 and had a 90-minute ride to the Ride. It was a 50-minute drive and the most interesting was the last 10 kilometres on a dirt road. We were in what looked to be “cattle country”. The cattle all have lumps on their backs so they are called Brahmans. They try to sell you some ecological benefits of the Ride i.e., that you are amongst wildlife at the treetops. However, at this height there is not so much wildlife to be seen except for some Howler Monkeys making a grunting noise giving the impression they are larger than they actually are. We had a training session and after you are buckled in a pulley and off you go with a loud ZZZZZZ as you zip along the cable above you. You can brake by grabbing on to the cable wearing the thick gloves that they give you. A short but thrilling ride with photographs of your ride available for sale! About the most educational part of the expedition was the 10-kilometre ride on the dirt road. The cost is $50USD per person.

RKS Literature: Passage of the Day: Prostitution and Art Theft

“Beautiful art, like beautiful women, provokes desire. A desire to possess and be possessed, a yearning to have created, a sense of peace and majesty, to hold this sublime proof of the existence of God, who must be great indeed to have created a thing of such beauty. In this manner, if you’ll forgive the analogy, the patron is soliciting a prostitute, the beautiful whore is a work of art, and the thieves who provide her, the pimps.”

Noah Carney “The Art Thief” 2007 Washington Square Press

RKS Film: “The Last Out”: Cuban Fodder for Major League Baseball?

“The Last Out” is a PBS POV documentary which you can stream free (assuming you are not geoblocked) until 2November22 at pbs.org and the PBS Video app.

It chronicles the trials and tribulations of three Cuban baseball players fleeing the poverty and lack of baseball opportunities to make their career, hopefully, in American professional baseball (MLB). You’ll be introduced these young men, “Happy” Oliveros, Carlos Gonzáles and Victor Baró in Costa Rica training to be noticed by MLB scouts. It is a Los Angeles based agent Gus Dominguez footing the cost hoping his prospects will be signed to a contract by an MLB team and if so he’ll collect 20% of the player’s signing bonus. Hundreds of Cuban wannabe baseball players have left Cuba in the past 5 years to make it in the MLB but only 6 have landed in American professional baseball.

The documentary was filmed over a period of 4 years.

The Cuban players suffer from loneliness and a lack of a strong family presence but is their hope in making it that gives them the fortitude to continue.

At this point:

  1. Will any of these Cubans make it?
  2. Are they treated like commodities by the MLB machine?
  3. Do they have any bargaining power or are they driven by desperation?
  4. What is the state of Cuban baseball?
  5. Are sports dreams of making it professionally any different than any other migrant trying to make it to the golden land of the United States?
  6. The US trade embargo with Cuba made it illegal to sign a professional player with Cuban residence. Was this a misguided policy penalizing Cuban citizens?

In addition to baseball centric issues viewers will see the attempt by one of players to make it through Central America including a trip with smugglers to enter Mexico. One of many thousands fleeing crime and poverty in Central America. These people are literally running to the American border for a dream of peace and economic prosperity. As Cubans they hope for asylum.

Two of the players join their Cuban expatriates in the USA while a third signs a contract with a Dominican Republic baseball team. Do you think they miss baseball?

Is this a baseball or migrant story? It is both and consequently can be enjoyed by a wider audience.

As a closing comment I have a buddy that had a son years ago that was gung-ho into hockey at an elite level. Incredibly he related the story that half the parents thought their children would be playing in the National Hockey League. Could it be that professional sports aspirations are delusional respective of the country they originate in!

RKS Film Rating 90/100.

“Travels to a Different Time” : March 2004: Puntarenas Costa Rica: Face to Face with a Venomous Central American Coral Snake

I was up early so decided to head over the rocks to another beach. I was hoping to see the howler monkeys we have been hearing. So I climbed the rocks and headed to a nearby beach walking barefoot on the sand. No howler monkeys barking away but head down on this early morning I raise my head and look ahead and I am glad I did as if I did not I may not have been around the tell this story. A few feet away looking me in eye is a Central American Coral Snake highly venomous. I froze in my tracks with my mouth saying. “Holy Shit!”. I walk backwards very slowly and the snake heads off.  Although just after 07:00 I could use a couple shots of Costa Rican rum.

RKS Literature: Passage of the Day: Museums and the Big Box Office Draw

“Museums want the real deal, but they also want the flash of the celebrity name. They are better off with a small handful of renowned pieces, rather than rooms full of excellent examples of little-known artists. Your average public would flock to an exhibition that consisted solely of Whistler’s Mother before they would grudgingly attend a museum full of Kusnetov, Tatlin, Malevich and Chashnik and the history of Suprematism in Russia, in which you run the risk of actually learning something. No, museums want to big names to put on their ties and coffee mugs.”

Noah Charney “The Art Thief”, Washington Square Press 2007.

“Travels to a Different Time”: March 2004: Puntarenas Costa Rica: The Shuttle Bus into Liberia

The hotel description stated there was shuttle service into the town of Liberia. Nothing was stated whether it was complimentary or if there was a charge for using the shuttle service. The trip was 50 minutes and a return trip cost the four of us $80USD. Part of the trip was the road we took from the airport to our hotel. From a distance the topography is brown but up close there are patches of green. There were a few controlled fires burning. Liberia is dry and dusty and far from being developed touristically unlike for example Playa de Carmen outside of Cancun. There were a few shops selling to tourists. We went to the supermarket and bought a kilo of Costa Rican coffee for $9 and some aged rum for $14. The church was ugly fabricated with cement slabs. The return trip was a bit more interesting as we cut through backroads and saw fields of sugar cane. The soil has a reddish tinge to it.

RKS Literature: Passage of the Day; Bureaucracy at the Ministry!

“You can feel the bureaucratic atmosphere of the Ministry as soon as you enter the hall. The place is infused with the threat of large numbers of people in hiding. Everyone is studiously dedicating themselves to ignoring what you want. Backs are turned as soon as they perceive you are a stranger and might ask questions.”

Timothy Findley “The Wars” 1977

“Travels to a Different Time” : 15March2004: Puntarenas, Costa Rica: The Fateful Glass of Water and the “Lucky Lady”

As a North American we are always on alert about European water! It’ll kill you if you are not careful. The food might kill you too so eat at McDonald’s in Paris every night! On a trip to Mexico I had a vicious crippling attack of Montezuma’s that I could only wish on my worst enemy. It was either those damn jungle tomatoes or a counterfeit bottle of water at Tulum in Mexico! Although I don’t eat at McDonalds every night or ever for that matter. But after a long day starting at 03:00 sitting down to dinner in Puntarenas Costa Rica poor wife Fotini had, without thinking, a huge glass of “tap water”. Twenty minutes later after snapping to attention she asked me if she made a mistake. Not having researched Costa Rican tap water I could not answer. As my mother said when travelling outside of North America better to drink beer and soft drinks and not the local water. Based on my Mexican plague near death experience it was either stick your finger down the throat and expel or wait until 7 a.m. and take your chances. It hit poor Fotini at 02:00 sounding vicious but it passed quickly and Fotini was happily eating a big breakfast the next day. As far as I can see it a lucky lady. It , of course, may have been the airplane food?