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Published: August 14th 2009
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Guess where.
Why red and white - no one knows! At least none of the tour guides at the Parliament house didnt know. Best they could come up with was red and white are on both union jack and french flag and blue was discarded to make it more unique. For someone who makes stuff up i could smell BS in their story for sure! Following is an account of the first day of my trip to Canada to re-new my US working VISA. For a bit of background i was trying to fly on a friends buddy pass meaning if there are no free seats on the flight you simply have to wait for the next flight. So here we go..........
0350 - It doesn’t matter how early you rise, a shower and a really large bowl of cornflakes lightly sprinkled with sugar and half a litre of water is what gets me going every morning. Why no weetbix - they dont have them here!
0435 - Arrive at Charleston international airport and line up to check in avoiding the line that runs out the door 10 mins after i get in line. Very impressed with my timing.
0545 - My name gets called over the gate PA and my stand by status is changed to activated! I have a seat to Atlanta. Only one step away from my final destination Montreal Canada.
0705 - Arrive in Atlanta and make my way to gate A30 to see if I make it on the first of four flights to Montreal from Atlanta
Green Machine in blue.
$150 a day but only $7 for 400kms driving! for the day.
0850 - The flight is overbooked by 5 people so there is no seat for me. Guess ill just have to try and make the second one.
1205 - After over three hours of ‘airport appreciation’ time as its known in the industry I am the last name called with only one remaining seat left on the flight, and its in first class…..excitement oozes from within. I move to the gate barley able to contain the smile plastered over my face only for my hopes to be dashed as the gate attendant informs me the people in Charleston didn’t correctly enter my ticket. Gutted I ask if she thinks ill make it on the third of four flights for the day (is it oversold or not) she says I should make it on. Not feeling quite as bad as immediately after the denial I shift myself to Gate A34 for another 3 hours of airport appreciation time.
1505 - Third plane is oversold by 10 people! Do I risk waiting for the fourth and final flight or do I swallow my pride and an additional $1000 and buy a ticket to gaurentee my arrival
in Montreal for my VISA appointment scheduled for the next day at 0930. Upon using the most un-responsive and slow internet station in the state of Georgia I discover a one way flight to Montreal via Philadelphia for $432 which gets me to Montreal at 2330 that night. Not ideal, but not the end of the world - I bought it. Canada here we come.
1600 - I ask baggage claim in Atlanta if my bag is still in Atlanta or if it was already forwarded to Montreal. They advise they “think” it will be there. I had worn my suit while flying keeping in mind I may loose my bag so I could turn up to the interview in an already day worn suit. If worst comes to worst I could always buy a new shirt!
1750 - See you later Atlanta Airport ive appreciated you enough, im going to Philly!
2000 - Arrive in Philly and at a brisk walking pace (thank God mum instilled in all us Matthews the ability to walk super fast I suspect out of necessity to get to Church ontime!) to a connecting bus which gets me to my next
Outdoor living
My bed on the back porch. was ideal to fall asleep to the sound of rain drops striking the pavement. connecting flight to Montreal.
2020 - Purchase my second airport meal of the day. Would advise against one let alone two. Not feeling particularly healthy but hey im on my way to where I need to be!
2030 - Board plane bound to Montreal. I have a rental car reservation to get me from Montreal to Ottawa where the VISA interview will be held. The buggers close at 2200. Im not going to make it in time to pick up my car. will have to try another vender, sounds expensive. We are informed by the captain as we are taxiing to the runway that we are plane number 15 in line to take off. Take off delayed by over an hour!
2330 - Finally arrive in Montreal roughly 12 hours after previous estimates. breeze through customs, my bag is right there and easily whisked away, I follow the signs to the rental car companies locations for pick ups and start with Budget - no cars avalaible, National - no cars, Hertz - no cars, Enterpirse - no cars, E-Z rentals, no cars, Allamo - no cars, Dollar - no cars. I wouldn’t say I was devastated just
Kombi in the yard
Crazy Kombi in the back yard of a hostel i stayed in amongst downtown Montreal more a little concerned. the last window open was Thrifty. Now bear in mind these places all closed at 0100 and didn’t open till 0700. Get a room and pick it up in the morning I hear you all say. well I anticipated a 2 hr drive to Ottawa from Montreal and my interview which take months to secure was at 0930 so I really felt like I needed to be in Ottawa ASAP. So last but not least thrifty………the man stares intently into his little blue screen. After what seemed like an eternity his eyes flicker as he says I have one Hybrid, its $150 a day plus taxes. relieved and alarmed all at once knowing I can make it to Ottawa but at a horrendously and ridiculous price I lock it in!
0150 - I drive into Ottawa and find the street my hotel is on. No hotel. Where the hell is it. After driving up and down the street 3 times I pull over and ask an incredibly intoxicated young man where the holiday inn is and he point to the building a block away. Sure enough there stands a 15 storey building with the only
signage being on the 15th floor and none of the lights that illuminated the sign were working!
0230 - Check into hotel and finally get to sleep knowing I have to get up at 0700 to get ready for my VISA interview.
And ladies and Gentleman this is simply the beginning of the adventure! All I have to say is that if you want to try and get a working VISA see it as an exercise of persistence, problem solving, motivation, remaining calm in the face of adversity and in no means a relaxing holiday.
Despite feeling like a bit of a headless chook for the 4 or so days i was in Canada i did get to explore Ottawa the capital and Montreal just a little bit.
Ottawa can be summised as a progressive town/city with designated bike ways all over the place, pleasant water features and pretty friendly people. If you want to feel like a genuine gringo mono language speaking fool Canada is a great place to go. Everyone from 4 year old kids to 79 year old grandmas speak English and french and if nothing else it has fired me up to
learn some other form of communication.
From my very short amount of time Canada seems like a cool place. I scored ideal weather, sunny and 25C everyday although you had to dodge the daily scattered shower which would come and go faster than a brett lee bouncer. It seemed like the locals were well aware of just how fickle the weather can be as they were all trying to cram as much outdoor activities into their days as possible. Bikes, canoes even a small sailboat were among the things i saw strapped to cars driving around the place. I even gave my email to a 20 year old surfer who invited me to surf a standing river wave comprised of snow melt. Had to fly out that day but would definitly have been an experience.
If nothing else another country to include in my list of places visited. My list so far includes England, germany, turkey, fiji, USA and canada. I will try to get to el Salvador, Costa Rica or Panama sometime soon. And of course im coming home in October and Novemeber to come and check up on most of you and show off my new
redneck accent!
Till then hooligans
Be good
Simo
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Crackers
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Goose
You are a goose. 150 a day for a car? haha I wont even start on the rest. Did i mention im not talking to you :)