Well what a day it’s been. Originally our transfer from our New York Hotel to the city’s’ Newark airport was going to be at 7am (which is doable), but when we called to confirm the time had changed to 5.25am. Ugh. We got to the airport crazily early, so we headed for a bite of breakfast; hardly a gourmet experience, but much-needed.
Our plane was a really dinky affair that maybe seated about 90 people, so somewhat smaller than what we’ve been used to. The takeoff was steep and the pilots’ flight-path meant that he had to do a couple of fairly acute banks early on in the flight; normally you don’t notice such things on larger craft, but in this small plane it felt very odd.
Turbulence was also a factor in our flight, nothing gut-wrenching but again you felt it more than you would in a jumbo jet or equivalent. I gave up trying to write any articles in the end as I was making more typo’s than I was sense!
We landed safely at Toronto’s Pearson Airport and the passport guy was really good; he gave us a thorough grilling about our plans, where we’d travelled from, how long we were staying in Canada, had we got our hotels booked etc ,but the way he did it in conversation meant you didn’t feel sweat dripping down the back of your neck.
Our independent travel counsellor, Louise, has been a total gem throughout this holiday. Whenever there’s been a glitch, a phone call to her whatever the time of day or night, has soon seen it sorted. She had organised our transfer from the airport to our hotel in Toronto, the Chelsea, and the car was a luxurious paradise in which we could stretch our legs and have a cat-nap.
The reception team at the Chelsea hotel were superb, and the Concierge arranged for a couple of extra pillows to be sent to our room whilst we picked up out Toronto City Passes and had a look around Ripley’s Aquarium.
The room is beautifully appointed; two firm beds, a desk and chair, a comfortable tub chair for relaxing in, organic toiletries in the bathroom, a shower-over-bath combo (a nice deep bath at that!) and soft, fluffy towels.
We decided to stay in our room and order the room service Pizzas for dinner; they were so good, and crammed with toppings. The lovely older gentleman who brought them up also came bearing a fresh fruit, cheese, and cracker platter with bottles of sparkling Perrier water which had been arranged by our travel counsellor Louise and the Chelsea Hotel’s Management team.
Having seen the pizzas off, we turned our attention to the platter a while later for supper as we watched some TV. Succulent Strawberries, Raspberries and giant Blackberries were very welcome after a day of scant nutrition and being the cheese freak that I am, I savoured every morsel of the Blue, Herbed, and Soft varieties on offer. A wonderfully zingy Satsuma was the beautiful finale to our welcoming supper; thank you Josef your warm welcome has set the tone for what I’m sure will be a great stay in your establishment.
