Havana Running Part 11- Miami Vexed

 

 

Preview: What Would Hemmingway Do?

Part 1: Relaxing

Part 2: I Promise Not To Call This Sleepless In Seattle

Part 3: Just Sit Anywhere

Part 4: Taking It South

Part 5: Bienvenido a La Habana

Part 6: Day Into Night

Part 7: When the Rooster Crows

Part 8: Shopping, Stumbling Through Havana

Part 9: When Life Gives You a Night In Cuba...

Part 10: Good Morning and Goodbye

Aaaannnd we're back to traveler reality.  Also, Airbus I hate you, and the good design you didn't fly in on. 

You know what you did...

I'm clearly already missing Havana, and its chaotic but uncomplicated self.  Not 3 hours into my return to 'real life' and I'm running to the gate before boarding time to AGAIN find they're halfway through the boarding process on an oversold a321.  What does a flyer have to do around here to get a decent gate announcement? I just wanted to finish my mimosa after my massage in the lounge.  Life's hard sometimes.

 

 

Sometimes I forget that the Miami-LAX flight has been crowned a 'transcon' by AA, and therefore is one of the few left with the cachet of upscale flying within the US.  You're lucky if you get a blanket on 'regular' flights these days, let alone a pillow.  It was a nice little surprise to get onboard and find the 'big' blanket set and an amenity kit waiting for me.  There's also personal IFE, which also sadly has been going the way of the Dodo lately around these parts.

At least they passed the PDB tray this time, and it wasn't just water.

 

I sit down next to a nice single serving friend from the OC and we chat about all the normal things- flights, kids, the extended tarmac delay that was just announced.  And then he goes and asks for milk with ice and I realize I'm sitting next to a Ryan Bingham wannabe, who also happens to think its appropriate to go barefoot enroute, and it's just over.

 

Half an hour later, we finally roll the runway.  I've already been on the phone with AA preparing to miss my next connection.  Unless we make up time in the air, and have the illusive empty gate at LAX, I'm likely not going to make the flight to SEA.  Now, I'll admit that I have mixed feelings about this.  I'll likely get a refund on that 'small' part of the itinerary, but I also may not get my qualifying miles for it, and since that's the entire point here.... On the other hand, I'll be in LA...and I could just go home early.  So, I'll just let the chips fall where they may on this one. 

Being jolted back to the flight at hand (literally)- Airbus, can you seriously not manage to design a plane where the IFE can handle even mild chop?  Whenever we hit a couple bumps, the system freezes.  Come on people, its an airplane, and you had one job.  I'd like to say 'if it's not Boeing, I'm not going, but AA has taken that choice away from me.  

So far, this is one of those flights where, as a great pilot I once had would have made the announcement that "as you might have noticed by this point, you are in fact on an airplane."  This is to say- we're getting kicked around pretty good up here.  

 

 

The service has been slow, partly because of the turbulence, but also just because it's slow.  I'm not usually one to get bent out of shape about that (no, seriously, stop laughing) but sometimes on a long multi segment run like this you just want to have your meal and try to get a little rest before landing.  As it stands, we're not going to have our plates cleared until short final.

In better news, as the flight goes on it seems like we're making up time, so if we get there with an open gate I may have the chance to make my onwards flight.  Mealy tray 'half full,' right?

~CruisingAltitude

Havana Running Part 4: Taking it South

Where we've been:

Preview: What Would Hemmingway Do?

Part 1: Relaxing

Part 2: I Promise Not To Call This Sleepless In Seattle

Part 3: Just Sit Anywhere

And where we're going next....

Is Havana!  Preface to this and the following entries- I'm sorry I couldn't update from 'the road' while I was in Cuba, but (surprise surprise) I was incommunicado entirely.  No cells will work there, and while it's technically possible to get a wifi card and get online at specific places around the city, the coverage is spotty to say the least, so I opted to disconnect for my 36 hours.  In all honesty, this was part of the trip's charm.  I was anxious about being out of reach, but I survived and remembered what it was like to live before our constant contact lifestyle. 

Anyhow, that said, it's good to be back and updating on the journey!  I did a fair amount of writing while I there, so this is the first of those posts.  Thanks for reading!

Why is it that flights heading South out if MIA are just so simply stunning?  That's a bit of a rhetorical question given the coastline and aquamarine waters, but still.  I've literally been around the world, and there's nothing like it.  

 

These flights also have a certain feel to them in the cabin.  Most people are off on adventures and vacations, and it's a great vibe.  

 

Today's is even better than in the past.  It's not even a full business class, and everyone is chatty/excited, and with an edge of the unexpected.  The question of the day being asked among strangers is 'have you been before?'  The answer is uniformly - "no, have you?"

 

It's an unbelievably short 45 minute flight to Havana, which just hammers home how close Cuba is to be so removed for so long from its neighbor. 

My seat mate was nice enough to switch places with me so I could take pictures out the window, so enjoy!

 

As soon as we leveled off, it was a 10 minute cruise time, before we headed back down again.  Blink and you missed it. 

We approached Havana airport through a rain squall, but it didn't cause any issues with the flight.  We touched down on time and in good spirits, thanks to an attentive flight crew who managed a full drink service and several snack basket passes in a matter of minutes. 

 

 

We're off to a good start on this whole Cuba thing, I think.