I am not talking about eggs here at all. I am holidaying in Florida and proudly claim that am now naturally tanned and back to my own skin colour. It must be a privilege for us dark skinned people to not worry about sun tan lotions, SPFs and after sun creams, one that is not considered a privilege in India for all the wrong reasons.
The husband's family has taken up a huge, a really huge holiday home in south west Florida, quite near Tampa, in an island called "Anna Maria Island", a narrow landmass spurting off from the mainland. The island itself is connected by a causeway to the mainland and when one looks on the map, this wee landmass appears like a spoke , its long narrow stretch of land practically seesawing into the Gulf of Mexico. That is very very sunny for you.
The trip started off two days ago on a Saturday morning, rather very very early. A flight to Dublin was on the cards as we were scheduled to fly Aer Lingus, the only reason being the cheap fares it offered over the largely popular United, Virgin or BA services. However, it was such a pleasant surprise to learn that Aer Lingus have a tie up with US immigration for preclearance right there in Dublin. This meant we were cleared even before we boarded the flight to the USA, customs and all. Talk of those serpentine immigration queues at Newark or elsewhere in America, no thanks! That is one very good reason to fly Aer Lingus, I thought and so did my husband. And we rarely agree!
All set, we jet off the runway in Dublin ,airborne and cruising at 38000 feet in a matter of minutes. The service was pretty efficient and the stewards were friendly in a genuine manner. No over the top pleasantries but nice in a matter of fact manner. I got a vegan meal and could not have been happier. The entertainment was minimal and had some decent stuff on but I was running a migrane headache and could not be bothered, so I slept through. One always thinks of a transatlantic flight as being over water for most of the journey but it is never the case. Barring 4 hours over the ocean from Ireland along the coast of Greenland and into the Labrador Sea, most of the flight was over land. It was wonderful to trace the flight path over Quebec, passing over elegant French sounding towns and mountains and then crossing the border into Maine and passing over the towering skyline of New York City, tracing Chesepeake Bay, the Carolinas, Savannah in Georgia and then into Orlando. The plane landed at the domestic terminal , easy and nice. The car was picked up, a black Chevy, looks beautiful and we set off driving south westerly towards the Gulf of Mexico. After about two hours, we reached the island and were extremely overjoyed to see the rest of the family in this big huge house on Gulf Drive along Holmes beach. Lots of oohs and aahs, cheering and hugging followed. It was great to be amongst them. And we were officially on HOLIDAY!!!!!!!
Pizzas were ordered, dinner done and the before I know, I was fast asleep. All I could hear was a very satisfied, tired snoring from the other side of the bed!
WATCH THIS SPACE FOR MORE STORIES....TO BEGIN WITH...
Here is a picture of the lovely holiday home we are renting. The Scots decided to be very patriotic and put up their flag on the terrace overlooking the road. And they also put up the family insignia , aka, an RFC towel to prove the point!
The husband's family has taken up a huge, a really huge holiday home in south west Florida, quite near Tampa, in an island called "Anna Maria Island", a narrow landmass spurting off from the mainland. The island itself is connected by a causeway to the mainland and when one looks on the map, this wee landmass appears like a spoke , its long narrow stretch of land practically seesawing into the Gulf of Mexico. That is very very sunny for you.
The trip started off two days ago on a Saturday morning, rather very very early. A flight to Dublin was on the cards as we were scheduled to fly Aer Lingus, the only reason being the cheap fares it offered over the largely popular United, Virgin or BA services. However, it was such a pleasant surprise to learn that Aer Lingus have a tie up with US immigration for preclearance right there in Dublin. This meant we were cleared even before we boarded the flight to the USA, customs and all. Talk of those serpentine immigration queues at Newark or elsewhere in America, no thanks! That is one very good reason to fly Aer Lingus, I thought and so did my husband. And we rarely agree!
All set, we jet off the runway in Dublin ,airborne and cruising at 38000 feet in a matter of minutes. The service was pretty efficient and the stewards were friendly in a genuine manner. No over the top pleasantries but nice in a matter of fact manner. I got a vegan meal and could not have been happier. The entertainment was minimal and had some decent stuff on but I was running a migrane headache and could not be bothered, so I slept through. One always thinks of a transatlantic flight as being over water for most of the journey but it is never the case. Barring 4 hours over the ocean from Ireland along the coast of Greenland and into the Labrador Sea, most of the flight was over land. It was wonderful to trace the flight path over Quebec, passing over elegant French sounding towns and mountains and then crossing the border into Maine and passing over the towering skyline of New York City, tracing Chesepeake Bay, the Carolinas, Savannah in Georgia and then into Orlando. The plane landed at the domestic terminal , easy and nice. The car was picked up, a black Chevy, looks beautiful and we set off driving south westerly towards the Gulf of Mexico. After about two hours, we reached the island and were extremely overjoyed to see the rest of the family in this big huge house on Gulf Drive along Holmes beach. Lots of oohs and aahs, cheering and hugging followed. It was great to be amongst them. And we were officially on HOLIDAY!!!!!!!
Pizzas were ordered, dinner done and the before I know, I was fast asleep. All I could hear was a very satisfied, tired snoring from the other side of the bed!
WATCH THIS SPACE FOR MORE STORIES....TO BEGIN WITH...
Here is a picture of the lovely holiday home we are renting. The Scots decided to be very patriotic and put up their flag on the terrace overlooking the road. And they also put up the family insignia , aka, an RFC towel to prove the point!
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