Sunday ; Steinbach to Winnipeg, Manitoba
Winter ! 19°F / -7°C at noon in Steinbach. HMPH ! Methinks we had better depart earlier next year !
The long awaited day of departure on this new chapter of our winter travels has arrived. We’re excited ! We spent the morning and early afternoon completing our preparations for departure to Portugal for the winter. Late in the afternoon Joanne’s sister from Winnipeg drove out to Steinbach from Winnipeg to bring us back to her home to spend the evening and overnight, to be better positioned for our need to be at Winnipeg airport very early tomorrow morning.
Monday ; Winnipeg to Toronto, Ontario
<sigh> So … it is now 12:30 PM. We have been here at the Winnipeg airport for 6 hours, since 6:30 AM.
After spending overnight at Joanne’s sister’s home, she brought us to the Winnipeg airport, leaving her home at 6 AM and dropping us off at the airport at 6:30 AM. We immediately checked in at the WestJet counter where a 3 ½ hour ordeal of ticketing drama began. WestJet refused to check us into the 8:30 AM flight we were booked on, claiming that they had no record of our tickets. <sigh> Our flight to Portugal was two legs ; Winnipeg to Toronto on an Azores Airline flight number, flight operated by WestJet in conjunction with Azores Airlines, then an Azores Airlines flight from Toronto to Portugal. The WestJet agent and her supervisor were dug in, refusing to check us in, and threatening to have us removed by security !
And so began a 3 ½ hour ordeal of going in circles, by both telephone and laptop, with Azores Airlines, WestJet, and GoToGate, the online booking agency that I had used. Never again ! Despite it taking 3 ½ hours to resolve, Joanne and I are in agreement that neither Azores Airlines, nor GoToGate were the problem. WESTJET WAS THE PROBLEM ! ! !
At 10 AM the recalcitrant WestJet supervisor finally acknowledged that they had replacement ticketing records issued by Azores Airlines in their (WestJet) system. Back into WestJet’s lengthy line up at 10 AM, tickets issued and bags checked by 10:30 AM, then over to security. Through security by 11 AM, 8:30 AM flight missed, 11 AM flight missed, now ticketed for flight departing Winnipeg at 4 PM. Our connecting flight connection time tonight in Toronto is going to be pretty tight !
<heavy sigh … taking deep breath>
As frazzled as I was by having to deal with that drama, Joanne was even more so ! She’s sleeping right now on an airport waiting room seat beside me while I’m typing this.
4 PM flight departure schedule delayed to 4:30 PM. On board aircraft at 4:30 PM, in air at 4:45 PM. Connection to Azores Airlines flight at 9 PM in Toronto going to be tight, but I’m optimistic. WestJet pilot seems to be flying “pedal to the metal” to make up for late departure.
Now 7:25 PM. Hungry. Tired. Eating schedule already out of whack. Sleeping schedule already out of whack. WestJet pilot has just pulled throttles back to begin descent into Toronto. HMPH ! Made pretty good time. Hopefully will be on ground and getting off WestJet plane around 8 PM, giving us an hour to find our way to Azores Airlines departure gate. Toronto Terminal 3 is very large and complicated.
Landed at 8 PM. WOW … those WestJet cowboys really bring it in “hot” when they’re running late. Deplaned at 8:15 PM. Humped it as fast as possible for two old folks across Terminal 3 to Gate B41. Arrived at departure gate at 8:35, half an hour before flight departure. As we hustled over to gate agent (our running days are over !) she said “Sure hope you’re Mr. & Mrs. Kirby”. Yes, yes … we are ! Last passengers to check in for flight ! I’m pessimistic about the likelihood of WestJet transferring our luggage over to Azores Airlines in time, but gate agent seems optimistic.
Some waiting passengers are playing guitars and singing Portuguese folk songs. They were behind us in Winnipeg this morning at 6:30 AM, delayed by our ticketing drama. Only three of their group of four made it here today. One member of their group also had insurmountable ticketing drama, will be delayed a full day, and routed from Winnipeg to Toronto to Lisbon, then “backtracking” to Terciera Island.
Ask me again what my opinion of WestJet is ! ! ! ! !
DARN ! As we were humping across Terminal 3 from WestJet’s arrival gate to Azores Airlines departure gate I lost my travel pillow.
Tuesday ; Toronto, Ontario, Canada to Angra do Heroisma, Terceira Island, Azores, Portugal
As soon as we boarded the aircraft in Toronto we reset our watches to Azores time. We departed Toronto at 2 AM. Azores Airlines’ Airbus A-321 was much larger and more comfortable than WestJet’s Boeing 737. Soon after take-off I ate a snack / “supper” Joanne had stashed in one of our carry-on backpacks.
T’was a long and difficult day but “All’s Well That Ends Well”, I suppose. With apologies to William Shakespeare.
Landed on Terceira Island at 7 AM. Deplaned, through passport control, retrieved luggage, cleared customs, at taxi stand by 7:30 AM. Taxi to small city of Angra do Heroisma (Hero Creek), in guesthouse suite by 8 AM. Napped until noon.
How nice to enter a country where the customs & border agents don’t act like their sole purpose in life is to prevent “illegals” and other nefarious evildoers from entering their country !
Explored by foot all afternoon. Had an interesting lunch at a local “Mom & Pop” restaurant that features local Portuguese dishes as “daily specials”, changing every day. We’ll likely return regularly while here. Stocked up on groceries at supermarket. Ended the day at a bakery … of course. Bought three Portuguese custard tarts as bedtime snack and breakfast.
Very hilly, small, old city. Cobblestone streets, large stones. Cobblestone sidewalks, small stones. Very narrow sidewalks, very narrow streets, all one way. Disconcerting to have cars zipping by two inches from our asses. Half hour taxi ride from airport to town was through agricultural area, seemed to mostly be cattle farming. Small, hilly farms, cobblestone fences.
Warm, mostly cloudy, no wind, no rain, spring like temperatures. Guesthouse on bluff over beach, great view.
Wednesday ; Warm, cloudy in the morning, a bit of light rain around noon, mostly sunny in the afternoon, a bit humid.
We slept until 11 AM, still experiencing jet lag. We went out for an afternoon of wandering around and exploring Angra do Heroisma by foot. We visited the tourism office to get some information and maps. We visited one of the many huge old churches in town and the lovely municipal park across the street from the church. We dipsy doodled up and down (literally … very hilly city), heading generally in the direction of a small supermarket. We stopped to explore another huge church, inside and out. <blink blink> … WOW ! As on previous visits to European countries, I’m in awe of the opulence and craftsmanship evident in these huge churches built six centuries ago !
We had a small, late lunch at an outdoor cafe. After more exploring we eventually made it to the supermarket where we bought more grocery items, mostly fresh produce because the supermarket we shopped at yesterday did not have a very good produce section. We returned to our guesthouse with the groceries around 4:30 PM.
We rested for about an hour, then went out for another hour of exploring, until it became dark. AND … us old folks, with failing eyesight, and without a lifetime of experience on cobblestone sidewalks, feel a bit “unsteady” staggering around and tripping on the cobblestone sidewalks in the dark. I stubbed my toe on a cobblestone, popping it out of the sidewalk. HMMM … I wondered what the politically correct protocol is for when one pops a cobblestone out of the sidewalk ? I picked it up, replaced it in its “hole” in the sidewalk, stomped on it to “level” it back into place, and glanced up to see some locals looking at me as if “what’s that crazy old man doing to the sidewalk ?”
We had supper in our room, having bought salad fixings and a frozen, microwaveable, Portuguese traditional dish of salt cod and grated potatoes. It was very good.
Thursday ; Warm, mostly sunny, a bit humid.
We spent most of today wandering around the waterfront and the old part of the city. Waterfront in the morning, lunch back at our room, old part of the city in the afternoon, late afternoon rest in our room, another section of the waterfront as dusk set in.
Our old knees are aching ! We stopped into two grocery stores and bought some groceries at each. We hope to be able to have most of our meals in our room. We can’t eat in restaurants every day for the next four months !
It was a bit windy this morning on the harbour. Wind in my ears causes earaches. So … I wore ear plugs to protect my sensitive ears from the wind. After leaving the harbour and beginning to wander around “inland”, I reached up to remove the earplugs. DARN … one was missing. I did not feel it fall out.
Back at our room, I went to the bathroom before having lunch. I unzipped, did what needed to be done, tucked myself back into my pants, and … PLOP … my missing earplug fell into my hand. HUH ? ! ? My missing earplug just fell out of my dick ? ? ?
Evidently my ear plug fell out of my ear, into the collar of my (tucked into my pants) shirt, worked its way down my chest and abdomen, which are numb from cardiac bypass surgery so I didn’t feel it, and into my pants. As I “put myself away” after peeing, the ear plug fell the last little bit, and into my hand. <ROFLMAO>
Friday ; Warm, mostly sunny, a bit humid.
Another day of exploring Angra do Heroisma by foot. We ventured into a section of “Old Town” that we had not yet explored. Exceptionally steep hills. More 14th century churches. Exceptionally good pastry cafès. No shortage of either of those around here !
We went to the office of SATA Azores Airlines, to verify our future flights with them. Mostly I wanted reassurance that there will NOT be a problem with the connecting flight from Toronto to Winnipeg on WestJet in March. They could not provide that reassurance. All they could do was verify that all our ticket records in their system are as they should be, but they can not verify WestJet’s records are OK. Yeah … been there, done that … a few days ago ! Call me paranoid, but I am going to contact WestJet in the near future to verify they have our flight booking / ticketing information correct for our flight in four months.
We bought some fruits at the farmers’ market today. The farmers’ market / mercado was severely harmed by the pandemic over the last few years, and has not yet recovered and might not ever recover. We might return tomorrow to see if there are more vendors on the weekends. We dealt with a very friendly local farmer who gave us one of his locally grown bananas to sample, then very proudly gave us a few of his “mini guavas”, bearing an impossible to pronounce or remember Portuguese name, to sample. Joanne disliked them. I’m on the fence.
On one of the steepest streets we were on today we had a friendly encounter with a Chocolate Point Siamese cat who tried very hard to convince us to open the door to its house to allow it to go back inside. HA HA HA … sorry, sweetie … no !
Today we spent less time exploring, but exploring further than before.
We left our guesthouse suite around 11 AM heading for the farmers’ market, open only until 1 PM on Saturdays. There were more vendors open today than yesterday, but the market still seems be on its last legs, struggling with the harm caused by the pandemic. We didn’t buy anything today.
We stopped by the huge pink church (we identify the nearby large, old churches by their colour) to see what time their Sunday service is. I want to attend (at least part of) church service tomorrow morning, to experience a Portuguese “large church” Sunday service.
We headed east, exploring, stopping at a municipal park to rest when we got tired. I experimented with the “maps” function on our new to us i-Phone, using it to guide us to a pizza restaurant not too far from where we were. We didn’t really want pizza for lunch, I just wanted to “practice” with the “maps” function. The i-Phone took us to the pizza restaurant, then I used the phone again to locate a supermarket nearby. It guided us to a larger supermarket than the ones we had visited since arriving a few days ago.
We can only buy groceries to last a day or two, given the constraints of our room’s small fridge. We bought some groceries and replenished some supplies. This supermarket had a better selection than the smaller ones closer to our guesthouse. I underestimated how heavy our purchases would be. I carried our grocery bag home, and it seemed to get heavier and heavier.
After arriving back at our guesthouse around 2:30 PM we had a very late lunch, then rested awhile. The longer we rested, the less inclined we were to go out again. The last few days of exploring have tired us, particularly our legs and feet.
I got caught up a bit on some online work, including more “online chat” work with Azores Airlines regarding our return trip home in March, and my “anxiety” about the communications between Azores Airlines in Portugal and WestJet in Canada. I have verified with Azores Airlines as much as possible, and … <ahem> … “encouraged” them to verify the flow of accurate information to WestJet. They have assured me that they have and will. In a week or so I will phone WestJet in Canada and verify.
<sigh> It is not possible to verify anything with WestJet online because our flights and ticketing are “handled” by Azores Airlines, using Azores Airlines flight numbers and record locator file numbers, etc. Yes, Westjet, I understand that, but … been there, done that … with your screw up a few days ago. I don’t intend to allow that to happen again !
DSK
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