As promised, I'm writing this blog on my experiences during this 3 week vacation in USA.
Sudha ( my wife) had already left Chennai for the US on 27th May and I left on 11th Jun to join her as well as Sachin and Madhura in Cary ( North Carolina).
I left home for the airport at 2 AM to catch the 4.50 AM Qatar Airways flight to Doha.I checked in at 2.30 AM and was fortunate to have my Master Card to spend a couple of hours at the Clipper Lounge before boarding the flight.
Qatar Airways is good. The planes are new and the service is excellent.I saw " Shutter Island" on the way to Doha and didn't like it one bit.Martin Scorcese's films are always morbid and this was no exception.
We reached Doha at 6.50 AM local time and I didn't have the time to sample the delights of Doha Airport since we had just about an hour and a half to change planes and catch the flight to New York at 8.10 AM.
The aircraft was again very good and there was enough leg space. I had a good breakfast and sat down to enjoy " Sherlock Holmes", "Casablanca", a Spanish film whose title I forget and " Amar Akbar Anthony". The meal ( Asian Vegetarian) was also very good and I had time to grab a little shuteye before we touched down at JFK at 2.30 PM. The 14 hour flight had whizzed past in no time.
It took an hour to collect my baggage in Terminal 4 before I took the Sky Train and moved to Terminal 3 and checked in at the Delta Airlines counter for the 7.25 PM flight to Raleigh/Durham.
Sleep caught up with me as I was waiting at the departure gate and I woke up with a start at 7 PM.There was bright sunlight and it looked like how it be at 4,30 PM in India.Just as I was starting to worry whether I had missed the flight, I heard this announcement" Passengers to Raleigh /Durham are advised that there is an indefinite delay since we have no idea of the wherebouts of the crew".The waiting passengers took this candid announcement with good humour.If such an announcement were to be made in India, there would be bedlam.That's what I like about the US.No beating around the bush.Tell it like it is.
Anyway, the flight finally took off at 8.30 PM and I couldn't wait for the 90 minute flight to end so that I could see Sudha, Sachin and Madhura.They were waiting for me at the airport and I gave them all a big hug.
We reached home at 11 PM and after a hot bath, I had annu, saaru and curd rice and then we all hit the bed.
That was the end of Day 1.
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