Enjoy drinks on a flight? It’s going to cost you

by Jamie Rhein on

While you’re saving for your day of air travel, keep a few dollars tucked into your wallet. You’ll need them if you don’t want to be sucking like a guppy out of a fish bowl when you get to your destination.

The latest trend in the pay-as-you-go flight experience is to charge for drinks. So far, credit cards won’t cut it. It’s cash only.

On August 1, U.S. Airways will start charging $2 for soda, water, tea, juice and coffee and up the cost for alcoholic beverages from $5 to $7 to passengers flying economy class.

Oh, woe is me. There goes my “Could I have an orange juice, club soda AND coffee?” routine. As trends go, considering carriers have jumped on the charge for all checked bags scenario, I expect the drink charges will also follow suit.

Just great. I’ve been on this kind of flight before. It was called SkyBus, and we know how that airline turned out. We flew to Seattle from Columbus. Since our flights cost $330 a piece already, we didn’t spring for the drinks until the flight back. Then it was one tea and an orange juice. A few months later, on a Delta flight to California, I thought how hospitable it felt to be given something to drink. I even sprang for the wine.

It may not seem like a big deal to have to pay for drinks on a flight, but personally, with airlines acting like they are relatives to a discount grocery store, the kind that just opens cardboard boxes up to save on shelving costs, whatever excitement there was taking a flight is now gone. People shop at grocery stores where food is artfully displayed, partly for the experience.

Where drinks are concerned, particularly since you can’t take liquids through TSA and airport prices are expensive, I’d rather have $5 tacked to the price of a ticket and let me think I’m being treated like a welcome guest. Would you let guests come to your house and not even offer them water, particularly on a day when it’s 90 degrees outside?

I wonder if this coffee pictured here on my last flight from San Diego to Columbus was my last free drink? If I had known, I would have savored it more. As the trends are going, I’d rather take Greyhound for anything that will take me just a day to get there. [Read Washington Post article]

Drives to pies and what’s nearby: Converse, Indiana

by Jamie Rhein on

Herschberger Essen Haus is another worthy stop on the fabulous pie hunt. This restaurant, according to Aaron who left a comment on the strawberry-rhubarb pie post, serves up a strawberry-rhubarb pie to drive for–even though it’s 40 miles out of his way. When going from Indianapolis to Detroit, Aaron swings by Converse where there’s a slice of this very pie with his name on it.

The red dot in the white rectangle is where you’ll find the pie, or therabouts. The red rectangle in the map of Indiana marks Miami County where Converse is located.

I’m curious how Aaron found Herschberger Essen Haus. Was this a pie tip someone gave him? Converse isn’t exactly a tourist hot spot. I’m sure it’s a terrific place to live, but the population is teeny. At 1,147 in 2006, that’s smaller than most high schools. The Oak Hill Winery, also in town, looks like another worth-the-effort palate pleaser. Housed in a 1895 carriage house, the winery offers a pie wine chaser to fill out a decent afternoon.

If you pair your trip to Converse with a visit to the rest of Miami County, more specifically, Peru, Indiana, there are more reasons to travel this unbeaten path.

Cole Porter, for example, was born in Peru. You can see the house where he lived from 1891–1901, but restoration on the building isn’t finished. Unfortunately, it was divided into apartments and left to disrepair. Even worse, one of the apartments was used as a meth-amphetamine lab by a tenant. Tsk, tsk. The building, however, is lovely and worth saving. The committee that’s in charge of the project is in the process of turning it into a museum and bed & breakfast. The before and after pictures show progress. This is a project to root for. A big hurrah to the folks who are pouring their energies into it.

Also in Peru is the Grissom Air Museum at the Grissom Air Reserve Base. There are 25 aircraft and a F-4 you can climb into, plus little known details about World War II history.

Another stop is the Miami County Historical Society Museum where there is something to learn about everything. You can see some of Cole Porter’s belongings, including his Cadillac, plus learn about the rich history of the area. For starters, Miami County has a past linked with Native Americans, Tom Mix and the circus. As a fan of historical society museums, this one looks like it’s one of the best and the hours are plentiful.

Because Peru is the “Circus Capital of the World,” in the spirit of circus love, there is an amateur circus each July which includes the Circus City Festival. In addition to the displays at the historical society, you can learn more about Peru’s circus past and present at the Circus City Museum.

While in Peru, also check out the Crane’s Nest Store operated by the Miami Nation of Indians. There are affordable crafts like handwoven baskets and proceeds help out the Miami Nation of Indiana.

Whatever you do in Peru, don’t forget that pie in Converse–it’s the reason to head to Miami County, at least if you’re Aaron.

Cockpit Chronicles: Paris – A trip to satisfy the taste buds

by Kent Wien on

Cockpit Chronicles takes you along on each of Kent’s trips as a co-pilot on the Boeing 757 and 767 out of Boston.

I’d like to welcome Gadling’s latest blogger, Heather Poole and her feature, Galley Gossip. Gadling had been looking for a flight attendant’s perspective of this industry and I’m glad they found it in Heather. If you haven’t read any of her posts, I highly recommend “Sandvich Girl,” which details a little of her past before she gave it all up to join the nomadic existence of a crew member. I’ve passed along her posts to my sister, who’s a flight attendant for an airline that sports an Eskimo on its tail and to my wife, who worked for 6 years as a flight attendant and they could both relate to her immediately.

I think bloggers often get inspiration and motivation when reading the comments to posts. Heather’s post called “Answer Please” made it around the world a few times and, judging from the comments, she was a bit misunderstood. She pointed out one annoyance with her job, an issue I’ve heard from many flight attendants; with iPods and movie earphones plugged in, it’s often hard to get a passenger’s attention to offer them a drink.

Many of the readers thought she was being ungrateful for her job or just complaining too much, but that’s part of why she writes. She’s trying to give an insight into the good and the bad of her job. And she cracks me up.
One thing I’ve noticed from the comments on posts relating to airline crews here on Gadling was that some people are under a bit of a misconception about layovers and the nature of our jobs. We’re not usually out partying with the flight attendants after we get somewhere. We’re often exhausted and particularly on domestic trips, we have to get up early the next day for what could be a full day. So there’s little time for much more than a bite to eat and that may or may not be with another pilot or flight attendant.

I’m fortunate to have a wife who understands the realities of my job. And I suspect readers of the Cockpit Chronicles have a good idea as well. Pilots and flight attendants are often more interested in a good meal and a quiet hotel room than anything else.

But every now and then, there can be some great layovers, and the latest Paris trip was one of the best I’ve had in a long time. Sometimes a crew just clicks, and that was certainly the case on this trip. While I knew most of the flight attendants from previous flights over the years, I had never flown with the Captain or the FB (relief pilot).

Captain Doug and the FB, Clay, have been flying to Paris together on their last five trips. They had done their research on the restaurants they wanted to try and they had this trip planned out well in advance. One of the flight attendants made reservations for the entire crew at a small restaurant called Les Papilles (review) near the Luxembourg Gardens.

I’m always up for a new restaurant, especially when someone else makes the plans.

Another flight attendant, Stephanie, was celebrating her birthday so that was as good an excuse as any to make it a fun evening. Eight of us met up at 5 p.m. in the hotel lobby before walking to Rue Mouffetard, an area that’s quickly becoming my favorite in Paris. The narrow street is lined with shops, creperies and restaurants. The prices seem a bit less than the Latin Quarter where we ate on the last trip, which makes sense, because Mouffetard is a mile or so south of the Seine and isn’t as centrally located.

We walked a good thirty minutes before arriving at Doug’s favorite pub, the Mayflower. Since the weather was a perfect 75 degrees F, we enjoyed a table outside on the sidewalk. I was thrilled to see Guinness available during the happy hour for a somewhat reasonable $7.

It was easy to see that this group enjoyed working together. Even though I hadn’t flown with the captain, we’ve known each other for years, and Clay the FB was the kind of guy I could enjoy flying an entire month with. And the flight attendants were some of my favorites from past trips. There was only one that I hadn’t flown with before.

Before leaving the Mayflower, I thought it would be fun for everyone to answer a simple question. “Where were you born?”

This turned into a fascinating way to learn more about some of the people who we’ve flown with so many times, but were unable to really get to know. After almost an hour of laughter and stories, we discovered not only where everyone was from, but interesting anecdotes about their family histories.

We would have to continue these stories at the restaurant if we were to make our dinner reservation. After just a few minutes we arrived at Les Papilles, which means The Taste Buds in French. I was shocked to find that we were given an entire private room downstairs lined with bottles of wine that was stacked all the way up the stair and on one entire side of the wall.

Beth, the flight attendant who made the reservations, met us at the end of the table.

Three other flight attendants joined us and the birthplace questioning continued until the appetizer arrived. I sipped on some sort of red wine during dinner. I’m a complete novice when it comes to wine. Red, white–heck, I might even be able to identify a Rosé, but that’s about the extent of my wine knowledge. Since wine is far more common in France than even water, every dinner includes a bottle that’s usually split among two to four people.

Les Papilles was, in fact, a restaurant that also included a retail wine store along its walls. The meal choice is limited to one entree choice each night. So for our visit on a Saturday night, we were served a shoulder of lamb and vegetables after the cold soup starter.

The vegetables were simply amazing, with an intense flavor that caught me a little off guard. The Lamb crumbled like cake and tasted equally as good. This wasn’t the usual prix fixe menu restaurant.

I think Steph had a good time celebrating her birthday with the rest of the crew. The eleven of us enjoyed the atmosphere and the ability to laugh and tell stories in the private room without worrying about intruding on a romantic dinner for a couple that might have otherwise been sitting nearby.

The only quiet moment came near the end of the evening when we were presented with the bill. The silence was deafening when Chris said it was 770 Euros or $1200. I suppose we’re just not used to getting a bill for eleven meals. We divided it all up and decided while it was well worth it, the dinner wasn’t something we could afford to do on every Paris trip.

We had a chance to meet the chef later in the evening and when someone asked him how long the Lamb is cooked, he responded in his limited English, “Six Days.”

I think he meant six hours?

Occasionally we heard some faint bursts of laughter upstairs as well. When we went upstairs there were just three gentlemen left up there. Their group had the entire upstairs of the restaurant, for a dinner party for what may have been the entire Grand Marnier company.

We began to chat with the three executives at the company who then offered us a taste of the most exclusive cognac they make. A 50-year-old cognac called the Cuvée Speciale Cent Cinquantenaire. This Grand Marnier was previously marketed under the slogan “Hard to find, impossible to pronounce, and prohibitively expensive.”

We had no idea how exclusive this drink was while we each sipped a complimentary glass. Everyone who tried it thought it was absolutely delicious. One look at the hand painted flowers on the bottle and I knew this wouldn’t be available at the Monoprix. What a nice way to finish off our evening. Special thanks to the family run company, Grand Marnier, for their generosity.

We walked back to the hotel as a group, and watched the lights sparkle on the Eiffel Tower. This light show was originally designed for the millennium and now it’s possible to see this spectacular display every night for the first five minutes of each hour until midnight. I consider it rather lucky to catch this every now and then.

We passed by a window of some sort and I couldn’t help take a picture. A bit messy, no? I loved the ten year old iMac sitting opposite the new iMac. But do you really think they’re using them to stay organized?

Back at the hotel, I did my best to stay awake a few more hours to be sure I’d be able to sleep all the way through the night. There’s a period at about 11 p.m. where I’m just ready to sleep, but since that’s only 5 p.m. at home, there’s no way I’d be able to sleep all the way through. If I can make it to about 1 or 2 a.m. Paris time, I’ll be able to sleep for nine hours straight before pickup. Sure enough, I managed a good night’s sleep. That and an especially great dinner, what more could we ask for?

The next afternoon, during the captain’s briefing with the crew, we all joined in a chorus of Happy Birthday for Steph. Clay took the opportunity after the singing to thank everyone for making it such an enjoyable trip. It was even a trip worthy of a group photo.

About an hour out of Paris, we flew over Ireland. It’s probably more rare to see Ireland on a clear day than it is to catch the lights sparkle on the Eiffel Tower, but this time we had a nice view of County Donegal and the Donegal airport. See if you can pick out the runway below.

Cockpit Chronicles takes you along on each of Kent’s trips as a co-pilot on the Boeing 757 and 767 out of Boston. For the months of May and June, he’s been focusing on Paris almost exclusively. If you have any good suggestions for Parisian activities, feel free to leave the details in the comments.

Summer pies and roadside stands

by Jamie Rhein on

Oh, my pies. Over at Intelligent Travel, I found out that yesterday was National Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie Day. That’s a national day worth celebrating. Instead, there I was at Twist O’ the Mist in Niagara Falls eating a butter pecan ice-cream cone, not knowing I that I should have been on a strawberry-rhubarb pie hunt.

The best strawberry-rhubarb pie I know of is at Wallkill View Farm Market right over the bridge out of New Paltz, New York. Oh, I can see it now in the glass case on a shelf among others. Forget the blackberry, cherry or peach. What I’m after is the strawberry-rhubarb as soon as I pull into the parking lot. A whole pie with the hint of the sugary sour of strawberry and rhubarb juices that have bubbled up through the flaky crust. I buy at least one every summer. Sometimes, I buy two–or three. It depends on how many people I am visiting on my summer trips back to New Paltz where I lived through 8th grade and high school.

Wallkill View Farms was a smaller fruit stand back in my high school days. Since then, it has grown into an upscale roadside fruit and vegetable stand that has expanded into baked goods, gourmet offerings and flowers. Every inch of the produce and products are lush and gorgeous.

Another great place to find pies of any kind is at the Green Market at Union Square in Manhattan. Farmers and bakers, many of them from upstate New York and elsewhere, come into the city on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, turning the park area into a garden of earthly delights with pies and more–much more.

Then there’s major pie country in Holmes County, Ohio, where you’ll find the largest population of Amish in the United States. Head to towns with names like Charm, Mt. Hope and Berlin and stop at any Amish stand you happen across. The pie version I snap up here are fried pies. These are in between a pie and a turnover. There is strawberry-rhubarb, but the apricot is mighty fine as well. Actually, they’re all good.

Being in Berlin: Are you a Currywurst or Döner person?

by Iva Skoch on

Greetings from Berlin, the capital of sausage. (Yes, there is arguably more than one capital of sausage out there. I don’t want to be getting hate mail from Munich and other seasoned capitals of sausage!)

Horror of all horrors. In the field of fast food and street food in Berlin, the famous Currywurst (consisting of hot pork sausage cut into slices and seasoned with curry sauce, consisting of ketchup with curry) is being overtaken by Döner kebab, pieces of lamb, beef or chicken (or falafel) served with a salad made from shredded lettuce, tomatoes and onions, often also with cabbage and cucumbers. Because of German’s large Turkish population, there are now Döner stands everywhere. Statistically, the Germans are supposed to consume 200 to 300 metric tonnes of Döner Kebab per day. Man, that’s a lot of kebab.

I tried both – Currywurst and Döner. And so should you. There is no better way to stretch the weak dollar than turning to street food!

The currywurst is great after a night of drinking, if you really need something greasy. Truth to be told, I have had better sausages in my life. Actually, I even like the German wine sausage better.

A currywurst has sentimental value though. If you, like me, are a sucker for a good story, you might want to give it a chance just for that. Apparently, the currywurst was invented shortly after World War II by a sausage stall owner in Essen, who accidentally dropped a can with curry powder into some ketchup. Something tells me this is how a lot of fast food is invented. I wonder who dropped what where before they invented McDonald’s, but I sincerely hope that it didn’t involve a toilet.

Back to Germany though. I loved the Döner kebab sandwich I got. It had lots of fresh veggies in it. It has got to be one of the healthier fast food options out there. I only went with falafel, not meat. The whole meat-spinning-on-stick for hours and hours (in the sun) never really looked super-appetizing to me. It always screamed “food poisoning waiting to happen”. I don’t know. I might be overreacting. How do you feel about kebab?