Seat G34 and the first couple of days

When I did my flight check-in on-line I saw I was assigned seat G34. I noticed this was on the aisle, and immediately behind a wall. “Perfect” I thought, “I’ll have a lot of leg room!” For my first trans-Atlantic flight I was looking forward to being as comfortable as possible, expecting that a long flight would be less than enjoyable. Once on the plane I discovered my “perfect” seat was right behind the toilets! The wall I had seen on the floor plan was the wall of the toilets!!! (You seasoned travelers are having a good laugh now, aren’t you?)

After getting settled in the row of 4 seats, with only one other person, and she at the other end, a couple seated behind us decided they wanted more leg room and moved up to the two empty seats next to me. They were very friendly and I enjoyed a great conversation with them throughout dinner. As the lights went down and everyone settled into watching movies, reading or sleeping, the folly of my choice of seat became more evident. Everybody on the flight had to use the loo – repeatedly - and the parade went on for the entire flight. Trying to sleep was nearly impossible, as every time someone opened the door to the loo, the bright light shone right in my eyes, and the SSSSSTHHHWAP sound of every flush was heard continuously. Fortunately, the odor wasn’t noticeable – thank God for small favours. I had expected to be unable to sleep on the plane – I’ve never slept well on planes, trains and automobiles - and this flight was certainly no exception!

Met a very nice man seated behind me on the flight who was also connecting to the same flight to Doha that I was on. He kindly led me through the maze of Terminal 3 at Heathrow to connecting flights. Terminal 3 is a real trip – you can shop ‘til you drop. Too bad I didn’t have any room in my carry-on to fit anything else. The people-watching is amazing, simply because there are sooooo many people! It isn’t different than other airports, really – just way more people.

Then on to Doha aboard Qatar Airways – a 5-star airline. Flight attendants were dressed in formal uniforms including the kinds of hats you would have seen in about the ‘60’s. The service was very friendly and efficient. Contrary to my expectation of an airline from a Muslim country, there was liquor service! Dinner was – well, let me provide you with the menu:

Penne Pasta Salad

Choice of Entrée:

Lamb Kofta with tomato and pine nut salsa

Roasted potato cubes

Creole style crab cakes

Tex mex rice with corn and beans

Tofu masala with spinach and pine seeds

Yellow rice

Baby okra with onions and tomato

Dessert

Apple and cinnamon sultana cake

Bread roll, cheese and crackers

Tea or coffee

Chocolate

I chose the lamb and it was quite good.

The flight was slightly less than 7 hours – shorter than the flight from Calgary to London, but probably due to building exhaustion, it seemed longer. Arrived about 15 minutes earlier than the scheduled midnight landing. In Doha many flights seem to arrive late at night because the airport was buzzing with activity. When you de-plane, buses shuttle you to the terminal. I was met at the bottom of the stairs of the plane by a young woman with a sign saying “Mrs. Kathleen Brownlee” – I’ve never experienced that before. She got me on the bus and then met me at the arrivals area of the terminal where I was taken to a beautiful lounge to wait while she took my passport and cleared me through immigration (which took all of about 5 minutes) and arranged for my bags to be picked up from the baggage carousel. After confirming that those two black behemoths were indeed mine, she led me out to a black BMW from the Four Seasons and I was driven through Doha to the hotel. What a beautiful city and a glorious evening it was. It was Friday night, the end of the holy day and people were out enjoying the night. We passed a playground that was crawling with kids on the playground equipment – and this was after midnight! People were out walking along the Corniche – the walkway along the Arabian Gulf. The new and very impressive buildings were lit up and looking amazing. The new Museum of Islamic Art is a stunning building, and we also passed by the offices of the Emir. In spite of being so tired, I found myself looking around in amazement. I can’t believe I’m really here!

Saturday night

Woke up @ about 8:30 feeling amazingly rested. I showered, dressed and went down to breakfast, but didn’t realize until after I ate that I could have sat outside – will certainly do that tomorrow. After breakfast I went for a walk on the beach along the Gulf – water was very warm; and checked out the hotel’s pool and beach area. Then I asked the concierge about walking in the area of the hotel. She gave me a map and directed me out to the Corniche, where I headed for a bit of a walk only to find it was already waaay to hot for this unacclimatized Canuck! So I headed back to the hotel. I went through the welcome box (a beautiful white box embossed with UC-Q in gold and wrapped in a gold ribbon) that contained a welcome letter, my itinerary for the next 3-4 days, keys to my apartment, a cell phone, and other reference materials. I called my ‘buddy’, Marianne, who recommended that I just enjoy the day of rest and being spoiled at the Four Seasons Hotel. I also spoke to CJ who was out for a great day at the beach, but we planned to have dinner together. I felt a little tired and thought I’d lie down for a half hour. After waking up 4 hours later, I realized I must have been more tired than I felt. CJ phoned and we made arrangements for her driver to pick her up and then come to get me and head out somewhere for dinner. Jackie Dumont recommended the Asian Traditional restaurant that has Chinese, Filipino and Taiwanese food. We opted for all Chinese and it was excellent! CJ and I had a good time sharing our travel to Doha experiences and CJ offered me some advice for settling in. After dinner we walked a bit up the street. I have learned that you are fair game for drivers, so unlike Calgary, as a pedestrian, you have no assurance that you will make it across the street unscathed. Continue to enjoy watching the people. Back to the hotel and hopefully will get some sleep to be ready to check out of the hotel and move into my new digs tomorrow. Will have to do a little shopping and try to start thinking in riyals instead of CDN dollars.