USA: to San Diego

I sat people watching in Itsu, a Japanese 'health and happiness' bar in Terminal 5. A smart American lady wearing enormous wraparound sunglasses was cutting the salmon on her (seemingly able) husband's plate while another rotund and sweaty businessman made short work of a half bottle of wine with his breakfast. Other novelties included a man strapping on a false leg in front of a family with a very confused little boy, and a man tied to a very large musical instrument.

A request for an aisle seat resulted in a cabin upgrade on the flight to Chicago. After the barbaric conditions in Economy from Oman, World Traveller Plus provides reasonable conditions for the human body. Contrast that with American Airlines’ flight to San Diego where the service has declined to that of a slave galley – cramped conditions, no entertainment, no food (except ‘beverages’ for $5.00 or a sandwich box for $10.00) and air crew past their sell-by dates.

The dim light of dusk disguised the dated look of the Holiday Inn on Harbor Drive in San Diego. The roller coaster culinary ride of the last few days took another dip in the hotel’s ‘Elephant & Castle’ pub where the beer had to be returned, the fish was overcooked and the chips grey and lifeless. Oh dear.