Archive for Phoenix

Travel Travails

Posted in Barcelona, Biographical with tags , , , on March 13, 2024 by telescoper

I’m sitting in Heathrow Airport Terminal 2 waiting for a flight to Dublin to complete the return home from Phoenix. The transatlantic part of this journey went pretty well despite an unpromising start. The terminal at Phoenix was incredibly crowded, and the gate area far too small to accommodate the number of passengers on the flight. The Club World lounge was completely full and operating a wait list just to get in. I waited for 30 minutes to enter and then gave up without succeeding. Had I actually paid a business class fare I would have been very angry about that. The general overcrowding led to my flight taking off about 30 minutes late, but at least that didn’t get significantly worse and I got to Heathrow with plenty of time to make my connection.

I have to admit that the fatigue and disorientation resulting from the excessive travel I’ve been doing over the past few weeks is getting to me a bit. I don’t think I’m cut out for the jet set! It’s not quite over yet, either. After flying back to Dublin I will spend a few days in Maynooth to recover and celebrate the (predicted) success of a PhD student whose examination is tomorrow, then fly back to Barcelona. Fortunately that’s just a short-haul flight and then I’ll be able to settle there until at least July.

Update: I got back to a very rainy Maynooth safely and ahead of time: I managed to get a Hopper bus I should have missed, but which was 10 minutes late!

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Travelblog

Posted in Biographical, Jazz with tags , , , , on September 14, 2012 by telescoper

I’m up bright and early this morning – well, early, at least – after my long trip yesterday. I was slightly nervous about my itinerary, especially the (for me) uncharted territory at the end. As it happens, the train from Cardiff to Heathrow, direct flight from Heathrow to Phoenix and shuttle bus from Phoenix to Flagstaff, Arizona, all went to plan. I arrived just after nine yesterday evening, tired but intact.

One thing worth mentioning is that this is the first time I’ve set foot on American soil for many years. My lamentable experience with the US Embassy in London in 2005 succeeding in putting me off visiting the States almost entirely. However, I’m told that travelling is meant to be good for me, so I decided to accept the invitation to attend and speak at the conference I posted about a while ago. One of the relics of the 2005 episode is an unused J-1 visa in my passport, and when we arrived in Phoenix I was consequently a little apprehensive about whether questions might be asked about it. That added to the usual anxiety about length of queues at Immigration. As it turned out, the staff were courteous and efficient and the uniformed officer I spoke to at the desk and who took my fingerprints etc was an enthusiastic amateur astronomer who seemed more interested in my work than in the formalities at hand. Anyway, my virgin visa attracted no comment at all.

Despite landing a bit late, I actually got through the airport in good time to catch the shuttle to Flagstaff. Phoenix, by the way, was a scorching 37 Celsius, even at 5.30 in the pip emma. I dread to think how hot it must have been at mid-day. Flagstaff is, I’m told, a bit cooler being up in the mountains although it was dark when I arrived and I didn’t really see much of the place before getting to the hotel, having a quick blog, and then crashing out.

Incidentally, the route from Phoenix to Flagstaff is north on the I-17 until it hits Route 66, subject of the famous song in which Flagstaff gets a mention:

My hotel is actually situated on Route 66, but so far there’s no sign of anything that could truthfully be described as “kicks”.

Anyway, I have to speak later today so I should probably start writing my talk.  As they don’t say around these parts, Toodle-pip!

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