Round The World and other travels
A frequent flyer's collection of trip diaries
This is: Canada & Mexico 2011
The best laid schemes
| I rose early in order to ensure a stress-free departure for Quebec City - hah! After having my shower, I briefly glanced outside to see if it was still raining, and was appalled to see not rain, but dense fog! I was too early for the Executive Lounge to be open, so my only option was to assume that everything would be fine, check out and catch a cab to the City Airport ferry terminal for the very short channel crossing to the island-based airport. I passed through the formalities and was impressed by the 'lounge facilities for all' approach in the airside concourse. I had a couple of cappuccinos and some Walker's biscuits as a breakfast substitute. The screens showed a worrying array of cancellations and delays, but my flight appeared to be relatively OK. |
 ABOVE: Departure Lounge at YTZ |
 ABOVE: "Aye, right!", as we say in Scotland |
Then came the announcement: "We're looking into that cancellation notice for PD509 and will get back to you shortly with what's happening." What cancellation notice? I checked the nearest monitor and sure enough, there it was - the dreaded c-word. A little later they announced that my flight was definitely cancelled: the aircraft had been unable to land and had now been diverted. So it seemed that those whose aircraft had been parked up overnight were good to go, but those of us dependent on the arrival of an inbound plane were in trouble. I queued for ages and eventually managed to secure a seat on PD513 at 1935. My time in Quebec City had just been cut by at least 50% and I now needed to spend an extra day in foggy Toronto, complete with heavy hand luggage - curses! |
After getting myself back landside and then off the island, I took the free shuttle bus to the Royal York hotel and then walked to the now thoroughly familiar Brookfield Place, where I tried out a new concept for lunch: the Swiss-run Marché restaurant. Owned by the Mövenpick company, these restaurants claim to be fresh, healthy and fast. The idea is that you walk around various themed zones, pick up freshly-cooked food that is registered on a plastic card, enjoy the food in a seating area of your choosing (different styles are available), and pay on exit. I must say I was most impressed!
I then took the subway to Museum, thinking I might actually visit ROM, but thought better of it for two reasons: first, my heavy bag might cause security concerns, and secondly, there was an enormous line-up of yellow school buses parked outside, which meant that the place would be full of kids. Instead I strolled down to Queen's Park and had a seat. By now it was sunny and reasonably warm, so I chose a spot in the shade.
 ABOVE: G&T and smoked salmon at the Royal York |
In due course, I took the subway from Queen's Park to Union Station and decided to go and have a look at the Royal York, a Fairmont property. I took a seat in the lounge and indulged in a couple of gin and tonics, accompanied by some beautifully presented smoked salmon. Time passed remarkably quickly and it was an excellent way to take a chunk out of the long delay to my schedule. |
 ABOVE: Ferry to YTZ, surely one of the shortest crossings anywhere |
Around 4:30pm, I decided to catch the shuttle bus
back to the airport - what a mistake! With the build-up of a whole
day's worth of disruption, the departure lounge had turned into a
zoo, with people sitting on the floor, standing everywhere and even
sitting on the stairs down from Security. It was utter chaos. Even
after a few flights got away, it was just as bad, as more people
arrived to replace those who had flown out. My flight was originally
shown as on-time, then it moved from 1935 to 2025, and finally
slipped a further ten minutes to a little over twelve hours past my
original departure time.
It was reassuring when the aircraft finally appeared on stand, although it was clear by this stage that it had no chance whatever of meeting its revised departure time of 2035. It was doubly reassuring when I spotted my suitcase on the luggage cart by the side of the plane.
(Link to flight log in side panel)
The luggage took ages to appear at Quebec City, but then it was an easy matter to take a taxi to the Hilton. I checked in and secured a 2pm checkout for the next day. My room had a delightful corner location, with excellent views of both the old walled city and the Quebec parliament building. What a shame that I hadn't been able to enjoy it for the greater part of the day, in accordance with my carefully crafted plans. As they say in these parts, c'est la vie!