Round The World and other travels

It was my last morning in the USA on this trip. I tried not to dwell on the fact, but I was certainly aware of it. Breakfast in the Club Lounge was very similar to the previous day's routine and, once I had eaten, I decided to give priority to getting out for a little while; there was no need to panic over the packing. The early morning rain had eased off and, while I took a Mark Hopkins umbrella out with me, it was never to be used.

I strolled down to, and through, parts of Chinatown. I then managed to take in a corner of Little Italy - you can tell; the lamp-posts have Italian flags painted on them! - and ended up in the Financial District. Rather than fork out $5 for a one-way cable car ride up the hill, I was a cheapskate and spent $1.50 on the parallel trolleybus service 1. I finished packing and ate a sandwich for lunch, then checked out and boarded my booked sedan service to SFO. By now, the sun was shining beautifully, almost like the previous day; it was a nice way to leave.

I was nervous about checking in, given what had happened to the last two AA bookings linked to my RTW ticket, but I needn't have worried. It was plain sailing all the way. I soon found myself in the BA F Lounge at SFO, directly overlooking the gate. A bit closer to the departure time, I got a surprise when fellow-FTer Sparkster (a.k.a. Mark) walked into the lounge. We had a natter and, having established that he was in World Traveller Plus on this work-related occasion, I said I'd invite him to join me for a drink in F once the main part of the meal service was out of the way.