luxuries of travel, post-addendum

Post-addendum? Brilliant Peter. Amazing how awkwardly I can title these posts.

Yes, I am back to blogging. In days ahead I will post several more times about the recent New Zealand vacation, and one day - I hope! - I will once again post about cooking adventures in my kitchen. Of course, I suppose I have to be back in Chicago and in my kitchen long enough to do so.

I'll be a bit more systematic now with these posts and get a good assortment of photos up. Impatient for photos? Check Flickr for a whole bunch (and more to come there).

I wanted to share some final shots of the luxuries of travel, though I have to say that the scene in Frost/Nixon (which I watched on the flight from Sydney to LA) where Frost is chatting up a woman in the upstairs bar of a 747 really shows an air travel luxury that doesn't exist anymore, I don't think. I am also wary of seeming ungrateful for traveling first class when I simply say that United, fine as it was, does not compare to the service, comfort, and amenities of a national airline like Air New Zealand. Whatever - we hardly roughed it.

Six flights in total for us. Here's the route:

Chicago-San Francisco. First Class on United. The full fold down seats seemed ever so amazing, with ample storage.
I watched The Secret Life of Bees, blubbed some, and had a lovely view flying over the diverse countryside below.

San Francisco-Sydney. First Class on United. Charlie Trotter-designed dishes among the menu items?

Tasty. I liked Conrad's choice of red wine more than mine, but jeepers, a choice of wine! I watched Twilight (yes, I know, scorn me, but I enjoyed it) and another movie that obviously wasn't memorable if I can't think what the heck it was. I also got the most sleep I've ever had in an airplane: about 6 hours solid. Bless the full beds the seats convert to. Conrad and I sat in the middle of the section with a low divider between us so we could easily chat and otherwise bug each other.
Good flight.

Sydney-Auckland. Business Class on Air New Zealand. Air NZ doesn't have first class, in fact, but their Business Class is better than United First, truthfully. More movies to choose from (I watched half of Iron Man but switched to television programs. More choices of wines, and better food.

Full fold down seats (not that we needed them).
Advantage to United for storage space, though.

Wellington-Sydney. Business Class on Air New Zealand. A different configuration without full fold down seats, but certainly comfortable. Conrad and I were the only ones in Business Class, and the flight attendant was ever so lovely to chat with. Good breakfast, and I watched the rest of Iron Man.

An aside here - I won't add anymore lounge photos from the trip, I don't think, but this was kind of cool: we were sitting in the lounge at Sydney Airport, and people began coming to the window by us to look out. I didn't pay much attention, thinking that they were looking at the different airlines coming in and out with huge planes. it wasn't until Conrad said, "Peter, there's a tornado!" that I looked up.



Sydney-LA. First Class on United. I didn't sleep as well as the reverse trip, but I slept better than usual. The food wasn't Charlie Trotter, but I rather liked the appetizer, and I preferred the wine selection.


We also moved to window seats which meant not only better storage, but also a wonderful sunset over the Pacific.
I watched Frost/Nixon (enjoyed it) and Marley and Me (enjoyed it as well - that was a surprise)

LA-Chicago. Business Class on United. Do I sound too jaded when I say it was pretty standard for United.

Honestly? I'm THRILLED to bits to have experienced such comfort, truly. Separate security and boarding lines, glasses of champagne when you get on board, amenity kits. SLEEP! Conrad cashed in a lot of miles for these tickets, and they set the stage for a vacation that - I can say this now that it's over - was utterly relaxing, enjoyable, memorable.

More postings in days ahead, then, and in them I'll actually explore New Zealand itself!

lunch in Vulcan Lane

Two years back we somehow stumbled upon a little tapas place in Vulcan Lane, in the heart of prime shopping in Auckland. We went there two or three times, but for breakfast. Excellent toast. I'm not sure why we went there in the first place - maybe the pomegranate logo drew us in? The name was Tasca, and we remembered it fondly ever since.

Jafa has taken its place as a breakfast spot for us now, but for old time's sake we made our way to Vulcan Lane while shopping today and landed at Tasca for a bite of lunch. The unfortunate thing was that there were few wine options, and the chilled glass of Sauvignon Blanc I wanted on a warm day was not there for me. We made up for it later after shopping with a glass at an outdoor bar not far away at Mecca.
Anyway, we found our alley and cafe, sat at a little table outside to watch well-dressed people pass by, and had lunch.

Salads for us each: Conrad's had chicken and avocado while mine had chorizo, potato, and spinach. I sipped back my 17th flat white (awesome NZ coffee) of the trip, and we plotted a few more shop stops after lunch. Nice recapturing the memory of last time, even if there was no bacon involved this time.

Matakana

Dion and Minna have wireless, and while I'm trying not to use up all of their limit for the month, I do have to get some photos up and at least one blog entry in. I'll be jumping all over on the blogging posting in days ahead, and I have a huge number of photos to weed through before I do. It's easy to pull off what we got up to yesterday and show a little bit of that. And only a little bit: it's a lovely sunny Sunday out there, and we'll want to wander off before too long and enjoy the day.

After breakfast - again at that funloving near by cafe, Jafa - we hopped in a car to head about 3/4 of an hour north to Matakana. The town is noted for a few things, including its market. An upscale market at that, and we sampled some tasty local products like good mustards and preserves. We even bought a few things there: mustard, a chocolate and hazelnut butter, lime-scented olive oil.

One other thing we picked up, though, was a quince ratafia. It's an old-fashioned recipe for a spiced liqueur made of the fruit. We're quince fans, definitely, and we did buy a bottle after tasting it, but what caught our eye was that it was from Heron's Flight.

My friend Dave had pointed us to Heron's Flight. His cousin, Mary Evans, and her husband, David Hoskins, own the winery, and - in fact - it was David who was at the market selling wines, grape juice, and the ratafia. We had a nice chat, and when he learned who we were, he let us know to get up to the winery as soon as we could to try the wine and meet his wife.

We're very grateful to Dave for putting us in touch with Mary because that was a very relaxing time spent at the winery. We arrived to find the placed thronged with what turned out to be a 50th anniversary party. The winery has full restaurant service and a good patio overlooking the vines. Set in among the green hills near Matakana, it's an exceptional escape from the city. We sat outside with Mary for a while, and she opened a bottle of their Sangiovese for us.

What's noteworthy about the winery (well, several things are, of course) is that it focuses on only a few wines, and rather than the usual NZ varietals (of which Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir are the most common in our sampling), the winery produces wine from two Italian grapes: Sangiovese and Dolcetto. We were drinking their top line Sangiovese, and it opened up beautifully as we sat and sipped.

Eventually cool breezes drove us inside where we continued to enjoy chatting and sipping. Despite the crowd there, Mary had arranged for us to have a terrific platter of breads and spreads. We didn't go hungry from there - it was more the case that between the wine and the food, we were utterly relaxed and content.

It was only a few hours that we were in Matakana, but it was a wonderful time. And, of course, we finished off very well with dinner at the French Cafe. Ah, but that's a blog entry for another time.

Funloving

These entries will be out of order and sporadic while I don't have regular (cheap/free) Internet access. Sorry to those one or two of you out there who thrive on this blog.

:-)

It's not yet fully daylight here in Queenstown, in the south of the South Island. We've already had breakfast at the hotel buffet, and before we head off for a day of wine tasting, we want to stroll into town, maybe pick up a good coffee there. A short entry then, and - of course - food related!

Conrad and I arrived in New Zealand Sunday night, too late for dinner, though not too late to re-pack for a flight Monday morning. A good night of sleep, and then on a sunny Auckland Monday morning, we joined Dion and Minna (we were staying at their place) and Minna's parents for breakfast nearby. Jafa is the name of the place, and a clever little name, too.

Jaffa (two "f"s), as we've learned is an orange and chocolate candy. Food, of a type. Jafa, we've also been reminded, is New Zealander slang for a resident of Auckland. Understand, quite like Chicago in relation to the rest of Illinois, Auckland is vastly more populous than any other city, and much more happens there. This sets up an odd, occasionally uneasy relationship with the non-Aucklanders, and it gets expressed as a nickname: Just Another Funloving Aucklander. JAFA.

Except Funloving isn't quite the word that the "f" stands for.

Breakfast was great. I'm keen to go back. A lot of the food tastes different and better here, kind of like how food is supposed to taste. Unadulterated. Does that make sense?

Conrad opted for eggs benedict made with house-cured salmon (which had a sweetness to it) while I had the potato cakes with poached egg, arugula, and bacon. Very very good, and to wash it down, flat whites. New Zealand coffee. I spent two years yearning to have this coffee again.

A great start to a vacation, and when I get a chance, I can report more on the flight over incredible scenery, the beauty of Queenstown, the relaxing spa treatment, and the marvelous dinner in Arrowtown we had to close off just this first day.

airport lounges: addendum

This is so cool, sitting here in the lounge in Sydney. A gorgeously mostly sunny day out there, wide windows, plenty to eat and drink. We're seeing all kinds of airlines going by, ones we never see in Chicago. Norfolk Air? Really? Neat!

The lounge emptied out about 15 minutes ago thanks to flights to Seoul, Beijing, Bangkok, Vancouver, and Auckland all coming closely timed. The last of those really drained the numbers from in here. From what I can tell, Conrad and I are sharing this lounge with one other passenger and a number of staff. Peaceful.

I took some photos. We could vacation here, really. Food and wine and coffee. Newspapers. Free wireless. Great showers (two nozzles!). And tomorrow, before we fly down to Queenstown, we'll get to enjoy the lounge in Auckland.

Yes, this vacation WILL be about more than just spending time in airports!

Photos:

luxuries of travel: part, the first

It pays to join loyalty programs and accumulate points/miles/stays/whatever. Goodness knows we've benefited a number of times now in terms of dining, cashing in points for gift certificates to use on some very very fine restaurants. Miles, too. I've used mine in the past for shorter hops - a trip to Spain in 2004, Allison's wedding last year. Conrad's accumulates more, and we've leveraged his miles for other wonderful jaunts: Sweden, Hawaii, New Zealand, and now New Zealand again.

This time is a bit different: United for 2/3 of the way each direction, flying in and out of different cities. And we're not suffering, oh no. Conrad's miles have got us first class tickets to and from, and on a long haul, that's a good thing. So an entry or two or three devoted to travel comfort. Yes, bragging, I know, but also a glimpse into the luxuries of it all for any of the two or three of you reading this who might want to splurge one day.

First up: O'Hare. Now yes, I know, I just wrote knocking the airport some for its lack of services and style. This is true for regular travelers. First Class? Well, it gets a bit better. Tucked in by our gate was the United International First Class Lounge. Some observations:

1. it's not very big, but it's not heavily used. The Red Carpet Club can be as hectic and unpleasant as being in a throng at a gate, but this room was serene. Lovely.

2. the food and drink was in a compact area, but it was fairly good. We each took a little snack, and I would gladly have dined more. Also, real champagne. I'm in a champagne mood these days.

3. super staff. They made some seat changes for us, scrambled about, alerted us to a delay, brought us more champagne to wait out the delay, escorted us to a side door that let us get into line at the gate without wading through folks.

So it was that we started the trip well.

The San Francisco lounge? Well, that was magnificent. A grand space, and with almost no one in it when we got there. Beautiful. Look at that chair Conrad is in. Lovely.

I liked Chicago more.

Why? At SFO, the only staff person was at the reception upstairs from the main part of the lounge. Well, also one person picking up dishes. No sense of service. The food in Chicago was better, I think, though I liked the cold, grilled tandoori shrimp. Finally, it got progressively busier in the lounge, and I got (unfairly) cranky as I had to put up with the noise of conversation around me. Yes, I know I'm being unreasonable.

I don't have photos of the Koru Club lounge we're presently in, but it stacks up well. It's been busy this morning, but the place is huge. The food selection is good, and best of all? Showers. Ahhhhh, refreshing after 24 hours of travel. I may yet take a few shots, and if so, I'll post a supplementary entry.

unexpected art

Wow, is it really almost 6 more hours until the next flight? This, after that 13 hour overnight flight from San Francisco to Sydney? What time is it? Where am I? Oooo, NZ white wine free for the pouring here in the lounge.

So while I have free wireless and time on my hands, I'll post some smaller entries about the joys and luxuries of the trip so far. And what better way to start than by a lovely little surprise in San Francisco.

O'Hare, in my opinion, is not at all a lovely airport. It's functions (barely at times), its amenities and services are laughable, especially for those who are not past security, and it lacks any noteworthy art. Compare it to a place like Vancouver with the remarkable installations of First Nations works in the airport there. As we switched planes yesterday in San Francisco, we came upon a wonderful exhibit en route over to the international terminal: Russel Wright.





In hindsight, we didn't explore it enough. You see, Conrad (and now I do, too) has collected Russel Wright stoneware in the past with able assistance from his sister. The collection languished in basement storage, however, taking a distant second to the vibrant Fiestaware that goes so well with the golden walls of our place. Ah, but the Vancouver condo - concrete and modern - that will suit the Russel Wright quite well. And so our interest has been re-awakened. We browsed among the cases, admiring pieces we have or want and some of the materials (glasses, aluminum) that we didn't know of. And yet, in all that time, we didn't look for anything to tell us the connection between Wright and San Francisco. Silly us.

It was a neat thing, and a delight, encountering that after the first phase of our trip. So far we've seen nothing comparable at Sydney airport, but no matter. The sunny view outside is lovely enough, too.

Spring - the restaurant

While I have time at SFO, awaiting the plane to Sydney, I may as well catch up on a bit of blogging.

Last year Conrad successfully bid on gift certificates for dinner at a very good restaurant called Spring when we were at the Farmers Foundation Dinner at Topolobampo. It took us a while to get there, but this past Wednesday night we met up with RAD and enjoyed a few hours there. I'd dined at Green Zebra and Custom House, the chef's second and third restaurants, but now it was time for a meal at his Wicker Park (or is it Bucktown?) flagship.

I walked over from the Red Line North Avenue stop, a nice mile and a half on a cloudy and comfortably brisk day. Crossed the river and took a few photos of the city and bridge, thought he cloudy day didn't do the scenery any favours. In the end, I made it to the restaurant just minutes before the other two.

Now here's where I confess my absent-mindedness: vacation mode kicking in early. I recharged the camera battery but forgot to replace the memory card in it. Without the card, the camera holds only about a dozen photos. Which meant that a delightful 5 course (plus extras and a cheese course) dinner with a cocktail each, wine pairings, and then a half bottle of wine to finish is largely undocumented in image.

I wish more people were in the restaurant - more energy would have made the meal even more enjoyable. As it was, I saw many things on the menu I wanted to try, and I liked everything we ate, start to finish. Hazelnut couscous, a lemongrass soup with shrimp wontons, the beef short rib with ramen and fried quail egg (shown here), and more: all of it was outstanding.

We'll go back, and may Spring be busier. RAD is always a treat to dine with, of course, and I have a feeling Cg would enjoy the place, too.