Day 184 - Sunday, July 3rd, 2011

I was Born On The Third Of July, so yes today is my 39th birthday, meaning that I am now in my 40th year of existence - yay! Despite being slightly short of a milestone, today turned out to be an historic one, as it was my longest birthday ever, as the day lasted 29 hours thanks to the magnificence of international air travel.

The day got off to an early start with a 7am taxi-ride from the Lighthouse to a maiden visit of Dublin Airport's Terminal 2. The taxi-driver was one of those unspeakable bores who drones on about his previous fares and expects you to be interested yet doesn't even consider to enter into conversation that is not entirely revolved around him.

Now began the queueing business - queue at check-in, queue at security (way lengthier than the norm at Terminal 1), queue at US Immigration where what appeared to be a robot asked a series of questions without reacting to the replies, and issued series of instructions. Aboard the Continental Airlines flight to Newark now, and initial disappointment that my window seat was in the only row of the plane that didn't have a window quickly subsided, with the splendid in-flight entertainment system that each seat is equipped with. Probably not surprisingly, I had seen most of the New Release movies on offer (Win Win, The Lincoln Lawyer and Rango) so moved onto HappyThankYouMorePlease (1 out of 10) - utter drivelous cringeworthy excrement and I'd be lying if I said I watched more than 15 minutes of it. There was a fine selection of "classic" movies which included previously unseen Inglorious Basterds (7 out of 10) which was an absorbing watch. Christoph Waltz was mesmerizing in it and utterly deserved his Best Supporting Actor Oscar.

Lunch was probably the tastiest I have eaten aboard (excepting a delightful upgrade to business class on a British Airways Denver-London flight many moons ago) - a good crisp salad, chicken with pasta and green beans, and a chocolate brownie. All-in-all the 7 and a half hours sped by, and we were at the gate in rainy Newark on time at 11.30am. The connecting flight to Montreal, due to leave at 12.20, was delayed until 1pm - no harm, as I had to get a bus to a different terminal. Once there, the gate screen informed that the flight time was now 1.40pm, then the flight disappeared off the screen totally. Judging by all employees that were experienced at Newark Airport, a lobotomy is required in order to apply for a job there, together with an innate ability to offer no apologies whatsoever. The Continental Airlines gatelady had no clue that there was any change, and after calling someone, nonchalantly announced that the gate had changed to the terminal where I came from and that it was delayed for another 40 minutes, naturally without apology. So off we all trundled by bus back to Terminal A.

Back at Terminal A, a further 40 minute delay was announced (no apology). Anyhoo, the plane finally took off and I touched down in Canada - the 61st country that I have visited to date - at about 4.30pm. The huge queue for immigration moved speedily, whilst the queue for the only ATM machine in the terminal did not. The 12th queue of the day, for a taxi, which moved fast too, and the mercifully-silent taxi-driver sped me to the Omni Mont-Royal hotel in the city centre, where a warm greeting awaited after the 13th and final queue of the day.

My room is on the 27th floor and affords a very fine view of the city and the hill that it is named after (Mont Royal). After freshening up, I headed downstairs where my good friend Mark (who alerted me to the Maples job in which I am now employed) and his girlfriend Jody were on hand to introduce me to the city's nocturnal delights. First stop was a Mexican restaurant, where passable fajitas and some excellent lime daiquiris were enjoyed, before moving onward to an Irish bar for a few beers, which cost $7 (€5.20) including obligatory tip - not cheap, yet less expensive than most places here, apparently. As semi-frequently occurs during Montreal's otherwise-glorious summers, the heavens opened and we were treated to an awesome thunder and lightning show. Not such a treat for Jody alas, who has a massive thunder phobia, so a thundering iPod was applied to her ears to drown out the clatters. The storm moved on after an hour, allowing us to return to our respective bases.

 
Newark Airport - decent layout and facilities, shame about the cretinous employees

                                            A room with a view
Contentment :  14 / 25
Excitement :     4 / 10
Memorability : 5.5 / 15

Overall Score : 47% (39th out of 184)