No photos from day 1 as it was all spent flying and I didn't really want to be taking photos inside a 747. Jeppe had set off way before me flying from Copenhagen to Heathrow, and not wanting him to spend to much time bored on his own I headed there quite a bit earlier than I needed to.
Now originally we were due to flight out of Terminal 5, which I thought would have been an exciting start to the trip with the waiting-around-in-the-lounge time spent exploring the new terminal and really putting the security systems to the test :) But due to the opening day debacle where a load of flights were canceled my flight had been bumped back to Terminal 4, which I was already pretty familiar with. I just think BAA and Terminal 5 weren't ready for me, that's all!
It was quite a long flight, around 10 hours approximately, which would give me the opportunity to watch five movies on the flight. I find it very difficult to fall asleep on flights, usually down to the chairs not going back far enough, so I tend to watch the 4-inch screen in front of me for the duration of the flight. It's worth complimenting BA on their new in-flight movie system that allows you to stop and start programs as you want rather than everything being on a loop where you have to wait for the longest running film to complete before all they all start over.
So, in the absence of any pictures here are some movie reviews for those I managed to watch on the flight.
I Am Legend.
The fresh prince finds himself alone in New York following a virus outbreak that has turned most of the population into nightcrawling vampires. With the company of his dog he sets about trying to find a cure and establish whether he's the only survivor or not. This film was really crap, in fact I'd prefer to watch the televised sheep dog trial shows on BBC as that is a better "One man and his dog" program than this film. I've never read the book but if the ending is as abrupt as this movie there needs to be a lot of blank pages at the back of the novel.
Oceans 11
Yes, the movie with Clooney and chums attempting to rob the Bellagio hotel. I only chose to watch this because I was staying there in the final week, and I thought the movie would help get me in the vibe for the trip...and it did. I really liked the movie first time around and enjoyed it again, even though I'd seen the twist previously. The soundtrack is also brilliant and fits with the style and setting of the movie very well.
No Country for Old Men
This is a film I'd missed when it got its cinema release and features Josh Brolin coming across a load of drugs that a cruel assassin played superbly by Javier Bardem, is interested in. Tommy Lee Jones plays a sheriff who also gets involved when he stops searching every outhouse, backhouse, doghouse, wendyhouse etc. The movie is very slow paced, but you'd expect that from a Coen movie, and as such sent me to sleep, which I rarely do on flights. A shame as it was pretty good but the overall vibe from the film coupled with me focusing on a small screen was conducive to putting me under. Ah well, I'll try to catch it properly at home when I'm more alert.
St. Trinians
OK, so wanting to stay awake I thought I'd pick this. I was wrong. I saw some girl arrive at the school and the next thing they had stolen a painting from The British Museum, saved the school and the credits were rolling. The body has a wonderful natural defence system in that it can shut down if external stimula is damaging to it; it's what the experts call "shock". That is the reason for me not seeing any of this movie; it must have been so bad that my body decided to close itself down.
Juno
Figuring I'd save the best for last, again this was a film that I'd missed when it came out in the cinema and had received really good reviews. Ellen Page (Kitty Pride in X-Men 3) plays Juno, a girl who gets up the duff and decides to give her kid up for adoption to Jennifer Garner (Elektra in Elektra) . That's basically it in a nutshell (or in a womb, if you will) and the movie definitely has a marmite feel to it (for those who haven't heard of marmite it's a yeast extract that you spread on toast and that uses the advertising slogan "you either love it or you hate it"). Unlike Marmite that I can't stand, Juno was actually really good with an intelligently written script that doesn't bother with dumbing down with back stories etc. I enjoyed it so much that I'm considering buying a copy for the library at home.
Anyway with the movies watched, it was time to touch down at Mexico City Airport. First impressions were that everything looked pretty clean. My breathing was a little short due to the altitude and I knew that within about 10 minutes I'd be used to it, which I was.
At the airport, there's a little taxi booth where you pay up front and you're given a voucher that you hand to the driver. It prevents unscrupulous drivers ripping the tourists off. However I made a mistake in tipping the porter too much. Rather cheekily because there were 2 of us and he'd carried 2 cases he'd asked for a second payment that I paid because I wasn't familiar with the tipping process. Only when I got to the hotel did I realise I'd tipped him 10 times too much, with the first payment, and then doubled it with the second. He'd obviously seen us coming and I hope he choked on whatever food the money bought :D
Its also worth mentioning the taxi drive from the airport to the hotel. Now I have a licence but the only driving I've done since I passed my test is in video games, so to avoid ending my life prematurely I choose not to drive however I think I'd fit right in in Mexico. Our driver drove like an idiot weaving between lanes and hitting the horn more than he exhaled. But even with his erratic driving there were no accidents and with others driving similarly I guess its safe to drive the way he was doing. I can imagine a tourist in a hire car would stick out and probably cause an accident with their "safe" driving.
Anyway we eventually got to the hotel, the Holiday Inn Express in downtown Mexico City and with us both fairly tired we took a quick walk around the Zona Rosa (the hotel was on the edge of this entertainment district of the city) and had a drink in a sports bar.
Then it was time to get some sleep as the next day we'd be heading off to Six Flags Mexico.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment