Tuesday January 28^th, 2020

Happy 41^st Anniversary to us

I leave Queen Mary and head to Dubai

When I woke up I noticed that the receipt for payment for my room was peeping out from under the door. As I went to check it for accuracy it suddenly struck me. My nocturnal visitor was most like not a spirit from another world, but simply someone placing the receipt under my door.

I wasted no time wishing Brian a happy anniversary. Alas, we couldn’t work it so that we could be together today and I could still get to Dubai in time to board Queen Mary 2. We have often been involved in travel on our anniversary – sometimes good, sometimes bad.

We were married in South Africa and flew to London the next day. I had given my bouquet to my mother, not wanting to import fresh flowers in to the UK, but as we were boarding the plane she thrust it in my hand so I had no option other than to take it with me.

As we settled into our seats I tried to tuck it into the seat pocket, not an easy feat in coach on a BA plane. A flight attendant saw it, and was very excited. After congratulating us she brought us a bottle of their best champagne and a pair of champagne glasses. It was a good flight.

Twenty five years later we were flying to Kenya from Chicago, changing planes in London. As it was our 25^th anniversary I had decided to splurge and book premium economy seats. When we went to check in for our flight to Nairobi we discovered that it had been cancelled due to 3” of snow. Now coming from Chicago where the airport remains open despite feet of snow we were most put out, but nothing could be done about it. There were no hotels to be found anywhere in the vicinity, and so we joined thousands of other weary travelers and spent the night on the floor of terminal 4. The situation was not helped by the fact that there was no food or drinks available, the toilets were very soon overflowing, and they turned off the heating at midnight, but we saw it as part of the adventure.

We were able to get on a flight the next day, and as I settled in to the flight I asked our flight attendant if I might have a glass of sparkling wine as we had spent our 25^th anniversary freezing and hungry on the floor of terminal 4. She turned up her nose at me and in a very snooty voice informed me that sparkling wine was only available to guests in business class and certainly NOT in premium economy. Sorry I asked.

I knew today’s flight would be better, one of the reasons I chose to fly on Emirates is that they supply Veuve Clicquot. My kind of airline.

I had time to explore Queen Mary before I headed off to the airport and I had a wonderful morning walking around her decks seeing the Cunard exhibit,

admiring her elegance, and noting her similarities to Queen Mary 2. The wood paneling, the art deco lights, the open deck at the front of her superstructure,

her acres of teak decking. No, I don’t think Queen Mary is old and tired; she is like the rest of us, showing signs of the passage of time, but still as beautiful as classy as ever.

I bade her farewell and jumped into my taxi to the airport. There was very little traffic, and the airport was very organized, and in no time at all I was ready to board my plane.

Next stop Dubai, and a queen of another era.