Autumn 2025. Began our retirement travels twenty-five years and a slightly smaller font ago. Not all equipment quite as originally issued and somewhat less inclined to stay at youth hostels (which never did stress the youth bit and where we were never the oldest guests).
Much more highly digital than in the early days. We used to book the train online - since even in the days when the Sioux Lookout station still admitted to being a station and not a request stop you couldn’t actually do stationy things like buy tickets there, though you could use the loo. But until a couple of years ago the stewards would eyeball the assorted bodies in the day coach and, following an educated guess, cross your name off a typed list. Followed in the last year or two by scanning the QR codes on downloaded boarding passes after everyone was settled. This year a first - polite request for the digital boarding passes before climbing aboard. Leaving me turning on my phone and searching for the rarely used digital wallet. Fortunately no queue behind us. The nice young man says that actually he doesn’t need to see our boarding passes; just ID that matches the purchased tickets on record, as they need better security these days. So passports displayed and we’re on. Though hard not to think that if one were entering a career as a terrorist one might prefer to adopt means of transportation that did not frequently run several hours late.
Though in fact we arrive early. And spend a day with family before heading off to the airport. Only a minor glitch. Electronic visa waiver, known as ETA, now required for entry to UK. Costs £10, lasts for two years, and is not intended to be accompanied by any paperwork or passport stamps as it is by some digital magic scannable in your passport. Which it is, in the UK at least and presumably in Istanbul where it has performed its duties earlier this year. But not it seems by Air Canada. Do we have any written proof? We provide screenshots of UK government emails from last March confirming our ETA approvals, prudently scanned last night, and discreetly do not call the nice man’s attention to the last line, which reads “You do not need to print or show this confirmation email”. Only in Canada.
So Winnipeg to Toronto followed by the midnight flight to London. Meal offering significantly worse than usual, but in compensation the French red wine now available free on both domestic and international flights perfectly drinkable.
And noon arrival cunningly planned so that with a bit of dallying we will reach our Airbnb at check in time. Though somewhat harder to dally now that entering the UK has become so much faster with digitalisation. Passport and ETA scan instantly. As previously.
Airbnb the same building we stayed in last April. Different flat with somewhat inferior layout - but greatly superior WiFi. Fair trade.
So spend Friday leaving for Kilburn High Road when hunger dictates. And delighting again in one of our favourite roads, vibrant with people, street corner vegetable markets, charity shops, cafés, and hundreds of people. And home with the basics plus a rotisserie chicken from the Arab shop and a bottle of Malbec. Good beginning.
Posts
