My trip started with some … questionable packing. My suitcase was (for once) not overweight, but the same couldn’t be said for my shoulder bag. I also felt sorry for the sole remaining banana in my kitchen, so I managed to stick it in there …
Oh yea, and I had 4 hard boiled eggs in my 21st-century brown paper bag. I like to have snacks.
I also like to be early for my flights. This time though, I was just a little overeager … I was at my gate 3 hours before the boarding time. Yep, you could say I jumped the gun on that one. Solution – read up on my interviewers tomorrow and …
Tim’s COFFEE! (I didn’t win anything though … sadness).
In any case, 3 hours later, we were boarding the plane. First of all, they also had an option where you could gate-check your carryon, which I’ve never known about. This is VERY convenient, I find, because when you get off the plane, the bag is just sitting there, ready for you to pick up.
Porter Airlines does smaller flights (domestic mostly, although they also apparently fly to Chicago). So the airplane had two seats on one side and two on the other.
People, I’m 5’11’’. I have sat in way too many cramped airplane seats (pretty much all of them … *cough* Air Canada *cough* WestJet *cough* British Airlines *cough*). But but but HERE, I wasn’t a first class passenger and yet I could actually *gasp* move my legs around!
But the best is yet to come!
Free booze! (times 2 … whoops).
Free food (in a cute box!). There was a cute little sandwich and a cute little container of yogurt with a cute little piece of chocolate. I’m saving these for when I get hungry in Chicago. Instead, I ate my packed salad (mainly because I really didn’t want it to go bad …)
Lettuce, chicken, eggs, yum. Also onions – lucky person sitting beside me!
We landed in Toronto City Airport (tiny airport, right downtown too – so when you land, you get to fly by all the skyscrapers!) and I was just a TAD concerned about making my 7:40pm flight when we had landed at 7pm. As seen above, I like to be there EARLY. But not to fear. Seriously, this was the easiest connection I have ever done. It took all of 5 minutes. Oh and then you get to go to the lounge, where they have:
Free water! (If you saw the giant 2L bottle of water I brought on the first flight, you KNOW I need me some H20. Constantly).
And …
Free tea! Of the Tazo variety to boot! There was also free coffee and I think cereal? In any case, the lounge was great, and before I knew it, we were boarding the next flight.
The thing I have to say about these smaller planes – you can really talk to the person next to you. You guys aren't squished together like sardines in a can (like on some other flights), which I feel facilitates actual conversation, instead of the awkward you’re-sitting-on-my-arm and your-giant-duffel-is-taking-up-all-of-the-floor-space glares you usually send on commercial flights (what, just me with the glares?). I had an absolutely amazing conversation with a gentleman who happened to be sitting beside me – and he was a President of a communications company to boot! I really enjoyed learning about his life story and seeing how he ended up where he did – so much so that I did not even notice the 2 hour flight from Toronto to Chicago.
All in all, it was an amazing flight. The only issue I would say is that this is a small airline. Which means the aircraft is small. Which means landing and takeoff are … a little bumpy. Not for the faint of heart. But hey, that’s probably why they serve copious amounts of free booze. (Let me tell you, it definitely helps!).
And now I’m in Evanston, chilling at the Hilton and trying to calm my nerves about speaking to the professors tomorrow. I’ll do a full review of the place tomorrow, but man, it is FIIIIIINE.
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