GASTRONOMIC JOURNEY FROM COCHIN TO MIAMI IN 36 HOURS .. SPECIAL THANKS TO TRAVANCORE COURT HOTEL IN COCHIN AND QATAR AIRWAYS

 I had an intense day in Cochin being with old and new friends both in Ernakulam and Mattancherry. and it was time to leave Cochin to get back to this part of the atlantic ..I know foodwise once you reach USA, it is a downgrade in Gastronomy (quotidian)

Rajesh the GM of the Travancore Court Hotel asked me whether I would be interested in some traditional Kerala seafood dishes and my favourite kerala bread Parotto, i could not say no.

we had Karimeen pollichathu , fish cooked in banana leaves and then served on a plate and the taste was so fresh and the flavour of Kerala. I had a glass of wine from Australia (a sauvignon blanc) and finished the dinner off with a cup of Masala Tea (very good)

I left the hotel soon after to go the Cochin International Airport.

At 10 pm on this Friday in Cochin , I said Hasta Luego and Hasta la victoria Siempre to Rajesh while a soft spoken driver by the name of Nixon took me to the airport. I will arrive at the home where i stay in Miami, 36 hours later, slightly longer than normal as I have to connect at Washington DC to Miami, rather than go directly from Doha to Miami.

At 10 pm, the hectic erratic pace of travel had slimmered down and we were able to reach the airport in 40 minutes (normally it might take one hour to 90 minutes).

Checking in was smooth, immigration was not painful or bureaucratic but the police at security made up for it all by making your life complicated wanting to check anything or everything smacking of electronics .. They were unsmiling unpleasant and without exception all from the north of India with permanent sour faces. I thanked them for doing their job.

Immediately up the stairs to the EARTH LOUNGE which serves as a Lounge to all eligible passengers regardless of the airline they are flying. I wish I was hungry to once again savour the Kerala cuisine that i am so fond of .

My brother Eliyahu loves Idlys.. rice cakes to which you add sambar or coconute chutney 

I had a small sample of Uppama and a sliver of uthappam with the appropriate condiments. Delicious.

I started my journey at Cochin Airport and I had to transit through Ronal Reagan Airport in Washington (which befits a poorer country than USA where they dont invest in infrastructure of airports! Cochin airport is about ten times nicer than DCA )

I love Qatar Airways and during the pandemic i had not been able to fly them and was looking forward to fly them 

Cochin to Doha 4 hours and 

Doha to Washington DV. 14 hours 

Imagine another meal at 4 am ..

I chose Lam and Tikki with curried chana and of course anytime is good for Champagne, this time Laurent Perrier. (merci beaucoup, France)

Qatar would be hosting the world cup in a few days time and the spacious cavernous luxurious tagged as the best airport int the world was full of people with their bags of different shapes and contraptions, coming and going and it was an organized chaos. The airport has hired hundreds of extra people knowing this onslaught and I was very surprised to see how friendly these people were.. I had a chance to say hello to someone from Yasawa in Fiji ! long ways to come fly Qatar. an also another pleasant person from Hyderabad.. All workers are young and you very seldom saw any one past about 30 years of age but of multiple nationalities.

Al Mourjan lounge has to be one of the best lounges at an airport in the world. Paris London HongKong have excellent lounges and I like the lounges at Narita Muscat and KL (my personal list). 

It is truly luxurious, service oriented, wide variety of food, sit down restaurants all done with a smile for those lucky to be able to enjoy this wonderful lounge 

I couldnt bring myself to eat yet another meal or savour the various chefs in attendance .. little Pellegrino please ..

and proceeded to the boarding gate . another security check, I told him I was from Uganda knowing that almost all security workers at the airport are from Uganda ..He was happy and said. It is my country.. (such minor pleasant interactions with a wide variety of people does crank up your happiness meter)

The flight was heading west leaving the gates at Doha at 9 am. The existential dilemma was to drink such a nice drop of champagne at this hour? Consulted my foodie friends and all of them unanimously agreed.  Time for Champagne 

I only had a small meal knowing more would be coming, as at Qatar Airways you can order any mean from the menu at anytime during the flight 

I had warm croissant pudding with pistachio and chocolate chips 

This aircraft had WiFi on board and it was good to have it as I could say hello to my friends as i flew over them , if the local time was appropriate.

My side was served by Olivia and to my surprise she was from Jakarta so an immediate rapport was created. She had to work very hard (they rest for half the flight and another set of Flight attendants take over) and she was enthusiastic and friendly. QR does not encourage the staff to take photos or exchange information etc, so I did not ask for a photo. and the chances of seeing her again on another flight is small as they have over 10 000 flight attendants at Qatar Airways which serves over 150 International destinations and in my opinion is the best airline in the world 

I was not bored, did not watch any movies or listen to any music but had a very interesting book on Qatar written by an anthropologist about the situation, nationality, identity in a country which was dirt poor in 1948 and recently was named the richest country on earth (Oil and Gas) and there are ten times as many indentured workers from Europe and America and South Asia and rest of the world as locals ..

Apart from slight turbulence near Greenland it was a smooth flight. Anytime i wanted a drink or a bite, there it was .. excellent service ..

Thank you, captains and crew of Flight QR 707 for bringing us all safe from Doha to Washington DC while the cabin crew did an extremely good job of making sure that we slept well, we ate well and we drank well.

Not a single American (North and South) or European (a toast to Air France, my favourite in Europe) airline would come anywhere closer to QATAR Airways. Kudos to HE Ali Akbar CEO