Thomil's Random Ramblings

Monday, 0700h local time. Warwick, Rhode Island. It’s time to leave for home. Well, not quite. My flight doesn’t actually leave until 2050h local time, so I have an entire day to kill here in the US. And what better way to kill time than by shopping? So that’s exactly what my plan will look like for the day. First, however, there’s the little matter of checking out that needs to be settled, after breakfast that is. Getting my suitcase put into storage isn’t really the issue, that is done quickly. However, during the checkout process, the reception agent tells me that my credit card payment hasn’t gone through. Gulp! Not what you want to hear when you’re a transatlantic flight away from your bank! Apparently, it’s just an issue with the card, and another payment with the local card terminal goes off without a hitch. Still, that’s another couple of months taken off my life expectancy. Hey, where'd the sun go??? Kennedy Plaza, the main bus interchange in Providence. Not reall...

This is part 4 of a five part series on my visit to Providence and Boston.  Be sure to check out Part 3! For the first time on this visit to the US, I’m actually pulled out of sleep by my alarm clock. It is 7 AM, and I’m beginning to feel the first twinges of exhaustion, as the last two days catch up with me. Well, today is going to be a more relaxed day, not least because it is Sunday, and most of Providence doesn’t really get going until the afternoon. Still, by 9, I’m back at the airport to catch the bus into the city. Now, last night, after WaterFire, I’d taken the No. 1 Bus back to the airport, and gotten a glimpse of South Providence. However, this morning, as I take the No. 20 bus, I’m taken aback by just how run down and deprived some areas in Warwick and South Providence are. I know that the entire area has taken a hit economically over the last few decades, but some of that stuff is really an eye-opener for someone with a European background like me. The morning ...

This is Part 3 of a five part series on my little jaunt to Providence.  Just click here to check out Part 2! Warwick, Rhode Island. Saturday Morning, 0630h. My feet and I still aren’t on speaking terms, but since my internal clock is still running on Irish Time, I’m wide awake and ninety minutes later, after another great breakfast, I’m out of the door and inside the walkway to the airport terminal. The MBTA trains don‘t run on weekends (Booooo!!!!), and Amtrak doesn‘t serve T.F. Green Airport (Booooo!!!!), so it‘s bus only from now on, and those buses leave from the terminal building. Hey, at least the weather is better. Much better in fact, the sun is shining and there isn‘t a cloud in the sky. As for the buses themselves, all services running between the airport and Providence are operated by RIPTA, the Rhode Island Public Transport Authority. Somewhat surprisingly, at least for European minded travellers like me, RIPTA doesn‘t operate any ticket machines, or public transp...