“Even more despised than the Brunch People are the vegetarians. Serious cooks regard these members of the dining public—and their Hezbollah-like splinter faction, the vegans—as enemies of everything that’s good and decent in the human spirit. To live life without veal or chicken stock, fish cheeks, sausages, cheese, or organ meats is treasonous.”
–Anthony Bourdain

”…a lot of people have written about how he [Bourdain] lived doing all the things they wanted to do (“I wanted his life,” Drew Magary’s eulogy starts) but the more important and equally universal feeling is that of wanting to be more like him—more curious, more confident, more capable, more generous. Traveling the world eating and drinking well and making friends with seemingly everyone you come across does seem like just about the perfect life…”

from Anthony Bourdain Was Who I Wish I Was

As I’ve said on Facebook, I wasn’t a Bourdain fan. I hadn’t seen any of his shows or read any of his books before his death. I vaguely knew of him as a guy doing a food show. It is clear now that he was much more than that, and that I’ve been missing out.

Since his untimely passing I have read many quotes attributed to him and watched season 1, episode 1 of Parts Unknown. I will be watching more.

It was about more than eating. It was about introducing a new place, and new people, and showing that we’re more alike than we are different.

I am so glad I’ve gotten to fly in this plane on a couple occasions in the last two years. The iconic Boeing 747 with it’s distinctive “hump” was introduced in 1970 and I can remember as a child seeing them at the airport, or in flight, and thinking that I would never be “rich” enough to fly in a “jumbo jet”.

Last year was my first time in one, and I was awed when I first boarded. I mean, the interior of that thing is big. With the 2-4-2 configuration in coach, that’s ten seats across, and a ten foot ceiling rear of the second deck, it’s cavernous.

I was lucky enough to upgrade to KLM’s “Economy Comfort” which is wonderful. In the KLM version, economy comfort is it’s own “cabin” – foreward of coach and rearward of business class. With more legroom and a dedicated flight attendant for the 36 seat area, you can’t beat it.

But the grand old dame is aging. I noticed it most in the entertainment system. Honestly, I didn’t really even notice that until I boarded a Boeing 777 for the last leg of my last trip. See, I had missed my flight the day before in Bucharest, so I ended up on this 777 the next day instead of the 747 I was scheduled to be on.

The 777 is a beautiful plane in it’s own right, and the economy comfort seat I managed to score was just as comfortable as in the 747, but it’s not in it’s own cabin…economy comfort is just the first few rows of the coach cabin in the 777. While it is more comfortable for me with my long legs, it doesn’t “feel” any different. No dedicated attendant either, just first service because of the location in the first few rows.

The entertainment system is where I noticed a real difference. After seeing the offering in the 777, I realized how dated the system in the 747 is. Not a huge deal, but definitely noticeable.