Lewis the Lion boards a Mexican plane
Lewis the Lion couldn’t quite believe how quickly his journey around the world was whizzing on by. His two weeks in Mexico had been action-packed. He’d learnt so much about the Mexican culture and some of the various histories that make up modern day Mexico, such as the history of the Aztecs and the Mayans. If he were honest, he was a little bit sad to be leaving the Spanish speaking world of South and Northern America behind him; he had met such warm and friendly people there.
Lewis flies with a Mexican airline
He tried his upmost to use his Spanish one last time whilst on board his next flights from Cancun to Mexico City and then from Mexico City to Salt Lake City in the United States of America. He was actually bound for the city of San Francisco in California but by breaking his journey up like this, he had managed to get a cheaper deal on the flights.
Lewis the Lion waves goodbye to Mexico
What was quite exciting about these particular flights was that as he passed from Mexican into the American airspace, he was able to use the Internet for the very first time from up in the clouds! Normally, they told you to turn off your electronic devices in the air so Lewis the Lion was amazed that he was allowed to do such a thing! ‘Perhaps in five years time this will be a normal part of flying?’ he thought to himself.
What do you think?
Lewis the Lion sees that this American city is built on a grid system
From the hotchpotch, colourful view over Mexico City, Lewis the Lion could see the contrast as he looked over a typical American city instead. American cities were generally thoroughly planned affairs, with roads laid out on a grid system. There were no roundabouts here!
Lewis the Lion can see a baseball and athletics stadium from the sky
The bird’s eye view from above, gave Lewis the Lion a twinge of excitement in his stomach. He could tell that he really was in the United States of America because he could see a baseball stadium and he knew that that was one of the most popular sports there. He wondered if on his journey he might get to see a baseball game himself? (Look out for Lewis’ next blogs to see if he did!).
Lewis looks out at Salt Lake City Airport
As the aeroplane landed in Salt Lake City, he could see the colours of the American flag (red, white and blue) represented in the design on the tails of this American airline. It certainly looked like a beautiful place to visit with the mountains glowing pink under a setting sun.
The tails of American aircraft
However, this time Lewis the Lion wouldn’t be visiting Salt Lake City as he was only transferring through on his way to San Francisco. However, they were able to pass through passport controls here and luckily, Helen’s visa was still valid from the time she had passed through New York on her way to Brazil. (An American visa lasts for 3 years from the date of issue at this present time). While he was waiting for his connecting flight, Helen decided that now that they were in America it was time to start investigating some typical American foods and so she bought them a plain bagel to share. (A type of thick, doughy, salted bread).
Lewis the Lion learns that he needs to watch our for additional tax!
She had counted out her American money exactly in order to pay for it (Lewis has a blog on American money coming shortly!) and so got a bit of a shock when she got to the counter and they asked for more! ‘Why was that?’ she asked. The sales assistant replied that it was the state tax and that tax was always added afterwards, unlike in many other countries where the tax was already added in. Helen and Lewis the Lion would have to watch out for that when they were travelling in America. In other words, you always had to pay extra to the price displayed and that included food, clothes, accommodation and everything else you could think of! ‘One thing you can be sure of in life,’ Helen joked with Lewis the Lion, ‘is death and taxes!’ And the pair of them laughed together, happy nonetheless to have arrived in America.
By the time they got to San Francisco it was very late at night. However, Lewis the Lion had had the good fortune of being sat next to a local man on the flight who gave him all sorts of top tips for his American adventure. He certainly felt very excited to be in America, even if he was very tired. He had passed through two time zones on his journey from Cancun to San Francisco and had to set his watch back a couple of hours. That meant he was now eight hours behind GMT (Greenwich Mean Time – an imaginary line that passes through Greenwich in London).
If it’s the following time in San Francisco, what time will it be in London?
1. 02:00 pm
2. 10:30 am
3. 5:15 pm
4. 6:45 am
5. 4:00 pm
Can you set some times in London and work out what time it would be in San Francisco instead? See if you and a friend can work it out!
Why do you think it’s important to remember time-zones when you are travelling?
