BBC link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-14641567
Hope JC is secure in a sound structure if he has decided to brave the hurricane by remaining in the Bahamas. Feni is always a good companion in such a situation or perhaps refuge in the Atlantis Hotel and Casino where all the celebrities on the island will no doubt be sheltering. The restroom there (quaint American for the Canadian washroom or the British Loo/WC) is one of the best I have ever experienced. Large, spacious and well decorated, it competes with the rooms in Rideau Hall, the Governor-General's palace in Ottawa. There is a couch in the Atlantis men's facility that would be the envy of any Goan village or city fidalgo home during the grandeur of colonial days. I sat on it to contemplate my losses on the Baccarat table. Perhaps that was its purpose. If you come to Toronto and do the city bus tours starting from the Metro Convention Centre, do not miss the availability in the uppermost floor of the nearby Royal York Hotel. Visiting royalty staying use that washroom and it has the old Edwardian touch, a foil to the brash American luxury of the Atlantis. During my Bombay days, thanks to the weak bladder of a friend, I pretty much knew all the washrooms in and around the Fort and Colaba areas (downtown). Though American Express, Thomas Cooks and Lund & Blockley (the high-end opticians) had the best outside of the Five Stars, their luxury was more than overcome by the other commercial run of the mill white-tiled facilities that had blobs of red permanently and generously splattered along with ammonia attacks on the nostrils. Repeated maintenance and washing does nothing to paan chewing effluents. The worst in Bombay hands down, outside of the police stations are the Central and Western Railway terminals at VT and Churchgate. About 50 feet from the entrance, you are assailed with a Not Welcome greeting that puts off all but the most hardy, the latter being daily commuters. Hope things have changed there by now. Roland. Toronto.
