And now, time for the main event.
Oh, you know right where I’m going. I managed to make it to AA Platinum this year which meant free advanced seat selection on BA and on this trip in came very much in handy.
In keeping with this nostalgic day, here’s the best international business class cabin of the Clinton presidency!
I was very comfortable, but as you can see this plane felt rode hard and put back wet.
Plus, if you’re not traveling with the person next to you it’s weird that you stare right at them unless you make a conscious effort not to.
On the plus side, the crew was right lovely (I think that’s how you say it in English English). Plenty of smiles, champagne, amenity kits and menus were handed out as we waited to depart.
A decent collection, the pen is now a fixture in my office.
Christmas Fayre you say?
I was expecting only a very light dinner but this menu left me much happier than I expected to be. I could easily say at this point “I didn’t need to eat so much in the lounge” but I did need to. Because I’m me.
After a short delay due to baggage loading issues, during which I had a lovely talk with my seatmate and naturally, apologized for Trump (she was British), we sprang to the skies for the short journey to the UK.
Big negative points for just handing me a pack of nuts, BA. This isn’t a short hop you know!
I’m not usually a fan of one-tray set ups (especially as my last Business Class flights were on Qatar where tray set ups are an art form) but it’s a short flight and BA isn’t exactly a world class airline. As it was, I enjoyed the food, especially my Christmas Turkey dinner! That was super fun. I even managed a good three hours of sleep in the comfortable enough bed. And it wouldn’t be BA without…
BACON SANDWICHES!
All in all, a very enjoyable flight. I had rock bottom expectations for CW, after all, it seems every day there’s another dozen BA horror story threads in the BA forum but they impressed me. The seat is obviously more outmoded than my 1995 Montero (RIP, first car) but the crew was great, food was fine, alcohol and wine were decent and hell, any flight in the Upper Deck is special. So a good use of miles that was.
BA 388 LHR-BRU 0645-0900 A-319
My connection was as easy as pie (which, incidentally is not easy because using the oven scares me, but that’s another story). We came into B47, I walked a ways, woke up some security guards at the B Concourse checkpoint and my next flight was leaving from B32. Despite my 95 minute connection I still had plenty of time for the lounge.
Which as you can see was very empty.
Food options were pretty decent too, though as I was as close to full as I ever get, I stuck to a croissant, coffee and juice.
I must say, it was a bit eerie seeing LHR so empty. Though once I got to the gate I understood a little of why: the flight to BRU would have literally 14 people on it.
When the agent called us to board, I demanded to know why she wasn’t boarding by class and status and when she was about to explain herself I cracked a grin and she laughed heartily and thanked me for the joke.
Remember how I said there were only 14 people on board? Well, your favorite trip report writer (I hope) was the sole passenger in Club Europe.
Which obviously deserved a selfie.
Of course as this was Europe, I was still uncomfortable.
The crew was great. They laughed and joked with me and said I could have as many hot towels as I wanted.
Discomfort aside, it was pretty awesome that there was a choice of meals. I went with the Full English over the continental as, well by now you already know why.
The closest I’ve ever been to feeling like I was alone on a private jet.
As is always my lot in life, it was raining when I landed. But, I was still in high spirits as I just had TWO British Airways flights in a row with no complaints. Now that’s rare.
Brussels
After getting a passport stamp (yay!) my good spirits vanished. My bag was not waiting for me. Worse still, the baggage service people were incredibly unhelpful and even worse, completely ill informed. They opened a claim for me but had no idea where my bag was. I know AA had delivered it to Boston:
AA has baggage tracking on their app afterall. But the agents couldn’t tell me where it was or when it would get to Brussels. I told them I was moving onto Paris the next day and I got met with what I think was what authors describe as a “Gallic Shrug”. I also asked if perhaps the bag could just be sent to Paris and be waiting for me there and was told no, that it had to come to BRU first which is frankly, idiotic. This meant I was stuck with just the clothes I had on (a suit), the shoes I had on (dress shoes), a CW amenity kit and the contents of my laptop bag which didn’t include my guide books. I was told I could purchase emergency replacement stuff but it was still not how I wanted to start my trip. In fact, I was in a downright awful mood because of it.
It also ate up a lot of time. Thankfully, getting downtown was really simple. I also knew my hotel was around the station somewhere so I figured I’d walk outside, find a place with Wifi, and boot up Google Maps on my phone.
Huh, or I could just walk to the hotel which was literally across a plaza from the main station entrance. I was also happy to find that they had my room ready for me at 10:30 AM.
Well it was no suite, but it was technically some kind of upgrade (an “Executive Room” or whatever BS nomenclature they were using) and quite comfortable. The location was good too but wow, the soundproofing was AWFUL and so was the Wifi. As a HH Diamond I get annoyed that some overseas hotels just have one free wifi network for everyone with no premium option.
I would see the words “1 bag still missing” a lot over the next few days. At this point though I didn’t know how bad the bag situation was going to be so I figured I’d just go do my day’s exploring in my suit (after a shower though) and maybe the bag would arrive tonight or at worst tomorrow morning.
As I mentioned earlier, I didn’t have my guidebooks so I had to rely on just some notes I’d taken and my phone. Still, it was the eve of 2017 and I’m a smart enough guy so I was able to make that work. At this point I use guidebooks more out of habit than out of necessity. Annoyingly, Monday is Museums Are Closed Day in Belgium so I would have to confine my activities to mainly walking around.
Brussels was mobbed by tourists but at least I got the smug satisfaction of knowing I was the best dressed one.
One of everything, please!
Ah a store with “me” written all over it! My walk was pleasant enough though the more I walked the less impressed I was with the city. Sure it was nice enough, but it also felt a little dingy and I didn’t get that awe inspiring feeling of wonder I’ve gotten in other World Cities. Still, it was a fun place to be at Christmas Time.
You know me (or if you don’t, you’re about to learn) that when I see a church I go into it. This was St. Catherine’s which was a good start to my week of churching.
See what I mean? Nice I guess but not nice enough for my tastes. Though to be perfectly honest, it’s quite possible I was just being a cranky pants because of my bag, and the fact that my shoes don’t do well on wet surfaces and I kept slipping.
In its defense, the Grand Place was indeed quite a grand place. And one of those places I was glad I came to during the Yuletide Season.
Billions of Blue Blistering Barnacles!
At this point I found myself literally having to push my way through throngs of tourists.
AND FOR WHAT! Though if that made you hungry, there’s always this point:
Yep, that actually exists.
Me, I’m more of a café kind of person.
Especially when I can have a lunch like this. Mmm that was a tasty one.
After lunch I walked through a really run down, nondescript neighborhood which was worth it because I came to my destination of a local brewery!
2016 was the Year of the Local Brewery for me and I had a really lovely couple of beers while talking with a fellow Hop Head from San Diego. Beers make bag woes bearable.
A subway ride later and I was at Atomium. It was built for the 1958 World’s Fair and is absolutely worth a visit just for its sheer oddness.
Of course half of Europe also had this idea so it took me 30 minutes or so to get inside.
I decided to skip the elevator that took you straight to the top (there was a line of 150 or so people) and go see the exhibits along the way instead.
This turned out to be a great choice as this was one of the temporary ones!
It wasn’t lie flat back then but come on…onboard typewriter!
Yeah I think I’d make that face too.
At this point I was exhausted and needed some rest. I’d slept 3 hours in the last 31 and decided to head back towards my hotel.
Still, I always have energy for one more church, especially as this one (the Cathedral St. Michael)
Very impressive. Now, for that rest.
A nice touch to find in my room. So anyway, after waking up for a nap I found there was still no update on my bag. The stores in Brussels that sold clothes were only open from 10-7 and I was in a really pissy moody and decided I didn’t want to go foraging or put my dirty clothes back on. I regret this now, but I had a little temper tantrum and stayed in my room eating chocolates as dinner and cursing British Airways, fate and God in that order.