kevincrumbs

It was a October evening when the decision was made to walk to a British pub about ten minutes away from my house. After pints of beer and whatnot, my friend B made the suggestion that we should go to England (with our girlfriends) for a music festival in Minehead, Somerset called All Tomorrow's Parties. This edition featured the reunion of seminal indie-rock band Pavement, along with tons of other bands that they picked. We drunkenly stumbled back to my place, where we cracked open a few cheap domestic beers and I went ahead and booked our tickets to the festival. Of course, the festival wasn't until May, so I had conveniently pushed the thought of the trip all the way to the back of my mind.

Over time, the trip evolved into three parties with differing itineraries. My girlfriend was unable to come, so we invited one of our friends, M. B and his girlfriend, G, ended up touring Wales after the festival was over while M had to rush back to her job. That left me with a few days on my own after the festival, which I spent in the lovely city of Bristol. In regards to the flights, The other three flew together and were due to arrive at LHR quite early in the morning. I, on the other hand, did not feel like arriving so early and therefore took separate flights.

My routing was booked as PDX-ORD-LHR on UA and BRS-BRU-IAD-PDX with the BRS-BRU sector sold as a SN flight but operated with BD aircraft and crew.

12 May 2010, Wednesday
United 55
Portland International (PDX) 13:09
San Francisco International (SFO) 15:00
1h 51m
Airbus A320-200
N467UA


N467UA at Portland

Those of you who have been paying attention might've noticed that I wrote above that I was on a PDX-ORD-LHR routing (the dreaded 928 direct). I had spent the days leading up to departure worrying about the Icelandic volcano. I wasn't worried about the trip being cancelled but was aware through the UA forum that a decent number of TATL flights were arriving late. However, everything seemed like it was going to be fine for my flights, even though UDU was not available to me as my flight was booked as a direct flight through to LHR

The first sign that things were a bit off was during check-in at PDX. I had checked-in online but I always print my BP at the airport due to the lack of a functioning printer at home. However, EasyChicken declined to print my BPs and asked me to see a UA representative. I was told to basically hang out by the Chickens and wait for a bit. Unfortunately, no one could tell me exactly what was happening and soon I was joined by more and more people who found themselves in a similar predicament. At first I thought that this was volcano related but talked to some of my fellow passengers who were also told to wait, I realised that some of them were domestic passengers. After a wait of ten to fifteen minutes, we were all shooed into a separate line to check in.

At this point, I had had enough of waiting in line with the Kettles and walked over to the 1P line. The agent had her hands full with the gentleman before me, who was also facing the same situation in regards to not being able to get to ORD (and his eventual destination) at the scheduled time. When it was finally my turn, I was told that massive thunderstorms at ORD were the culprit and that I was looking at a delay that may or may not have me missing my flight. I asked for a re-routing and ended up on UA 55 to SFO with a long, long layover, eventually taking 930 to LHR.

This also meant that I now had an extra two hours at PDX. My first stop post security, which was very quick and easy on this late Wednesday morning was the RCC to inquire about an UDU opportunity now that I wasn't on a direct flight. I entered the RCC, climbed the stairs and was greeting by... no one. It seems the attendant was, well, attending to some business so I waited around for a bit as I didn't want to get in trouble for just waltzing into the RCC. It didn't take long for a lovely and friend lounge attendant by the name of L to show up. She was able to process my upgrade and also seemingly jokingly mentioned that perhaps I might need to help out UA and give up my seat in Y for one in C. I think I laughed and told her that while that would be nice, I certainly wasn't counting on it.

(Note: all RCC pics are from a previous visit.)


RCC sign at PDX


Up the stairs


PDX RCC


My traditional RCC breakfast, a glass of orange juice and some corn flakes


Obviously no one followed this suggestion...


*A FIDS

After a bit of time at the RCC, I realised that the corn flakes weren't going to tide me over until I arrived at SFO. In addition, the Wifi didn't seem to like my laptop (or vice versa), so I walked down to the C Concourse and had myself a meal and a beer at the Gustav's, which is a local chain of German restaurants.


My original flight to ORD


Current PDX advertising campaign. I like it, it's cute


F9 A319, taken from the concourse connector


Another one from the concourse connector, the Chester Dreamliner mashup


Concourse C, home of AS. US and WN are further down this concourse.


Pint of Deschutes some or another. As an Oregonian, I'm ashamed that I can't remember/tell what this is.


Weisswurst with onions, potato salad and sauerkraut. I'm not a huge fan of sauerkraut but I ate quite a bit of it anyway.

After that excursion, I eventually made my way to the gate. Boarding was bog standard and I took my seat, 3D, by the window. Seat mate was a gentleman in his fifties or sixties, although we didn't really speak. Take off was performed on 28R, which is the north runway heading towards the northwest. As usual, we turned left after passing the West Hills and headed southwards towards SFO. It was during our initial climb that one of the FAs came onto the PA system and gave the usual information. In addition she also gave a welcome to a choir group from Oregon State University that was heading somewhere for a competition. This elicited some clapping and cheers from their group and other friendly passengers. Not me, as I'm a Ducks fan . The rest of the flight was your standard PDX-SFO hop.


UA F on an A320-200

On approach to SFO, it seemed like we were taking a different route which had us out over the Pacific for a bit. Eventually, we made a couple of turns, flew over both the Dumbarton and San Mateo bridges and found ourselves lined up with Runway 28L for arrival.


Over Shoreline Amphitheatre and Moffett Field


Dumbarton Bridge

However, seconds away from touching down, I seemed to noticed that a LH 747-400 was awfully close to 28L. The 744 was trying to cross 28L and hold for departure on 28R. I didn't think too much of it but soon we felt the engines power up and the plane climbed steadily. The cabin itself was a bit eerie as everyone was trying to figure out exactly what was happening. My seatmate looked a bit puzzled, so I told him what I saw and hypothesized that the LH 744 caused the go-around. Once we turned left in a heading towards the Pacific, the captain came on the PA and confirmed my suspicions. She also mentioned that we'd give it another go and should find ourselves safely on the ground in about ten minutes time.


UA's maintenance complex, taken during our go-around

Once again, a couple of turns and we found ourselves lined up with 28L again, this time with a event free landing. Unfortunately, Channel 9 was not on during the flight. I would've loved to hear the whole thing as it happened.

kevincrumbs

Since UA 930 wasn't scheduled for departure until 19:08, I decided to leave the secured area in order to go visit the SFO Aviation Library and Museum. I'd always wanted to visit but had never been able to as I always was at SFO when the museum was closed or was only there for a short amount of time. I had also considered heading into the city itself but I really didn't want to miss my chance at visiting the museum.

I exited into the International Terminal, which I think is the single best airport terminal in the States, although I certainly haven't visited them all. I enjoyed walking through the terminal and seeing all the interesting airlines that were currently checking people in.


Always a pleasure to visit the international terminal at SFO


International Terminal exterior


SFO's non-geographically accurate advertising campaign

Upon arriving at the museum, there was a sign in front that it was closed due to an Air Berlin private event. Just my luck! However, it certainly looked like employees were busy taking apart tables and chairs set up for the event, so I decided to walk in and ask if it was alright for me to look around in the museum. The elderly gentleman let me know that it was not a problem and then promptly went back to the conversation he was having with a co-worker. The current exhibit was one that celebrated fifty-five years of service to SFO by JL. There were a lot of great artifacts that I wasn't able to photograph due to the glare from the glass. These included dinnerware, flight attendant uniforms, travel bags, aircraft models, etc. Located upstairs next to the library was another great exhibit that detailed the convergence of commercial aviation and popular music in the 1950s & 1960s.


JAL: Over Fifty-Five Years of Service


Old UA DC-3


Pan-Am & Eastern vinyl


SK vinyl


Giant Pan-Am globe

After that, I had more time than I anticipated having yet not really enough to anything worthwhile in the city. I therefore decided to go through security and head to the RCC or if it was open, the SKL. I was a little disappointed that there did not seem to be elite lines at security but then again, I had a ton of time and was in no hurry. Of course, the SKL was not open so it was to the RCC I headed. The lounge attendant checked my credentials, offered me some drink chits and welcomed me into the lounge. I wasn't expecting to be offered drink chits but happily took them. The RCC was really empty at this hour, with it being around four or four-fifteen in the afternoon at this point. I settled in, grabbed some celery sticks, carrot sticks, etc and cubes of cheese, along with a glass of POG. Unfortunately, none of the many televisions seemed to have Game 7 of the Montreal Canadiens/Pittsburgh Penguins game on, so I followed the score via my iPod Touch. After hanging out for awhile, I started to feel hungry so I headed out of the RCC in search for a real meal. For some reason, Tomokazu seemed appealing, so I stopped in for Tonkatsu and an order of maguro nigiri sushi. After that, a quick stop at duty free for a large bottle of Jameson whiskey for the weekend's debauchery and then it was back to the RCC for their Wifi.


RCC at the international terminal, SFO


First ever drink chits


Pint of Anchor Steam from the RCC bar


View from the RCC bar

Eventually, I headed out of the RCC for the final time to get to the gate. Our flight had already been delayed for an hour (late arriving aircraft? who knows?) at this point. I hung out upstairs for awhile until I heard the GA calling for a bunch of people to head to the podium, including someone with my last name. Immediately, I thought back to my prior conversation at the RCC in PDX and thought that this must be my op-up. I hurried down the escalator and made my way to the line at the podium. By the time I got to the podium and informed the GA of my last name, he told me that unfortunately that was meant for the three gentlemen who were just in front of me. I laughed and jokingly told him that if he changed his mind to please let me know. Boarding started soon after and was quite orderly. I pet/rubbed the outside of the plane, as is my tradition, turned right and settled into my seat at 23C, electing for an aisle for the long flight over to LHR. I was eventually joined by a family of four to my immediate right. The E+ section looked to be completely full.


Our crew waiting to board

kevincrumbs

12 May 2010, Wednesday
United 930
San Francisco International (SFO) 20:10
London Heathrow (LHR) 14:26 +1
Boeing 777-200
N791UA


Being loaded up prior to departure at SFO

So, there I was in E+ thinking about whether or not I should sign the issue of Hemispheres. I figured that I had the next ten hours to do so when I see someone (I can't recall if it's a FA or GA) walking down the aisle with a gold coloured BP. She stops at my seat and tells me that since the audio doesn't work at my seat, I'm going to have to do UA a favour and move to a different seat, which of course happened to be in C. The onboard op-ups are always the most interesting as everyone around you starts wondering exactly who you are and why you're moving up to C while they're stuck in E+. I hurriedly grabbed all of my items and moved to 11E the middle seat in the bulkhead row of the 2nd C cabin.

Pushback follows, along with our aircraft making its way to 28L for departure. Takeoff is without incident as we quickly make a sharp right, head over the Bay and onward towards LHR. Not too long after it is deemed safe for the FAs to move about, we are all offered warm nuts and I take a glass of champagne (not sparkling wine ^).


Champagne and warm nuts.

After that one of the FAs comes by to take our dinner order. I inform the FA that I'll take the curry as my first choice and he looks at me like I've got a third head. It turns out that I was given the menu for LHR-SFO/LAX/DEN. At this point, I take a quick look at the menu of one of my seatmates and decide on the Charlie Trotter grilled chicken breast with the braised beef being my second choice. I would've gone for the braised beef as my first choice, except that I had it SEA-NRT back in December. UA must've gotten braised beef on the cheap if they're still offering it six months down the line!

The menu and my the food I consumed onboard follows:

to begin
GENOA SALAMI, PROSCIUTTO AND VEGETABLE CRUDITÉ
With sun-dried tomato dressing



and

FRESH SEASONAL GREENS
Classic Caesar or Asian Sesame Ginger Vinaigrette



main course
GRILLED CHICKEN BREAST
WITH EGGPLANT STREWN QUINOA
With arugula pesto



BRAISED BEEF WITH PEPPERCORN SAUCE
Potatoes au gratin and sautéed spinach

SPINACH LASAGNA ROLLS WITH ROSETTA SAUCE
Parmesan cheese

dessert
INTERNATIONAL CHEESE SELECTION
4 Year Aged Cheddar, St. Rocco Triple Crème

SPECIALTY DESSERT
(Turned out to be strawberry ice cream)



midflight snack
MESQUITE SMOKED TURKEY WITH SWISS CHEESE

CUCUMBER AND PROVOLONE SANDWICH

Sandwiches may be served either hot or cold

ASSORTED SWEET AND SAVORY TREATS
ARE AVAILABLE THROUGHOUT THE FLIGHT

prior to arrival
CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST
Featuring a fruit appetizer, yogurt, breakfast bread and fruit preserves

For the heartier appetite, you may select the following entree:

CHEESE FRITTATA WITH CREAMY SPINACH
Roasted potatoes and turkey sausage

LAX/SFO-LHR (LD63-S69-B67)
210C036-2

For the appetiser, I felt the sun-dried tomato dressing was unnecessary for some vegetable sticks. Then again, there are probably people out there who won't eat any sort of vegetable unless it's slathered in sauce. As for the Trotter grilled chicken breast, I was really pleasantly surprised by how, well, good it was. Sure, some bits toward the end were a bit on the dry side but my expectations were terribly low, which helped my perception of the dish. I actually went looking for quinoa at the supermarket yesterday but wasn't able to find any. Who would've thought eating something in C on UA would inspire me to search something out on my own?

In regards to the dessert, it was a bit disappointing. I usually find the cheese plates to also be disappointing, so I went with the ice cream. Sadly, it was one little scoop of strawberry ice cream and not a sundae with all of the toppings and whatnot. Oh well, perhaps UA is concerned with my health and decided to leave whipped cream, chocolate and all of that jazz out for my long term benefit.

As I was finishing up my ice cream, we hit some moderate turbulence that lasted around an hour. I believe these were the same storms that affected ORD and stretched from Illinois to Minnesota and Wisconsin, which was where we were flying over at this point. IFE looked unspiring on this leg, so I only used it occasionally to take a gander at the moving map. Channel 9 was also off on this leg. I spent most of my time reading magazines and a throwaway travel book titled Smile When You're Lying. I also slept quite a bit as did most of the people in the cabin due to the hour at which the flight left SFO.

FAs were good about doing water runs, although I don't recall a specific run for the midflight snack. I did notice later while heading to the restroom that sandwiches, Sun Chips, etc were on a cart by the exit door opposite of the galley.

As for breakfast, I elected to have the continental breakfast and skip the frittata. I filled out my immigration forms and we soon found ourselves on approach to LHR. I'm not sure of our exact approach path but I believe we found ourselves over North London as I saw Wembley Stadium to our right. We arrived on Runway 27R and taxied for a bit before pulling up to our gate. This was my first time at LHR in almost ten years and I was expecting pretty much the worst.

The walk from our gate was insanely long and never seemed like it would end. Down endless corridors of varying pleasantness we went until I finally, finally made it to immigration. Of course, Fast Track immigration was not available, although the lines were not terrible at this point. However, a good many transit passengers ended up in the wrong place, which added to the wait times. There's absolutely no excuse for people proficient in the English language to not be able to read the signs properly and end up in the right place for transit security. Immigration was fine, although my chap seemed less friendly than some of the other guys and gals. I answered "mmhmm" to a question which prompted him to sternly ask if "mmhmm" meant "yes".

After that, it was down to the baggage claim, which looked straight out of the 1970s where I quickly claimed my priority tagged bag and headed out the door... yeah right. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason as to when bags came out and I found myself waiting around twenty minutes for my priority tagged bag to come out. Add LHR to the list of airports where the tag doesn't seem to do much. Customs was non-existent and soon I found myself in the lovely arrival hall of LHR T1. After a quick visit to the loo, I walked to the Heathrow Terminals 1, 2, 3 tube station, purchased a ticket and headed down a waiting train. On the way down the escalator, it looked like an older gentleman had just fallen on the opposite escalators. He was being helped by two uniformed London Underground employees and (presumably) his wife. Looked like he was going to be okay but also didn't seem like the best way to start off a journey.


Sitting at Heathrow Terminals 1, 2, 3 Tube station

I took the Piccadilly Line to Earl's Court, which took around fourty minutes. Since Earl's Court was on the Piccadilly Line, there was no incentive for me to use Heathrow Connect or Express as I'd either have to catch a taxi from Paddington or go back onto the Tube, anyway. The journey was pleasant, although I found myself a bit lost when I got off the Tube at Earl's Court. My confusion at attempting to find my way out of the station was obvious to see as a gentleman asked me where I was trying to go and helpfully directed me to a station exit. I passed a teenage girl being lectured by a London Underground employee about trying to go down a set of stairs whilst wearing rollerblades. She was forced to sit down halfway down the steps and to remove her rollerblades immediately. I have to say I was a bit amused by the exchange.

It was a quick and easy walk to our hotel, base2stay, and I soon found myself taking a nice hot shower at the hotel. I hung about the hotel for a bit, eventually went for a walk around the area and then met up with the three others. We then headed up to the Holland Park area for some dinner at Ladbroke Arms, a gastropub that was recommended on TimeOut.


Gloucester Road Tube station


Kensington


Earl's Court Road


Pavlova for dessert. This was my first ever Pav!

After a nice dinner and some pints of beer not found back home in Portland (including Sharp's Doom Bar), we took a taxi back to the hotel. Unfortunately the driver had no idea where the hotel was, so I told him to drop us off at the Earl's Court tube station and we'd walk the rest of the way back.

A few more beers at the hotel and it was off to bed for the four us... until a fire alarm went off at two in the morning, which turned out to be nothing. In my tired and confused state, I accused someone in our party of mistakenly setting an alarm for that time. Oops.

Quick note on the hotel, the location was good and the room itself was quite nice. Free Wifi throughout with a mini fridge and flat screen TV. However, on the morning of departure hot water was not available. We stayed in one room for the four of us with three separate beds and I think it came to $308 as a total. No pictures of the hotel, unfortunately.

kevincrumbs

After grabbing coffee and some pasties , we grabbed our previously arranged taxi to Paddington Station. The cost came to £16 for the four of us, which I thought was good value, especially since it eliminated the hassle of dragging luggage down into the Tube.

We arrived around fourty-five minutes prior to our scheduled departure time of 11:06. I wandered around the station for a bit, eventually finding a WH Smith in order to purchase a copy of the day's Guardian. I've always read The Guardian online, so it was a pleasure actually purchase a physical copy for once. Soon after the platform for our train to Taunton (which was headed towards Plymouth as its final station) showed up on the monitors and we joined the rush to board the train. Seats weren't assigned as it was basically first-come-first-served. It was fortunate for us that we managed to grab four seats near each other as the train was very full due to the festival we were heading out to. Those that boarded at other stations found themselves standing in the aisles and the spaces between the trains. There were announcements made onboard in which First Great Western explained why the train was so packed and apologised for the fact that not everyone was able to have a seat.


Paddington Station. My first visit here since 1996, I believe.


Paddington Bear statue at Paddington Station. This was one of those rare moments where someone wasn't posing next to him.

We arrived on-time at Taunton Station at around one in the afternoon. However, our booked coach to the site of the festival, the Butlins resort at Minehead, wasn't due until three. Normally, this would've been a nice excuse to walk around Taunton and find some place to have lunch but due to our luggage, we weren't really able to do so. Therefore, we spent the whole time at Taunton station, which is really not very exciting. Lunch was had at Pumpkin Cafe, which I believe is First Great Western's chain of in station convenience store. I killed time by falling asleep in the waiting room and after a wholly uneventful few hours at Taunton station, we found ourselves boarding our bus to Minehead.


Taunton Station, along with the train we had just stepped off.

After a nice fourty-five minute ride through the lovely Somerset countryside, we arrived at the Butlins resort at Minehead. Check-in took around ten minutes and then found ourselves walking to our chalet afterwards. The chalet was pretty basic with two rooms and a bathroom. One room had a queen size bed and the other consisted of two single beds.

Overall, the festival was quite fun, although as the weekend progressed, I spent less and less time watching bands. I felt it was a sign that I'm getting older as I no longer seem to be able to stand for hours on end watching bands. Food at Butlins was okay and I seemingly consumed curry every single night, along with pre-packaged sandwiches and the like. Definitely not the most healthy stretch of eating I've done. In regards to the bands, I think I enjoyed Times New Viking, a trio from Columbus, and Wildbirds and Peacedrums, a duo from Sweden, the most.


Exterior of the chalet.


Show schedules.


Skyline Pavilion at Butlins, which was home to the main stage at the festival. Shops, restaurants, etc. were also located in here.


Pavement playing the main stage on Saturday night.


Watching the England/Australia Twenty20 cricket final.


Large deck chair on the Butlins site. This fit around three people.


I never want to drink another Stella Artois after having God knows how many over the course of three days.

We also made it out to the town of Minehead itself on Saturday afternoon, which was quite lovely. The town sits on the Bristol Channel with South Wales to the north and the Exmoor National Park directly to the west.


Minehead.


The beach.


Logo for a local arcade, Merlins.


Minehead Station, currently served by the West Somerset Railway, who run heritage trains and trains for tourists.


The Avenue, Minehead's main shopping street, it seemed.


Fish n' chips from a local chip shop, Jaws Fish and Chips.


Minehead Hospital. Thankfully all of my alcohol consumption during the weekend didn't land me in here.


Minehead overview.

kevincrumbs

Reserved for BRS-BRU

kevincrumbs

Reserved for BRU layover

kevincrumbs

Reserved for BRU-IAD-PDX & IAD layover.

sobore

Nice report thus far! ^

Weean

Keep 'em coming!

I'm especially looking forward to the BRS - BRU leg, which I'll be flying myself later this year. I don't suppose you've experience of when SN themselves flew it with their own Avro's to compare to?

kevincrumbs

Thanks sobore and Weean for your nice comments so far!

Unfortunately, I don't BRS-BRU on SN/BD was a rarity for me as it was a new airline between two airports I'd never been to. The load was really, really light. I've been on EMB-120s with more people that the EMB-145 had on that day.

RyanOKC

I am really enjoying your TR. Can't wait for more!

Bretteee

The legroom on UA Y from / to Europe is "atrocious." Because of this I upgraded for $85 to Economy Premium + which is good. But I won't fly with them again because of this. I prefer an airline that offers decent legroom in regular Y.

I was also offered C for $600 but as I knew it's no big deal I was not interested.

CMK10

Enjoying the report so far. Howver, thanks to you I'm going to have the Velvet Underground song stuck in my head all day