Originally posted by violist:
UA
Ch9 = y on IAD-MUC, not on FRA-IAD
salt and pepper shakers = y
Airshow = y
Empower = n (haven't had it all year)
LH short-hauls
none of the above: no audio or video or food at all
UA 962 IAD MUC 1730 0730 9J
777. Really nice cabin crew. Purser was an energetic
little Greek (I presume; his family had a place in the
Greek islands) guy named Tony; the rest of the staff
were pretty senior, Germanic women: as I said, very
nice, and one of them was a pretty blonde. The one I
liked best was a Hausfrau type who kept making sure
I had enough to eat and chided me when I didn't take
a chocolate (I relented). We chatted later, just before
landing, and she and other FAs showed a strong interest
in and real knowledge of French wines.
To begin
Asian soba noodles with citrus-cured smoked salmon
Ginger soy hijiki sauce
My choice. United does well with smoked things,
especially trout and salmon. This was moist and good.
(or) Fresh mozzarella and Roma tomatoes
Aged balsamic vinegar and rosemary oil
Seasonal salad leaves
Javanese or classic Caesar dressing
Javanese apparently means sweetened soy vinaigrette
with ginger. The staff on this flight seemed to
think the name was "Japanese," which would be more
plausible anyway. The FA serving this gave me
about 5 tablespoons of it, which was okay, but
I had to shake each forkful to get dressing off it.
Main course
Roasted pork loin with bourbon whipped sweet potatoes
Haricots verts with shallots and spicy pecans
I've had this before; it had been decent but not so
good that I needed to order it again.
Veal loin steak with Marsala cream and red peppercorns
Rhubarb saute and butternut squash
Delicious. A smallish portion done medium-well, the
Marsala cream being really a brown sauce (good for me),
lots of red peppercorns. Rhubarb saute was very very
sour but interesting. The main problem was that the
"veal loin steak" was really a pork chop. Perhaps the
roasted pork was really veal, I didn't see. I had a
decent Chablis with the meal. The other white choice
was a California (Geyser Peak, I think) Chard. Also
available were some bourgeois-cru Medoc and the oaky
but tasty Eshcol Cabernet.
Wild mushroom, ginger and garlic wontons
Ocean seaweed salad and miso egg drop broth
My seatmate, a roving manager of a multinational,
very interesting to talk to, had this and (in contrast
to what I'd seen on other flights) ate every bit. We
talked a bit about Munich, his home, and his plan for
my stay was to spend one week at the Old Art Gallery
and two weeks at the New Art Gallery. He takes (I think
he said) 4 international trips a month and hates flying
(but enjoys visiting cultural attractions in China,
India, wherever).
Dessert
Regional cheese plate
Maytag Blue and Wisconsin Gouda
Eli's Caramel Brownie Fudge tart
I had this latter, eating around the cheesecake heart.
It was extraordinarily sweet but otherwise okay. One
thing I enjoyed was that it was topped with bits of
toffee (the kind I used to love in Butter Brickle
ice cream, back when I could eat ice cream, and would
save out all the little "brickles" for last).
Godiva chocolates
I said no, but the attendant made a moue, so I said
okay, just one, and she brightened up. I had a chocolate
cream that was somewhat better than I remembered.
Prior to arrival
Seasonal fresh fruit appetizer, your choice of
fruit yogurt, cold cereal and breakfast breads
Bistro eggs with bacon and tomatoes
Smoked Gouda cream sauce
Slept through this. I would like to have tried the eggs
again just to see if they were as horrible as I recall.
Woke up after the breakfast service and was served a
glass of Dom as a consolation prize (was offered seconds
but didn't take more).
LH 2447 MUC TXL 1945 2055 18A
735. The Business Lounge was empty, but I was invited
to the crowded noisy Senator Lounge, where there was a
pretty generous buffet and tons of soberly-dressed
Bavarians (and not a few Americans). There were Tucher
Hefeweizen and Lowenbrau Pilsener on draft; it's not
self-service here, you call over one of the staff, who
does a better job of pulling a beer than I would. On
the board were egg and tuna and something unidentifiable
salads, fresh fruit (excellent kiwis), fruit yogurt,
leberwurst (ok), hamburger patties (very oniony), curried
tuna patties (good with beer), tomato salad (very popular
and so I missed out). All sorts of baked goods. All sorts
of candies, including chocolate bars and gummis - I saw
more than one macroscopically mature businessman putting
big scoopsful of gummis and jelly berries on his plate!
Somehow United Connection didn't successfully talk to
the Lufthansa one, so my confirmed paid biz class seat
evaporated and I was relegated to the middle of the
plane, no great tragedy, as it was that fake biz class
that you get in Europe, and the flight was only an hour,
and I'd eaten all sorts of bad-for-you things at the
lounge anyway. So there I was in Row 18, the farthest
back I've ever been on a 737. Had an empty next to me,
one of the few on the aircraft. Snoozed the whole way.
There was a beverage service; nothing else, I think.
Interesting things. On the wing where on domestic
planes is stenciled "NO STEP" there reads "Do not
walk outside this area." Are German mechanics more
literate in English than their US counterparts?
Also, on both LH legs, the announcement was made in
English only: "Cabin attendants prepare for landing."
Domestic C is a lot different from domestic eco on LH, you are served much better, bet Champagne (not sparkling wine), something to eat and magazines, and they try only to seat
the people 2 and 2 in the 3 and 3 rows.
English is the official air traffic language, that is why the wing is painted in english (the planes fly in Europe too anyhow) and why
the annoucements for the FAs was made in English too.