When booking the flights from Malpensa to Reykjavic I had only a few choices, the only series of flights with relaxed transfer times was MXP - VIE - OSL - KEF. But first some context,
On second last day with my family I had been told a long term desire of mine, to visit the Italian sparkling wine marking region of Franciacorta, had been organised. Franciacorta is in the north of Italy, not far from Brescia or Bergamo. It was about a 90 min bus ride from Lake Como. The concern levels grew when I found out if was a coach trip organised by a social club. Now my Italian's pretty good, but it doesn't keep up in noisy environments with the rapid and simultaneous talking that comes from a rowdy group of people. I did however pickup the term "Bunga Bunga" used several times.
We left at 5pm and I held some pitty for the poor winery we were about to descend upon. But to my surprise it was the most elegant of old Italian villas at Antica Fratta, superb sparkling wines and a menu I've translated from Italian as:
Beaten fillet with black truffle of Norcia
Fried chicken flavored with saffron and liquorice
Raw meat with egg gelato scented with truffles
Potato mousse with wild salmon, capers and lemon
Ravioli with ragout of wild mushrooms, foie gras and slices of Jerusalem artichoke soup
Leg of goose lacquered with mashed purple potatoes, spinach, cream of celeriac and natural crunch
Delicate mousse with a heart of creamy toffee with mandarin laid on a delicious biscuit with spices, all packed into a formidable balance
All with fantastic wines to match.
After getting home at 3am (well past my bed time), the next dat was hiking in the mountains, followed by another farewell dinner then a wakeup call at 3am to head to the airport the following day for an early flight and 3 hops.
What could possibly go wrong?
OS518 MXP - VIE
B737-700 Seat 2A. Aircraft OE-LNN
Check in opened 2 hours prior to departure. With 3 boarding passes and my luggage tag I noticed 2 things.
1) The unfortunate position of the printing of the "C" on the Austrian boarding pass made the girl look like she was badly cross eyed
2) There was space on the luggage tag for 4 destinations rather than just the 3 I was using. I'm going to take this as a personal challenge next time to fill all 4. Any ideas?
Austrian uses the Lufthansa Lounge which I'm quite familiar with. I'm not a fan of Lufthansa European lounges. This one is buried in the bowels of the building and again is not well marked. It's easier to find on your way to the lounge back from the gates.
To get there you have to take a tour of the inner workings of the airport which to my eye is styled upon a 1980's Soviet public toilet.
The lounge was quiet and there was just a small selection of fruit juice, coffee, pastries, Prosecco and an Italian white wine, fruit, plenty of newspapers, red wine, yoghurt.
Good work area.
The liquid breakfast menu:
Several monitors for flight information and no boarding calls. Apart from the grinding of the coffee machine it's a quite haven.
Toilets however are in the public area.
At the gate there was no priority boarding and they were being very strict on hand luggage causing a long queue. Onboard was the usual economy like seating with middle seat kept free.
One difference from other carriers is their seat design. By moving the magazine pocket to the top of the seat back more knee room is available (something my 6'4" framre appreciates).
The leather seats were firm but comfortable.
Newspapers offered pre-takeoff.
Business class 50% occupied and 3 rows available. The first of my 3 hot meals in planes today was served.
There was lovely fresh juice and coffee in a cup with a gold plated handle!
Beautiful views of the alps. We flew just South of the area where I had spent the last week and my "A" seat provided me a great farewell view of the region.
Very pleasant FA looking after business class and plenty of information from the flight deck.
Plenty of warm bread and croissants offered while I watched Bruno on the iPad. (Despite having to shield the screen during some of the naughtier bits the hardest part was not to laugh out loud from time to time.)
Everything on-time, in fact a couple of minutes early leaving lots of time for a long taxiway at Vienna.