We were all on board in good time and then we waited and waited on the stand before eventually pushing back 15 minutes late. No idea why we were on the stand for that long with the doors closed as no announcements were made. Once we eventually pushed back we then had another 10 minutes of taxiing slowly around the airport and finally we were off the ground at 12:36.
Service started around 13:00 with a glass of the LPGS crowd pleaser. Speaking briefly to one of the crew discussing the champagne, she let slip she had been on the specialist First training which came as no surprise to me at all, our two cabin crew today already stand out as being at the top of the tree.
The amuse bouche was a morsel of cheese and various accoutrements and I found it fairly dull. I paired it with the Sounds of Silence Pinot Noir and enjoyed that so much I’ve carried the pairing on to the soup starter.
After the amuse bouche was cleared the table was laid for the meal. A choice of rolls was offered and I went with the milk roll as it would be soaking up soup
the other choices were brown or white herb rolls.
The lentil soup was a good as last time, the presentation was slightly different with a much smaller portion of pappadum. Delicious, and a wiped clean dish returned to the galley.
The chicken main course was really good and the Samphire was an interesting twist, flashbacks to childhood and the guy that used to appear every Sunday with his horse and cart, selling fresh samphire street to street. I’m sure no one will be surprised to hear that most of the sides returned to the galley.
Ice cream and all the trimmings was the obvious choice for desert, and a glass of the white burgundy to replace the LPGS that I have been nursing alongside all of the food matched wines.
To finish, cheese and port, and I was talked into a glass of Sauternes too. After that it was time to close down with an Americano coffee and a cognac.
Three and a half hours after take off and the meal is over, time to move onto light bites
Kidding! After all that food and assorted wines it was time to hunker down and watch a film/have a snooze. The lights have just been dimmed and the shades all closed and we are eight and a bit hours to landing.
Just chatting away to the crew and it will be this same crew on my return flight. Even more interesting, apparently the whole thing is overbooked from economy through to club world, but there are a couple of spaces in First. What’s the chance that lightning will strike twice!!
Two hours later and with a film and snooze in the bag it was time for a coffee and baileys to keep me hydrated
No photo this time because as the drinks arrived there was a pretty decent jolt and most of the coffee vacated the cup! Clean up on aisle 1!
The next couple of hours was spent watching a film and then, feeling a bit peckish, I asked for the Light Bites Burger. I was expecting something, well, light, but what arrived was the full Monty burger, and very tasty it was too. By the time I’d finished my burger we had been in the air 8 1/2 hours and it was time for more films and, hopefully, a little bit more snooze.
Roughly an hour to go to landing it was time for breakfast. After the burger three hours ago I wasn’t feeling particularly hungry so I chose the fruit plate to pick at, and some pancakes. I found all of fruit a bit tasteless but the pancakes really hit the spot!
With about thirty minutes to go the in flight lead gave me this lovely card and postcard.
Great flight, excellent crew, and a special shout out to ‘the flying nurse’
. It’s fair to say that the 12+ hours went by quickly.
We were on the ground nice and early at 07:22 local time, 00:22 UK time,
Only one thing to come, a short video of the behaviour of a fairly full glass during some turbulence.. watching this, the glass shape makes a lot of sense! That will be my next job, to trim it and upload, but a little catching up on FT first.