I am actually writing this in the LGW Presidents club in the middle of my fourth and final run. My back and shoulders are starting to feel the burden of hauling my backpack for the past several days as well as only sleeping in a proper bed every other night for a few hours. The result is I am starting to run on vapors and am probably going to take a sleep aid on the return flight in a few hours and hope I can recharge.
Now the rather boring trip number three which was completed on Thursday:
Overall, my third trip went just fine. A few delays due to weather in Houston on the 31st had me arriving for my IAH-LGW flight only a few minutes before boarding. Other than that, no problems in the air or on the ground and most fortunately, with the transit desk at LGW and customs back home. This was my first trip with a quick hop to Austin instead of Dallas. Nice airport for it's size, they had live music in a couple of places along the concourse, definitely a city I would like to see past the airport terminal sometime
.
By this third trip however, I am no longer incognito and am starting to be recognized. First when I checked in at MSP, the agent was having the standard trouble checking me in due to my multiple segments. Just as I was about to suggest checking in each segment individually which had been done the first two trips, another agent who checked me in the previous trip walked over and told the other agent that I was apparently attempting to set some type of in air record and finished checking me in. He indicated he and a couple of other agents had been talking about me after the last trip and wanted to know how many more times I would be checking in over the next year
I was also recognized by one of the PC club staff though she said they often have regulars passing back and forth on business and has seen more than her share of mileage runners and actually likes to help them out with their itineraries when things go wrong (I'll have to remember her!). Finally, on my IAH-LGW segment, two of the FA's remembered me from my first trip and one of them asked if I really liked London THAT much.
Luckily just in time to break the monotony, February brought new movies and new menus. Outbound was still the January menu, on the way back we were presented with the following choices:
TO BEGIN
Warm roasted nuts
served with your preferred cocktail or beverage
HOT APPETIZER CART
A demitasse of goulash soup
accompanied by a savory vegetable and mushroom filled pastry
and smoked shrimp, served with coriander sauce
SALAD
Fresh mesclun salad mix
topped with orange, pink grapefruit and almonds
Offered with your choice of tomato and thyme vinaigrette
or sour cream dressing
Freshly baked garlic bread and assorted rolls with butter
MAIN COURSES
The Chef’s Selection
Grilled ribeye steak complemented by a demi-glace sauce,
presented with rosemary potato wedges
Green asparagus Eggplant confit
Herbed Breast of Chicken
Enhanced by morel mushroom sauce,
offered with seasoned sugar snap peas and buttered carrots
Rosemary new potatoes
Sea Bass with Grilled Shrimp
Complemented by fresh sautéed spinach,
served over saffron risotto,
accented by tomato ragoût with onion and bell pepper
Pasta Bowl
Eggplant lasagne with marinara sauce,
topped with green asparagus
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese will be offered with your pasta
FRUIT AND CHEESE
Select European cheeses accompanied by fresh seasonal fruit,
assorted gourmet crackers and rolls, served with Port wine
DESSERT CART
Featuring vanilla ice cream offered with your choice of toppings
or a petite dessert cup
Fresh Brew® gourmet roasted regular and decaffeinated coffee
made exclusively for Continental Airlines
Tea with your choice of milk or lemon
Enjoy a cup of freshly brewed Emilio Caffè Italian Espresso or Cappuccino
available exclusively in BusinessFirst on our 777 and 767 aircraft.
•••••
EXECUTIVE MEAL OPTION
If you should prefer more time to work or relax,
we suggest this meal option, complete with appetizer,
salad and hot main course, presented all at once, whenever you wish.
Please choose your main course from the selections on the previous page.
•••••
SKYSNACKS
A selection of light snacks and refreshments will be available.
REFRESHMENT
Will be offered prior to arrival
Appetizer plate featuring salmon and dilled baby shrimp,
served with horseradish sauce
Fresh seasonal fruit
•••••
Chicken Cacciatore Pocket
Minced dark meat chicken, Emmental cheese and tomato sauce
with white wine, mushroom and herbs in a pinwheel pastry pocket,
offered with a cherry tomato, gherkin, Kalamata olive and onion garnish
•••••
Chocolate
Fresh Brew® gourmet roasted regular and decaffeinated coffee
made exclusively for Continental Airlines
Tea with your choice of milk or lemon
All menus are subject to change. The above information should be taken as a general guideline for meal service onboard your flight.
We apologize if occasionally your choice is not available.
Quality and presentation continued to be excellent with one exception. I selected the Sea Bass of the new menu which was one of the nicest preparations of the fish I had ever had. It had been cooked just enough to keep it moist, yet firm with a light delicate broth over the fish and rissoto.
At the polar opposite was the Goulash soup. Now I'll try to describe the goulash which was served in a demitase cup with two other appetizers. Actually, there is no way to describe it. It was some type of dark and oily liquid with bits floating in it. Truly awful looking and tasting would be all I could really say about it. As the FA took it off the tray he commented that it was the first time they had served it and practically no one had even touched it. My compliments go to the Continental chef's in general, but goulash...really?
In fact, I would have to say the catering out of IAH seems to be just a bit better overall than what comes out of LGW.
I'll do one more post after my trip is complete. I had an interesting interaction standing by on the earlier IAH-LGW flight and my scheme to get home a day came together and fell apart just as quickly which resulted in an almost 5 hour layover at Gatwick which is where I end this now.