It's been about 6 years now since i flew on "the rocket" or as one of my English friends called it, "the needle". I had the same initial impression of how small the cabin felt. It wasn't quite as bad as a CRJ but not the kind of luxury one would expect for a ticket that cost 10 grand. Nonetheless, it was an experience that I'll never forget. A few of the details that I remember:

- Celebrities: Sat 2 rows in front of Kate Moss and her entourage. There were also several recognizable CEO's on the flight.

- LHR Arrival: Coming out of customs to a throng of paparazzi.

- The gifts: Every passenger received a blue and white Tiffany-like paper weight as well as some stationary from Smythson's to commemorate the journey.

- The Flight (!): Taking off was one of the coolest things I've ever experienced. Needless to say the plane was quite noisy and the takeoff roll was a bit bumpy. After take-off, we made a sharp left turn out over the Atlantic and the Captain "hit the gas pedal". I was obviously grinning from ear-to-ear but what I really found interesting was that even the Concorde veterans seemed to be enjoying the thrill just the same. I was fortunate enough to be sitting in the bulk-head seat directly facing the display showing both our altitude and airspeed. Just before we broke the sound barrier, the Captain came over the PA to remind everyone about what was coming up. He said you might sense a slight vibration as we passed through Mach 1. As we passed Mach 1 (on our way to just under Mach 2), the cabin became remarkably quiet. We eventually leveled off around 65,000 feet (IIRC). Unfortunately, it was a bit too cloudy to really make out the curvature of the Earth. Still, looking down from that altitude was unreal. We started our descent well off-shore and glided (no flaps on the Concorde) to a nice easy touch-down at LHR.