By the time I wandered down to the gate at T-35 boarding was well underway. There was no mad rush of people, in fact there has been just a steady flow from T-35 to T-10.

Everyone was on board with ten minutes to departure and we were quickly buttoned up and pushing back.

A really chatty and ebullient crew, looks like it is going to be a good trip.

Menus have been distributed but I think I have some random special meal ordered

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I may regret the special meal, standard menu Is winner, winner, chicken dinner!

Next stop: London Heathrow in about two and a half hours time.

Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Or you claim that you didn't order a special menu;)

Bon appétit :)

Once we were underway service commenced with a drinks run and the food was served quickly thereafter. I’d ordered a Gluten free special meal which turned out to be a chicken in tomato sauce, so I got my chicken dinner after all!

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The remainder of the flight passed uneventfully, I had forgotten to download anything new to watch so passed the time reading a book on my iPad and clearing the bar of baileys and JW :)

good clear views over London this afternoon

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An excellent on time landing and a little over three hours until my onward flight to Newcastle. I do have some tentative arrangements to meet a fellow FT member in the CCR but have not followed up on it, so hopefully there’ll be a PM waiting once I get a signal.

And, lastly, my new toy :D

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Edit: And in true Heathrow style, a nice early arrival guaranteed a bus gate *sigh*

This brought back memories of my one and only trip to Riga not long after the neighboring invaders had moved out. I recall being in the old town sitting at a table drinking a beer outside and there was a folk music type group playing. I kept hearing the word 'bier' and had to ask the server what they were singing and she told me the lyrics were 'Without beer, life is not possible'. Indeed.

Thanks for the great trip report!

Oh and if you return (and to anyone else who might visit), if you're interested in a road trip, south of Riga just over the border into Lithuania is a place called The Hill of Crosses which has to be one of the strangest places I've ever seen. Well worth the visit.

Have you started a new Youtube channel? We all want to see your new episodes and videographic TR. 😂

After a very pleasant couple of hours in the Concorde Room it’s time to head to the gate. I had already arranged to meet with darthlemsip and they were already in the CCR when I arrived. Before I headed off to my hate I said hi to KARFA who in turn introduced me to Tobias-UK and Lady Tobias whose FT profile I cannot find.

Lunch in the CCR was the French onion soup, and then the venison bourguignon which was delicious

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Our gate this evening is A7 which is pretty much as far from the lounge as it is possible to get whilst remaining in the confines of the A Terminal. When I arrived at the gate they were loading up the tensa maze with group 1 and so a quiet word as to whether they were pre boarding group 0 seemed in order and I was ushered through and to the escalator,

Seat 1C as usual and propped on the table of 1B, also as usual whilst everyone streams on board

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Another new one for me, G-DBVG is ferrying me home this evening.

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Looks like there has been a catering error as a couple of Do&Co staff have appeared toting boxes of food trays

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Boarding has been dragging along, and now 15 minutes to departure we are all passengers on board.

Next Stop: Newcastle, eventually!

Good to meet you JapesUK (and KARFA and Tobias-UK and your good lady).

Was a nice way to spend a few hours, now I have to endure this hardship for the next 13 hours…

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I don't know how you deal with it.

My sympathy for your first class privations is underwhelming ;)

Once the plane was buttoned up we had quite a wait until we finally departed nearly thirty minutes late. Par for the course for an evening flight to Newcastle but disappointing all the same given we were all on board pretty much on time.

I’d ordered a Hindu special this evening which was the standard prawn dish with a worse desert :D Accompanied by a coffee and a Baileys, that sufficed to keep the wolf from the door for this short trip back to Newcastle.

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And that brings this trip to and end as they all do, with me penning this final update from the Uber on the way home. Uber driver set a new record for arrival time, he was already at the pickup spot waiting!

The flight itself was pretty pedestrian, the crew had seven full rows to contend with and managed to feed everyone, clear, and offer a second round of drinks which is all you can ask for on this Newcastle shuttle. They have an immediate turnaround and get to do it all again on the way back to London.

And with that, it’s goodnight from me, I get to empty and repack this evening and am on the train to Birmingham tomorrow Morning :(

Excellent report, the good lady and myself are heading to Riga next year, using up some Radisson points. until now I hadn't found anywhere worth dining. Table for two booked at Tam labam būs augt.

Thank you for this report. Riga is a very nice city to visit and I've been a couple of times but will go back in May. I will even stay at the same Radisson Blu you did.

Last time I departed Riga to another London airport on another carrier I compared prices and I'm confident this café is more expensive than those before passport control.