Day 7—“This is British Airways!”

OK, there had to be a plane picture in here sooner or later.  I thought it was funny that the A318 is half the size of the A321.

Four kinds of Budweiser!

Today, we went home.  For 22 hours.  Our car service was at 7:20, so we got up, packed the last minute items, and headed to breakfast, before checking out at 7:18, as our 7:20 driver waited, ready for us.  He drove a Skoda, only interesting since it was our first time in a Skoda.  We arrived at the airport at 7:43, and Czeched the boards…only to find out BA opened at 8:50.  L  Finally checking in at 8:50, we went to the lounge, and found…Budweiser of four varieties!!  B: Original, B: Dark, B: Strong, and B: Free.  No time for “Free”, but we tried the other two (having had Dark last night).

Nice nuclear power plant in the background!

European version of "Business Class".

For those who don’t know “Business Class” in Europe is basically Coach with the middle seat blocked out.  Not even extra space (pitch, the distance from one row to the next).  It’s sort of “we don’t really hate you-Coach”.  The food was OK, and the drinks were nice, and the service not bad.  But, Theresa asked for “Champagne”, then realizing her manners, reposed the request for “sparkling wine” (since Europe distinguishes between “sparkling wine from the Champagne region of France” and “other sparkling wine from elsewhere”.  The Steward assured her they had “Champagne” and declared, “Of course we have Champagne!  This is BRITISH Airways!”  Well!!  J

Near Prague.

One point in our PRG to LHR flight.  We were thirsty!

"First Class Dinner"

Arriving in Heathrow, we tromped from Terminal 3 to Terminal 5, and found our way to the Concorde Lounge, British Airways’ lounge “exclusively” for First Class passengers on British Airways.  Ahem.  Actually, it seems they opened it in the heyday of the Concorde service, which began in the early '70s.  They've kept the decor untouched!  We worked our way to the dining area, and were seated for our “First Class dinner” experience.  I mean, since we’re splurging, let’s go all the way!  Bill got the Chilean Sea Bass (excellent!) and Theresa got the Mac and Cheese.  It sounded amazing!  And it tasted…English.  No one ever invaded England for the cuisine.  The dessert…Bill got the Ice Cream (Amazing!), and Theresa got…something that sounded good but kind of wasn’t…with a side of ice cream.  The server said, “That is great with the ice cream!”  Well, that’s like “a kick in the shins is great with a $20 bill”.  It really isn’t great, but the $20 makes it better.  As did the ice cream!  Anyway, it felt almost wrong walking away with no bill to pay, but we managed.

Dessert

Theresa scheduled a massage for her, and one for Bill.  I can’t comment on Theresa’s but Bill’s was…adequate.  Not used to massages, the neck and shoulder massage was…strange.  It was in a massage chair that had balls that rolled around the back ranging from OK to Ouch, and leg massages that frankly needed a slap!  Anyway, there was some smelly stuff, and we talked about her dog.  Then it was about time to board.

So, we were in the center, about where the two windows
below the cockpit windows are.  Forward of the nose gear!

On the 747, First Class is in the nose (forward of the entry door).  Business Class is behind that or upstairs.  As we entered, they “escorted” us to our seats and all sorts of doting ensued.  We enjoyed it very much!  Dinner started with a linguine (really more of an angel hair pasta, but I won’t complain) that was incredible!  Deciding what to accompany our meals with, Theresa stuck with the tried and true “Champagne”, and Bill found they had Johnnie Walker Blue.  Well, if that’s what they have…!

Really BA?  Boarding a 747 by stairs?!  Yep.  We did.

The First Class section  (in the nose).  Bill's seat is in the
left foreground.

Cheers!  Off to a good start--halfway through our 22 hours of travel!

For dessert, Bill had ice cream, and "assorted
chocolates".  They plopped the box down in
front of me, and let me help myself.  (Then took it away, so no bringing it home!)

We watched a movie over dinner, and then Theresa took a nap, and Bill started the blog, about as passed Greenland.  We landed a little after 8PM (local), and were home by 9.

Czech Review:  It is a bit of a throw back in time.  Certainly, there is a lot of history and culture, both in the buildings and the people.  And aside from the Soviet style trams and trains, they seemed to have washed away the decades under the USSR.  That (I think) is good!  But it is also a flash back in time in that there was an ashtray in the hotel bathroom, right in front of the toilet (never saw that before!) and MTV and VH1 both played music videos!!!  One evening it was even playing videos from the 80s.  Near Christmas, they have a lot of decorations up.  That was nice, and the Christmas Markets in almost every square was fun too.  But, being December, it was (of course) cold, grey, and dark until 8AM and dark again by 4PM.  Some snow would have brightened things up, but that was not to happen this trip.  Although we did get some random flakes on the last night there.  If we can make it here again, we will have to try summer!

Thanks for joining us! Good Night!

(from BA 193, halfway between LHR and DFW)