Round The World and other travels

Good Heavens ... a London - Europe flight on BA in the back of the bus   Can't remember when I last did that! (Pretentious? Moi? ) Well, at least I had managed, using OLCI, to secure 3A, in the front row of the cabin. As BA frequent flyers are well aware, these seats are set up in Club Europe configuration, to make sure that nobody gets hit by the trolley if it gets pushed through the curtain. So I had the same space as those ahead of the divider, which can't be too bad, now can it?

On boarding, I thought I recognised Purser Jose from my LGW-OPO flight in 2004 and, when he introduced himself over the PA system and pronounced his name the Portuguese way, I knew I was right. We pushed back a few minutes late at 0739 (more ATC delays!) and made the long taxi round the airport to depart on runway 09R. At least the queue of aircraft waiting to use the runway was minimal, so we managed an 0758 take-off. I was pleased to be presented with a proper hot breakfast - I had been expecting a panini or something like that. The main part of the meal consisted of sausage, scrambled egg, potatoes and baked beans. Also on the tray were a carton of orange juice, a small roll, yoghurt and some butter and marmalade. Tea and coffee appeared some considerable time after the trays were handed out.

Flying at 35,000 feet, our route took us directly over Southampton, across the Brest peninsula and the Bay of Biscay, over Santander, passing to the west of Madrid and Toledo, and finally out into the Med near Malaga. There was a further drinks service with 45 minutes to go, which allowed me to enjoy a glass of apple juice. The flight was really quite enjoyable apart from one thing : screaming kids   I suppose it could have been worse, though