Round The World and other travels
A frequent flyer's collection of trip diaries
This is: Round The World 2006-07
Flight Log 6 : BA107
London Heathrow (LHR) - Dubai (DXB)
I was first to make the left turn
on stepping through Door 2 and was shown to my seat, where the First
purser helped me
get settled down with a glass of Champagne to accompany the little
plate of macadamia nuts that was already in place. As there was
no-one else around at this stage, I took a couple of photos of the
cabin before sitting down and behaving myself
The cabin proved to be completely full, which is always nice to see.
It also proved to contain a small child, on which I charitably (I
thought!) decided to reserve judgement for the time being. We pushed
back just a little behind schedule at 1243 and set off for the long
taxi round to 27R, which we actually seemed to reach remarkably
quickly. However, we then had to sit at the holding point for ages
while a whole procession of aircraft got to take off before us.
Eventually the chimes sounded - this rarely happens on a 777 for
some reason - and we eased onto the runway to begin our roll,
rotating at 1304 on my watch. We made a leftward U-turn until we
were heading more or less eastwards, which seemed like a good idea.
Menus were distributed and drinks orders taken. As I had good memories of something very similar from my LHR-LAX flight a year previously, I decided to go for the Montrachet to accompany some canapés. I perused the menu options :-
| LUNCH |
|
WINES |
| Starters | Champagne | |
| Loch Fyne kinglas smoked salmon and caviar crème fraiche | Alfred Gratien Cuvée Paradis | |
| Paisarn Cheewinsiriwat's Thai tempeh cakes with sweet chilli dripping sauce | ||
| Carrot and red lentil soup with crème fraiche | White Wines | |
| Fresh salad leaves with your choice of tomato and basil oil dressing or mustard mayonnaise | Pouligny-Montrachet Les Enseignières 2003, Domaine Roux Père et Fils | |
| Three Choirs Estate Reserve Bacchus 2004 | ||
| Main | or | |
| Fillet of beef with seared foie gras, glazed shallots and mushroom jus | Alsace Riesling Grand Cru Florimont 2003, Kuehn | |
| Paisarn Cheewinsiriwat's yellow lobster and green papaya curry with cucumber relish and lemon grass brown rice | Tyrrell's Hunter Semillon Vat I, 1999 | |
| Lamb tajin | ||
| Salad of spicy chicken with warm tomato cumin dressing | Red Wines | |
| Chateau Beychevelle 1995, Grand Cru Classé Saint-Julien | ||
| Snacks | Errazuriz Don Maximiano Cabernet Sauvignon 2000, Aconcagua Valley | |
| Beefsteak sandwich with red onion marmalade | or | |
| Penne pasta with your choice of cherry tomato and basil sauce or quattro formaggio sauce | Modus 2000, Tenimenti Ruffino, Toscana | |
| Duchy of Cornwall biscuits | Tyrrell's Vat 8 Shiraz Cabernet 2001, Hunter - Limestone Coast | |
| A selection of cheese and fruit | ||
| Dessert Wines | ||
| Dessert and Cheese | Clos Labère 1999, Sauternes | |
| Banana tarte Tatin with vanilla ice cream | Warre's 1988 Colheita Port | |
| Shaun Hill's white chocolate and strawberry terrine with shortbread biscuits and chunky strawberry coulis | ||
| Cheese plate featuring Quickes Cheddar, Oxford Blue and Tornegus | ||
| A basket of fresh fruit | ||
| Espresso, cappuccino, coffee, decaffeinated coffee, tea or herbal tea | ||
| Arabic coffee and dates |
As a Scot, I could hardly resist the Loch Fyne smoked salmon - simple but delicious - and I chose the beef to follow this up. I switched to that unusual Italian red for my main course - the menu informed me that it was a blend of Sangiovese, Cabernet and Merlot. In any event, it was very good, as indeed was the beef. I finished off a most enjoyable meal with cheese and biscuits, accompanied by a glass of port, and a cup of cappuccino. I had been listening to Beethoven's Piano Concerto No 5 (the Emperor) as I ate.
After the meal things were cleared
away I discovered that, stupidly, I had forgotten to place a DVD in
my laptop's drive before packing the others in my suitcase. No
worries nowadays, now that BA has DVDs (and indeed individual DVD
players) available in First.
I didn't need a
player, of course, but I was able to borrow A Few Good Men -
one I have at home, but never tire of. Can't beat a good courtroom
drama! By the way, the small child at the back was no trouble at all
- the occasional shout, but nothing compared to what you sometimes
have to put up with these days
Our route had taken us over Brussels and Frankfurt, then via Munich, Austria, Hungary (hello again!), Turkey, the Black Sea, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf. With 1.5 hrs to go, afternoon tea was served, consisting of an assortment of sandwiches and cakes (for those who wanted them!) I then had a refreshing apple juice to prepare for arrival and hot towels were distributed with about half an hour to go. We touched down in Dubai at 2222 local time and made it onto our stand by 2232.
A most enjoyable flight!
Date: Tue 11 Apr 2006
Aircraft : Boeing 777-200
Scheduled dep : 1240
Actual departure : 1243
Scheduled arrival : 2235
Actual arrival : 2232
Cabin : First
Seat : 1A
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