Round The World and other travels

Well, this one started on dodgy ground! Having pre-selected 1F, I was a bit miffed at OLCI to find that I'd been moved to 19A. Ye gods, I'd forgotten that planes went back that far! I managed to move forward to 11A - an exit row and therefore a good choice, with extra legroom and no recline risk from the seat in front. Large parts of the cabin had been 'trimmed out' as a result of the poor load factor and the need to keep the aircraft properly balanced. This all seemed a bit strange, as my memory of various Scotland-London red-eyes is that they used to be packed.

Anyway, we pushed back just a little behind schedule at 0651 and made our way out to the westerly runway where, after a very short run, we took to the still-dark Edinburgh skies at 0705. It proved to be a bumpy start and neither passengers nor cabin crew were released from their seats for a full 20 minutes. The wafting bacon smells from the galley started to become a subtle form of torture!

When cabin service did eventually get underway, at least there wasn't much of a wait to be served. The usual shuttle hot breakfast was presented, and very welcome it was too, consisting of orange juice, bacon, sausage, scrambled egg, tomato, mushrooms, a small roll with butter and strawberry jam and, of course, a choice of tea or coffee. It was most enjoyable, especially so as the bacon was fairly lean and not at all watery. Extra coffee was offered during the clear-up, which was a nice touch, but I felt I'd had enough for now. It was going to be a long day of indulgence!

The flight plan had taken us west nearly to Glasgow, before heading south over north-west England, Birmingham and Oxford, then eastwards close to the south coast, before making a final U-turn to arrive on Gatwick's 26L at 0820. Arrival at the (international) gate followed at 0827 and I learned that the aircraft and crew were continuing to Pisa.