Round The World and other travels
A frequent flyer's collection of trip diaries
This is: Spring Fever 2008
Flight Log 20 : BA2154
Barbados (BGI) - London Gatwick (LGW)
Boarding from the Jet Centre was very civilised, as we were given an airside transfer direct to the aircraft steps. What a contrast to my last departure from BGI in BA First! I settled into 1K, hoping that my cold wouldn't cause either me or any of the other passengers too much discomfort. I was quickly offered a glass of Champagne and what appeared to be the new standard of mixed cashew and macadamia nuts, quickly followed by a sleeper suit and a pair of in-flight slippers. The First cabin was full, but what was surprising was that there were several passengers who had never made an appearance at the excellent Jet Centre facility. The Captain made the usual announcement indicating that we would be cruising at 37,000ft and that the expected flight time was a brisk 7hrs 35 mins.
We pushed back from stand very slightly behind
schedule at 1644 and taxied past the little inter-island planes and
the Jet Centre to the runway, taking off three minutes before five
o'clock local time, or just prior to 10pm UK time
I took the opportunity to change into my sleeper suit as soon as the
seat belt signs were turned off and was back in time to get my menu
and hot towel, followed by Champagne and canapés. The dinner menu
was as follows :-
| DINNER |
|
WINES |
| Starters | Champagne | |
| Parma ham over a salad of fresh fruits | Bollinger La Grande Année | |
| Grilled warm vegetables with romesco sauce | ||
| Caramelised onion and parsnip soup | White Wines | |
| Fresh salad leaves with creamy fresh herb dressing or classic vinaigrette | Puligny-Montrachet Vieilles Vignes 2005, Vincent Girardin | |
| Château de Fesles, Anjou Blanc Sec "La Chapelle" 2004 | ||
| Main | Valdivieso Single Vineyard Reserve Wild Ferment Chardonnay 2006 | |
| Grilled new season's baby lamb cutlets with mint jelly or au jus, snow peas and crusty new potatoes | ||
| Caribbean seafood curry with pilaff rice | Red Wines | |
| Light crêpes of chicken with crème fraîche and mushroom sauce | Château Léoville Poyferré 1996 Grand Cru Classé St Julien | |
| Prawn Niçoise salad with lemon and mustard dressing | Barolo Le Albe 2003, G D Vajra | |
| Kaiken Malbec Reserve 2006, Mendoza, Argentina | ||
| Cheese and Dessert | ||
| Chocolate banana cheesecake | Dessert | |
| Warm steamed syrup sponge pudding with crème anglaise | Opitz Goldackerl Trockenbeerenauslese, Neusiedlersee, Österreich 2002 | |
| A selection of cheese | Warre's 1998 Colheita Port | |
| A basket of fresh fruit | ||
| Snacks | ||
| Toasted chicken sandwiches with home-made relish | ||
| Penne pasta with tomato bolognaise sauce or flat leaf parsley and olive oil dressing, served with grated Parmesan cheese | ||
| A selection of biscuits | ||
| A selection of cheese and fruit |
As I didn't feel particularly
hungry and as I was also keenly aware of the need to try to get a
decent night's sleep, I decided simply to have the soup and the
chicken crêpes. The flavour of the soup
seemed to cut through my cold and was delicious. The crêpes,
while probably quite ok, didn't manage to overpower my cold symptoms
and therefore seemed fairly bland. I ordered a glass of the superb
Puligny-Montrachet and didn't even come close to finishing it,
realising that I couldn't actually taste it
Perhaps surprisingly, I managed to have a reasonably good sleep, despite taking what felt like half an hour or so to nod off and despite finding the cabin far too warm. In fact, I slept until 0420 UK time and decided to get up and get changed before the rush started. I had a glass of apple juice while perhaps half of the passengers tucked into breakfast. For the record, the menu was as follows :-
| BREAKFAST |
| Starters |
| Chilled fruit juice |
| An energising fruit smoothie |
| A selection of yoghurts |
| A selection of cereals |
| Fresh seasonal fruit plate |
| Bakery |
| A wide selection of breakfast pastries and rolls |
| Main |
| Scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, sautéed mushrooms and grilled tomato |
| Spanish omelette, tomato, mushrooms and parsley-fried potatoes |
| American-style pancakes with fresh fruit salad |
By 0445, we were 35 miles west of Land's End, with 40 minutes left to run. Once again, we had cruise-climbed to 40,000ft as the aircraft burned fuel and got lighter. Approaching initially along the south coast of England and then lining up with the easterly runway, we touched down nice and early at 0522 and were on-stand just before the half-hour.
Date: Sat 10 May 2008
Aircraft : Boeing 777-200
Scheduled dep : 1640
Actual departure : 1644
Scheduled arrival : 0550+1
Actual arrival : 0529+1
Cabin : First
Seat : 1K
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