Round The World and other travels
A frequent flyer's collection of trip diaries
This is: A Tale of Two Cities (2010)
Flight Log 5 : LH722
Munich (MUC) - Beijing (PEK)
After a gap of a little over six months, I was delighted once again to be boarding a Lufthansa long-haul aircraft and heading for the First Class cabin. For the first time in this situation however, this was Munich - not Frankfurt - and I was boarding an Airbus A340 rather than a Boeing 747. The layout was nonetheless thoroughly familiar, thanks to my various SWISS adventures. I settled into 2K, in the back corner of the cabin on the starboard side. Door 1 was used for First Class and Business Class passengers, with the others boarding further back using a second jetty, so the cabin was quite busy for a while. I noticed quickly that this was in fact an A340-600, rather than the scheduled -300 model, which meant that I was aboard an example of the longest commercial airliner in existence. It also meant that, instead of the cosy two-row J cabin behind me, there was a vast expanse of Business seats - safely separated by a bulkhead, obviously! It soon transpired that six of the eight F seats were taken.
While boarding was proceeding, the Purser brought me a glass of apple juice and some macadamias, while other members of the team offered pyjamas, slippers and an amenity kit. There was an announcement from the flight deck estimating the journey time at 8hrs and 40mins, which seemed quite short until I remembered that I was already much further east than I would have been at this point on an ex-UK flight. The safety video was shown at the gate and it contained a couple of interesting additions for the -600 series aircraft, for the benefit of passengers visiting the downstairs toilet area. We pushed back a couple of minutes down and it was a reasonably short taxi to Runway 08R. Rather unfortunately, we then had a seemingly interminable wait for our chance to enter the mixed-use runway, so that it was fully four minutes past the hour before we lifted into the dark Bavarian skies. It was a notably long take-off run in this massive beast.
I changed into my sleeping clothes as soon as the seat belt signs were switched off, nearly missing my hot towel in the process. Although still nicely presented on a china plate, it was missing the customary flower petal. I asked for Champagne and water when the drinks round got underway and my amuse-bouche of duck liver and mushrooms appeared very quickly thereafter. The dinner menu was as follows:
| DINNER |
|
WINES |
| Hors D'Oeuvres | Champagne | |
| Caviar with the traditional Garnishes | 2000 Laurent-Perrier Millésimé, France | |
| Crabmeat and Avocado Timbale with green Apple and roasted Sesame | ||
| Roulade of Quail on Spinach with marinated Swedes | White Wines | |
| Sautéed Mushrooms and Bamboo wrapped with Soy Beans | 2007 Schloss Vollrads Riesling Spätlese trocken, Gutsverwaltung Schloss Vollrads, Germany | |
| 2008 Pomino Bianco DOC "Benefizio", Marchesi de Frescobaldi, Italy | ||
| Salad or Soup | 2008 Ihringer Winklerberg Weißburgunder Spätlese trocken, Winzergenossenschaft Ihringen, Germany | |
| Frisée, Arugula, Radicchio and Romaine Lettuce, Tomatoes and Bell Pepper with your choice of Wild Garlic or Orange and Mustard Dressing | ||
| Curry Bisque | Red Wines | |
| 2006 Mendoza Malbec, Catena Alta, Argentina | ||
| Main Courses | 2006 Dao Reserva, Casa de Santar, Portugal | |
| Stiller's Sauerbraten, slow braised Beef Cheek, Cauliflower Puree and fried Bread Dumpling Slices | 2002 Chateau Belgrave, Cru Classé, Haut-Médoc, France | |
| Grilled Scallops with Nutmeg and Vanilla Sauce, Sugar Peas, Beans, Mushroom and green Pea Mash | ||
| Vegetable Strudel with Asian Soy Jus, Baby Bok Choy and Shiitake Mushrooms | Dessert Wine | |
| Steamed Balls of Pork and Crabmeat with Ginger accompanied by Bok Choy, Carrots and Asian Rice | Kiedrich Gräfenberg Riesling Auslese, Weingut Robert Weil, Germany | |
| Cheese and Dessert | ||
| Bleu de Gex, Fougerus, Beaufort, Livarot and ashed Goat Cheese garnished with Grapes and Pecan Nuts | ||
| White Coffee Mousse and Chocolate Sorbet with Red Wine and Espresso Sauce | ||
| Mango Soup with pink Grapefruit and Lime Zest | ||
| Specialty Dessert Wines |
Given the time of day and the unexpectedly substantial nature of the in-flight meal on my Madrid - Munich leg, I decided not to pig out on the starters on this occasion, showing admirable restraint by restricting myself to the caviar and crabmeat / avocado combo. Both were delicious, accompanied by the usual selection of warm breads and free-flowing Champagne. My preferred next course of soup had not been loaded, for some reason that the Purser was visibly annoyed about, so I had the salad instead, which was fine. None of the main courses really fired my imagination, but I'd eventually opted for the scallops. These were a little pale on the surface, but otherwise tasty enough. Placed in a setting of sugar-snap peas, beans and pea mash, however, the whole ensemble was just awfully green, and I found it a little weird. As is fairly usual at this time of night, my appetite was now flagging and I finished with some Earl Grey tea, keen to get as much rest as possible prior to arrival in my next destination.
I slept rather well in the event, waking up after some five hours, just shortly before the breakfast service got underway. Before that, though, I checked on our progress and found that the route had been via Warsaw, Minsk, Moscow, Novgorod, Ekaterinburg, Novosibirsk and Ulan Bator. A separate menu card was distributed for breakfast:
| BREAKFAST |
| Cold and Hot Specialties |
| Freshly squeezed Orange Juice |
| Fresh Fruit |
| Yoghurt, Curd Cream with fresh Fruit and Almonds, Smacks and Milk |
| Emmental, Camembert and Rahmberg Cheese |
| Parma Ham, smoked Turkey Breast, Tyrolean Bacon |
| Smoked Atlantic Salmon, Filet of Trout |
| Scrambled Eggs freshly prepared upon your request, with your choice of Bacon or Chives |
I had a smoked salmon, trout and Camembert starter, followed by some eggs and bacon, all washed down with - you guessed it - a pot of Earl Grey. By the time the breakfast things were cleared away, we were well into our approach into Beijing's gigantic Capital Airport. We touched down at 1150 local time and made it onto stand fully half an hour ahead of schedule, despite that delay in taking off from Munich.
In summary, this was another enjoyable Lufthansa First Class experience. The A340 cabin layout, as expected, was far superior to the 747 top deck, taking the seatmate lottery out of the equation for the solo traveller. The service was excellent, as ever, and I'd had a reasonably good night's sleep. There had been a couple of negatives on the catering front, however, with a disappointing message of "Soup's off!" and a main course that didn't quite hit the spot for me. When I'd originally realised that this trip was going to involve a face-off between LH and BA in First, I'd thought that there could only be one possible winner: Lufty. It occurred to me now that, had BA not been afflicted by a cabin-crew strike in March 2010, the competition might just have turned out to be a lot closer than expected!
Date: Tue 23 Mar 2010
Aircraft : Airbus A340-600
Scheduled dep : 1935
Actual departure : 1937
Scheduled arrival : 1225+1
Actual arrival : 1155+1
Cabin : First Class
Seat : 2K
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