Saturday, July 28, 2012

Aisle 13 vs. Aisle 7

Actual date of this event: 25 July

As I was walking on to the airplane at 4:20, I had no idea what to expect. I had only traveled first class once before and that was only because we had no other choice in tickets. This time was different because it was a whole new level of first class. We had a 9 hour flight from Houston to London, so I was slightly nervous about being on a plane for so long and traveling during our new home's sleeping time.

We found our seats at 13A and 13B. Thirteen?! You've got to be kidding me! We were the only two on the one side of the aisle otherwise it would have been awkward. We had seats that faced each other with a little window in between. Basically, I got to either stare at my husband or the TV the whole trip. I got the window seat which meant nothing because it was either dark or the sun was pretty much right in my eyes the whole trip. So the shades stayed down.

Luke's view throughout the flight
My view throughout the flight
I rarely opened the shade. This was probably over Ireland.

So we settled in after the economy class shuffled through. We read the magazine that gave us a list of movies, tv shows, music, etc for us to choose from. I got super excited when I saw The Hunger Games, so we both decided on that. Luke had never seen the movie and I wanted to be in-sync so we had to time our pauses and starts throughout the movie. The 2.5 hr movie took probably 3.5 hrs to watch since we had multiple interruptions. We were served drinks soon after the movie began. We ordered our dinner (mixed veggie appetizer, salad,  rolls, steak, mushrooms, potatoes, spinach, and for dessert either a cheese tray or a mixed berry panda cotta). We of course had some more drinks while finishing the movie. We decided that it was time to try to sleep.

Dinner and a movie
Panna Cotta dessert

Our seats were able to lay all the way down, but not completely like a bed. A foot rest pulled down from the seat in front of us, so it was pretty close to a bed. I was able to lay all the way down, but my feet did graze the seat in front of me. I am not complaining, FYI, just making a note. We grabbed our earplugs, blanket and pillow and attempted to fall asleep. By this point, mostly everyone else around us was already in sleep mode. It was 8:30 at this time and I couldn't believe that 4 hrs of the flight had already passed. And with my high maintenance sleep needs, there was no way I was going to sleep for the next 4 hours. I was right, and dozed on and off for about 3 hours while Luke seemed to be sleeping like a baby. I kept getting hot, then cold, then the seatbelt bothered me, then little kid next to us was loud. Yes, I am high maintenance when it comes to sleeping. Princesses needs a bed and three pillows in a bedroom!




About an hour and a half before the end of the flight, the lights were turned on so breakfast could be served. We were given breakfast muffins and rolls and a choice of oatmeal or fruit. We also got a smoothie and OJ and very little water. Speaking of water, we got one bottle of water but that does not go far when they don't come around throughout sleeping time to see if you need a drink. I guess we could have ding-ed them, but who wants to be that person? We were dying for water at breakfast time and were disappointed by the amount we got. Also, they never came back to pick up empty glasses after dinner, so our wine glasses sat on the floor for the second half of the flight. Isn't it dangerous to have glasses sitting on the ground under people's feet on an airplane?

We could watch where we were during the flight.

We landed in London around 7:15 (London time) and needed to fly to Aberdeen at 8:55. With the opening ceremony for the Olympics being the next day, both of us were very nervous about going through customs. Amazingly, it was quick and there was barely anyone going through with us. It did take longer than other people since we had Visas to verify but it was fine. We had trouble determining the gate we were flying out of, but everyone else on our flight was in the same boat. We guzzled some water from the British Airways lounge, determined the gate, then headed to the plane.

So after being in business class for 9 hrs, we did NOT fly first class to Aberdeen. It was disappointing, but there was actually no first class on the plane at all. I'm spoiled already! We were given lucky aisle 7 this flight. Phew! Let's hope it isn't opposite day! We got another breakfasts meal, but this one was a bit different. We we given what was said to be scrambled eggs (which looked like grits), bacon (which in the UK is like Canadian bacon), sausage, tomatoes, mushrooms, roll, OJ and coffee or tea. It was a quick flight and we landed in Aberdeen at 10:15. Dyce Airport is very small with only one baggage carousel. Three of our bags were first out and the other three came quickly after. What a relief! We found our cab driver easily. And now the fun adventures really begin!

Does it look appetizing?
British silverware

-Debbie-

RANDOM FACT:
The British call an airplane an "airbus".

No comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...