I had arrived at Amsterdam Schipol Airport from Corinthia Corentin region of Austria the day before, four hours by train from its capital Klagenfort to Vienna and a short Austrian airlines ride to AMS. I stayed at the very same hotel Renaissance near the airport as I had ten days before and it turned out to be a lucky choice, which I will explain in another blog
The day began early enough, the alarm waking me up at 5 AM and by 6 AM I was downstairs ready for the shuttle to take me to the Terminal 3 of AMS airport. this certainly is a huge airport, one of those mega airports, I think it may have been one of the earliest ones, where you could walk for hundreds of steps passing shops, eateries and duty free shops before you reach your assigned gate of departure.
I was flying British Airways, the agent, a Dutch lady was pleasant and efficient and before long through the security and Immigration, was walking and walking not enough time for a stop somewhere certainly I couldnt stop by the British Airways lounge as our gate was on the other side of the airport.
I had a very nice seat assigned to me and there was no one sitting next to me. It was a very short 46 minute flight from Amsterdam to London, much like the Miami to Havana flight that I take often. But unlike the American Airlines, the staff quickly produced a tasty breakfast.
I had a nice view of London as the plane was approaching the LHR airport. How many wonderful years I had spent there as a student of Medicine as well as Anthropology. I felt so good to be able to recognize many of the landmarks of this wonderful city.
On arrival at the British Airways Lounge it was once again Dev at the helm, and this time the First Class Lounge was working and it was nice to rest there for a couple of hours before boarding the 747-400 flight to Miami.
You could sit down and order a breakfast, and I asked for smoked salmon and scrambled eggs from farm raised free range chicken which tasted distinctly different, less chemicals i supposed and coming from less stressed hens!
It was time to board and it was a long walk to our aircraft
I remember flying a 747-400 from LHR to Cape Town just the year when France won the World Cup under Zidane! Beautiful Bird indeed.
BA has three flights a day from LHR to MIA. I see this pattern. The USA based airlines the three major ones form alliances with European ones while crying foul of the Gulf Airlines flying here and let the European airlines do all the flying while they code share.. Delta is doing it with Virgin Atlantic, American does it with BA and United with Lufthansa.. three flights a day from London to Miami?
on British Airways? and one flight with American Airlines to their major hub in Miami ?
The first thing you note as you climb up to the separate section 'upstairs' is how spacious it is and that the seats are newer configuration that you find in other more recent BA planes such as the 777.
The load was light today so I could choose any seat I wanted and I chose an area where there were no one else and i could comfortably sit near the window without being disturbed.
Unlike the Grandma and Grandpa flight attendants at the American Airlines transatlantic flights Business Class, there were two young FAs, and they were enthusiastic and smiling and friendly. While I missed my QR friends, I was glad that I had chosen BA rather AA for this transatlantic flight.
Soon after take off, I remember looking for Reading where a close friend of mine was doing MBA at Henley School of Business! Felt a tinge of saudade ..
Champagne arrived and I had time to nurse it through and asked for another with the appetizer
Eating smoked salmon was a habit I picked up when I was studying Medicine in London and it is something I truly like. My second taste of Smoked Salmon this morning..
I chose a pasta with vegetables avoiding the beef that was offered.
In my life on the ground I am not known to eat desserts but who can resist this chocolate...
The duration of the flight was 9 hours and it was smooth ride all the way through. sometime during the flight I had chance to speak to one of the pilots and we exchanged some flight stories mainly about the different aircrafts and their comfort to us the passengers.
Afternoon tea was served one hour before arrival to Miami and it was a nice fitting end to a pleasant flight. This is the third time I have crossed the Atlantic with BA just this month and I have to say, the service is good, much better than what you would get on USA based airlines..
But I still miss Qatar Airways for various other reasons, one of them being, I fly QR from Miami to Doha on my way to the Far East and it is the anticipation of the pleasures of the Far East that brings on this nostalgia for Qatar Airways..
Hurricane Dorian was aiming towards Miami, my luggage arrived smashed and damaged but with the impending rain, I did not stop to file complaint and instead took the Ride Sharing company home, reaching the house of my sister in time for a nice chat and a cup of tea..
