Pampered in transit
My first real "First class" experience.
I woke up in the morning to Jim Morrison's 'Break on through...' on my Sony Ericsson and sleepwalked to brush my teeth. I'm still not used to the super minty flavour of my new toothpaste. The one I replaced was mild - more acceptable to the sleepy palate. I woke Srini up with a kiss (or two) and came down to put on a pot of fresh coffee. We used to wake up to different variants in the Maxwell House brand until I recently discovered Cafe Du Monde in the local farmer's market. Now - I swear by it.
As caffeine made its way deep down my consciousness I realized I still had some last minute stuff to pack - the hair brush, tooth brush, sunscreen, lip balm, soap, my cell phone, the camera battery charger - and such.
We downed breakfast cereal and got through packing. By the end - we were 2 carry-on
strollers and 1 back-pack heavy. And I still found things to stuff into my handbag! We were going to be away from home for six whole days. (What if I *needed* an extra pair of fresh socks or that new mascara I recently splurged on?? )
After much bickering and screaming and shouting about double checking if I really had my passport and green card in my wallet - we made it to the train station in time for the noon shuttle to the airport. (One of the things I've come to love and appreciate about ATL, you hop on Marta and it will drop you off right inside the airport and Delta has a check-in carousel right there!) We couldn't use the self-check-in carousel as we needed to check in at the international desk. Besides - the kiosk did not recognize our Indian passports. The check-in agent verified our passports and asked us if we were 'together'. I still don't know what he meant by that. Whether we were travelling together? Wasn't that abvious? Why would we walk up to him together? Or did he mean to ask if we were 'romantically' involved...? Now how would THAT be his business? Anyway, Srini's some what grim "we're married" comment seemed to satisfy him...
We trudged towards the departure gate. Somewhere on the way we figured we still had time for a quick bite. A quick bite grew into a 3 course Mexican meal with dessert and all!!!
We arrived at the gate and requested for Business class seats. The gate agent told us that we could get it but the seats were slightly far apart. We were thrilled! Yay! Free business class! Bring it on! (Thanks to Srini and his accumulated miles! What did you expect - with 2 trips every year to India for the past 6 years AND several trips to Las Vegas, NY, blah blah!)
We were hardly prepared for what lay ahead...
We were greeted (by our first names) and asked if we liked champagne or orange juice... But wait! The doors weren't even closed for departure! Whoa.. I settled down with a glass of champagne. (Remember? I already had had lunch...) Then the pilot came out and said he 'appreciated' my business! :-) Whatever...
Soon we were over 10,000 ft in the air and the flight attendants came out again and offered us roasted salted assorted nuts. And offered us another round of drinks. This time I settled with orange juice. (Didn't want to get too greedy) I couldn't wait to push my seat back and watch a movie on my personal video monitor. But I had to wait until Miss. Flight Attendant wrote down my meal preferences. Luckily, she said some one ordered a vegetarian meal and didn't show up! I watched Dreamgirls. Maybe I'm too shallow or something. The movie did not do it for me AT ALL!
By the second half of the movie I was eagerly waiting for meal time. I was bored. I caught Rocky Balboa instead (I hate Stallone) and by now I was sleepy too... The meals were served and everyone but me got a plate of "god-knows-what" that looked great. I got a small round petri dish with 2 slices of a vegetable I did not recognize and some purple leafy thingy that did not bear a taste or smell of anything I'd ever encountered before. It felt like a total let down! Every one else was scraping at the plates and I thought I'd better do too... Who knows when the next 'breakfast' service was going to be? I put my fork down and asked for some water when another flight attendant got me a large bowl of lettuce, green-leafy-things, tomatoes and black olives. I was thrilled! Ah...a decent portion of salad! I had hardly managed to catch and chew down the last of the green-leafy-thing when the same flight attendant who gave me salad asked me if I was ready for the main course...
I was confused. Wasn't this my "vegetarian" lunch??? Sensing my confusion, and mistaking it for the reaction on a full stomach, she offered to delay it for a couple minutes. I downed some exotic Spanish wine and wondered what the "main course" would really consist. She did say it was "vegetarian" but if the main course hadn't been served yet - whaddaheck were the last two servings meant to be? Starters? All my confusion ended when I saw a large silverlined plate full of jeera rice, palak paneer, aloo mutter and channa masala. Oh...and it tasted great too!
I couldn't really do justice to the channa masala coz I felt almost full now. After downing the last manageable bite with wine I got up to stretch around (and get some circulation!). But when I was confronted with vanilla ice cream topped with caramel and nuts - I couldn't resist it. (I <3 Caramel!)
By now - I felt like an over stuffed cow. I found Srini and asked him if he was doing ok... He seemed pretty pleased and overwhelmed too(!).
Finally I managed to get some shut eye but made sure I asked for wake-up service and coffee with it. Five hours in that 150 degrees reclining cushioned seat flew by faster than I'd expected. I woke up the next morning to the aroma of coffee, eggs and bacon. (My fellow seater was happily digging in.) We exchanged obligatory 'good mornings' and I blushed crimson as I remembered kicking him hard in my sleep... I wasn't sure if I had already apologized before turning around or whether one was really due now.. He, however, seemed to be in super good spirits and I didn't have the heart to remind him of the unpleasant incident! We talked some about Switzerland and our plans.. I learnt he was going there on 'business'. Poor him ;o)
After scrambled eggs, coffee and fresh fruits... I was dying to land in Zurich. I turned the compass on my personal video on and watched and waited as the pilot announced that we were making our first descent into Zurich!! I couldn't wait any longer..!
Before we got off - I made sure I thanked the sweet Miss. Flight Attendant. She was so patient with all my jumpy "Are you sure there's no meat in it!?" , "No chicken either...??", "How do I turn this on!?", "I don't like Dreamgirls.." and "When will we land..." questions. She also looked like an angel when she woke me up ever so gently that morning with a smile and a hot cuppa :-)
This wasn't really my first time in Business Class. (I chanced upon the secret of flashing sexie smiles to the gate agent in India to get 'bumped up' to Business class!) But this was the first time I really felt pampered.
Oh...and somewhere between dessert and breakfast I also had dessert wine and a platter of 3 different cheeses served with grapes on the side :-)
Lufthansa - look out!
I woke up in the morning to Jim Morrison's 'Break on through...' on my Sony Ericsson and sleepwalked to brush my teeth. I'm still not used to the super minty flavour of my new toothpaste. The one I replaced was mild - more acceptable to the sleepy palate. I woke Srini up with a kiss (or two) and came down to put on a pot of fresh coffee. We used to wake up to different variants in the Maxwell House brand until I recently discovered Cafe Du Monde in the local farmer's market. Now - I swear by it.
As caffeine made its way deep down my consciousness I realized I still had some last minute stuff to pack - the hair brush, tooth brush, sunscreen, lip balm, soap, my cell phone, the camera battery charger - and such.
We downed breakfast cereal and got through packing. By the end - we were 2 carry-on
strollers and 1 back-pack heavy. And I still found things to stuff into my handbag! We were going to be away from home for six whole days. (What if I *needed* an extra pair of fresh socks or that new mascara I recently splurged on?? )
After much bickering and screaming and shouting about double checking if I really had my passport and green card in my wallet - we made it to the train station in time for the noon shuttle to the airport. (One of the things I've come to love and appreciate about ATL, you hop on Marta and it will drop you off right inside the airport and Delta has a check-in carousel right there!) We couldn't use the self-check-in carousel as we needed to check in at the international desk. Besides - the kiosk did not recognize our Indian passports. The check-in agent verified our passports and asked us if we were 'together'. I still don't know what he meant by that. Whether we were travelling together? Wasn't that abvious? Why would we walk up to him together? Or did he mean to ask if we were 'romantically' involved...? Now how would THAT be his business? Anyway, Srini's some what grim "we're married" comment seemed to satisfy him...
We trudged towards the departure gate. Somewhere on the way we figured we still had time for a quick bite. A quick bite grew into a 3 course Mexican meal with dessert and all!!!
We arrived at the gate and requested for Business class seats. The gate agent told us that we could get it but the seats were slightly far apart. We were thrilled! Yay! Free business class! Bring it on! (Thanks to Srini and his accumulated miles! What did you expect - with 2 trips every year to India for the past 6 years AND several trips to Las Vegas, NY, blah blah!)
We were hardly prepared for what lay ahead...
We were greeted (by our first names) and asked if we liked champagne or orange juice... But wait! The doors weren't even closed for departure! Whoa.. I settled down with a glass of champagne. (Remember? I already had had lunch...) Then the pilot came out and said he 'appreciated' my business! :-) Whatever...
Soon we were over 10,000 ft in the air and the flight attendants came out again and offered us roasted salted assorted nuts. And offered us another round of drinks. This time I settled with orange juice. (Didn't want to get too greedy) I couldn't wait to push my seat back and watch a movie on my personal video monitor. But I had to wait until Miss. Flight Attendant wrote down my meal preferences. Luckily, she said some one ordered a vegetarian meal and didn't show up! I watched Dreamgirls. Maybe I'm too shallow or something. The movie did not do it for me AT ALL!
By the second half of the movie I was eagerly waiting for meal time. I was bored. I caught Rocky Balboa instead (I hate Stallone) and by now I was sleepy too... The meals were served and everyone but me got a plate of "god-knows-what" that looked great. I got a small round petri dish with 2 slices of a vegetable I did not recognize and some purple leafy thingy that did not bear a taste or smell of anything I'd ever encountered before. It felt like a total let down! Every one else was scraping at the plates and I thought I'd better do too... Who knows when the next 'breakfast' service was going to be? I put my fork down and asked for some water when another flight attendant got me a large bowl of lettuce, green-leafy-things, tomatoes and black olives. I was thrilled! Ah...a decent portion of salad! I had hardly managed to catch and chew down the last of the green-leafy-thing when the same flight attendant who gave me salad asked me if I was ready for the main course...
I was confused. Wasn't this my "vegetarian" lunch??? Sensing my confusion, and mistaking it for the reaction on a full stomach, she offered to delay it for a couple minutes. I downed some exotic Spanish wine and wondered what the "main course" would really consist. She did say it was "vegetarian" but if the main course hadn't been served yet - whaddaheck were the last two servings meant to be? Starters? All my confusion ended when I saw a large silverlined plate full of jeera rice, palak paneer, aloo mutter and channa masala. Oh...and it tasted great too!
I couldn't really do justice to the channa masala coz I felt almost full now. After downing the last manageable bite with wine I got up to stretch around (and get some circulation!). But when I was confronted with vanilla ice cream topped with caramel and nuts - I couldn't resist it. (I <3 Caramel!)
By now - I felt like an over stuffed cow. I found Srini and asked him if he was doing ok... He seemed pretty pleased and overwhelmed too(!).
Finally I managed to get some shut eye but made sure I asked for wake-up service and coffee with it. Five hours in that 150 degrees reclining cushioned seat flew by faster than I'd expected. I woke up the next morning to the aroma of coffee, eggs and bacon. (My fellow seater was happily digging in.) We exchanged obligatory 'good mornings' and I blushed crimson as I remembered kicking him hard in my sleep... I wasn't sure if I had already apologized before turning around or whether one was really due now.. He, however, seemed to be in super good spirits and I didn't have the heart to remind him of the unpleasant incident! We talked some about Switzerland and our plans.. I learnt he was going there on 'business'. Poor him ;o)
After scrambled eggs, coffee and fresh fruits... I was dying to land in Zurich. I turned the compass on my personal video on and watched and waited as the pilot announced that we were making our first descent into Zurich!! I couldn't wait any longer..!
Before we got off - I made sure I thanked the sweet Miss. Flight Attendant. She was so patient with all my jumpy "Are you sure there's no meat in it!?" , "No chicken either...??", "How do I turn this on!?", "I don't like Dreamgirls.." and "When will we land..." questions. She also looked like an angel when she woke me up ever so gently that morning with a smile and a hot cuppa :-)
This wasn't really my first time in Business Class. (I chanced upon the secret of flashing sexie smiles to the gate agent in India to get 'bumped up' to Business class!) But this was the first time I really felt pampered.
Oh...and somewhere between dessert and breakfast I also had dessert wine and a platter of 3 different cheeses served with grapes on the side :-)
Lufthansa - look out!