I found the Club World check in quickly and there were a few suited and booted types in front of me waiting to go who knows where. I got a What are you doing here look from some accountant type in the queue immediately in front of me. I suspect it was my work boots and Canadian lumber jacket that elicited that from the gent but those are the warmest clothes I posses and it seems silly to purchase something a little more respectable (not to mention having to cart the things around) when you spend 45+ weeks a year in the islands.
Check in over I proceeded the five or so yards to the fast track line and duly placed all my belongings on the belt. After not setting off the alarm (a first for me as something always sets the damn things off) I gently easedokay gently pusheda very silly man away from the bag collection on the other side of the x-ray machine as that seemed the best time to him to start to make a telephone call, whilst bags began to pile up and about five or so people are trying to get round him to their respective laptops and assorted wallets, phones, keys and change. Some people dont have the brains they are born with. No doubt I will meet him again at the bottom of an escalator somewhere as he seemed the type to stop just as you exit the damn things whilst subjecting those behind you to shredded shoe soles.
Right thenoff to the lounge. I found it okay as this was my first trip to the BA lounge at Gatwick. Well what can I say, disappointed would be a good word I suppose. Nice furniture but very drab d_cor. I inspected the offerings and saw some beverages and fruitthats it, just bloody fruit. I had pictures of some Virgin passenger not too far from my location tucking into Salmon and Scrambled Eggs whilst I am looking at some very sad looking apples.
Note to self..next time go upstairs you Muppetthats where the food is (as I noticed when I left the lounge). Not that I was that hungry but hey when bored why not eat. I proceeded to unpack the laptop, ipod, magazines etc and then had a brilliant ideaa bloody maryooohhh the looks I got as I cracked open that Smirnoff bottle at 9am.
Well I sat there and read Private Eye for a spell until about fifteen minutes before boarding and then left to find gate 59 (I think it was 59, Im going from memory here). I havent flown from the North Terminal at Gatwick much over the last few years and I cant say I like it that much.
I found the gate okay and entered the holding pen and took my seat, lo and behold no sooner as I had opened Newsweek to see what President Bush has been up to that week the boarding announcement for Club World passengers was made. I expected as much as a large West Indian family all having small uns and very old uns had been allowed to board prior to any announcements. In fairness to my fellow passengers there was no congestion at the gate even though the pre-boarding activity had started. As it was a full flight and there was many a child about I was very glad of being in the J cabin.
So off I trot down the air bridge and wait about a minute to get onboard as Id caught up the family group that were having no end of issues getting onboard with their toddlers. So up I stroll, 10B sirimmediately on your right. Sadly mine was the first seat after boarding. The way the Club World cabin is laid out if you board from the second door along the fuselage it cuts the cabin in two. So if you turned left you would have been spared the meet and greet of every other passenger that I went through. Still it wasnt an issue for me but I can see some people not liking it. I sat there with my champagne reading the rest of Private Eye and trying not to make eye contact with the procession of people passing my seat. The Champers was the Charles Heidsieck Brut Reserve that I hadnt cared for on the outbound flight but I thought Id give it a re-match. It still wasnt something Id care to order although I did finish the glass. In all fairness to the beverage in question it wasnt served at a temperature that could be described as chilled.
We pushed back on time at 10:30am and then sat there for several minutes for some unknown reason and finally took off at 10:50am. 10B is an interesting seat as it is the first aisle seat in the second part of the cabin there is no window seat in front and to the left of you. This means that nobody has to jump over your legs to access the aisle. This was a bonus for me, I was a little closer to the loo than I would have liked but this was only an issue once when a father decided to let his little one, well you know what, while he stood there with the door ajar checking on the kid. I felt sorry for the kid, unless he was on suicide watch Im sure he didnt need dads watchful gaze during the process. I was tempted to pass the sports section of the Independent through the door to the little one whilst making a comment to Dad about the need to keep the door open but thought better of it.
We werent airborne long when the Wash Bags and menus were passed around and this menu looked a lot more interesting than the one on the outbound journey.
Starters
Prawns with herb and orange cr_me fraiche dressing.
Or
Tomato, Basil and Mozzarella cheese salad.
Fresh seasonal salad served with vinagarete.
Main
Grilled fillet of beef, roast shallot and balsamic butter.
Cumin seared Salmon with aubergine and chick pea mash, served with a coconut and turmeric sauce.
Light Chicken fricassee with spring vegetables.
Classic Greek salad with Oregano dressing.
Dessert
Bitter chocolate and orange delice.
Blacksticks Blue and Quickes Cheddar Cheese.
Chocolates (these turned out to be two large individual chocolates, I dont remember the specifics but they were very nice).
Snacks (afternoon tea)
Sandwiches of Wensleydale Cheese with carrot chutney and Prawn with Dill.
Or
Sanwiches of Mustard Chicken with Spinach and Cheddar Cheese with Tomato and Red Onion Marmalade.
Sweets
Warm fruit scone with clotted cream and strawberry preserves.
Chocolate Choux Bun.
Champagne
Charles Heidsieck Brut Reserve
White
Carmen Nativa Chardonnay 2002, Valle del Maipo
Pouilly-Fume 2003, Pascal Jolivet
Sancerre la Porte de Caillou 2004, Henri Bourgeois
Red
Mont Gras Reserva, Cabernet Sauvignon Syrah 2003
Rioja Urbina Reserva Especial 1996
Having a nasty allergy to shellfish I decided on the Tomato and Mozzarella salad and I took a leap of faith and ordered the beef. The FA that took my order greeted me by name which is a nice touch I do like.
A drinks service appeared and I had a glass of the Sancerre and decided to see what movies were on before the meal service began. I looked about for my copy of High-Life for the movie guide but it was nowhere to be found. Emboldened by a bloody Mary, a glass of fizz and some wine I rang for the FA. Nothing..so I rang again..nothing. In fairness to them they were busy at the time prepping meal trays and what have you. I made eye contact with one lady on the way past and asked for a copy of the magazine and she nimbly reached around the back of the seat to my left and produced a copy from a magazine rack that was sat there in stealth mode. The racks are on the seat back in front of you, so in this case without a seat in front of you they are on the back of the rear facing seat to your left. So the rack is at a ninety degree angle to you. Feeling slightly sheepish (or was that the wine?) I perused the selection and settled on The Island which was very good actually.
So along comes lunch, the salad was okay, a little overly chilled for my liking but not too bad at all. My wine was topped up and I refused a choice from the bread basket as I really wasnt that hungry.
The tray was cleared and I waited about 25-30 minutes for the main course. I wasnt bothered by the wait as I had all the time in the world but any longer would have started to become a bit of an annoyance.
Enter the beef. A very well done piece of fillet with a beef jus and vegetables. I normally have beef medium but at this point it struck me that I hadnt been asked how I wanted the fillet. Still I can handle well done as the jus and some mustard served well enough. It wasnt the best piece of beef Ive ever eaten (and if my doctor gets her way it might be the last) but it wasnt bad. In hindsightId have taken the Salmon.
The entree over with I accepted a cheese plate with a tasteless piece of Cheddar, the Blue was okay. With a small lake of port to wash it down (boy that was a big port) I was now happily sated and settled down to watch the end of the movie, with my chocolates of course.
The movie over I decided to get some shut eye and reclined the bed fully flat. I can see now why the bed is described as narrow as in this configuration there is a cramped feeling around the shoulders. I elevated the bed slightly so I was at a more comfortable angle and dozed for somewhere between one to two hours.
I awoke feeling dehydrated (I wonder why) and went to raid the larder or in other words help myself from the fruit and biscuits left out in the galley. It was a poor looking selection but I got some water and a shortbread and went back to the seat and read for a spell until afternoon tea was served about an hour or so later.
I chose the Cheese and Chicken sandwiches. Not much to tell about those, I didnt care too much for the Cheese ones. However the warm scone that arrived was very nice indeed. Mind you I suppose you could spread clotted cream and strawberry jam on cardboard and it would taste good. The Chocolate Profiterole type desert, in all honesty, had no chance up against me in a fair fight and that was duly taken care of.
The landing and customs cards were then passed around. Visitors to the US will be quite familiar with the new Antiguan customs form as it is an exact copy of the US customs form with the country name changed.
Well we landed on time and taxied to the stretch of concrete that serves as the arrivals area. We had to wait to be towed into position which is a new regulation here for some reason.
Now as I was seated just by the door that was being used to deplane I was 4th off the flight. Some speed walking later and I was the first off the flight to get to Immigration. A new personal record was set here when I got through immigration in 5 minutes. At this point I regretted checking my bag in London (as I could have carried it on) but whilst the bag was small the weight was not.
So I spent about forty minutes at the carousel before my bag arrived and made a beeline for customs and the rent a car office.
All in all a decent couple of flights with BA. I am planning another trip to the UK in February (to see Wales beat England at Twickenham) and as long as there is availability I think Ill try Virgin for that flight. I would have flown VS for this flight but when the availability opened up in J the ticket was 2000 EC dollars more than the BA flight so that decision took care of itself.
Until then, have a merry Christmas all.
Adam
