JFK to London

We have been having some problems with the apartment WiFi ... I tried to do this with pictures, but it doesn't work.  I will add photos later. This connection is sooooo slow!

After 5 hours in the British Airways VIP Concorde Lounge, we got to the gate only to be told I hadn't checked in and that my seat was now at the opposite side of the plane from Scott's.  After a few tense moments we got it all straightened out.

We spent time checking out all the amenities of our individual "pods" -- the seats that make into beds, the individual 19" TV screen, noise cancelling headphones, two pillows, a blanket, a personalized comfort kit of things to make the trip more relaxing), a glass of champagne to enjoy while the rest of the passengers came aboard.  Sitting in the window pod I had an electronic blind I could raise and lower at the touch of a button next to my seat. We were even offered BA pajamas for our night flight.

Underway, we were served a 3 course meal - we both had a beef fillet with chanterelle mushrooms.  I started with asparagus soup and Scott had a salad.  Best airline food we've seen in a while! 

As we leaned back to get a little sleep the flight attendants came by offering duvets to make our beds more cozy.

Arriving in London was interesting.  There was some fog, so they put us into a pattern flying circles south of the airport for about 20 minutes.  When we finally landed, we got there as two other 747s were on the same concourse.  Everyone is trying to crowd onto the same trains trying to get to the other part of the terminal to their connecting flights.  Imagine a three-story escalator with 500+ people trying to get to the top and you'll have a sense of BA's  Heathrow Terminal 5.  Then we had to go through another round of security... luckily as first class passengers we could go to the Fast Pass lane.  (We suddenly realized that the mini creams and toothpaste that came in the comfort kits had to go into the plastic bags for security, so it was a bit of a scramble.) 


After clearing security, we retired to the quiet sanctuary of the Concorde Room lounge... just in time to watch the sun come up.  

The trip from LHR to VEN was uneventful.  Clouds from England to well past Paris, but as we started over the Alps, we could see a bit of the scenery. 

It was dramatic to go from the mountains to the flat coastal plain surrounding Venice.   We came in over the lagoon just north of the city, landing at the airport right on time.  They are working on the airport, so we got put at one of the old gates and had to come down old-fashioned stairs to climb aboard buses to go to the terminal.  From the decadence of first class to the reality of schlumping our bags through the airport... it was quite a day.