Flying Isn’t Fun Anymore!

Yesterday a driver picked us up from our hotel and delivered us to the Barcelona airport.  He kindly schlepped our bags inside the terminal, where we grabbed a luggage cart.  But! We were on the wrong floor for check-in. We found an elevator and then were faced with a HUGE busy cavern with zillions of check-in desks, none for British Air.  Charlie left me with the luggage and went to search for the desk.  It was in the exact opposite corner of the vast area.  We were quickly checked in and dropped the luggage there and given vague instructions to clear Passport Control and go to the VIP lounge (which is not as elite as it sounds).  We wandered around looking for either sign (in Catalan, not English) and finally found the VIP lounge. There we were told that we had to clear Passport Control first, but she directed us to the place.  There was a long, long line, but it moved pretty quickly.  

Once through the line to check into the VIP lounge, we searched for two seats and settled in. Thankfully, they had two people assigned to opening bottles of wine and Prosecco, plus a lot of food on offer. We weren’t hungry, but enjoyed some Prosecco. We kept watching the electronic board to find our gate, but as it turns out, they don’t post the gates until about 15 minutes before boarding. They don’t have much seating at the gates.  We managed to be first in line to board the plane after those needing assistance.

When we got to our very pricey seats in Business Class (there was no First Class), we were dismayed to find they were nothing like the seats on United or American. Seats were three across, with the middle seats blocked by a table, and there was no more legroom than a regular seat. (If there WAS more, God help the poor people in THOSE seats!)

The crew, all men, were very professional, yet friendly and unfailingly polite.  But by the time they got to us for lunch, the only options were a gnocchi dish and baked cod.  I got the very last gnocchi, so Charlie was stuck with the cod. My dish was gluey and almost tasteless, and Charlie’s was worse! The rectangle of white fish was flanked by two potatoes whittled into rectangles, and the “salad” was two small broccoli florets swimming in dressing.  Dessert was a layered melted Jello topped with whipped “cream.” The woman across from us (stuck with the cod) filed a formal complaint with a crew member! 

Mercifully, the flight was on time, and we only had to circle Heathrow once before landing at Terminal 5.  The airport hotel (a very nice Hilton Garden Inn) was connected to Terminal 2, so we had to print (free) tickets and board a train to take us to a central area, then we had a LONG walk to find Terminal 2, then followed the signs to the hotel.  Luckily, luggage carts were plentiful and free, and Charlie rolled ours right into our hotel room. 

We are in a great “runway view” room and have enjoyed watching takeoffs and landings. We went up to the lounge on the top floor and had an even better view for Happy Hour.  

For dinner, we ate in the hotel restaurant, which was very nice, with good service and food. It was amusing to notice that it was almost completely populated with couples just like us — older, casually dressed, and clearly tired!

This morning a driver is picking us up and driving us “105 minutes” to our hotel in Southampton.  We’ll drop our bags and explore that area until our room is ready. And tomorrow morning we’ll board the Anthem of the Seas. Fingers crossed that embarkation goes smoothly!