Wake up Thursday the 12th to a full travel day back to the US! We had yet another efficient checkout of the Holiday Inn Mitte. After deciding the evening before to use a taxi to return to the airport because of the amount of luggage we were bringing back, the front desk promptly handled our request for a large taxi. Within minutes the auto arrived with enough room for 5 people and all our luggage – all this for less than 20 euros! What a deal!
Since the check in process for BA did not start until 90 minutes prior to departure, we stopped at the airport coffee shop Wien for juice, cappuccino and the biggest slice of cheesecake ever! Finally we said our goodbyes to Kaitlin and checked in, quickly went through Passport Control and Security (all the same queue) and after a short wait, boarded the plane.
An hour and a half later the plane landed at London Heathrow and, having eaten a smaller breakfast while approaching lunchtime, we opted to dine at Gordon Ramsay’s Plane Food. Chris and I loved the beef carpaccio appetizer! While the fishcakes others ate were a little dry (Shame, Gordon!), the banana toffee pudding was fantastic. Not a cheap lunch, but a great location for watching planes take off and taxi to their respective gates!
After lunch, a final cruise of the duty free shops while awaiting the posting of a gate during the 1 and ½ hour delayed BA Flight #991 back to Denver. Finally a gate was posted and we took the underground train to Terminal 5 Concourse C to reach our departure gate. Eventually boarding began and the flight back to home was underway.
The flight crew aboard this plane was very friendly and competent – MUCH better than the other trans-Atlantic flight! I watched the movie, The Iron Lady, while eating a very flavorful dinner that came with complimentary wine and other beverages(when requested). After the dinner trays were removed and the Iron Lady ended, I started to watch War Horse but fell asleep halfway through (probably due to a combination of the previous week’s activity and not feeling well more than the actual movie itself). Upon awakening, I viewed part of the movie Tower Heist prior to a hard landing in Denver, but we brought the RAIN back with us (which we desperately needed)!!
All in all our April gallop through Northern and Central Europe was a fantastically memorable trip and we didn’t get lost once (Thanks to Vanessa)!!
Can’t wait ‘til our next visit…