The layover itself was low key. I went to the Vaudeville Theatre to see Great Expectations, a new stage version based on the Charles Dickens novel. Coincidentally, it was the only Dickens novel I actually read without the use of Cliff's Notes. The West End in London is doing several of his novels, adapted for the stage, in honor of his bicentennial.
I scored a front row seat for £25, off the normal £75 price. I always seems to have good luck going to the box office right before the show starts. This was a "haunting" version of the novel, and was very dark and grim, but it was very good.
It was a chilly night, but I decided to walk the three and a half miles back to the hotel. My route took me from the Strand to the Pall Mall to Buckingham Palace, Marble Arch and then thru Knightsbridge and Harrods.
I started to second guess my idea to walk as I was heading towards the palace, as there was literally no one out on the streets but me and I realized I could have easily been hacked into a million pieces and no one would ever find me, but I managed to avoid being murdered and made my way safely back to the hotel.
The next morning, my friend Valerie and I walked the perimeter of Kensington and Hyde Parks.... almost six miles!
Late morning we made our way to the airport and the flight home on the brand new 777-300 that my airline had just taken delivery of the month before. This was the airplane's 32 flight, or cycle, and it's arrival that morning into London was it's first transatlantic crossing, and our flight would be the first departure out of LHR, so everything and everyone was buzzing.
When we pulled up to the drop off point for our flight, we happened to be right next to the plane, so a couple of us ran over and took some pictures. You can really get an idea of how big the engines are when a person is standing next to them.
Our driver inadvertently photobombed the shot as he was carrying my bag to the cargo hold. (I had stocked up on my Original Source shower gel so I had too many liquids and had to check my bag).
Below is a group shot with Izzy, our Purser, and Bonn and David.
Here's a shot of my friend Moa. He's the one who took the pictures of us with the engines with his fancy digital camera.
When we got to the gate, we were met by FAA, as they were coming along since this was a "proving" run for the plane. The Cabin Safety Inspector was named Vanessa, and I had actually had her on a flight to Santiago in December and she was very nice. She checked out manuals, FAA Certification Cards and made sure we had a working Flashlight. Lucky for me, I passed.
The LHR ground staff had actually rolled out the "Red Carpet" for us, so to speak. Not quite sure if anyone noticed... I only did because they had just finished laying it down as I walked onto the plane.
As you walked on, you couldn't help but notice that new airplane smell.
Here's a shot of first class.... just eight seats, so it's a smaller cabin than the 777-200.
Business class now comes with a stand up bar for passengers to come and mingle.....luckily there was no space for the piano bar from days of old.
Here's another shot I took after they had "dressed" the bar at the conclusion of the lunch service.
Business class is now up to 52 seats and each seat has it's own little enclosed area, so no more giving someone a lap dance when you try to get out of the middle seat.
As we make our way back, we come to the Coach cabin for the unwashed masses. The first few rows of coach are nine across seating and offer a little more leg room, if you are willing to pay, beyond that is the Titanic section of the plane, with 10 across seating for the tired, the poor, the hungry.
Here's my buddy Kevin in the Coach Beverage galley.... the cabin is so large, they now have two galleys instead of one.
The most important feature for me was the crew bunks. They are located upstairs and you enter thru a door in the back. There are 8 bunks up here and since the bunks are no longer in the cabin, they are much quieter.
The ground personnel provided us with a cake in first and business class, but the agent made sure to mention it was for the passengers! Figures.
I was the galley on this trip and it was a bit hectic at first as I was trying to figure out where everything was. It's a smaller galley in First Class, since there are less seats, so it took me a while to figure it all out.
Notice the fancy new bathrooms with the raised sinks and the fancy soaps. Oooooh. Aaaaaah.
Here's a shot of Izzy and me. With just eight seats, it is just the two of us up front now, but we did a smashing job!
First class passengers can now enjoy an espresso or cappuccino . Here I am making my very first cappuccino ever, both on the ground or in the air, for Izzy....
I even steamed the milk.... and the verdict! SHE LIKES IT!
