Planes: meals, views and reflections

Following on from my post about trains on our European trip, I have some photos and thoughts on our plane travel, mostly our trips between Melbourne and Edinburgh.  I wrote about advantages of trains over planes but there are some benefits to flying: travelling long haul between continents, movies and the views from the plane if you are sitting by a window.

Usually I avoid Heathrow when we fly to Edinburgh.  For this trip, I got a good deal with my Qantas frequent flyer points so I booked a flight I would not normally consider. I usually avoid domestic flight in Australia, changes from international to domestic flights in Heathrow, and tight timelines for transfers at that huge busy airport,  I also was not keen on a 16 hour flight from Heathrow to Perth on the way home.

I have previously complained about plane meals.  Although we are lacto-ovo vegetarians, we are often likely to be given vegan and gluten free food.  While I don't have a problem with vegan and gluten free food, it can be limiting when the caterers try to accommodate so many dietary restrictions in meals suitable for heating on planes, which are already a challenge to maintain quality.  So I was happy to be served ravioli with a tomato sauce and broccoli for our evening meal.  It was delicious and I appreciated some nice green vegetables.  We also had some dried fruit, bread and margarine and a baked slice, none of which were too attractive.  I liked the Qantas served the accompaniments in a plastic bag that we could put our rubbish in after our meal.

The main flight outward bound (QF1) was from Sydney to Heathrow London with a couple of hours stop at Singapore.  It was ok.  Sylvia's glasses somehow snapped in half and our luggage under the seat in front of us got wet and sticky.  When we stopped at Singapore, we took our luggage off the plane but returned to the same seats on the same plane.  So I asked if the cleaners could clean under the seat in front of us.  The air steward told me that the cleaners didn't do that.  It was never clear who did.  Not impressed with this!

Movies on planes are a good way to pass the time.  On the way there I watched Are you there God, it's me Margaret, The Impossible and Milk.  This was a good balance of fun, tragedy and politics.  We were still very tired when we arrived in Edinburgh.  After the queues, crowds, change of connecting flight, bus between terminals and long walks in Heathrow, it was lovely to arrive in a small friendly airport.

Other than the long haul flights, the only flight we took was with Ryan Air.  We had to get up ridiculously early for the 5.50am flight.  It was the only airline I could find to fly direct from Edinburgh to Rome.  I knew it was no frills so no surprises there.  The views were great.  We flew over the Alps which looked amazing.

Flying into Rome also was great viewing.  As we were descended towards Ciampino airport, we could see random ancient buildings and we could also had a bird's eye view of the outskirts.  It amazes me that the buildings in this area were so dense with mostly multistory apartments.

The next flight was on British Airways from Edinburgh to London Heathrow.  It was surprisingly scenic.  The only food was this Raspberry and Sultana Oat Bite.  It was a nice oaty bar with some good flavour.

The views of the British fields through the clouds were really lovely.  Lots of green.

Most exciting was coming into London.  I remember seeing the Thames on my first flight to the UK almost 30 years ago but have not seen it since.  As a teenager, we watched EastEnders on the tv for a while.  Every time I see this curve of the Thames it takes me to the image on the credits of this show as the theme music runs through my head.

Even more impressive was when we got close enough to see some of the London icons.  Above you can see the Tower Bridge over the Thames with the Tower of London nearby to its the right (north of the Thames).  The Shard tower can be seen over the mid left of the photo with St Paul's Cathedral just to the right of its tip (on the north of the river).  At the foot of the Shard are the white lines of the London Bridge station platforms with railway lines stretching down to the bottom of the photo.

Further on along west on the Thames I had a clear view of the London Eye (middle right) and across the Thames (slightly lower by the bridge) is The Westminster Palaces (gold buildings on the north of the Thames) and behind it is Westminster Abby (smaller and white building).  Slightly above this area is St James Gardens, the white buildings along The Mall, the break in the white buildings that is Waterloo Place, and (down the road to the right for those with eagle eyes or great knowledge of the area) is Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery.

This photo is of a ginger ale and some soy rice crackers I was given soon after lift off (and I had opened my laptop before the air travel had deleted my energy).  It was a relief to be on the plane from London to Melbourne (with a stopover in Perth).  It was a crazy rush to get there.  The sort that involves being taken to the start of the line when we gave the time of our plane, of anxious clock watching, constantly checking departures boards, and being too late to stop anywhere as we rushed along the passages of Heathrow.  

When we arrived late at the departure gate we were told that our checked-in luggage had been put aside and they would now add it to the plane.  Then we heard out name on the loud speaker when we were called to the desk.  We were shown photos of our checked-in suitcases and asked to confirm they were ours.  Apparently there was a problem with the tagging.  We were given new receipts for our luggage. 

The evening meal was curried tofu, rice and broccoli.  I quite liked this.  At one meal time, probably this one,  I asked if Sylvia could have one of the vegetarian meals that were offered to everyone.  It was pasta and mushrooms so she was delighted with it.  

As always it was frustrating to choose between being sure of a vegetarian meal if we ordered one even if not so keen on the meal, compared to the risk that one of the good vegetarian meals was available as one of the options for everyone.  For the first time in my experience of flying, I toyed with the idea of removing our request for vegetarian meals.  Why have plane meals got so confusing!

For dessert, everyone was offered a salted caramel ice cream.  The ice creams were frozen so hard, they were hard to eat at first.  Once they had defrosted slightly, they tasted delicious.

I enjoyed watching a few movies on the flight: Elizabeth, (with a glowing and glowering Cate Blanchett as the Virgin Queen) Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (with Paul Newman and Robert Redford as charming rogues), and The Amazing Maurice (an animation with Hugh Laurie voicing the sneaky but lovable eponymous cat).  The last one I watched in tandem with Sylvia.  Since I last flew long haul with her, Qantas has added a "share movie" button on the video screen (or maybe that is just on the Dreamliner).  Sylvia also watched Barbie at least once.

For breakfast we had an attempt at a fry-up but it paled compared to the excellent fry-ups we'd had in the UK.  The tofu scramble was a bit dull and without it, it was just some veg sausages with some tomato and mushrooms.  The bread rolls were on the dry side, not warm and fresh like some of the bread for the mainstreamers.  I know it is hard to please everyone but plane food still seems hit and miss.  It was some consolation on this flight that at least we had a nice modern plane.

I only booked the 16 hour trip from London to Perth because it was the only option on the Qantas Frequent Flyer Points flight and I had not been keen on it.  However I enjoyed this QF10 flight, on the state-of-the-art Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner more than I expected.  Usually I find by the time I get to sleep, they are waking us up again for landing.  Having 16 hours gave more time to eat, watch a movie and sleep.  Stopping in Perth meant not much in the way of duty free and food but it was great to have only 5 hours flight to go and it didn't take long to get anywhere in such a small airport.  Before we knew it the sun was setting on the plane and on our holiday as we arrived home in Melbourne.