Today started in a far more civilised fashion than travel days usually do, because rather than being on the first flight from Edinburgh to London, we didn’t have to fly until the early afternoon! This is because the Calgary flight didn’t depart until 6.30pm.
The morning was therefore spent pottering around the house (DH even washing a load of clothes!) before our taxi to the airport at 12.
There was a short delay getting into the airport due to a bus blocking the access, then a short wait to check in our suitcases, then a short wait at security, before we finally made it into the departures area. As we had BA lounge access for the trip, we headed there.
I decided that after all of the waiting I needed a cheeseplate to snack on, and it definitely hit the spot. DH has a bowl of lentil soup. No alcohol yet though - we were pacing ourselves!
The flight to Heathrow boarded on time but we had to wait to take off - the pilot commented he’d never seen Edinburgh airport so busy. Once we were up in the air, we were offered a choice of salads along with a drink.
DH went for the Mexican bean salad while I tried the chicken tikka salad - I think mine was the better choice! Both were served with a lemon pot dessert that was delicious, and we both declined the bread rolls offered. I had a gin and tonic - I’d been hoping to try the special Pickering’s Gin made for BA’s centenary but that wasn’t available - never mind, Gordon’s will do!
The pilot came back on the tannoy to tell us we’d be straight into Heathrow without having to hold, which was surely unheard of but certainly welcome! Once off the plane, we made our way through flight connections and then headed for the Galleries South lounge in T5.
They had a hot food buffet out as well as soup and sandwiches; I tried the chilli (which was ok) and the pasta (which was rubbery). For drinks I had another G&T; later I had a cup of tea with a scone, jam and clotted cream, but I don’t seem to have a picture of that.
The Calgary flight started boarding about 30 minutes late and that delay carried through to take off; I always stick with water for my preflight drink but once in the air I ordered, you guessed it, another G&T! This was served with nuts.
Here is a photo of the food on offer during the flight:
Both DH and I ordered the soup to start with; this was tasty although the accompanying bread roll was hard as a rock. I’d switched to drinking the French white wine with dinner, while DH chose a Californian red.
BA let you preorder main courses on certain flights - I chose the Thai chicken curry weeks ago and was not disappointed, i think it was the best main dish I’ve ever had on a flight.
DH enjoyed his beef as well. He fared less well with dessert; he’d picked the lemon and lime slice which, when served, looked suspiciously like the disappointing delice I had on our Florida flight last year.
He was also sad about how small the portion was - especially when he saw the size of my cheese plate!
The crew were brilliant during meal service, keeping drinks topped up at all times and continually offering something else. I felt it would be rude to say no, which is why I ended the meal by consuming both a Baileys and a peppermint tea. And then for some strange reason needed a nap...
I managed to nap for several hours on and off and didn’t properly wake until we were just over an hour out from landing. I was immediately offered a snack plate (again, a brilliant crew) but I decided I wasn’t peckish for anything but a cup of tea (and if you’ve read this far, are you really surprised?). DH did accept the tapas plate but wasn’t impressed; he said it was all too cold and the tiffin slice was particularly disgusting!
Despite the delay in taking off, we made up enough time to actually land 5 minutes ahead of schedule. Immigration was fine and, although we had to wait for our bags for longer than usual, picking up the hire car was also easy and we were soon on our way to downtown Calgary. By this time it was about 9.30pm so once we found the hotel, checked in and got to our room, it was basically bed time!