Woke fairly early and had a wonderful breakfast buffet at JW Cafe. Had eggs (their three scrambled eggs sure are a lot more than Westin’s — odd, that!), bacon, waffles with maple syrup, cinnamon sugar, and cranberry paste just like last night. Checked out of the room after admiring the view and headed off to the airport at about 10a.
View of Mumbai from my hotel room
Another shot of Mumbai from my hotel room
Mumbai skyscrapers off in the distance
Small neighborhood near to the hotel in Mumbai
What a gorgeous building from the inside as well! Birds flying around in the massive space, a statue of a seated cow, all sorts of neat things. As I was designated “World Traveler” on my boarding pass I was whisked through luggage check-in (and got my bag checked through to Raleigh so I wouldn’t have to fool with it in London Heathrow) and got my boarding pass for the flight to Raleigh as well. Sailed through security and walked into the duty free area. Bought a couple of gifts and a Mumbai magnet then headed to the gate. So many exotic destinations, even one for Kathmandu!
Every time I saw this I did a double take!
Gate area of Mumbai’s International Terminal
The flight boarded on time at 1:15p, a British Airways 777. The 777 is no A380 but it was still spacious and I had an exit row which was great. I chose the window hoping to see some of the view but turns out the exit row on the 777 has no window. Ooops! The stewardesses were wonderful, particularly two from Edinburgh (Sterling) and Liverpool. Very chatty and funny, the one from Liverpool has a sister in Iowa. The meal wasn’t the greatest but hey it’s airline food. It was pasta and chicken. The stewardess joked the first one to actually find chicken would get a prize. Later she asked if I found it and when I nodded she gave me a Mars bar and some plain M&Ms, haha.
The ten hour flight went over Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, then central Europe and Belgium before landing in London. Immigration was fine and got stamped for entry into the UK. Since I had the time I waited to make sure that my bag didn’t show up in London and was checked through properly. That done, headed to the Sofitel hotel, a short walk from Terminal 5.
Checked-in but as it was late and I was exhausted and the Underground shuts at 11:55p I decided to just stay in the area (Nikola and Lynneth will be disappointed in me again!). Hotel was nice, not as nice as the ones in India, but nice. Watched some British TV (disturbingly awash with American shows like NCIS) and then headed off to find food after FaceTiming Michelle and Addison.
Distinctly British
Ended up eating at Carluccio’s, an Italian restaurant in the departures area of Terminal 5. Not bad, a little pricey though — then again it is London and an airport at that. Had a starter of fried mushrooms that was excellent followed by a main course of chicken breast with a white sauce and prosciutto on top with some roasted potatoes on the side. Ended the meal with a glass of vanilla ice cream with espresso poured on top. Yum!
Bought something for Genetta and checked out the Underground station then headed back to the room for some TV and bed.
This as well, a double decker bus!
Entrance to the London Underground at Heathrow