I don’t know what it is about the day before we fly. I did not sleep well at all last night. I am not complaining as I need to be very tired when we take off from Addis Abbaba. I managed to get through my work easily and did a huge back up. While waiting for the concierge driver to collect us I started downloading episodes from Vikings Season 4. This will give us something to watch while we are in Italy. We made good time to the airport and excellent time from check in to the business class lounge. We are on a Boeing Dreamliner 787 and we have a middle row to ourselves. Nice to have the space between us as the seats are narrow and there is not much leg room. Some of the cabin crew are in traditional clothing which is very nice. We pushed away from the gate at 14:45, nice and early. And took off on time. Lunch was served an hour after takeoff with the obligatory choice of chicken or beef. Dave had chicken and I had the beef. The meat and rice were tasty but I didn’t eat the bean salad. Really one of my worst side dishes. We had a bottle of Cuvée Speciale red wine from Barton & Geustier. The plane is unbelievably silent and I just love the cockpit view on the 3D map.
The overhead lights need to be adjusted to be suitable for reading. Despite this being an afternoon into evening flight, the cabin lights are off. On the plus side the loos have automatic sensors for flushing and at the basin.
Just before 19:00 CAT we were offered cranberry juice which was really tasty. This was followed half an hour later by a tiny roll filled with processed cold meat. Not something I would ordinarily eat but this was supper. We landed at 20:50, 20 minutes early and then had a 10 minute ‘drive’ before getting on a bus to the terminal. It was chaotic getting into the queue for security and that could be better demarcated and handled. But security was a breeze and we were on the next bus waiting to head out to our plane by 21:35. After a 10 minute wait and a 2 minute ride we got onto the plane and discovered our seats had been taken. After being threatened to have us removed from the plane seats were found for us. The chaos meant we took off 30 minutes late, seated at the back of the plane. This flight is a Boeing Dreamliner B787 which is slightly larger. But still not the most comfortable seating arrangement. Dave took a sleeping tablet straight away and slept until dinner. I waited to eat before taking mine. We both had beef pasta and wine and I slept through coffee and cake. I woke up long enough to land with a slight need for more sleep. We landed on time and as soon as we could get up I was ill. Hopefully it will pass soon.
Italy 2018 