A First Class Finish!

At JFK airport we go into our normal airport travel mode – check in, bag drop, buy magazine for take off, head to the BA lounge etc etc.  But this time we have an extremely nice surprise at the check in machine, where we find we have been upgraded to Business Class.  Mrs M is now extremely excited having never gone ‘proper’ business class before – although realises this poses a new ‘Flying with Confidence’ problem – how do you take off in a backwards facing seat? (Mr M helpfully says backwards!).  We are not sure whether the upgrade is because of Mr M’s Sapphire card, the numerous Oneworld flights we have taken, or because of Mrs M’s course, but thank you – this will be a memorable last hurrah!

 

After some time in the BA lounge we get the call that we are boarding to go home.  We join the last line to do the final security and boarding pass checks.   Mrs M is up first however there seems to be a problem – our passports can’t be read, the boarding passes don’t scan and the computer says ‘not checked in’ – what has happened now – are we not going to be able to go home for Christmas after all– Mrs M starts to look worried.

The BA lady comes back – “it’s your lucky day – you’ve been upgraded to First Class” – Not quite believing what has just happened Mr M says – “Mrs M you’re going to really like this!”, we go down the tunnel and for Mrs M’s first time ever we get to turn left!

BA Flight 112 First Class Cabin

“Wow” – is all Mrs M can say!  Slightly shell shocked as we are made extremely welcome by the lovely BA cabin crew, handed glasses of Laurent Perrier champagne, given our first class PJ’s, this poses a new problem for Mrs M – how do you work the seat and all the gadgets and oh no I can’t actually reach Mr M to hold his hand on take off – oh well have some more champagne and sit back and relax! 

And relax....the best flight Mrs M has EVER completed!

When the cabin crew discover Mrs M is a nervous flyer she is given even more special attention and is really looked after!  Mr M is very concerned as Mrs M seems to be getting used to this a bit too easily!

After a good take off we are set up for a table for two for dinner – whilst still very full from brunch we can only have the starter – lobster, but manage to make room for that.  This is certainly a bit different to the 'lovely' veggie chickpea stew Mrs M had on the Quantas Sydney / LA flight!

Time for bed.  PJ’s on and we are ‘turned down’ with a fully flat bed – again something Mrs M has never experienced before – lying down on the plane – whatever next!   

First Class PJ's on - time for bed!

Whilst Mr M (the seasoned traveler) gets a good sleep Mrs M is still too excited and doesn’t get too much.  Next up a lovely breakfast and then we are coming in to Heathrow, nearly home at last.   

What a finale – Mrs M has totally loved flight No. 21 and decides that actually first class is definitely the way to go!  A big thank you to the BA team on Flight BA 112 who made it all so perfect (you even get a better class of turbulence in first!).

After being let off the plane first, all bags present and correct, we collect the hire car and go home.  

Round the world trip completed.  No regrets!

Mrs M

One last hurrah!

We awake excited as have reached Day 118 of our big trip and today we are going home for Christmas, but that’s not before one (or possibly two) last hurrah's as is the McClymont’s Gap ethos!

Mrs M completes the early morning tea run and then we pack our bags up for the last time – including the emergency Macy’s bag purchased a couple of nights ago.  Whilst we have now become experts in packing and traveling we are both looking forward to not living out of a suitcase for a while!

All packed ready for the last leg home

Before leaving on our trip we were given lots of recommendations from different people as to must ‘see’s and do’s’ for different places we were visiting and one such recommendation was that we ‘must do’ Sunday Brunch at the Waldorf Astoria.  As Sunday was our last day we thought this would be a good way to finish off and so this was duly booked before leaving – we can’t believe we have finally got here.

At 12 midday we go down to Peacock Alley for the must sumptuous spread we have ever seen.  There are 100’s of different dishes on different food stations – from lobster to beef wellington, pancakes to ravioli, smoked salmon, salads, breads, a chocolate fountain and about 25 different desserts!  Where to begin?  Of course with a glass of champagne as a celebration of the end of the best four months of our entire lives! 

The amazing brunch spread

We decide that this is a marathon event not a sprint and the key to success would be to pace ourselves and of course make a plan of attack.  So we get started - Mr M with the fish station and Mrs M with the breakfast station – after all ‘breakfast is the most important meal of the day’.   

We work our way through little portions of pancakes and maple syrup, lobster tails, prawns, smoked salmon, blinis, mushroom ravioli, beef wellington, roast beef, chicken parmigiana and then of course sample one or two (or three or four) of the desserts (white chocolate cheese cake, macaroons, lemon tart, chocolate log….), copious amounts of tea, fruit juice and champagne until we are totally stuffed and can hardly move!  What a way to finish!

Needing some fresh air before it is time to go to the airport we head out for a walk around the blocks near us to take in the last few bits of New York, before we both agree it was time to call it a day and finally go home.

Goodbye NYC!

We have a great taxi driver on the way to JFK airport who is excited to hear of our travels and especially our trip to India – his home country.  He shares our work hard / play hard ethos and we talk about the very motto of our trip – that life is too short and you have to do as much as you can whilst you have it with absolutely no regrets.  It is quite a fitting way to end.

Mrs & Mr M

Christmas Dinosaurs!

We are up early and head to the Washington Square area that we went to with Jeanne on Thursday.  We get a good breakfast first to set us up well for the day ahead.  The area is really nice – much more residential and a big change from the big skyscrapers of Midtown/Downtown.  We have a good wander about and do a little retail therapy – we are in New York after all, before heading back to the hotel to drop off the excess bags.  Good job we bought the extra bag last night!  (Slightly worried blog readers may be noticing a theme...)

Next we jump in a cab to the Natural History museum for Mr M to have some geology therapy!  It is huge and we are particularly impressed by the Christmas dinosaurs on display outside.

A Christmas Dinosaur (the tree, not Mr M!)

We of course go to the planet earth galleries which are cracking (we are running out of positive adjectives for the blog if you hadn't noticed...), then to the planetarium and then end up in the dinosaur galleries which again Mr M is very impressed with. 

Kelvin meets the ancestors...

 A bit of a whirlwind trip to the Natural History Museum but we both enjoy it.

Dinosaurs at the museum

After a spot of tea we make our way to the Empire State Building.  We get there ok (again after a slightly crazy taxi ride through the streets of New York) and join quite an immense number of queues to get to the 82^nd Floor out of 102.  We make our way up in the elevators (lifts) and eventually make it to the 82^nd floor.  What an unbelievable view – twinkling lights everywhere that go on and on.  It is so pretty and we love the view.  It’s also totally different doing it at night compared to the Top of the Rock Observatory we did earlier in the week.  A great last night in the Big Apple!  

Thousands of twinkling lights across the skyline and at the Chrysler Building

Mrs & Mr M

Late Night Shopping in the City that Never Sleeps

We awake a wee bit tired this morning after our big day of adventuring in the Big Apple yesterday.  After a bit of a lazy start we decide to ease gently into the day with a bit of culture and head to MOMA.

Van Gogh & Munch

We start at the top of the Museum and work our way down, enjoying the many different galleries and some rather unusual art in some cases!

Monet & Mondrian

Fully cultured up we head back to the hotel for a rest, before heading back out to the Rockefeller Centre to see the amazing Christmas lights, Christmas tree and of course the famous ice rink.

Christmas at the Rockefeller Centre

After good time at the Rockefeller we head out for tea to an Italian around the corner, which is very nice.

Now as New York is the city that never sleeps we decided to head out for a spot of late night shopping.  Macy’s is open until midnight and is famed for its Christmas displays so of course we need to check them out and maybe partake in a little shopping…

It really is the city that never sleeps - Macy's is packed!  If its like this at 11pm at night I'm not sure what it would be like during the day time, the week before Christmas.  Still our late night shopping mission has been successfully completed - a new large bag has been purchased, may just need to do a little more shopping to ensure it is properly filled up... Oh well

NYC does Christmas

Mrs & Mr M