Arise Sir Rudy!
I’m sure I heard those immortal words, “Arise Sir Rudy!”, but it appears not. The queen (well one of them) appears to have missed me off the list. Oh well, it is time anyway for RudyMenTerry to rise from his slumber once again. We find ourselves, my long standing (well, that is until the gin hits!) companion and I, on our way to Mumbai. We couldn’t resist a rather stunning deal on the flights and so, once again, we are flying business class. Our chauffeur arrived on time, albeit getting the wrong house and thinking he was picking up our neighbours! Not so, we told him, we are going today, they are not going yet and, in any event, they are not flying Emirates!
The driver asked if we had a preferred route to the airport but we explained that we were happy for him to choose the route. That might have been a mistake … we can make Gatwick Airport in about 15 minutes but our journey, circuitous as it was, took just over 30 minutes. We drove down roads that I have never even seen before and certainly would never have driven along to get to the airport. Personally, I think he may have been following the lights of the incoming aircraft but, whatever his reasons were, we did finally arrive at the airport.
After an effortless check-in and security process we found ourselves in the lounge. Captain Clarke suggested a glass of Champagne – who am I to object?! So, glasses of Champagne in hand, we enjoyed a comfortable couple of hours in the lounge before our flight. I suppose I should mention at this juncture that we may have had more than one glass of champagne, but I couldn’t possibly say! Captain Clarke grazed the food – he didn’t want to spoil his dinner on the plane so he only succumbed to olives, chicken satay, passanda curry and a small portion of rice with the curry! I took the view that the meal on the plane would be more than enough to satisfy me and, in any event, I don’t have quite such a vast wasteline to fill!
Our flight was called and we made our way to the gate. Should anyone else find themselves in the same position, the Emirates lounge is a very long way from gate 558! We did, however, make it to the gate and, rather than queue with those less fortunate than ourselves, we were ushered straight on to the plane and, having taken our seats, were presented with another glass of champagne! (I think, in all truth, there was orange juice too but let’s not be silly about this!) We rumbled out to the runway on our A380 and we hardly seemed to be moving before we were off and airborne. The A380 is such a wonderful plane and so quiet! There was a little bit of turbulence over France and Germany and one just wonders if that is a reflection of recent events nearer the ground!
Before taking our meal, we took the opportunity to pop into the bar. There, with the help of a little Glenfidich for Captain Clarke and some Chivas Regal for myself, we were able to enjoy the surroundings and the luxury of a bar on an aircraft. A little more turbulence and we had to take seats (in the bar) where there were seat belts. We met a gentleman called Gerry who came to sit with us and who works in Oman. Gerry entertained us with videos of the camels he has apparently made friends with. Two more glasses of the good stuff later (well, we had to pass the time whilst the turbulence lasted) and we returned to our seats for dinner.
Dinner was, in the most part, OK. To be honest, Captain Clarke had to wait quite some time for the flat breads to go with his Arabian Mezze and his fish main course was not one he would choose again. My Arabian Mezze arrived with the flat breads and my main course was OK (not memorable but OK). Washed down with a glass of red for myself and a glass of white for Captain Clarke, the dinner was, for the most part, OK. I looked across at Captain Clarke’s seat and he had a glass of white wine, a gin and tonic and a large whisky – I think he’s on holiday again!
Having completed dinner, we settled down for some much needed shut eye. I had been working all weekend and then right up to an hour before we left. Captain Clarke had also been putting in the hours so we both needed a little rest. I pressed the button, turned my seat into a bed and lay down for a jolly good sleep. I only woke about an hour before we landed in Dubai so I obviously needed it! Captain Clarke had woken earlier than me and was watching the film Yesterday. I decided to have another go at ‘Who wants to be a millionaire’ and promptly won the million again! If only there was some real dosh involved!
We arrived in Dubai at 7 o’clock in the morning (or 4 o’clock UK time). We arrived in Zone C and, having completed the security checks for transit passengers, we made our way to Zone B where our flight to Mumbai would depart from. For someone who walks around 6 miles a day with a dog, I can categorically tell you that the walk from Zone C to Zone B and the Emirates lounge is a very, very long way! By the time we got to the lounge I was ready for a rest! We didn’t have all that long in the lounge before our flight to Mumbai was ready for boarding but Captain Clarke managed to force down a light breakfast of sausage, bacon, mushrooms and scrambled eggs!
Now I’m not one to complain but we did hit a bit of a hitch on the way from Dubai to Mumbai. Good news, we arrived in Mumbai early … well, when I say arrived, what I really mean is circled for about 30 minutes. Then, apparently, we were told we couldn’t land in the direction that we wanted so we diverted to Ahmedabad just short of an hour’s flight away! When we got to Ahmedabad we sat on the tarmac for a couple of hours before once again leaving for Mumbai where the authorities had given us permission to land in the direction that the pilot wanted to! (Apparently they are using the emergency runway at the moment because they are doing work on the main runway and a Boeing 777 can only land in one direction!).
So, finally, we are in Mumbai. Out chauffeur was there to meet us. The traffic from the airport was as expected – total chaos but in some way magical like a chaotic ballet of cars, people, motorcycles and any other form of transport one might imagine. The check-in at the hotel was without problem and we have finally made it to our room. It is already dark here in Mumbai but Captain Clarke would like a drink (it’s not as if he’s had much in the last 24 hours!), so we’re off out to see what we can find. Tomorrow is a whole new day and we intend to enjoy every bit of it!
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