Off We Go To Beijing!

The day of our flight was really hard for Sharon as she was on the telephone working from 6:30am to 6:00pm. We had originally planned on leaving for the airport by 5:30pm but we were packing Sharon's suitcase a few minutes before 6:00 - she was throwing things out of the closet and I was putting them in her suitcase as fast as I could. We were in the car and out of the driveway just a few minutes later.

We were checked in at O'hare by 6:40 and then headed to our gate. We met Claire, who is on our flight, and we all went into the Flagship Lounge. That was great. Comfortable seating, nice drinks - wine, beer, spirits, and also snacks. I had read there was a Flagship buffet dinner but that never happened. There were some warm appetizers but nothing approaching dinner. We had a nice visit with Claire, watched some of the London Olympics opening ceremonies, and then boarding for our flight was announced. All good!

We boarded with Claire, us to the front of the plane and Claire to the back. We had scored first class seats. This is the way to fly internationally. Loads of room and comfy seats, except, BIG failure for American Airlines. There was a sticker on my seat controls, INOP. Yep, the touted fully adjustable seats with electric recline and foot rests, and lumbar support, etc. was inoperable. American will hear from me on this. The flight attendant was able to at least get the seat to swivel and says she can make it manually recline to form a bed. We shall see. Bottom line is my seat will not operate as advertised and the Flagship Experience is not so great.

On the plus side, I am drinking Gossett Reserve Champagne and will soon be dining on salmon. I've got pajamas to change in to and I am wearing slippers and have on Bose headphones.

Dinner was wonderful, starting with nuts or hummus, then Sharon and I both had smoked salmon with sour cream and capers. Then a salad and then we each had pesto crusted salmon. I am watching a movie based on one of the best books I have read in years, Salmon Fishing The Yemen. I picked up the book on our last trip to London, at least five years ago. It was at Sheena's and I started reading and could not stop! The movie resurrects the same enjoyment. This with a Lange Arneis and life in first class is good.

After putting on my pajamas it was time for bed. The attendants attempted to manually recline my seat and flatten it but had no luck. It would partially recline and they could get the foot rest up partially. I suggested one of the two vacant first class seats but was told they were for crew. I said this was unacceptable, the attendant went away then came back and said I could use one of the other seats but if one of the crew needed it they would wake me up and I would have to move. This is really hard to believe.

They made up the bed and I tossed and turned for a while but finally fell asleep and was out off an on until 6:00am Chicago time. That's 7:00pm Beijing time so a quite a bit of sleep for me.

As I write this we are 800 miles from Beijing and less than two hours to go. The cabin has been dark since bed time and most of the passengers here in first are still asleep. I dressed and went to check on Claire, found her fast asleep. This sleeping will be a problem for all of us when we get to Beijing as it will be 11:30pm there and we have a full day tomorrow! Will we be able to get any sleep our first night in China?

In our hotel, Beijing Double Happiness Courtyard Hotel. This is really cool, old, and cozy in an old neighborhood. Tiny room but we like it. Sharon is repacking her suitcase to see what she ended up with! She is missing her glasses.

We had quite an adventure at the airport. We got through passport control quickly and the got our bags and exited customs to the arrivals area. We looked for someone holding a Dunivan sign. Nope. Then we got a text from Larry, "Where are you?" It took us almost an hour of texting and phone calls and going up and down elevators before we figured out we were in different terminals!

The van with Larry, Dave, Ginger, Audra, and our guide picked us up at 1:00am. We got to the hotel around 2:00 and here I am typing. I'm uploading this with all of its errors and calling it a night. Oh, VPN is the only way to get to Facebook and to Blogspot. Good thing I signed up!

Good night!