Day 2

March 12, 2025

Why oh why oh why did I have all that beer when we have to get up so early.

I wasn’t hungover but soooooo tired.

We got ready and were out of the door by 7am.

First treat of the day - the pod!!!!!

Once at T5 we caught the Heathrow Express to T3 and after being fast tracked through security we were soon sitting in Lounge F.

I was determined to hit the breakfast hard and the only thing that thwarted my ambitions was the diminutive size of the plate.

Still, I went back for seconds

I need to do some YouTube research to see if there is a way of eating a croissant that doesn’t leave the surrounding 5 yards looking like a war zone.

It was 8:30 and Joss decided now was the time for wine.

So uncouth showing me up in the lounge.

I had a vodka and coke - but to the naked eye it was just coke so I win.

Well, 3 diet cokes later and we were ready to board.

As we sat down Joss tried to work out why the seats were more expensive.

I suggested that part of the cost was getting on first and watching the hoy palloy troop on afterwards.

A claim she vigorously denied although she did apply a fresh coat of lipstick as they came on - I’ll let you decide on her motives.

Joss was given the opportunity to park one of the planes and only dented the wing a little so she was pretty pleased.

Joss was more nervous than usual taking off and said she’d be better after we got through the clouds but if anything got worse as we burst through, but then quickly settled when the drinks’ trolly arrived.

He asked me what I wanted and I asked for red wine. When he asked if there was anything else, I said yes, I’ll have some more wine.

I was waiting outside the one toilet waiting for the small woman to unpack something the size of the Ark (I imagine from the time she took) when I wondered out loud “I wonder what the food is?”

“Beef cheeks” said the man to my right.

I thought he was coming on to me before he added “or pasta”.

Is it wrong to be a little disappointed????

Anyhoo I had the beef and it was delicious.

Once finished I started on my second bottle of red whereas Joss had finished her champagne and we hadn’t seen the stewards for a while.

“Is it rude for me to go up and ask for more?” she asked.

Of course it was but I said no it’ll be fine.

So up she went and tentatively put her head through the curtain.

No one saw her.

She then gave a little knock on the side of the cabin, like Oliver asking for more gruel.

She was rewarded however and returned triumphant with a fresh, full glass.

We then chatted for a while until I asked what time the horse show was on Friday.

In full 2 Ronnies’ sketch mode Joss turned to look at her phone using the hand that held the champagne and threw it down herself.

Whoever had 12:03 in the sweepstake for this to happen, bravo, for I predicted 08:05 with breakfast….

So we had a great trip and landed ahead of schedule.

Security was a breeze and we quickly picked up our bags and headed for the train station.

We bought a ticket for the nearest station to our hotel and on the app it said platform 1 but at the station it said platform 2.

Then it said it was delayed.

Then another train arrived and loads of people got on before all being asked to get off again.

The sign then changed for where we wanted to go and no one seemed to know what this meant so we just got on.

As we looked at the list of stations the train was calling on, none of them were on our list.

Bugger.

We’ll have to get off and regroup at the next station.

Then, just before we arrived at the first station, all the electronic boards changed to be the station names that we DID want.

We were actually on the right train 🎉🎉🎉

The journey took 25 minutes or so and then we had a 20 minute walk to the hotel.

There was the slight hiccup in that we extended our holiday by a day and they seemed to have forgotten about that, but thankfully they quickly sorted that out and we made it to our room.

Not a huge view but an indication of the local architecture.

We briefly went out for bottles of water and snacks and then had a lie down to recover from the early start.

Our table, however, was booked for 8pm so we set off at 7pm and had time for a beer in a bar on the way that had complementary nuts and you threw the shells on the floor - very reminiscent of Raffles in Singapore.

We breezed to the front of the queue at Figlmüller Bäkerstraße (as we had booked) which is renowned for its giant schnitzels and potato salad.

We both ordered that and it also came with jam - just like the meal I had in Seville.

It was bloody delicious and the potato salad was the best I’ve ever tasted.

Dipping my schnitzel in jam, I’ve never felt more Austrian - not enough to invade another country but….

Joss had strudel for pudding and we both had schnapps to finish off both our meals and the linings of our stomachs.

We then headed back but stumbled across a bar - well it would be rude not to.

After that we saw another bar that was showing champions’ league football and that would have been even more rude to ignore - and we’re not that kind of people.

Although I will say, the woman at the other end of the bar was a bit disconcerting..