Bleary-eyed in Portland

Well, made it to Portland. About 8pm here which means that it is about 4am on my personal timeline. Think I will try to tough it out for a few more hours in the hope that I will then be able to sleep well and wake up refreshed and attuned to my new time zone. You never know.

The day didn’t start too well as I was awoken by a text from British Airways telling me that my flight had been delayed before I was even contemplating heading to Heathrow. Still it was only by about 90 minutes. When I finally got to the boarding gate my pass kept flagging up an error. Apparently there was a note on it for them to inform me that that my seat didn’t have in flight entertainment. I’m not really sure what they thought it achieved by taking me aside and telling me that they didn’t have any other seat to offer me.

On the plus side, the cabin staff were so outraged that I hadn’t been offered any compo that they upgraded me to club class. Nice to see how the other half live - loads of leg and elbow room, nice food (and real cutlery - presumably no terrorists or psychos in club!) and endless flowing Pinot Noir. I could get used to this.

Living it large!

The only downside was that the guy in the next pod was making some very disturbing noises in his sleep. Also, his arm slapped against the translucent divide occasionally - almost like a scene from Titanic, had Kate Winslet been mottled and wrinkly.

Having Wifi on a flight was a revelation too - managed to track the unexpectedly exciting England game whilst out over the Atlantic. And of course exchange some messages with Ethan to get tips on maximizing my new found status as one of the elite.

On the shuttle bus to the Portland terminal there was a spectacular mountain backdrop - Mount Hood I presume, which I will be circling back to later in the trip. Bodes well for awe inspiring vistas though.