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New Years in Rome and Malta

New Years in Rome and Malta
via Lufthansa First Class
December 2016

We met our wonderful Irish guide Stephen (mymalteseguide.com) in the hotel lobby, hopped into his Range Rover and we headed our for a day around Malta.  First stop was Valletta, the historic walled capital city.  

The Malta Stock Exchange.  

Office of the PM.

Malta's new Parliament Building.

The old Opera House, bombed in WWII, now an outdoor theatre.

Historical St. John's Co-Cathedral.

Trying a local pastizzi.

From Valletta, we headed to the other side of the harbour.

We both though that is was so wonderful for father to visit with daughter, or grand-daughter.  LOL.

Next stop was the lovely seaside fishing village of Marsaxlokk. 

Lunch stop at Tartarun, a lovely seafood restaurant.

Where we decided to try a bottle of Isis.  LOL.

OMG, the calamari was one of the best anywhere.

Aw shucks.

Driving by the airport and the best way to/from Malta.

To the Blue Grotto.

I think we'll pass on rock climbing today.

Next, we headed to Mdina, another ancient walled fortress city.

Ah yes, that distinctive 77W sound on take-off.

Finally to Mosta and the Church of St. Mary, which received a direct bomb hit in WWII but where the bomb miraculously failed to explode.  A replica is on display.

Back at our hotel, Mrs. SFO777 went to our room, while I walked across the street to check out the Presidential garden.

Today, Mrs. SFO777 decided to sleep in and take a day off from touring.   So it's just our guide Stephen and me as we head north for the 10:30am ferry to Gozo.  But first a stop at the site and set where most of 13 Hours was filmed.  The US compound was built for the movie and dismantled right after fliming.   

Popeye village, built for and as the set of the movie.  It remains today as an amusement park.

Just a little chilly today as the winds had to be near 40mph.

Some beautiful scenery on the 20 minute ferry ride.   The island of Comino.

Looking back to Comino and the Blue Lagoon.

On the coast at Marsalforn are the Xwejni Salt Pans, one of the most stunning natural experiences I've seen in recent years.      

Salt pans are still used in the summer, as they have for hundreds indeed thousands of years... filled with sea water which evaporates under the sun leaving salt, which is then harvested. 

Next, we headed towards the Azur Window and a typical Maltese Quarry, where all the classic limestone is cut.

The beautiful Azur Window.

And then to Victoria for a quick lunch...

... and to the Cittadella.

Back at the hotel, Mrs. SFO777 was feeling much better and we headed out around 7pm for MDina and the wonderful de Mondion restaurant at the Xara Palace Relais & Chateaux inside the medieval fortified walls.

What a beautiful restaurant, with great food, wine and wonderful service.  The best meal of our trip.

A table with a view of the entire island.

If you visit Malta, de Mondion is an absolute must culinary stop.  I would also consider staying at the Xara Palace Relais & Chateaux

 

After cashing in our VAT refund, we headed back upstairs to BA's Concorde Room.  Once an lovely lounge, this place is tired, shabby and sad, and badly in need of a extreme makeover. 

Out on the terrace, airy and open with great views...

But some of the most shabby, dirty and downright disgusting furniture you will ever see.  

Really?

Seriously??

Wow, simply wow.  

Not a lot of power outlets so we were fortunate to find these.

We headed to the dining room for some lunch. 

As bad as the decor and furniture were, the new menu looked pretty good.  

The food was very good indeed much better than our last visit.  But the biggest surprise was the outstanding service especially from the wonderful Slywia.

A glass of the always excellent Laurent Perrier Grand Siecle.

What a terrific meal.  Kudos to BA for at least getting the food and service part right. 

And then there was the loo.  OMG, couldn't even lock the door.

 

At around T-50, our PA came to get us and walk us to our waiting limo for the ride over to the B concourse.  LOL, just kidding.  Since this is BA, we headed out for the escalators and the train.

Ha.  Classic product placement for all BA pax to see.

More not so First Class BA First.

London-San Diego
BA 273
747-400
1:45p-5:55p
January 5, 2017
Departed 13/14 
Seats 2A and 2K
 

We arrived at the gate area just as Priority Boarding was announced.  Not that it matters with BA since, similar to three years ago, Priority Boarding included half the plane with the other half of the passengers clogging the lanes to the gate podium.  Well done BA.  LOL.

Gate 32 features a long, long, long jet bridge.  Where are all the other passengers?

Just around the corner.  Apparently lots of Priority passengers today.

The first hint of First Class service appeared at the door, where a pleasant FA, on seeing our F boarding passes, personally escorted us to our seats 2A and 2K one of only 4 good seats in this cabin.  We both prefer 2AK as it gives space and we can still communicate.

Unlike our last couple of BA flights, today's crew was terrifc.  Both James and Charlotte were professional and friendly and delivered excellent service.   

Today's menu.

Surprisingly serviceable bar and wine list, including Johnny Blue. 

The menu options also looked nice and varied. 

Since Mrs. SFO777 and I had just enjoyed a significant lunch in The Concorde Room, we waited some 4 hours for lunch.

The Roasted Pumpkin, sweet potato and ginger soup was delicious and a lovely presentation. 

Nice fresh seasonal salad.

For my main, I had originally ordered the Vegetable kerelan curry.   About 90 minutes earlier, our FA Charlotte apologized that they had accidentally heated my main and it would not be very good a couple hours later.  She offered a chicken curry instead.  I gladly accepted as I would have preferred a meat dish anyway.  Not sure if this was a Business Class meal, but it was quite good with fried cauliflower and steamed rice.

Dessert was very good.

All in all, a pleasant meal with good champage and wine.   Except for the seat which became more uncomfortable as the flight wore on, and BA Gold member and his wife in 1AK, with a daughter in Business or Economy that routinely visited, it was a reasonably pleasand flight.   I had my Bose headsets on so I didn't hear much opened by closet door to at least cut off the view, so I was able to pretty much ignore them.

Mrs. SFO777 had the same idea and I propped her closet door open with her bag to give her some privacy.  Although unbeknownced to me, she'd had enough at one point when the rest of the cabin was sleeping that she took it upon herself to tell them to STFU or something similar.  LOL.   That seemed to work as the daughter went back to her seat never to be seen again and 1AK were quiet the rest of the way, apologizing profusely on numerous occasions.

Great scenery about a 90 minutes out.

Salt Lake City Interntional (SLC).

We arrived on time despite rain and low ceiling in San Diego.  All in all, a very pleasant flight with an excellent crew, one which exceeded my expectations.  No one is going to confuse BA First with proper international First Class like AF, LX or even LH.  14 passengers in the nose of a 747 is not First Class.  Nevertheless, I would probably fly them again if the schedule and price were right.

We arrived at Malta International at around 6:30am.   Since we had checked in online and preprinted boarding passes, we headed directly for security.

There is a Priority security lane which feeds to the front of the security queue.  Not many people there today and we were thru in no time.

After security, another airport forcing you on an annoying walk thru duty free shops to get to gates and lounges. 

We headed for Air Malta's Lavalette Club which we were able to use with our Business Class tickets.  

The lounge is quite attractive with comfortable seating areas.

There is also a separate nicer room, which is reserved for KM elites or so I was told when a lounge dragon quickly evicted me after I snapped a few pics.  LOL.

At around T-35, we headed for passport control and our gate.

Malta-London Heathrow
Air Malta 100
A320
7:55a-10:25a
January 6, 2017
Seats 1DF
 

Lots of people already queued in the gate area.   No Priorirty boarding for Business Class today as the gate agent just went right to general boarding.

Post podium, waiting for the doors to open.

And the walk to the plane.  Good thing it wasn't raining this morning.

On board, typical Euro "Business Class" economy seats with an open middle.  Hey, at least the Air Malta actually had a Business cabin.

After takeoff, now that's a curtain.

In flight entertainment consisted of a picture on the bulkhead wall...

... route map...

... and inflight magazine, which was actually pretty good and informative.

Showtime, Air Malta style.

Paper table cloth.

And today's breakfast.  Wow, something for everyone as they pack the tray filling every space. 

Nice to know exactly what we're getting but what with not unwrapping the dish??  Interesting that it was prepared yesterday.

The omelet was a meh... kind of tasted like it was prepared the day before.

The rest of the flight was uneventful save for the crying baby in the first row of Economy.   The kid pretty much wailed the entire flight.   Definitely a Bose with music on flight. 

A sunny but chilly +1C morning in London.

We arrived at the far end of Terminal 4...

... and a long long walk to T5 transit bus.

Fortunately, our bus departed as soon as we boarded. 

 The long, sometimes scenic route took about 15 minutes to reach T5.

Fortunately, our BA First boarding passes got us Fast Track access and very nice BA agents to speed the process.

Another 10 minutes and we were thru security and into T5.

First stop was Customs and the tax stamp for VAT refunds. 

And then off to the BA Concorde Room.