Back to Rome on Alitalia

Another week.  Another mileage run.  The last one of the year, or so Mrs. SFO777 insists and I promised. LOL.   I'm off to Rome this afternoon on the return leg of a dirt cheap roundtrip that will get me close to FB Silver thru 2021.  From Rome, I'm logging the requisite 4 BA flights that will let me requalify for BA Gold and my One World Emerald status thru the end of August 2021.  Here are my next 54 hours...

I parked in the T4 garage right across the street from The Bradley terminal.

Since Alitalia does not participate in PreCheck, I headed for the secret TBIT/T4 security checkpoint, where once again I was the only passenger.  Amazing.

Great plane spotting from the T4/TBIT connector.

And the lines for regular TBIT security.  LOL.

I headed for the Korean Lounge, the only Sky Team lounge in the Bradley.  LOL, I don't think so.  The line just to get in...

Yikes.

So I headed downstairs and towards Gate 159.

Which was a great choice since the gate area was remarkably calm, and remained so even at boarding. 

On board, a dated but reasonably comfortable 1-2-1 configuration.

This first sign of improvement from last year was the new IFE, significantly better than the 20+ year old relic of a system on last year's flight.

Today's menu and wine list.  This looks pretty good, although so did last year's menu look good.  It was just that the food on that flight was generally awful. 

Best airline cuisine for the ninth consecutive year?  Proof positive that airline awards are meaningless.  Although the fine print doesn't award the actual food served, just the menu.  LOL.

The Alitalia amenity kit.

A little above average with Ferragamo products, including a take home body lotion size.

Wow, so much better than the old IFE.

And Wifi.  Not great WIfi, but at least one could keep in touch with emails and texts.  And a free 50MB for Businesss Class passengers.  I wound up not even using the entire 50MB.

And we're off...

Service was generally OK.  Most of the crew was seasoned and efficient, but Iacked personality and seemed to be just going thru the motions.  Prior to take-off, lunch orders were taken from each passenger.  And within 30 minutes of take-off, service began... with the meal service.  No drink service, just right to the meal.  Showtime Alitalia style... with individual settings for each passenger.   While the food last year was meh, the wines were excellent as they were today as I went with the suggested wine pairings.

For my Appetizer, I chose the Bresaola Roll with Goat Cheese.  It was quite good. 

The Pasta with Fresh Tomato Sauce and Basil was very good as well.  

For my Secondi, the Beef Filet with Mushrooms, with pan fried chard and rosti potatoes.

It was delicious, especially with the lovely L'Atto Basilicata IFT Rosso Cantina del Notaio.

Cheese plate and another glass of the L'Atto Basilicata.

And finally some sweets, the warm Ricotta and Raisin Pie.

Yummy.

At this point, we were just under 9 hours to go.  I did a little work, watched a movie and then popped an Ambien... and slept like a baby for nearly 6 hours, waking up as we descending to Rome.

We landed on time at a little after noon.  All in all, an enjoyable flight and much better than last year's never ending 14 hour westbound ordeal.