The first leg our trip back to BC, from Vienna to Montreal, was in Premium Economy with Austrian Airlines. To date, this is the nicest Premium Economy we’ve experienced: a TON of legroom, comfortable adjustable leg rests, a lumbar pillow, a red-and-white (Austrian colours) gingham-trimmed blanket, a “sleep kit” (with eye mask, socks, toothbrush) of the kind we’ve previously only received in Business Class, and a welcome water or juice in a real glass. From our front row Premium Economy seat we could see Business Class, where there were huge sleeping pods, the welcome drinks included champagne, and the sleep kits came in designer bags instead of eco-friendly pouches.
When the lunch menu was presented, the cabin steward addressed us by name and welcomed us on board, then offered cold drinks and a cool lemon-scented cloth with which to freshen up.
Wow.
Lunch arrived, hot and delicious, on porcelain plates, with real stainless steel cutlery and a linen napkin! It was accompanied by a generous pour of lovely Austrian white wine, my sparkling water topped up, and an offer (refused) of a second crusty bun. Coffee arrived to go with the tiramisu.
Centre: (my lunch) mixed greens with vinaigrette, vegetable curry, 3 cheeses, crusty roll with bitter, and tiramisu. Bottom: (Ted’s) same as mine, but substitute the curry for chicken breast on sweet corn purée, and steamed vegetables.
In acknowledgment of the fact that eating on a tray table can be messy, wrapped into the napkin was a teeny tiny wooden clothes-peg to allow the napkin to be clipped to a shirt. Neat touch.
5 hours later (it was an 8-1/2 hour flight), we got a light supper.
Kudos to Austrian Airlines for excellent inflight meals.
Just before landing, we each got an Austrian chocolate marzipan truffle – and the cabin steward actually asked how our flight was!
The whole thing was a throwback to when flying was fun.
Via the magic of time zones, we left Vienna just after 11:00 and reached Montreal at 13:40, with just over a two hour window to clear Canadian customs and find our way to the gate for our second flight.
And then we were back in the real world: Montreal’s frankly ugly airport, Air Canada’s (by comparison to Austrian Air) unkempt and minimally helpful staff, and the economy cabin on Air Canada for 5-1/2 hours. One single Leclerc chocolate biscuit, and club soda pretending to be sparkling mineral water. To be fair, I could have had a glass of wine with my cookie at no charge. Any other food offered à la carte, payable by credit card.
At least when we got back to our lovely Vancouver coach house we were in a cosy oasis of calm, and back to our wonderful neighbours as well … with a welcome of coffee cake and home made jam.
It’s been a long time since we’ve had any kind of “home base” (even though we’re still away from it more than not). It feels pretty good!
Rose and Ted’s Excellent Adventure 
Rose – I have a question about a previous blog post from your world cruise (this post was just easier to reply to for asking the question!) For your stop at Cape Town, Ted went to the Aquila Reserve for a safari and you described his reaction as having thought it was just okay.
We are about to go on back to back cruises with Royal Caribbean from Barcelona to Cape Town to Brisbane, and we have considered the Aquila Sunset Safari since we have an overnight in Cape Town and can return to the ship in the evening. But, I read reviews, which many people rated it well, but the lower ratings consistently said it was more like going to a zoo instead of being on a real safari.
What was the reason Ted said it was just okay? It will cost about $600 USD, which is not outrageous, but kind of a lot for an average experience, so I wanted to have an honest personal experience to determine if it would be worth the money. The cost is that high because we would be using their private transfer to get to and from the cruise terminal plus the admission.
Thanks! Jade Mayleben
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By the time Ted did Aquila, we’d already done 3 other day safaris, and seen everything except the big cats. His goal for a fourth day out was to finally see one – and he did, although way in the distance. Looking back at that blog post, we agreed that it would have been an impressive experience if it had been his first or only safari. If it’s your only stop in Africa, I’d do it.
As far as being “more like a zoo”, all the game preserve day safaris are drives where you’re just hoping to see animals in the wild. No, it wouldn’t compare to a multi-day, sleep-in-a-tent, be guarded by armed guides, experience lions prowling at night… but it’s definitely not like any zoo we’ve ever visited (and we’ve visited a LOT of zoos)
A sunset safari should give you a better chance at cats than our daytime ones (when they’re generally sleeping)
Hope that helps
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Yes, this helps very much! Thanks!
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