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This is the second post of ?? many about Tahsir’s around the world trip. His first post was here, and I’ll keep that post updated with links to all the posts.

After departing the gate, the flight to Frankfurt officially began. We were offered pajamas, amenity kits, and a pre-departure drink with macadamia nuts. I don’t drink alcohol but I’m an avid fan of Ginger Ale. I’d like to report that the Ginger Ale was amazing! It was so crisp and fresh. After asking for my fifth glass, the purser notified me that I had depleted the amount of Ginger Ale for First Class!

I looked around and noticed that the cabin was actually really wide. The middle portion of the plane was just there to stand around and mingle.

The seat was also pretty nice. There’s a storage shelf by your foot and a lot of storage by the seat behind you. The seat doesn’t fully recline but it reclines to a very comfortable lounging position.

There is a shoe storage are on the left side of the seat. It’s almost hidden until you push a part of the bottom seat to where the storage pops out. There is also a lot of storage in your left hand console. I was able to store my laptop and other accessories there.

The power outlet is on the right hand side of the seat. It’s kind of hard to find at first, but it’s there.

The one thing Lufthansa didn’t think about when placing the television was that people might want to watch TV from the bed. I was lying down and couldn’t see anything due to the TV facing the seat. There is no swivel for the TV to turn to the bed. It didn’t matter anyways because their system had nothing good to offer.

The bathrooms on the 747 are extremely cramped and it was hard for me to change into my PJ’s in the bathroom. The bathroom however, did smell good!

The New Lufthansa 747-400 First Class
The Men’s Amenity Kit

The flight was relatively full with 6/8 First Class seats taken. There were three other points aficionados. We all took pictures of the cabin after the one person who looked like he flew this flight a million times went to change! I made the mistake of selecting the first two seats for us because we kept taking a lot of pictures and I felt bad!

The First Class Cabin

The actual time from gate to take-off was about 10 minutes. We left at around 3PM so we got amazing views of… the sky.

Menu cards were soon handed out and today, our meals were inspired by the Mandarin Oriental’s New York chef Toni Robertson. Our options for appetizers are as follows:

  • Caviar with the traditional Garnishes
  • Nantucket Scallop with Ham and Split Pea Puree
  • Seared Beef Tataki with green Papaya and Peanut sauce (I chose this)
  • Beet Ravioli stuffed with creamy Goat Cheese and toasted Pistachios.
Our options for dinner were as follows:
  • Tenderloin of Beef with Sweet Potato Hash & Ginger Plum Chutney
  • Poached Lobster Tail and Claw in Saffron Reduction with Simmered Mushrooms & Butternut Squash (I chose this)
  • Semolina Potato Cake with Tomato Cream Sauce
  • Braised Chicken Breast with Tamarind Sesame Glace
All were served with salad/leaves and a “delicious” dressing.
For dessert, there was:
  • A Variety of Cheeses & Grapes
  • Warm Chocolate Cake with Yogurt Ice Cream (I chose this)
  • Creme Caramel

All of this sounded really, really gross. I don’t know about you guys but what’s up with the Lufthansa menu these days! I’ve heard in the past that Lufthansa tries too hard with catering and this is one case. I know there are people that enjoy this type of food but I’m more of a KFC guy 😉 [Scott: Maybe you should fly JAL economy and let us fly Lufthansa First then ;)]

Before handing out any appetizers, the purser came around and gave us all a seared salmon plate with cucumbers. It was so bad I had to hold my breath and eat it.

Seared Salmon with Cucumber
Table Setup
Beef Tataki
Salad/Leaves
Poached Lobster Tail & Claw in Saffron Reduction

 

The dessert was actually the best part of the entire meal because they had an amazing chocolate cake! The ice cream was good too!

Chocolate Cake with Yogurt Ice Cream

After dessert, I decided to get some sleep. I got into bed, which is still such a weird thing to say 35,000 feet in the air, and I started to fall asleep. About three hours later, I woke up because my face felt super dry. I called the purser and he brought me some water. It’s kind of weird because Lufthansa doesn’t really have a snack menu or anything. When someone wakes up and asks for snacks, they’re a bit perplexed as to what to do. The purser did find some cookies from business class that he brought up with my water. I couldn’t sleep so I laid down and had one of those life moments. It’s crazy how you can lie in a bed at 35,000 feet and just look at the stars with such clarity. It was such an amazing sight and I wish words were able to capture just how much that one moment meant.

I stayed awake for the rest of the flight no thanks to the entertainment system. The selection of movies and video is very limited on this flight. I don’t know why but there were only about 10-15 movies total.

About an hour and a half out from Frankfurt, breakfast service started and had the following options:

  • Yogurt with Dried Fruit
  • Cereal Granola Mix
  • Cornflakes and Milk
  • Smoked Salmon, Turkey Pastrami and Grilled Chicken Breast
  • Scrambled Eggs Freshly Prepared on Request
I wasn’t too hungry so I chose the cornflakes and grilled chicken breast. Both of those were good!
Cereal

The fresh squeezed orange juice hit the spot! It was really good and very pulpy. The purser kept coming to us and checking if we needed anything else. Note that the pretzel bread on these flights are really good! I took 4-5 pieces of pretzel bread.

Fresh Orange Juice

After breakfast, I changed out of my PJ’s and sat back in the chair. I started to speak to the guy behind me about his travels and points adventures. I found out that he was going on the brand new Thai A380 from Frankfurt – Bangkok! Eventually, we were told to fasten our seatbelts. Upon landing, the purser and other attendants came by and thanked us once again for flying with Lufthansa.

Overall, this was an amazing flight and such a technological advancement over other First Class cabins. Other than the food, this is a solid way to get to Europe and beyond! I plan to fly this flight another day!

Stay tuned for my next post!

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