Although I have done much traveling with my husband and children, it has always been tourist class. This spring my niece asked me to go to Italy with her but I was very reluctant to make this journey at this particular time. My son joined her in urging me to go. They knew of course how much I loved to see my relatives. Finally I gave in and my niece made all the arrangements. We were to leave from the Newark, NJ airport. A few days after we had paid for our tickets, she received a call from Alitalia, the airline we were using. The agent offered a deal which my niece said we could not refuse. After much convincing I finally said yes, we would travel first class on our way to Italy.
At boarding time, the first class passengers were called first. We were escorted to our seats. One of the male flight attendants explained to us the various buttons on our recliners. They were much too plush and comfortable to be called seats. Then we were given blankets and a lovely pillow. In the package with these items there was a small zippered bag which contained a comb, tooth paste and brush in its own little holder, a sleeping mask, lip moistener and cotton slippers. There was plenty of room to put our tote bags. I thought to myself, “Hmmm, so far so good!” Then, in no time at all, one of the flight attendants came to bring up our trays from the side of the recliner. These were covered with small linen tablecloths. Then he brought our silverware (which was really silver) and two glasses. Menus followed this and he poured wine – white for me, red for my niece. I read the menu, both in Italian and in English and I thought, “Wow, are we going to get all this?” Assorted hors d’oeuvres to go with the wine, then crepes au gratin with artichokes and feta cheese, or bowtie pasta with tomato and basil sauce, tenderloin in a Tuscan red wine sauce with polenta and portobello mushrooms, fresh fruit and cheese selection for dessert and of course expresso coffee. Throughout the meal the attendants were ever present asking if there was anything we desired. I must admit that after I spoke in Italian to them, they were even more solicitous. It was nice having these young handsome guys at my beck and call!
Not too long after dinner, the cabin was darkened and everyone prepared to sleep. We put on the slippers, played with all the buttons on the side of the recliner, until we hit the right ones to lift up the foot rest and lower the back, so in effect it became a comfortable bed. Out came the blanket, the pillow was put in place behind my head, and I prepared to sleep. I did sleep a good part of the night except the night was not very long. In just a very few hours it was complete daylight. The flight attendants did keep all the window shades down so as to keep the cabin dark as long as possible.
Soon a lovely breakfast of fresh fruit, orange juice, scrambled eggs with Canadian bacon, tomatoes and grilled mushrooms, various cookies and sponge cake and warm pastries were served with coffee, tea, or milk.
When it became time to leave, help was ever ready for us. The whole experience was great.
First class again? Oh, yes indeed!!
