Iran so far away....(Blog reposted from old site)
In October of 1995, part of the N.A.T.O. group were heading over to London for a week and asked if I wanted to go. Well of course I would!
They all flew Virgin out of Boston on the 4th but I decided to set out early in order to accomplish something I always wanted to do----Fly a 747SP and fly Iran Air. I had seen that Iran Air had a flight going Tehran-Geneva-Paris/Orly so I had to get to Geneva.
On the morning of October 1, I flew America West 1229, a 737-200 from LAS to PHX. The next leg was PHX to CMH on an America West A-320. I arrived in the late afternoon into PHL on board America West 250, a 737-300 from CMH. Once in PHL, i connected to Swissair 127, a 747-300 that went to Zurich by way of Boston. I was seated in seat 49H. The flight was routine and it was great to get a meal service on the PHL-BOS leg of the flight.
On the morning of October 2, I transited ZRH to Crossair 6928, an Avro 85 to Geneva. I arrived into GVA and immediately went out and explored the city. It is very close from the airport and has great connections by rail. After walking around a few hours, I went to the Iran Air city ticket office. The man was happy to sell me a ticket for the flight to Paris. Later on, after I had some dinner, I went to try and get a place to sleep. Not going to happen! There was a convention in town and there was zero rooms available. Bummer, well back to GVA airport where I would try and sleep. I first tried near the ticket area but it was bright and noisy. I did manage to get a couple of hours but decided to move. I found a dark and quiet place near baggage claim that worked well for the rest of the night.
October 3, 1995
I would finally ride a 747SP this day. It was Iran Air 735. Since this flight carries little to no local traffic, it was difficult to find the check in location. I did eventually find it and checked in. They sent me and one other passenger to the gate just about 20 minutes before departure. We boarded the aircraft by airstairs and I took an open seat in the middle section. It was a real quick flight and yet there was a meal service. I was impressed by that. After arriving into Orly, I chatted with one of the Flight Attendants and gave her a lapel pin of the airline I worked for. She was very appreciative. I left Orly quickly and went into Paris. Another co-worker of mine happened to be in Paris to visit a friend. He was a Pilot and he had met this girl on one of his flights. I did not meet up with him that evening because I was too tired but the next morning I took the Metro to the Pompidou Centre where we set off for some exploration.
October 4, 1995
We met up and toured Paris for the day. We had seen most of the sights and ended the day at Pere Lachaise Cemetery, where Jim Morrison is buried. We both had been to Paris before so we did not really have to see much. In the evening we met up with his friend and some of her friends for dinner. The place was called Le Petit Royal and was fantastic. It is no longer in existence these days which is really too bad. It was near the Rome Metro stop. After a wonderful dinner with drinks, we all went our separate directions. I went to my hotel, which was near Orly Airport and went to sleep.
October 5, 1995
I walked over to Orly for my flight to London. I had not paid attention the the time and I was really cutting it close. The lines were long and I was sure I would not make it. Luckily for me, many paying passengers were running late for AF 882 also. They were paging all sorts of names for final call and so I just ran as fast as I could. I got over to the gate and went on board. It was a light load on this Air France A-300 going to LHR. It was nice and sunny and clear on our way over to the UK. I arrived into LHR and was soon on the Piccadilly line of the Tube going into the city. We all met up at the hotel near Piccadilly Circus. It was called the Regent Palace and is no longer around either.
I was ready to go out into the city but they were tired after their overnight flights. George and I went across the street to the Devonshire Arms pub for some beers while the others went up for naps. George eventually went up for a nap also and so I explored on my own for a few hours. Around dusk, we all met up and went for dinner and then walked around a bit. We made it a relatively early night soon after.
October 6, 1995
This day we did a "hop on, hop off" tour around London. Of course, we saw all of the usual sights like Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Tower of London, and Tower Bridge. We had dinner at a place called The Stockpot.
October 7, 1995
They were staying in the UK for a few more days but I was going home today. I left early to Victoria Station so I could get the train to Gatwick. I was in a taxi, almost to the station when something told me to double check my bags. Oh no!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I left my airline ID at the hotel. I told the driver to return to the hotel quickly. I ran up to the room but there was no answer. This hotel had community bathrooms and so I thought George must be in one. I ran to the nearest bathroom and called out his name. Sure enough he was there. I told him to give me his key and I ran back to the room. The badge was right there on the bed. I grabbed it and went back to the bathroom to give George his key back. I hurried down to the waiting taxi and was on the way again to Victoria. By the time I had arrived at LGW, I had lost well over an hour. There was still 45 minutes before the TWA flight to STL departed but when I went to the counter, they said that the flight was already closed and that I would have to return the next day. I had other options so I checked into them. I found an NW flight to DTW and an AA flight to DFW. My airline did not fly to DTW at that time so I chose the AA flight. Good thing too because they gave me business class! American flight 79 was smooth and routine. It was a 767-300 aircraft. Once in DFW, I flew an AA 757 to PHX and then took America West back to Las Vegas.
That was a hectic end to a fun little trip.
I never did fly on another 747SP and the chance to do so today is very slim.
