The trip back: Part II

We woke up late in Miami, which was great! I am so glad we decided to stay overnight- we were beat.  We stayed at the same weird hotel because I already had reservations, but we were prepared this time. We had Mylar blankets to stay warm  (They really work!) and did not go to the complementary breakfast.

Our only snafu was getting a cab to the airport. We had the concierge call us one, and she said it would be 10-15 minutes. 30 minutes later she called again, and the dispatch said they'd send one high priority and it would be there almost right away. 20 minutes after that, she called a cab from another company and Cathy requested a Lyft. 5 minutes later, two cabs and the Lyft pulled up. Agh. Good thing we are early birds- we still made it to the airport on time! 

We are enjoying a treat for the first time ever- first class seats! Our Wichita to Miami flights are on Cathy's frequent flier miles, and for some reason it cost less miles to fly back first class instead of coach. We'll take it!  It's not as snazzy as international first class, but it's been enjoyable just the same.

We were seated in the first row on our first flight which had lots and lots of leg room.

Go first row!

On our next flight, we were given dinner. Real dishes, silverware, glasses, and cloth napkins. Hot nuts were served as a snack before the meal service. We were also given hot towels, which I've only seen on foreign carriers. 

Ravioli with spinach and artichoke hearts.

They were warm!

Chicken Piccatta.

After the meal service, they brought out warm chocolate chip cookies. Cathy is a freak who hates chocolate chip cookies, but she still thought it was a nice touch.

The seats were comfortable, large, and you could recline them without bothering the person behind you. There were also arm rests for both people- no sharing the one in the center with the person beside you!  Nice!

I sent the following text to my sister.

First class is a luxury we could easily get used to!   I'm already plotting how to get international first class for our next Asia trip.  Flying to Sri Lanka in coach was not fun.

We got into Wichita around 11:40 PM.  It was after midnight before we got home since we checked our bags on the way back. Now all that's left is laundry and returning to real life. (Boooo!)  It was really nice to sleep in our own bed again, and we picked up Bessie the Happy Hound, our beloved greyhound.

She's currently torn between "OMG I LOVE YOU!" and "Forget it, you losers are dead to me!"

Great vacation all around.  We highly recommend Peru.

The trip back

Our  wake up call was at 4:30 AM.

The hotel provided coffee, tea, and toast.  Gate 1 had a representative to help us get settled at the Lima airport. 

I have not done many tours, so I don't have much to compare to, but I have to say that Gate 1 was fantastic.  We bought the tour on Groupon for a steal, and we got more than our money's worth with the Gate 1 tour. There was someone there every step of the way. They dealt with everything in the background (our bags, our tickets, our transportation, supplying bottled water- they even got a doctor to make a hotel call on someone who had severe altitude sickness!) so we could focus on enjoying our trip.  I never really thought much about tours before, but I will absolutely book another Gate 1 trip.  It didn't hurt that we had a great group. Everyone was so nice, and we all compared notes on other trips we've taken. It felt nice to be with my people. 

Anyway, the airport was ok. You don't have to take your shoes off in the security line! Customs was easy and efficient. Our gate did change, and we had to mill around waiting for them to unlock the new gate, but otherwise it went fine.

We waited here forever.  In fact, we're still in this line.  Send food.

I was seated in an exit row, so I had first class quality leg room! Poor Kirk was in the row behind me- poor guy!  We even got food and wine on the flight. The flight was uneventful otherwise. LAN airlines, you're all right!

So. Awesome.

We are going to stay in Miami overnight, but don't have plans. We will not have a car this time around, so we are limited in what we can do. A good dinner and early bedtime sounds good to me!