Our pick-up time for the trip to Catania airport was 7:15am and so I set my alarm for 5:45am. Because this was too early for the hotel breakfast, the hotel had organised a breakfast box to take with us. It was yet another bright sunny day but a bit cooler - it was only 9C.
Luca had organised different departure times for everyone in the group depending on when they needed to get to the airport. Terry and Gerry were going at the same time as us and when we came downstairs at 7:10am, they were already in the van - as were our bags.
On most of the way to the airport, we were travelling on motorways. We relaxed and admired the scenery for one last time. Today there was no cloud hiding the peaks of Mount Aetna and so we had a good view of it from various locations along the journey to the airport.
Although there were several delays on the motorways, we reached the airport at about 8:25am - plenty of time before our 10:15am flight. Surprisingly, there was almost no queue at the Alitalia check-in counter.
We'd been worried about the weight of our bags because there was a 23kg limit with the Alitalia flight. Suzy's bag had lots of things she'd been buying for the grandchildren. Sure enough, Suzy's bag was 26kg but mine was only 21kg and so they didn't blink an eyelid.
To board the plane, they bused us from the terminal to where the plane was parked on the tarmac which meant carting my carry-on bags up and down stairs. I could have done without this because my ribs were still hurting.
Since the flight was only about an hour long, they only had time to give us a drink such as water or coffee. At least the flight attendants were more friendly than on previous flights with Alitalia.
After we had landed and collected our bags, it was before noon and our flight with Qatar Airways didn't leave until about 4:30pm. This meant that we had about an hour to wait until the check-in counter opened.
When it did open, we were in for a surprise. We'd booked to stay overnight in Doha before flying back to Sydney tomorrow night and so we planned to collect our bags in Doha. However the staff at the check-in counter said we couldn't do so because of the ticket we'd bought. They would check our bags all the way through to Sydney.
This meant that we had to repack our bags and retrieve items we would need in Doha. This made our bags lighter but our carry-on heavier.
To get to the business class lounge, we had to walk for about for about ten minutes and then catch a shuttle. The lounge was modern and comfortable. After the hassles we'd been through, I was ready for a drink.
It was surprising how few people there were in business class on the Qatar flight. There were two cabins for business class and in our cabin, there was only one other couple - meaning there were 14 empty seats. The other cabin was similar.
It was an excellent flight that lasted for about five hours. The seats were comfortable and spacious. The staff were attentive and helpful - this was probably to be expected since there were so were passengers.
However, the most impressive aspect of the flight was the quality of the food and wine. It was excellent. It was probably the best business class food I've ever had. There were three red wines: a Bordeaux label, an Italian Syrah and an Argentinian Malbec. I tried them all and there were all exceptionally good.
It was simpler not having to collect bags when we arrived in Doha. The driver was waiting for us and drove us on the 30 minute trip to our hotel. We were surprised at the number of new buildings that had appeared since our last visit to Doha a couple of years ago.
When we booked the hotel it was part of the Shangri-La group but it had changed about a week ago to be a Marriott hotel. Either way, it is a high class hotel. Real luxury.
Our room was an executive suite with a king size bed on the 30th floor. It had a large living area with a lounge suite and desk, a large bedroom and a spacious bathroom with a separate bath, shower and toilet. There are two large TVs - one in the lounge room and one in the bedroom. This was living it up.
By this time it was after midnight local time and after 1pm Sicilian time. We were very tired and ready for bed.
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