86 Countries and Still Counting: Thursday - October 8

Other than a dull roar of an airplane, my room at Aloft was quiet and peaceful. With a bonus of a nice breakfast buffet. Several varieties of eggs, fruit and breads. It hit the spot. And the woman who seemed to be in charge was lovely and came over a couple of times to check on me and chat.

One of the reasons I enjoy traveling alone is that I meet more people. When I'm with someone, I'm usually just chatting with them. Except Roland - we've had great fun meeting strangers together, including the Publix employee whom we bought a birthday card for after he walked us to the item we were looking for. That's a whole other post.

People who know me, know I talk a lot. It's true but not constant. On the plane yesterday, other than saying hello when we sat down, my seatmate and I didn't exchange a word. On the other hand, I've already exchanged texts with the Uber driver who took me to the airport. We're planning regular chats to practice his English and my Spanish.

I was tired last night and hadn't had enough food or water. I just wanted to get through the airport and to the hotel. I was very glad that I've traveled before and speak some really bad Spanglish. I can handle basics of getting a taxi and checking in to a hotel. When I went into my room it was dark. I flipped the light switches and nothing happened. I figured I must need to insert my room card into a holder for the power to work. Usually, that's on the wall next to the light switch. I had to use the flashlight on my phone to find it - on a different wall, behind where the door opened.

I did have some excitement this morning while doing my make-up. I realized my eyeliner pen was dripping down my hand and onto the sink. I guess I'll have something to buy before I get on the ship.

Once again, I stood in a lot of lines at the Bogota airport but enjoyed the business class lounge and was thrilled to get on the Dreamliner to head to Barcelona.

Some photos! Note - the photos, as usual, are in reverse order. One would think that the order in which they were selected would dictate placement but NO! And, I'm too lazy to move each photo. If you're a blogspot guru, please help me out!

Breakfast was served at hour 9.5 of an 11 hour flight.

This was described as a chocolate mousse but it tasted nothing like chocolate. Still, tasted yummy.

They had a covered salt and pepper bowl with chili flakes.

I went for the steak. Best one I've had on a plane.

I was so excited about the PJs! Until I realized I didn't get to keep them. I just kept my yoga pants on. Back in the olden days when I had lots of frequent flyer miles, I flew Singapore Air and you got to keep the pj's. I never wore them but Mary German loved to wear them around the house. Miss you, Mary.

Yes, business class is expensive. But, less so on Avianca and these lay-flat seats are infinitely better than a center seat in coach. Plus, I'm old - how much longer will I be able to travel? Might as well do it in business class.

Shortly after take-off they took my meal order.

Cutest amenity bag I've gotten from an airline.

Plus, TV! I watched the new Devil Wears Prada movie and loved it. I also watched "A Perfect World"- from 1993 with Kevin Costner and Clint Eastwood and really enjoyed it.

Noise cancelling headphones next to my seat.

Controls for the seat and TV.

The big gray bag holds a blanket, pillow and mattress pad for the seat. That's all great but according to my FitBit, I still only slept 23 minutes of an 11 hour flight. I've flown over 2 million actual flight miles. And still can't sleep on a damn plane.