Sorry about the delay, the joys of moving house has taken it's toll on my spare time, however, we are mainly moved now and the property has been "done up", so hopefully back to a more regular schedule.
I normally get the CAT, but it was a cold and rainy Vienna that day and as there were two of us, I got a taxi, we were quickly deposited at the hotel where I was welcomed back and given the room I had selected through on-line check in which was on the executive floor. The room was facing the park and very near the lounge, where we quickly went for drinks and some dessert.
The weekend itself was cold and blustery except for one day and so the lounge became a bit of a haven, it has lovely staff - the morning ones being very friendly and welcoming and helpful with suggestions on things to do etc. The lounge has upped it's offering since the last time I was there - whilst brekky is still the same, as are the cakes in the afternoon (which are very sinful), there is now soup every evening, plus hot food and the cheese, at about 8pm, this is taken away and some cheese and desserts are put out. The soup is a welcome addition and makes the big lunch, evening grazing plan very worthwhile.
The room was maintained very nicely and quite promptly, and additional water and turndown service was offered every night. They aren't mean with the toiletries either. Reception were friendly and charming as well and I didn't use the concierge service.
With a Vienna newbie in tow, I did some very touristy things in downtime. We went to Figlmüller for Schnitzel, it's still the best in Wien but it is expensive, there was coffee and cake a couple of times, a nice visit to the Naschmarkt and the Fleamarket just beyond it which include a fish lunch at the place opposite the renowned Umarfisch - my Zander was lovely. We also had lovely Italian at Danieli (Himmelpfortgasse 3) where the service is good and the garlic breadsticks are to die for.
I have maintained a preference for the Hilton am Stadtpark over the Hilton Plaza for some years now and I see no reason to change on my annual visits to the city.
Wednesday, 24 August 2011
Friday, 29 July 2011
Trip Report 7 - Part 1 - OS - LHR-VIE
OS462
LHR-VIE
2C, 15:35 (16:20)-19:05 (19:40)
Airbus 321
The journey to the Great Wen was not without it's horrors, the Pendolino was a Voyager, the crew were sullen and stroppy, the power didn't work. There was the curious logic that it was not breakfast for food, but it was breakfast for beverages. I really must remember to book on Chiltern next time.
Anyway, with my pre-meeting over, it was off to Heathrow, which was done via the usual painless but pricey route of the Heathrow Express. A final fag in whatever gangrenous corner we addicts are allowed in now and then on to check in. Check in was reasonably painless in Zone K (which will be familiar to old BA flyers), although the business class check-in desks are not well signposted. Security was even more painless even if there wasn't a fast track and no nude-o-scopes were noted.
We went into the Star Alliance Lounge, which is on the site of the old BA Terraces lounge in Terminal 1 but has been substiantially changed. It was fairly full and it took a while to find a table with a spare plug. Actually, there wasn't a spare plug, but there was an unneeded light :-)
There were snacky bits - mainly of the "goujon" and diet coke, this made up slightly for the bag of crisps on the train.
Eventually, boarding was called, but knowing what it's like, I popped to WH Smug and bought a copy of *wallpaper so I could avoid anything praised in it. Needless to say, despite boarding being called, the gate staff from whatever British Midland are calling themselves this week were not in evidence.
However, eventually they turned up and eventually we all boarded the A321, although there was a bit of bag grabbing as a full 321 means no room in the bins. Especially for some of the odder items, such as the tyre someone tried to board with. Perish the thought that I checked my boarding pass said VIE not LOS.
We then had a comedy moment, one of the BD gate crew stood at the front of business and said "Whose the upgrade" very loudly. Very Penny from "Great British Airways" (hint, love, it was the Unaccompianied Minor in 1A) and really rather rude. I do not want to know that the person sat next to be has been upgraded, mind you, they usually tell in whilst in the process of drinking the bar dry. Anyway, we had about two minutes of gate agent/Purser discussion with the purser speaking very quietly and the gate agent booming over the cabin. Basically, the gate agent wanted the purser to know who the Upgrade was and the Purser didn't think it was important. In my view, the purser was correct.
However, after the usual fun and games with bags having to be removed, we missed our slot, but we didn't have to wait too long for another one and then joined the usual Heathrow takeoff queue. Once up in the air, the crew sprung to life and fired up the ovens and started rattling the bars and quickly came around with drinks, I had a Weißwein and my seat opponent had a full sized can of Coke Light. The Weißwein turned out to be a very good Chardonnay. So thumbs up on the drinks for OS.
A nice dinner tray was then presented, it was rather full to the gunnels
The starter was a thick piece of white lightly smoked fish on a bed of cream cheese with a bit of smoked salmon and some salad. The white fish was very enjoyable. The main was chicken with potatoes and veg, the chicken was a bit dry, but it was a decent portion size. The pudding was some baked apple with custard. Several passes were made with a bread basket with a fine selection of breads and top-ups were offered on drinks. Sadly, the coffee was poor, coolish, thin and watery, the only downside to the F+B experience on this flight.
Arrival at Vienna was further delayed by a go round at VIE, obviously I should be ringing up the Daily Hate and claiming "Flight of Terror", but as usual with go-rounds, it was absolutely nothing. We landed at a wet and cloudy VIE a few minutes later, immigration was a doddle and I used the Raucherhütte which they have kindly put in arrivals before Shiny Case came off the belt. All in all, a pretty positive and pleasant experience.
LHR-VIE
2C, 15:35 (16:20)-19:05 (19:40)
Airbus 321
The journey to the Great Wen was not without it's horrors, the Pendolino was a Voyager, the crew were sullen and stroppy, the power didn't work. There was the curious logic that it was not breakfast for food, but it was breakfast for beverages. I really must remember to book on Chiltern next time.
Anyway, with my pre-meeting over, it was off to Heathrow, which was done via the usual painless but pricey route of the Heathrow Express. A final fag in whatever gangrenous corner we addicts are allowed in now and then on to check in. Check in was reasonably painless in Zone K (which will be familiar to old BA flyers), although the business class check-in desks are not well signposted. Security was even more painless even if there wasn't a fast track and no nude-o-scopes were noted.
We went into the Star Alliance Lounge, which is on the site of the old BA Terraces lounge in Terminal 1 but has been substiantially changed. It was fairly full and it took a while to find a table with a spare plug. Actually, there wasn't a spare plug, but there was an unneeded light :-)
There were snacky bits - mainly of the "goujon" and diet coke, this made up slightly for the bag of crisps on the train.
Eventually, boarding was called, but knowing what it's like, I popped to WH Smug and bought a copy of *wallpaper so I could avoid anything praised in it. Needless to say, despite boarding being called, the gate staff from whatever British Midland are calling themselves this week were not in evidence.
However, eventually they turned up and eventually we all boarded the A321, although there was a bit of bag grabbing as a full 321 means no room in the bins. Especially for some of the odder items, such as the tyre someone tried to board with. Perish the thought that I checked my boarding pass said VIE not LOS.
We then had a comedy moment, one of the BD gate crew stood at the front of business and said "Whose the upgrade" very loudly. Very Penny from "Great British Airways" (hint, love, it was the Unaccompianied Minor in 1A) and really rather rude. I do not want to know that the person sat next to be has been upgraded, mind you, they usually tell in whilst in the process of drinking the bar dry. Anyway, we had about two minutes of gate agent/Purser discussion with the purser speaking very quietly and the gate agent booming over the cabin. Basically, the gate agent wanted the purser to know who the Upgrade was and the Purser didn't think it was important. In my view, the purser was correct.
However, after the usual fun and games with bags having to be removed, we missed our slot, but we didn't have to wait too long for another one and then joined the usual Heathrow takeoff queue. Once up in the air, the crew sprung to life and fired up the ovens and started rattling the bars and quickly came around with drinks, I had a Weißwein and my seat opponent had a full sized can of Coke Light. The Weißwein turned out to be a very good Chardonnay. So thumbs up on the drinks for OS.
A nice dinner tray was then presented, it was rather full to the gunnels
The starter was a thick piece of white lightly smoked fish on a bed of cream cheese with a bit of smoked salmon and some salad. The white fish was very enjoyable. The main was chicken with potatoes and veg, the chicken was a bit dry, but it was a decent portion size. The pudding was some baked apple with custard. Several passes were made with a bread basket with a fine selection of breads and top-ups were offered on drinks. Sadly, the coffee was poor, coolish, thin and watery, the only downside to the F+B experience on this flight.
Arrival at Vienna was further delayed by a go round at VIE, obviously I should be ringing up the Daily Hate and claiming "Flight of Terror", but as usual with go-rounds, it was absolutely nothing. We landed at a wet and cloudy VIE a few minutes later, immigration was a doddle and I used the Raucherhütte which they have kindly put in arrivals before Shiny Case came off the belt. All in all, a pretty positive and pleasant experience.
Friday, 24 June 2011
Today I should be heading for Bremen
But instead I'm getting ready to complete the purchase of my new house on Tuesday. It was supposed to be today, but the vendor changed his mind, but not until I had cancelled the trip *sigh*.
I expect not to have too much travel for the next couple of months, but having said that, I have another rare trip to LHR coming up at the end of July - this time to fly to VIE with Austrian (I have a meeting in London that afternoon), then it's back to Berlin but this time on Swiss at the end of August, a quick dart to Köln in September (via DUS, of course) and then at the end of September it's off to Hong Kong for a wedding. Then in November, it's my holiday/business trip to BKK and SIN. The question is, do I do a quick dart somewhere in Europe in October to get Senator status before the BKK/SIN trip (which may involve disturbing scenes in Economy Class).
My upgrades have cleared for both MUC-HKG and HKG-FRA, so that will be my second report on here for First Class travel.
I expect not to have too much travel for the next couple of months, but having said that, I have another rare trip to LHR coming up at the end of July - this time to fly to VIE with Austrian (I have a meeting in London that afternoon), then it's back to Berlin but this time on Swiss at the end of August, a quick dart to Köln in September (via DUS, of course) and then at the end of September it's off to Hong Kong for a wedding. Then in November, it's my holiday/business trip to BKK and SIN. The question is, do I do a quick dart somewhere in Europe in October to get Senator status before the BKK/SIN trip (which may involve disturbing scenes in Economy Class).
My upgrades have cleared for both MUC-HKG and HKG-FRA, so that will be my second report on here for First Class travel.
Monday, 13 June 2011
Hotel Review - Courthouse Doubletree by Hilton London Regent Street redux
Another short trip to London and another stay at the Courthouse.
Again, there was the "confirmation" email and phone calls, I'm not too keen on this and I don't see why they do it.
However, the actual stay itself was quite faultless, I was upgraded to a non-smoking room but ashtrays were provided. This was exceptionally large and spacious for a London hotel room and whilst it had no view, it did have a good working area, a couple of seats and a very comfortable bed. I was provided with a fruit plate and two bottles of water as my Gold amenity. Check-in was charming and well-handled, especially considering the late hour.
Obviously, I didn't spend too much time in the room, but the internet service was fast, although I had to use wired rather than wireless. Housekeeping were very efficient and non-intrusive and myself and a friend did enjoy a post-theatre drink in the bar, although we weren't lucky enough to get one of the former courthouse cells as a private room. Checkout was swift and painless.
I've decided that this will be my Central London hotel of choice when the rate isn't too injurious to my wallet, mainly because of the great location and it seems to offer everything else I want. I haven't tried room service yet, but considering where it is - why would I.
Again, there was the "confirmation" email and phone calls, I'm not too keen on this and I don't see why they do it.
However, the actual stay itself was quite faultless, I was upgraded to a non-smoking room but ashtrays were provided. This was exceptionally large and spacious for a London hotel room and whilst it had no view, it did have a good working area, a couple of seats and a very comfortable bed. I was provided with a fruit plate and two bottles of water as my Gold amenity. Check-in was charming and well-handled, especially considering the late hour.
Obviously, I didn't spend too much time in the room, but the internet service was fast, although I had to use wired rather than wireless. Housekeeping were very efficient and non-intrusive and myself and a friend did enjoy a post-theatre drink in the bar, although we weren't lucky enough to get one of the former courthouse cells as a private room. Checkout was swift and painless.
I've decided that this will be my Central London hotel of choice when the rate isn't too injurious to my wallet, mainly because of the great location and it seems to offer everything else I want. I haven't tried room service yet, but considering where it is - why would I.
Friday, 3 June 2011
Trip Report 6, Part 2 TXL-MUC-BHX
Monday was a lovely day for flying, it would have been an even lovelier day for relaxing in the Tiergarten or by the banks of the Wannsee, but it was a lovely day for flying.
After a smidgen on breakfast in the lounge, I went back up to the room, packed and then finally headed off after a slightly extended checkout as I commented on the refurb (favourably), I decided to taxi it and got to Tegel in about 25 minutes. Bag Drop was swift and efficient and I waved bye-bye to shiny case for a few hours. I headed for the Lufthansa Business Lounge, which is one of the better ones in the system and I did so by walking outside taking advantage of Tegel's somewhat unusual layout.
The lounge was fairly empty, but all I wanted was some water and a place to sit (something in short supply at Tegel). As my flight was coming up for boarding, I wandered back down and headed for the gate and did the security thang (which is at the gate), I then sat in a hot and overcrowded gate area for a few minutes before boarding the Airbus A320 to München.
The problem was that this was one of the NEK planes and had the new seats, whilst fairly comfy, they are quite close together. It proved fairly difficult to use my MacBook whilst seated which was annoying. There have been a lot of complaints about NEK, but this is my first one.
Entertainingly, we had an Ipad wanker in row 1. He didn't want to shut it down, he was reading and it was in flight mode. There was a short argument, he still didn't shut it down until we actually started taxiing.
It's just under an hour from Berlin to München and there were seven rows of business class to serve, again it's a bento box and drinks with the bento box again having a Spargel theme. Possibly a bit too much on the Spargel, as it was Spargel Kräuterquark with pesto, two prawns on a bed of Spargel and strawberries and cream. The American lady next to me, just had the bread roll and the strawberries and cream.
I drank water and drank in the scenery as we flew south, as I said it was a perfect flying day and the route takes in some great scenery, if anything it was over too quickly.
München is one of the best airports in Europe, it's very easy to transfer in, it has a simple layout and it has pretty good shops and some decent places to eat. It's also the only airport I can think of with it's own brewery. I did a bit of shopping, some chocolates for people at work and some fags for personal usage. I then proceeded to the Schengen Business Lounge as the non-Schengen lounge is closed for refurbishment. I did wonder if it would be rammed to the rafters, but whilst busy, it wasn't that busy.
The advantage of the München lounges is that they have decent beer on tap and as it was mid-afternoon there was cake, in fact there was rather good poppyseed cheesecake to go with the Löwenbrau Helles.
I left a little earlier that I prefer to, but I had to go through exit immigration and to the somewhat distant bus gate. We boarded the bus which was chokka, which wasn't pleasant in the heat and was made even more unpleasant by a 10 minute delay out on the tarmac before we were allowed to board.
The flight back to Birmingham was on an Embraer 195, so new that it still had the "new plane" smell, but luckily not fitted with the NEK seats. They have a 2-2 layout and in Business Class that translates to 1-1.
The crew were great on this flight, you don't normally have pre-departure drinks on shorthaul, but water was offered to Business Class - much needed on a hot day. We took off a few minutes late, and proceeded up through Germany to Belgium and across the North Sea, sadly as we got nearer Blighty, the weather worsened.
As a longer flight, you get a cold tray rather than a bento box, which of course features Spargel. It was supposed to have a salad with it, but that had been replaced by melon balls with mozarella, which was probably the wisest thing. Then there was ham with Spargel and chopped egg and a rather large strawberry tiramisu with caramel sauce. I had water and black coffee with it.
Arrival at a grim and rainy BHX was ten minutes early, but immigration was the usual shambles (three flights - five officers, one not working, one only doing the handful of non-EU) and baggage wasn't much better - taking 35 minutes to come off.
Next, it's Bremen, in economy.
After a smidgen on breakfast in the lounge, I went back up to the room, packed and then finally headed off after a slightly extended checkout as I commented on the refurb (favourably), I decided to taxi it and got to Tegel in about 25 minutes. Bag Drop was swift and efficient and I waved bye-bye to shiny case for a few hours. I headed for the Lufthansa Business Lounge, which is one of the better ones in the system and I did so by walking outside taking advantage of Tegel's somewhat unusual layout.
The lounge was fairly empty, but all I wanted was some water and a place to sit (something in short supply at Tegel). As my flight was coming up for boarding, I wandered back down and headed for the gate and did the security thang (which is at the gate), I then sat in a hot and overcrowded gate area for a few minutes before boarding the Airbus A320 to München.
The problem was that this was one of the NEK planes and had the new seats, whilst fairly comfy, they are quite close together. It proved fairly difficult to use my MacBook whilst seated which was annoying. There have been a lot of complaints about NEK, but this is my first one.
Entertainingly, we had an Ipad wanker in row 1. He didn't want to shut it down, he was reading and it was in flight mode. There was a short argument, he still didn't shut it down until we actually started taxiing.
It's just under an hour from Berlin to München and there were seven rows of business class to serve, again it's a bento box and drinks with the bento box again having a Spargel theme. Possibly a bit too much on the Spargel, as it was Spargel Kräuterquark with pesto, two prawns on a bed of Spargel and strawberries and cream. The American lady next to me, just had the bread roll and the strawberries and cream.
I drank water and drank in the scenery as we flew south, as I said it was a perfect flying day and the route takes in some great scenery, if anything it was over too quickly.
München is one of the best airports in Europe, it's very easy to transfer in, it has a simple layout and it has pretty good shops and some decent places to eat. It's also the only airport I can think of with it's own brewery. I did a bit of shopping, some chocolates for people at work and some fags for personal usage. I then proceeded to the Schengen Business Lounge as the non-Schengen lounge is closed for refurbishment. I did wonder if it would be rammed to the rafters, but whilst busy, it wasn't that busy.
The advantage of the München lounges is that they have decent beer on tap and as it was mid-afternoon there was cake, in fact there was rather good poppyseed cheesecake to go with the Löwenbrau Helles.
I left a little earlier that I prefer to, but I had to go through exit immigration and to the somewhat distant bus gate. We boarded the bus which was chokka, which wasn't pleasant in the heat and was made even more unpleasant by a 10 minute delay out on the tarmac before we were allowed to board.
The flight back to Birmingham was on an Embraer 195, so new that it still had the "new plane" smell, but luckily not fitted with the NEK seats. They have a 2-2 layout and in Business Class that translates to 1-1.
The crew were great on this flight, you don't normally have pre-departure drinks on shorthaul, but water was offered to Business Class - much needed on a hot day. We took off a few minutes late, and proceeded up through Germany to Belgium and across the North Sea, sadly as we got nearer Blighty, the weather worsened.
As a longer flight, you get a cold tray rather than a bento box, which of course features Spargel. It was supposed to have a salad with it, but that had been replaced by melon balls with mozarella, which was probably the wisest thing. Then there was ham with Spargel and chopped egg and a rather large strawberry tiramisu with caramel sauce. I had water and black coffee with it.
Arrival at a grim and rainy BHX was ten minutes early, but immigration was the usual shambles (three flights - five officers, one not working, one only doing the handful of non-EU) and baggage wasn't much better - taking 35 minutes to come off.
Next, it's Bremen, in economy.
Wednesday, 1 June 2011
Berlin and Hilton Berlin
It's normally best to say What happens in Berlin, stays in Berlin. However, for once, I can claim to be all sweetness and light. After arriving at the hotel, I unpacked, took a shower, had a bit of a rest and then wandered off in the general direction of the U-Bahn to find out how bad the U2 disruptions were. It wasn't too bad, but any late night forays to Motzstraße would really mean a taxi back. So perhaps I might check out P'Berg instead ;-)
With my foot playing up a bit, I didn't want to walk too far, so I U-Bahn'ed to Alexanderplatz, had a coffee stop and got the tram a few stops to look around some shops and buildings, I then had another coffee and headed off to find something to eat. I wasn't spectacularly hungry and nothing really appealed so I S-Bahn'ed and U-Bahn'ed back to the hotel and sorted out my email inbox and ordered a Club Sandwich about 9pm. That's when I found out about the great Cucumber problem.
After a good nights sleep, I went for an early breakfast in the restaurant (as opposed to the lounge) and then headed off to meet my friend at the ZOB. That was quite complex journey on the U-Bahn and I resolved to get a taxi back, the bus was a bit late in from Dresden, so I took a walk around and admired the radio building and tower which is just up the street.
We then spent the day being tourists, the Wall, the TV tower, Alexanderplatz, Potsdamer Platz, Checkpoint Charlie and even a short foray into Kreuzberg. We ended up watching the football back in the hotel with some bottle of beer after a short dip into the hotel lounge for snacks. It was a nice day but a bit windy and the weather could have been a bit better.
Sunday dawned early and we had breakfast in the lounge and then a whistle top tour of Charlottenburg and the Tiergarten before my friend caught his bus back. I then crashed out for a couple of hours, before going to have dinner with friends in Schöneberg, Sunday evening was particularly nice weather - a precursor of the next day.
As for the hotel, the Berlin Hilton has long been a favourite of mine, whilst MItte can be a bit soulless, its position by the Gendarmenmarkt and Stadtmitte U-Bahn station is hard to beat. I've always had good service there as well. They have refreshed the rooms recently and it's a good refresh, a better bathroom and improvements to the desk and bed as well. The storage is better organised and ample. Housekeeping are efficient, but if you don't use the Do Not Disturb sign, they will start knocking at 8am. As a Gold status member, I got a welcome gift of some dried banana slices covered in chocolate (yum) and a litre of mineral water every day.
The new lounge was a vast improvement, whilst missing the great views from the old lounge, it's about three times the size. This resolves the problems with seating that could occur at breakfast and at cocktail time. There's also a nice array of seating, from tables to bench tables to comfy chairs by the window, a small area with three computers that work and some side rooms which can be used for meetings.
The food and drink are similar to what used to be there. There's a slightly larger range of food, both hot and cold of a good quality. I every much enjoyed the mini-kebabs and BBQ chicken cones on the Sunday night. My friend had high praise for the fish goujons and prawn kebabs the night before.
I hope to return in August and at New Year/Silvester. I would always think of here first when staying in Berlin, although if the room rate continues to climb.....
With my foot playing up a bit, I didn't want to walk too far, so I U-Bahn'ed to Alexanderplatz, had a coffee stop and got the tram a few stops to look around some shops and buildings, I then had another coffee and headed off to find something to eat. I wasn't spectacularly hungry and nothing really appealed so I S-Bahn'ed and U-Bahn'ed back to the hotel and sorted out my email inbox and ordered a Club Sandwich about 9pm. That's when I found out about the great Cucumber problem.
After a good nights sleep, I went for an early breakfast in the restaurant (as opposed to the lounge) and then headed off to meet my friend at the ZOB. That was quite complex journey on the U-Bahn and I resolved to get a taxi back, the bus was a bit late in from Dresden, so I took a walk around and admired the radio building and tower which is just up the street.
We then spent the day being tourists, the Wall, the TV tower, Alexanderplatz, Potsdamer Platz, Checkpoint Charlie and even a short foray into Kreuzberg. We ended up watching the football back in the hotel with some bottle of beer after a short dip into the hotel lounge for snacks. It was a nice day but a bit windy and the weather could have been a bit better.
Sunday dawned early and we had breakfast in the lounge and then a whistle top tour of Charlottenburg and the Tiergarten before my friend caught his bus back. I then crashed out for a couple of hours, before going to have dinner with friends in Schöneberg, Sunday evening was particularly nice weather - a precursor of the next day.
As for the hotel, the Berlin Hilton has long been a favourite of mine, whilst MItte can be a bit soulless, its position by the Gendarmenmarkt and Stadtmitte U-Bahn station is hard to beat. I've always had good service there as well. They have refreshed the rooms recently and it's a good refresh, a better bathroom and improvements to the desk and bed as well. The storage is better organised and ample. Housekeeping are efficient, but if you don't use the Do Not Disturb sign, they will start knocking at 8am. As a Gold status member, I got a welcome gift of some dried banana slices covered in chocolate (yum) and a litre of mineral water every day.
The new lounge was a vast improvement, whilst missing the great views from the old lounge, it's about three times the size. This resolves the problems with seating that could occur at breakfast and at cocktail time. There's also a nice array of seating, from tables to bench tables to comfy chairs by the window, a small area with three computers that work and some side rooms which can be used for meetings.
The food and drink are similar to what used to be there. There's a slightly larger range of food, both hot and cold of a good quality. I every much enjoyed the mini-kebabs and BBQ chicken cones on the Sunday night. My friend had high praise for the fish goujons and prawn kebabs the night before.
I hope to return in August and at New Year/Silvester. I would always think of here first when staying in Berlin, although if the room rate continues to climb.....
Tuesday, 31 May 2011
Trip Report 6, Part 1 - BHX-FRA-TXL
Ah, the pleasures of a bank holiday weekend and the first time on an aircraft for 2 months. So, where to go - Germany, of course and I fancied a weekend in Berlin. So, the usual place was booked and in line with this years Senator run, a European Z-fare was booked as well (ouch).
I had no real plans for Berlin, just to mooch, hope for nice weather perhaps go a bit further abroad than usual. A few days before, a friend indicated he could pop up for the Saturday from Prague, I rang the hotel and no extra charges were applied. Nice one, Hilton.
Anyway, I had no real need to get their extra early, so I chose to get the mid-morning flight to Hell am Main, which is the only one still operated by Lufthansa, the others are British Midland wet leases. The pleasures of getting up at the usual time are quite ineffable and my taxi driver was one of my regular ones so it was a good journey to the airport. I quickly checked in the shiny case, popped outside for a last fag and then went through security in a matter of minutes before popping into the new BHX main concourse.
Now they have linked Terminal 1 and Terminal 2, they have ways of making you walk through duty-free before getting to where you want to go. Personally, I find this annoying, but it must make good business to the OK, Scum, who wants booze and fags crowd. Anyway, I quickly bought the papers and some paracetamol (and found a full pack in the laptop bag when I put them away) and not fancying shelf-stable cake or quavers for brekkie, I proceed to Pret a Manger for the "Posh" Bacon Baguette
Well, that and a black coffee sorted me out for the morning flight. Boarding was called a little before schedule, but I am wise to the ways of Servisair and ignored it for ten minutes whilst finishing the TImes. This was to be a bit of a "cut it fine" trip. Our noble steed today was a 737-500, my 84th journey on the type and my 28th on BHX-FRA according to my flight memory.
On boarding, I was slightly be perturbed to be sat in the same row as an infant in arms. It's not much fun for small children flying at times, but it's not much fun to be sat in close proximity either. Mercifully, the crew intervened so that granny could sit in that row and I could snag the front row. Also, I am happy to report, not a peep was heard out of the babe in arms either. We took off about 10 mins late and proceeded on our way to Bankfurt, I declined breakfast as I'd had the bacon baguette and proceeded drink coffee and do some work on the way to the joys of transit. We ended up landing on time, but had to taxi from one end of the airport to the other to a suitable remote stand where we could get the bus to the dreaded B-bus gates.
As usual, B Non-Schengen bus arrivals was shite, one of the escalators wasn't working and the Kettles were out in force milling around. Sadly, being first on the bus means being last off it, which means the Kettles are ahead of you. A bit of power walking and some gamesmanship at immigration (passport spotting is useful to avoid long queues) and I was through to the joys of transfer security, I had a whine about this last time, it was a bit better but still horrifically slow. Anyway, a slow jog through the Tunnel of Hate and then straight into the nearest Rauchenhutte at A22.
I decided to risk the "Business Lounge" at A26, because I needed a cold drink, it has supposedly been refurbished. I couldn't tell to be honest, there may have been more seats, but there was still a shortage except in the Ostalgie-ridden "Sports Corner". Dodging a couple of cleaners, who were intent on having a nice chinwag in front on the drinks dispenser, I retrieved a Coke Light and some rations. I also noticed, grimly, that it was Spargelwoche - which meant Asparagus soup in all the lounges.
Now I like asparagus, but I have a real preference for fresh, young Evesham Grass in late April, early May - not forced white asparagus, often served in quasi-industrial quantities. However, there were also some Wienerpaar and what was described as Munich-style potato salad.
The Wienerpaar turned out to be turkey and were tasteless and crusty. The Münchener Kartoffle-Salat, whilst probably having been no nearer to Bayern than an industrial unit near Groß-Gerau was really quite decent. There was no bread, well, no bread that I'll eat, there were some packets of *that stuff*. I even found a seat, once I'd removed some bags from
Anyway, as the Berlin was called, I proceeded to A23, via the Raucherhutte and found that there was the usual scrum at the gate. I left them to it and boarded in the last handful, with only a laptop bag, it wasn't as if I needed overhead space.
The flight was on an Airbus 321, my 32nd flight on that type and it was chokka, there was one spare seat in Business and a couple in Economy. I was happy to find that they had a copy of The Economist on board, so I didn't do any work on this flight. With a 45 minute flight time, the crew have to work very hard and as soon as the pings went, they were up and serving. The offering was the new "bento" box and I took something deeply unpleasant that masqueraded as a glass of Weißwein.
It was, of course, Spargel themed. There were a couple of pieces of ham, some Aspargus with pesto and rosemary, a mini bread roll and some strawberries and strawberry pudding. Small, but quite acceptable. For my second drink, I had water.
We arrived at Berlin-Tegel pretty much on schedule, although the clouds meant there wasn't a particularly good view of the city on arrival. Bags came off fairly swiftly and I made my way to the bus stop, bought a day ticket and headed into the city. Luckily, I had been warned that the U2 was out on one section and not fancying a U2-U1-U2 journey, I got the bus all the way to Unter den Linden and then walked down to the Hilton. As it was a cloudy, muggy day, perhaps I should have gotten a taxi.
Status Reports - LH FTL renewed, 40% of the way to Senator. Hilton Gold renewed, 65% of the way to Hilton Diamond. Aiming for Senator before my holiday in November and Hilton Diamond by September.
As ever, comments are welcome.
I had no real plans for Berlin, just to mooch, hope for nice weather perhaps go a bit further abroad than usual. A few days before, a friend indicated he could pop up for the Saturday from Prague, I rang the hotel and no extra charges were applied. Nice one, Hilton.
Anyway, I had no real need to get their extra early, so I chose to get the mid-morning flight to Hell am Main, which is the only one still operated by Lufthansa, the others are British Midland wet leases. The pleasures of getting up at the usual time are quite ineffable and my taxi driver was one of my regular ones so it was a good journey to the airport. I quickly checked in the shiny case, popped outside for a last fag and then went through security in a matter of minutes before popping into the new BHX main concourse.
Now they have linked Terminal 1 and Terminal 2, they have ways of making you walk through duty-free before getting to where you want to go. Personally, I find this annoying, but it must make good business to the OK, Scum, who wants booze and fags crowd. Anyway, I quickly bought the papers and some paracetamol (and found a full pack in the laptop bag when I put them away) and not fancying shelf-stable cake or quavers for brekkie, I proceed to Pret a Manger for the "Posh" Bacon Baguette
Well, that and a black coffee sorted me out for the morning flight. Boarding was called a little before schedule, but I am wise to the ways of Servisair and ignored it for ten minutes whilst finishing the TImes. This was to be a bit of a "cut it fine" trip. Our noble steed today was a 737-500, my 84th journey on the type and my 28th on BHX-FRA according to my flight memory.
On boarding, I was slightly be perturbed to be sat in the same row as an infant in arms. It's not much fun for small children flying at times, but it's not much fun to be sat in close proximity either. Mercifully, the crew intervened so that granny could sit in that row and I could snag the front row. Also, I am happy to report, not a peep was heard out of the babe in arms either. We took off about 10 mins late and proceeded on our way to Bankfurt, I declined breakfast as I'd had the bacon baguette and proceeded drink coffee and do some work on the way to the joys of transit. We ended up landing on time, but had to taxi from one end of the airport to the other to a suitable remote stand where we could get the bus to the dreaded B-bus gates.
As usual, B Non-Schengen bus arrivals was shite, one of the escalators wasn't working and the Kettles were out in force milling around. Sadly, being first on the bus means being last off it, which means the Kettles are ahead of you. A bit of power walking and some gamesmanship at immigration (passport spotting is useful to avoid long queues) and I was through to the joys of transfer security, I had a whine about this last time, it was a bit better but still horrifically slow. Anyway, a slow jog through the Tunnel of Hate and then straight into the nearest Rauchenhutte at A22.
I decided to risk the "Business Lounge" at A26, because I needed a cold drink, it has supposedly been refurbished. I couldn't tell to be honest, there may have been more seats, but there was still a shortage except in the Ostalgie-ridden "Sports Corner". Dodging a couple of cleaners, who were intent on having a nice chinwag in front on the drinks dispenser, I retrieved a Coke Light and some rations. I also noticed, grimly, that it was Spargelwoche - which meant Asparagus soup in all the lounges.
Now I like asparagus, but I have a real preference for fresh, young Evesham Grass in late April, early May - not forced white asparagus, often served in quasi-industrial quantities. However, there were also some Wienerpaar and what was described as Munich-style potato salad.
The Wienerpaar turned out to be turkey and were tasteless and crusty. The Münchener Kartoffle-Salat, whilst probably having been no nearer to Bayern than an industrial unit near Groß-Gerau was really quite decent. There was no bread, well, no bread that I'll eat, there were some packets of *that stuff*. I even found a seat, once I'd removed some bags from
Anyway, as the Berlin was called, I proceeded to A23, via the Raucherhutte and found that there was the usual scrum at the gate. I left them to it and boarded in the last handful, with only a laptop bag, it wasn't as if I needed overhead space.
The flight was on an Airbus 321, my 32nd flight on that type and it was chokka, there was one spare seat in Business and a couple in Economy. I was happy to find that they had a copy of The Economist on board, so I didn't do any work on this flight. With a 45 minute flight time, the crew have to work very hard and as soon as the pings went, they were up and serving. The offering was the new "bento" box and I took something deeply unpleasant that masqueraded as a glass of Weißwein.
It was, of course, Spargel themed. There were a couple of pieces of ham, some Aspargus with pesto and rosemary, a mini bread roll and some strawberries and strawberry pudding. Small, but quite acceptable. For my second drink, I had water.
We arrived at Berlin-Tegel pretty much on schedule, although the clouds meant there wasn't a particularly good view of the city on arrival. Bags came off fairly swiftly and I made my way to the bus stop, bought a day ticket and headed into the city. Luckily, I had been warned that the U2 was out on one section and not fancying a U2-U1-U2 journey, I got the bus all the way to Unter den Linden and then walked down to the Hilton. As it was a cloudy, muggy day, perhaps I should have gotten a taxi.
Status Reports - LH FTL renewed, 40% of the way to Senator. Hilton Gold renewed, 65% of the way to Hilton Diamond. Aiming for Senator before my holiday in November and Hilton Diamond by September.
As ever, comments are welcome.
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