by ·Comments Off on All the Queens Horses and Queens Men

My site is finally back up after a server crash so I can thankfully post again. London is been and gone and it was a great time. I only had a few days but as usual for me they were jam packed full of things to see and do.

After arriving off my flight from Berlin the train from Heathrow to Paddington was such a breeze and the short walk from Waterloo Station to my hotel was something I did about a million times on the trip. The hotel was amazing. I stayed at the Park Plaza Westminster bridge, and if i leaned a certain way I could just see Big Ben out the window of my room even though I officially had an atrium view and for £65 a night a total bargain for what I got. Was worth probably 4 or 5 times that amount.

I did all the usual touristy sites, changing of the guards, big ben, london eye but I also did a few less advertised ones like the RAF Museum along with the Guards and Household Cavalry Museums. There was a few big highlights for me though on this trip that stood out.

1. Ceremony of the Keys at Tower of London on my first night. This ceremony dates back almost 700 years so was a great honour to be able to see it.
2. Randomly finding a Jamie Oliver restaurant and being able to walk in, get a table and have a meal at a reasonable price (2 courses with sparkling water for £27) all before the theatre.
3. Catching up with Ross & Cat a couple of old Contiki friends and going to the world’s first Gay Ice Cream Bar which is also the same place that made the famous/infamous Breast Milk Ice Cream
4. Enjoying the sunshine while eating lunch in a deck chair in Green Park near Buckingham Palace even if only for a few minutes before being chased away for not paying.

But London is now gone and I am over East, the Far East as it was reffered to quite a while ago. I flew into Japan on Sunday and have so far had a great time. It is totally surreal. I am in a very foreign land where I do not speak any of the language at all and to be honest I feel slightly out of my depth, but that has not stopped me using the resources at my disposal namely the internet and the hotel concierge.

But yesterday i had the morning in Akihabra exploring what is really tech geek heaven with plenty of toys and gadgets to drool over. Then after getting onto the Tokyo Metro for the first time (had been using JR lines till that point) i hopped on over to Tokyo Tower to meet up with my old friend Rumi. We had a good day and she showed me many things and let me experience some more Japense food including cold Soba noodles with Yam (which was pretty yum) and some Little Red Bean cakes.

Rumi took me to my first buddhist temple at Asakusa and I did pretty much most of my souvenir shopping here (the street leading up to the temple is full of souvenir stores and thats a traditional thing to help serve the pilgrams journeying to the temple) and she also took me to my first ever Aquarium Art Event.

This is a little bit different and definately not something I ever would of thought of going to. It is essentially gold fish aquariums put together as art installations so lots of different coloured fish or lights and shapes of bowls/tanks to make it artistic. Sound also played a big part with light effects changing for the different sounds or beats. It was fascinating and beautiful. This is also where another one of my random events happened. I got interviewed for NHK which is an internationally broadcast Japanese TV channel. Im a tv star again!

It has been an amazing journey so far with more to come. More tails of Japan to come including a sushi breakfast.

Current Location: Hyatt Regency Tokyo, Shinjuku
Countries: 7

by ·Comments Off on Trip Report – Around the World on a Star – London to Tokyo

After what was a good day spent exploring more of London, I ended up heading back to the hotel on foot from Waterloo station in the rain. Not a good start unfortunately. The day was meant to go better as I was going to go by Tube from Waterloo to Paddington and then pick up the Heathrow Express from there. Yeah that is not going to work in the rain. So after running from the station to the hotel (a good half a kilometre) I grabbed my bag and jumped in a cab for Paddington Station.

The almost 20 Quid cab ride was pretty much as expected, was over half what I paid for my HEX ticket but to be honest, a 500m walk in the rain with a suitcase was not ideal. But I was at Paddington Station, dry and relaxed. First hurdle over. I walked towards the HEX platforms (6&7 according to the signs) and it turns out I had literally just missed the last train by like a minute or two. Damn. But that meant I had a good amount of time to sit, relax and enjoy the free wifi in my first class seat while I wait. Yeah not gonna happen.

Pretty much I was the only person in the carriage for quite some time, but the wifi just would not connect. Bummer. Even after speaking with the conductor he just didn’t seem to care, so by the time I gave up on trying to get it to connect we were on our way to Heathrow. A family of 4 had joined us by this stage and the train journey just does not feel like 15 minutes. This train is amazingly good. Gotta love it!

Soon enough I was being dumped out at the station between terminals 1 & 3. I made my way up out of the rabbit warren that is the Train Station up to street level and to the Departures area of Terminal 3. But here is where plans go awry again. I had planned to be at the terminal nice and early, to hopefully check in and get lots of plane spotting done, as I was still hunting the Retro jet and I was sure I was going to get some weird, wonderful and random aircraft. Hopefully. But check in was closed and wouldn’t open for another 30 mins. So off I trapsed to get some cash converted, but I couldn’t even do that as he did not have enough Japanese Yen.

So after waiting it out in the line for check in (no seats around so may as well act like a gate lice) check in opened and I was checked in first for the business section (another man was checked in first for first class.. lucky bugger). But with that done, I walked around and checked out departures, got my cash exchanged as suggested at the main point (then found out that there was a 2nd brand of Currency Exchange so might of gotten a better rate… damn) and went in search of some “Tablet” a kind of Scottish Chocolate Fudge, but I could not find any.

Cleared through security using Fast Track which was actually very Fast but I was very slow, making sure I had everything out and did not get frustrated as I stripped off for the dignity dance. No shoes off though so that was a change. Through security, through “Passport Control” where it was a “Did you enter on this passport” “Yes” “Thank you”, all of a few seconds, wow… thorough. Then you are dumped out at what seems the worlds largest duty free store. I browsed through the watches as they had the brand I like, but did not buy as I was keeping all my shopping now really for Hong Kong. But I did end up picking up some Shortbread as a gift using the last of my coinage and some mens cologne as I was running out.

With that I wandered the halls a little, managed to score a photo of a Turkmenistan 757 at one of the gates, gave up and headed for the Singapore Lounge to see what it was like and I was told it had good views. They let me in surprisingly as I was instructed to go to the London Lounge. The Singapore Silver Kris Lounge was ok, nothing spectacular but it would do the job. Unfortunately it did not have the best views and it seemed what I thought was the London Lounge did, so I was going to change over (but what I saw was the Cathay Lounge instead).

I trapsed the short distance to the London Lounge and this is more my style, love the Scandanavians really as this is the SAS lounge, so fully of Ikea and Sven from Sweeden. Hah. But really the views were awesome, so out came the SLR, the food was good, lots of vegies for me to graze on with a good variery of snacks etc. Lots of them. But all in all, it was a good choice. I grabbed some drinks, some nibbles and camped out by the windows where I had good views of the active runway and was pretty much in the right spot for some shots of the landings as they pulled onto the Taxi Ways.

Lots of good things went past, Korean Cargo, Singapore Cargo, Emirates, Etihad, Royal Air Maroc from all the ones I remember but I am pretty sure I took several hundred photos again. Soon enough it was time to head to the lounge after picking up a few magazines to get me through the flight just in case. I headed towards the boarding gate a little early to make sure I got onboard with plenty of time to take some photos of their new product.

All Nippon Airways (ANA)
NH202
London Heathrow to Tokyo Narita
1935-1520
Boeing 777-300ER (JA785A)
Business Staggered – Seat 7A

Boarding: 1855 (Gate 307)
Push Back 1929
Take Off Roll: 1949 (Runway 27R)
Top of Descent: 1440
Touch Down: 1513 (Runway 34L)
Shut Down: 1518 (Gate 57)

Boarding was called about 5-6 minutes after I got to the gate so that was good timing! Gotta love it. I was the first person down the Airbridge for Business Class, again beaten by a man in First and some Unaccompanied Minors for Economy. But this meant I had heaps of time to explore the seat in all its goodness.

The first thing that strikes you about the new Business Staggered seat with ANA is the privacy. I could not even see anyone else in the Aircraft without really pushing to try. But to be honest that is probably what they were after. The seats were good and comfortable, plenty of nooks and crannys for storage and a decent overhead bin just for my bag as their seemed to be more than enough space.

The view out my window though, if I turn and look back, a Giant GE90 engine. God DAMN those things are huge (and loud when powering up as well). But that is a good thing, cause I love those buggers. I asked for some water, as the Pre Departure beverages offered were only Orange Juice & Champagne, so I could take some medication. The Flight Attendant actually was very kind and brought me some warm water to help with the medication, love the Japanese service!

After all the playing around getting myself sorted the boarding just flew by and before I knew it, the doors were shut and the air bridge was towed back. But that’s a good thing to as it meant I was now able to sit back and relax. Lots of photos taken as we taxied out and we passed the A380 ramp which was pretty much full (one each for QF, EK & SQ) and headed for 27R the active departure runway. We were about 3 or 4 in the line as we waited and I got to enjoy the Nose Camera View.

As we took off and roared down the runway (and I mean roared as the GE90s have that sound level)we were up in the sky, turning right towards Asia and my next part of this journey. The seatbelt sign stayed on for what felt like an eternity and it turns out it was kept on just in case of Turbulence. But then as they announced this, it came off. Funny that.

I browsed the menu which was at the seat and the Japanese menu sounded amazingly good so thought I would give it a try, gotta get used to Japanese cuisine I guess. But it was going to be a good service as the flight attendant serving my section just could not do enough. So with drink ordered and then shortly drink provided with a few little bites the service began.

The few little bites were like a small medly of yumminess with what I think was some duck, some weird jelly like thing, a little tartlet and also a medly of vegetables and lobster. It was yum++ I asked for some nuts and they didn’t have any but some rice crackers (close enough). Love it with a good drink as I settled in to watch a movie.

As the main meal service started it was looking to be good. The service was just excellent and the meal looked fantastic, full of vegies and some lovely looking smoked salmon. But there was also a few random things for me to try. Looked good. Tasted even better (especially the salmon which was not as smoked as I thought it would be).

The main meal was brought out pretty much as I finished the entrée and then that was just gorgeously prepared, the Sabelfish was tender and the rice and pickles made for a good filler with some warm miso soup. The Dessert though. AWESOME!!! This Ice Cream Parfait beat the pants off the Ice Cream Sundae on Air New Zealand but not as good as the ice cream I had in London at Ice Creaminista (which is a whole other story). After the meal and a quick cup of coffee, I put the seat fully flat and tried to get some shut eye.

The seat, well lets make some reviews shall we. The seat is great in the flat mode, but one little problem. It’s a little narrow around the shoulder area for me, but in saying that, I got about 3 or 4 hours sleep before waking up to try and reset my body clock to Tokyo time. So after a little snack of fruit, some tea I started working on this review and started a new movie (Adjustment Bureau).

As we cruised over Russia the scenery below was great, but after the movie finished I had the window open while I was working (its daylight I wanna be able to see things) I was asked to close the shades to help the baby in the cabin sleep. Damn babies ? O well. I grabbed a snack of some fruit & some cheese and settled in for another movie and did a bit of duty free gift shopping (they have something that would make the perfect gift for someone back home and since I was WAY under budget in Europe and Britain I just had to!) The service on my side was great but at times I wondered if they had forgotten me but to be honest they were just making sure everything was perfect.

After my “breakfast” of cheese & fruit I had asked to have my “lunch” served to me in about an hours time to try and sync up my body clock. I had thought they had forgotten as it came about 20 mins later than what I had wanted but I did not really mind. When I asked for some coffee to go with it, the first cup came cold, so when they refilled it, I mentioned this and the flight attendant brewed a fresh pot for me! Awesome++

Pretty soon after another movie and some more coffee they started warning us about the descent. Now what I did not like was that they took away your headphones a good 30 mins prior to arrival and because the plugs wont accept even normal airline double sockets I could not even use mine. O well. The descent was pretty much cloud and even with the nose camera all I could see was the front nose gear down and nothing but cloud till pretty much the runway but unlike the last landing I had in Narita, this one was smooooth.

After deboarding fairly quickly after a smooth taxi to our gate, it felt like I had to walk the entire terminal to get to the Immigration area where I was through with barely a question. It was baggage that was the issue. Bags took forever. I had to wait a good almost 45 minutes for my bags before they arrived and this was WITH a priority tag. The economy bags had not even started to come out at this point.

With baggage in hand, I went through customs and headed for the JR office to exchange my JR pass. Then it was time to pick up all my rail tickets for the next 2 weeks and then onto the next Narita Express into town. I had expected to get to the hotel around 630pm a good 3 hours after arrival (when my bags started taking their time) and I wasn’t far off it. I was on the 1645 train from Narita to Shinjiku and you are looking at a solid 80 minutes of journey time to Shinjiku (which is the end of the line pretty much). The Narita Express (NEX) was effortless and I paid for an upgrade to the Green car for today as to be honest, I just wanted some space. All my other journeys on JR will be Ordinary Car to keep the $$$ down.

By the time I got to Shinjiku and weaved my way out of the Station (muttering to myself West Exit, West Exit) it was just after 1830 by the time I got to the Shuttle stop and watched the Hyatt Shuttle pull around the corner having just left. O well, a quick 2 min taxi ride to the hotel and I was there and in my room before the next shuttle would of even picked me up!

by ·Comments Off on Trip Report – Around the World on a Star – Berlin to London

Not to early a wake up this morning but still fairly early but unfortunately things didn’t start going my way pretty much first thing, not a good sign. I was intending on eating Breakfast in the lounge and with some financial issues that needed to be worked out, well that meant getting out of the hotel a bit earlier to a place with a more reliable wifi connection (wifi at the Pullman was pathetic!).

I was intending on getting the buses out to the Airport after one from the hotel to the Ubahn Station, then another bus from there to Tegel. But that first bus was running late (as usual it seems in Berlin) and just as I was walking to get a cab from the hotel, bus shows up. Typical. As I roll up to the station, my bus rolls out of the station. Dammit! At least time to grab coffee #1 for the morning. Next bus rolls up late as well but soon enough I am heading towards the airport only about 10 minutes later than I had hoped. The bus ride to the airport was painless.

Upon arrival at Tegel this is where the fun starts. I had read before that at Tegel all the security is done at individual gates so the lounge is landside (awesome), what I did not find out is that check in doesn’t open till just before your flight and that the only way to check in earlier than this is to use the Self Serve Kiosks. So here I am trudging almost the entire length of Tegel to find the right gate, only to be told check in at the gate doesn’t open for 2 more hours. Not even an explanation of what to do. Thankfully a sign close by explained where to check in and drop bags. So with this done, rather than get stuck into some work first I was a bit all over the place so took some time out to eat breakfast and do a bit of errands in the terminal (shop, convert currency that sort of things).

With that all sorted, then it was time to use the internet for a while in the lounge and do all the other things I wanted. I had pretty much decided to head to the gate about an hour before departure to give enough time to go through security and immigration and do a touch of duty free shopping. Glad I had left extra time as once I got through security screening I was pulled aside for secondary, except at Tegel, this means they take you back landside, rescan you, then you have to go back through security, AGAIN! Retarded++

So once finally out into the terminal area and into the tiny little airside area, I had about 10 minutes or so to do some duty free shopping before boarding, perfect timing. Pretty much as I finished shopping, boarding was called.

British Midland(BMi)
BD842
Berlin Tegel to London Heathrow
1100-1200
Airbus A319 (G-DBCK)
Business Class – Seat 1F

Boarding: 1030 (Gate 5)
Push Back 1056
Take Off Roll: 1107 (Runway 26L)
Top of Descent: 1108
Touch Down: 1151 (Runway 27R)
Shut Down: 1155 (Gate 106)

Was one of the first few dozen people onboard which did not worry me as this was my third Euro flight so I knew the service was going to be Spartan. To be honest, I can see why people mainly fly economy in Europe as its pretty much economy in business as well, just with food and extra luggage.

Boarding was uneventful, the whole flight was really uneventful, nothing special to talk about spotting wise, the service onboard was pretty average really. I got fed some fairly good food, some coffee, some diet pepsi, a nice lunch, a good book (well over a quarter into war and peace so far). The eventful part was not really until landing.

We got to burn donuts in the sky over heathrow (expected) but then as we landed it seemed awfully fast but from watching a few landings while we taxied that seemed normal. However what I had also expected was an infamous Heathrow Bus gate. Figures. They had put us into the Domestic Terminal, so we had to be bussed to immigration. Unfortunately the staff onboard this flight, didn’t want to do anything good for the business class guests. As someone came to door 1L they advised we had to disembark by the rear doors but she asked how many business class guests, as she would get them off separately. This is the reply that came “don’t bother there is only 6). So unfortunately I was the very LAST person off the plane onto the bus, so didn’t get to take any shots on the tarmac ride (there was a Star Alliance painted A330 from US Airways I think).

Immigration seemed to me that I was the only person from our flight not from the UK or an EU country so I had to wait behind a flight full of American’s recently arrived onboard United. O well. Immigration took a little while in the queue and then only a light grilling before picking up my bag which was sitting on the baggage belt when I got there, but then only about 3 other bags were left.

I made a mad dash for the Heathrow Express and got onboard just as the doors closed and before I knew it, I was already at London Paddington Station, where a quick stop to get an oyster card and a tube map and I was on my way to Waterloo Station and my next hotel down near Westminster Bridge.

by ·Comments Off on Ich Bin Ein Berliner

Well my time in Berlin is fast drawing to a close as I sit here in the Lufthansa lounge at Berlin Tegel airport. It has been a whirlwind few days but damn it has been good.

The first day in Berlin after flying in from France was spent doing some laundry at Freddy Lecks this random as hell Laundry in berlin that is also a cafe and has free wifi. Explaining it is hard, but the pictures will explain more at the end of the trip, it was fully decked out laundromat and was awesome++ I also checked out Legoland and did a bit of browsing the shops and met up with my friend Melissa who was joining me for the Berlin portion.

Day 2 was spent doing the Free Berlin tour with New Europe Tours in the morning and then in the afternoon doing their Third Reich Tour. Unfortunately it started to bucket rain that afternoon but it was still a great time. The tours are fantastic and gave good insight to both Berlin in general as well as the whole Nazi history of the city.

Yesterday my last full day in Berlin was spent with the morning doing some random bits and pieces, bit of this bit of that, and then in the afternoon looking at the Cold War side of Berlin with a Red Berlin tour. Again this tour was fantastic and gave me more insight into the cold war part of the city history.

I really wish i had more time here in Berlin as with everything here its just so much to see and do. There are 128 museums here in Berlin so I definately want to come back and see everything in the future. Berlin was so cheap compared to other cities so will definately be returning.

I got my German staple foods in during this portion of the trip being a Pretzel and some Weiner Schnitzel. Along with this I got a few Berlin traditional things such as Curry Wurst and also a Doner Kebab (which apparently comes from Berlin, but they serve them in Bread which is kind of wierd).

Today I fly out to London to bring my European portion of this trip to an end. This will be great to head into a portion of the journey where I have a familiar language but also getting to catch up with so many friends.

Current Location: Lufthansa Business Lounge, Berlin Tegel Airport

by ·Comments Off on Paris Whirlwind Take 2

Well the 2nd take on Paris is now complete. What a crazy time it has been. Don’t get me wrong I loved the time I had there so much, but it is a city that is not without its flaws. In saying that if you want my version of the negatives just ask but I will instead tell you about the fun stuff.

On thursday after getting back from Bayeux, FMY had to head across town to run a few errands and she left me to my own devices to go shopping and explore the Champs Elysees, which I did, but didn’t buy anything. I then headed by foot to meet up where we had planned near Pritemps and Galleries Lafyette two big shopping stores near the Opera district. It was at Pritemps I came across the fanciest pay toilets I have ever seen. I mean seriously who would pay €1.50 just to use a bathroom. After a healthy lunch at Lafyette it was a stop at a post office to battle my way through try to get a non english speaking frenchman to understand the word tube and then back to the hotel before hoofing it over to hike up the eiffel tower.

I had expected a long arduous climb up the tower but really its a bargain. The line was heaps smaller, took me 8 minutes and wasnt as hard as expected so really I came out on top! Plus its free to walk down. With that done and a billion photos taken, FMY and I headed back to the hotel to get changed for dinner.

Yena’s friend Christobel was meeting us near the lourve and we were heading to the Les Halles district for a night of strange porcine goodies. We dined at Au Pied De Cochon which is famous for its pig parts it serves up, mainly the pigs trotter. However they do have the St Augustines platter which is what I had and it includes the Pigs Trotter, Ear, Snout, Tail and also the (insert). It was deliciosly fatty but it was way to overpowering. It was a serious amount of pork fat. Crazy++

We finished off with a visit to Haagen Daaz which I didn’t get to enjoy due to a rude family who let their children shove their way around and as usual a language barrier. O well excuse to have it again I guess. The last full day in Paris was again planned to be crazy busy. First up the lourve and the Mona Lisa. Essentially in and out as quick as possible. Managed a look before the crowds got in, smaller than I expected. Then it was cheap food day beginning with a breakfast of coffee and crossaint for €1.50 and lots more walking to see Notre Dame, Les Halles, Latin Quarter where we had a bargain lunch for €4 of a warm panini and drink. From there it was a stop at the post office before sillyness at the Arc de Triomphe and a metro ride out to La Defense for some shopping.

A final evening in Paris pretty similar to how it began. Good food, a roof top, good friends and a view of the eiffel tower. A final night time stroll down the Champs Elysees and we were golden. Paris may have been fast but it sure was awesome.

Current Location: Pullman Hotel Berlin
Countries: 6

by ·Comments Off on A little “Town” in France

Catching the train in France to a little town that most people had never heard of but is quite famous in reality is something a bit different. This little town by the name of Bayeux near the Normandy Coast is the home base for a lot of the Normandy tour operations. It was also the Capital of France, twice, during the days of William the Conqueror & also after the invasion of Europe when Charles De Gualle returned to France.

I had originally planned with coming and doing some tours on my own but the Fabulous Miss Yena (hereafter known as FMY) decided to join me. I choose a company called Overlord Tours to handle our touring of the D-Day (well that’s what everyone knows it as I won’t get technical and call it the Overlord/Neptune sites) sites and Yena choose the hotel, The Chateau Bellefontaine. Getting down here we did by train as it was the easiest way (see the trip report for more info on that) but otherwise it was going to be a pretty easy 5 days (well 4 full days really as the train goes home tomorrow at 840am and we are back in Paris by 11am. The first day we got down here a short 10 minute walk from the station to the hotel. It was a touch annoying dragging all my crap and even that was cut down but to be honest, the cab line was about 20 people as we left the station as there really aren’t that many cabs here in Bayeux.

The hotel is beautiful. Nicely manicured grounds, a kind of pond/lake/canal looking thingy in the middle of the garden with swans and ducks, lots of lounges out in the sun and two buildings. The main Chateau which dates back to who knows when and then the “Annex” where we are staying. We have a “Duplex Suite” which is a 3 story room, a room upstairs, bathroom on the middle floor and living area with Sofa Bed on the bottom floor. Shotgun top floor was heard from my mouth within sight distance of the hotel because as FMY put it… “Im a jerk.” Then again it was quite hot on the top floor, but that’s not a big deal.

That day we pretty much checked out Bayeux with lots of strolling around town, working out where we need to go etc to meet tours, sussing out the good pastry shops for breakfast (we found a good one) and then also getting some essentials like fruit, water, chocolates. I also treated myself after checking out some of the sights like the Cathedral to my Birthday Cake. A French pastry Frog. It was DELICIOUS!!
That night we planned on dinner at the Hotel Lion D’or in town. We were originally going to walk up from our hotel in our finest but unfortunately it rained. So we got a cab. But the dinner was amazing. The food so good and so cheap for what we got! AMAZING! The Hotel Lion D’or is also the place that many celebrities and famous royalty, soldiers etc have visited or stayed in over the years. Eisenhower, Omar Bradley, Charles De Gualle, Jacque Chirac, John Wayne, Lauren Backall, Tom Hanks and heaps more, have all stayed or visited or eaten here. Trip list tick! Such good value for what it was!

The first day of our touring with Overlord was the British Sectors, our guide for the next 2 days as it turned out to be was Julian who showed us around. We focused mainly on the canadian’s involved as we had a Canadian family on the tour with us (Overlord are maximum 8 people which is awesome) and the day was fantastic. We got to eat lunch next to Pegasus Bridge and also step foot on the Original Bridge. I had the best day. Day 2 (yesterday) was the American Beach sectors so Omaha & Utah along with Point Du Hoc. This was the big day, only a small group again but this time all Americans apart from us. A lovely couple from San Francisco and also another Lovely Couple from Texas. We toured the sites and also visited the American Cemetery above Omaha Beach. The time in the Cemetery was just totally mind blowing. 9348 people are buried at this cemetery and seeing the size and expanse of this cemetery can bring a tear to some peoples eyes. What is shocking to me is the actual size and expanse of the cemetery grounds. It takes up more space than I imagined and was blown away by the scale and the beauty of the grounds.

Then the last day of touring (today) was focusing on the American Airborne sectors behind Utah Beach. Today was the day I was really looking forward to more than the other two (not to say I wasn’t looking forward to the other days). We changed drivers but the Texas couple Rick & Laverne joined us again and this time we were with Sean. It was a great tour with lots of different sites visited that I was familiar with thanks to Band of Brothers (both the book and the TV show). Getting to see these sites in the flesh of where the actual events happened (like Brecourt Manor etc) was fantastic, but also getting to see the more personal side of other events that transpired to other units in the 101st & 82nd Airborne. It has been an amaing last few days and the touring has wiped off another thing I have always wanted to do in my life.

Tomorrow unfortunately we are back on the train early in the morning, back to Paris but it also means I can do another thing from my trip list. Walk up the Eiffel Tower. So after a bit of time alone to explore the Champs Elysees and hopefully not get myself to lost, I will meet up with FMY after she does some Visa stuff and we will hike our way up the 600-800 stairs of the Eiffel Tower… more to come!

Current Location: Bayeux
Countries: 5

by ·Comments Off on A Busy Street

I am sure you have all heard that lovely song that begins “The Champs Elysees is a Busy Street” (Art vs Science, Par Le Vous Francias). Well when I arrived there on Saturday, that it was!!!! After a dramatic time of worrying trying to get to the hotel. Being that this was the first real time I had been to a non English speaking country, and all the warnings on how people get robbed all the time in France. I went into this weird mood of overprotectiveness. Plus after not getting any sleep on the flight meant that I was a tad grumpy as well. Not a good combination when someone can’t understand you and you need some directions or help.

But I made it to the hotel eventually after not getting ripped off or robbed and met up with the lovely Miss Yena who was waiting in reception the very second I walked in. Awesome way to start my first time in Paris. I had scored an amazing rate via industry discounts at the Marriott Champs Elysees. The ONLY hotel on this street, it was seriously good. The Rack rate going at the moment is around 800 Euros. We paid $120 euros. BARGAIN!!!!! Plus the rooms are awesome 😀 Loved every minute of this stay. We pretty much spent the day exploring the city, going up to the Sacre Cour and getting my first view of the Tower at a distance, then we walked pretty much half of the main area of paris, all the way back to the hotel via the Moulin Rouge and many other places, it was awesome++

I loved strolling the streets in Paris and it was a great feeling. Then getting to experience one of their lovely automatic street toilets that cleans itself after each use. Awesome!!! But then the evening was what was going to be amazing. This was going to be epic. The Fabulous Miss Yena had arranged a dinner at an amazing restaurant that had the French food I had never experienced (real French cuisine) with an amazing view of the Eiffel Tower. So after lots more wandering past the tunnel where Princess Diana was killed (we found this at random), past shops and cars that just made both of us drool, we made it to the Eiffel Tower. I had never seen this structure up close and it blew my mind.

We headed to dinner just as it started to rain, but it didn’t matter it was pretty light and I was all a buzz with what I was seeing. We enjoyed a Glass of Champagne for my birthday (Pommery for those who wish to know) and then got stuck into what turned out to be an amazingly well priced 6 course dinner of just sheer awesomeness. Les Hombres is the restaurant based on the top floor of one of the museums and has amazing views to the Eiffel Tour. Seeing it lit up at night was just amazing!

After dinner we strolled slowly to get a Sparkle show in before heading over to Harrys Bar in the Opera area which is apparently one of the oldest bars in Paris and also the home of a number of Cocktails including the Bloody Mary and the Side Car (Apparently). After consuming a celebratory Side Car for my 30th Birthday before walking back again to the hotel it was an amazing way to finish off celebrating my Birthday. Can’t believe it took me this long to get to Paris but I tell you… worth the wait!

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5th/6th August 2011

After getting my stuff together back at the hotel after an awesome day, I was going to do something I had not done before in New York when leaving. Get the Train to the airport after being told it was extremely easy and cheap. $12 was meant to be the cost (worked out at $11.25) and should have been easy. But things did not go to plan from the Start. I figured rather than walk the 5 blocks dragging a heavy suitcase I would jump in a cab. Unfortunately the porter at the hotel would not get me a cab. So I walked up to Port Authority Bus Terminal and their cab rank about a block and a bit up, and jumped in what was a long line. But the thing is there was about 30 taxi’s waiting and yet the ladies at the front were just not moving, I mean WTF! Hell once the line started moving it stopped again while an old lady just stood there, I told her to take the next taxi its waiting there or I am going to.

She didn’t move, so I did and jumped the queue by about 5 people. I was kind of in a bit of a hurry as I was running a bit behind schedule. With that I was now in a cab heading to Penn Station, but at the end of the block, we stopped, for 5 mins. And this was to be the longest/Shortest taxi ride I have had in new york. I should of just walked. I was mega frustrated and then to add insult to injury the taxi driver tried to rip me off. I handed him a $20, told him to make it $11 change and we will make it even (fare was $7). Sounded good to me at the time, cept he decided to keep some of the money and gave me $9. WTF! I told him off, made him give me the extra money, told him to fuck off and jumped out.

Into the station I went (after being dropped off at the wrong side of the station) and went in search of a vending machine to get my metrocard topped off. None of the machines would let me do anything or even sell me a ticket, so I jumped in the growing ticket queue. Which had people moving slower than a snail. The time for my train was fast approaching, and then the lady behind the window told me she couldn’t top up my card, so I said fine, sell me a new ticket (there was like $1 on the metro card so couldn’t be bothered). No she told me. WHAT THE FUCK. Why is everything getting so stupid all of a sudden. My blood was boiling by this stage and I was pissed off. So I told her to just shove it and went in search of another ticket machine, one that would sell me a ticket. Some idiot at the vending machine jumped in line ahead of me and mouthed off at me. Whatever. I got my ticket then tried to find the next train to Jamaica Station, unfortunately this is almost impossible at Penn Station it seems as no where has any information. So I asked a cop who was nice enough to tell me any train really and that the next train was Platform 20. So down I carried my case.

When I got down there, there was not a person in sight, not even a soul. This didn’t seem right. Then I saw a sign “Do not Board”. Why is it so hard!!! I dragged my case back up the steps to the waiting area as a crowd of people started flocking another platform and an announcement was made that the next train to depart would be from Platform 16. So off I went. When I got onboard it was already packed. I found an out of the way place to put my case which was convientiently right infront of a free seat (albeit with a ladies bag on the seat). After a 4-5 minute wait and the lady not moving her bag I asked her if she could move her bag so I could sit. She grumpily said “Fine” and moved it. I mean WTF! I was so over it all at this stage, just wanted to get to the airport, get to the lounge and chill.

The train ride was pretty uneventful, a lovely gentleman helped me get off at the right station, making sure that I was all good as I must of looked frustrated or stupid (probably the latter) and I was soon on the AirTrain from Jamaica to the terminal. I got an SMS from a flyertalker, due to transit through JFK and this brightened my mood. I could tick that challenge off my list and relax and chat at the same time.

With that I checked in, found somewhere to sit and relax and waited for CMK10 to arrive which he shortly thereafter did. We attempted to try and get into the lounge which turned out to be before security but they wouldn’t let both of us in, just me. So we sat at a bar and had a quick drink and a good chat. Then they started calling people to the gate through security. This was almost 2 hours prior to departure… WHAT! So I ran up to the lounge to make sure this was ok, but they said not to worry and to relax and they will let me know when. But I had other plans anyway. Grabbed a quick drink, cleared out the facebook messages backing up for my birthday and a few quick spotting photos before heading down to security to get through and get some Euro currency.

With the last of my USD changed to EUR I was strolling towards the gate and about to ask how long till boarding so I could do some spotting as the pier was right infront of the active runway, it was then that I saw “Now Boarding all rows” It was an hour prior to departure, whatever!

Swiss International Airlines
LX17
New York John F Kennedy to Zurich
1750-0755+1
Airbus – A330-300 (HB-JHI)
Business Class – Seat 11K

Boarding: 1650 (Gate B27)
Push Back 1739
Take Off Roll: 1800 (Runway 22R)
Top of Descent: 0640
Touch Down: 0711 (Runway 34)
Shut Down: 0715 (Gate: E23 )

I headed to board and was totally unprepared when I walked onboard. I was the first person into the main business cabin (there was one or two in the mini cabin forward of Door 2L. So had ample opportunity to take lots of photos, and with so long before departure I just really got myself comfortable, taking some photos, sending texts and emails, calling home to say im alive as I had not called home in the month I had been travelling.

About 1730 I heard the “Boarding Completed” announcement which shocked me as we still had 20 mins to go, then around 1735 I heard “Refueling Completed” and then a few moments later “Cross Check Doors” and with that we were pushing back early. I had expected a long delay when taxiing to the runway but we were like 4th in the queue and was distracted by all the good planes out the window including El Al, Kuwait Airways, Royal Jordanian, Aer Lingus, Jet Blue, American One World, BA One World & a Qantas One World as well. It was photo snapping central.

Pretty soon we were lined up and ready for our turn (thankfully I had remembered to put my seatbelt on with all the distraction. It was now that I started exploring the pockets in the seat and came across the previous flights menu as well… Score!

Once airborne service started fairly slowly about 20 to 30 mins after take off with the full dinner service wrapping up almost 2 hours after take off. I took my time enjoying each course. Pre dinner drinks with nuts and chips, then salad, then the main. Of course it wouldn’t be a swiss airline without a cheese course and of course, dessert & chocolates. All consumed with lots of water, diet coke, coffee and a Pretzel Roll. O how I was hoping they would have these. I had seen them on so many other trip reports, I was dieing to try one. And it was GOOD!

After dinner I settled down to do a bit of work on the laptop (finances for the trip, writing a blog post for my time in new york and working on the trip report really) and half watching a movie. During the service I had commented to one of the cabin crew that it was my birthday. A short while after finishing watching the movie and working on the trip report, she was back to offer me some champagne, but since I was not in a drinking mood (was going to keep that for paris) I declined. Shortly there after she returned with a Happy Birthday and a box of chocolates as a gift. YAY!!! I think I might try this on my next flight (cause it would technically still be my birthday when I get on that flight as I was to amped to sleep).

Lets discuss the Swiss long haul set up. The A330-300 has a double cabin business class set up. You have a 2 row mini cabin forward of Door 2L and the main cabin to the right of 2L. I was in Seat 11K in the Main Cabin. The seats are unique in that they have like a column to the side of the seat which you can use an extra table and its essentially where the person in the row behinds feet go. So in some seats like the A seats you have two columns (often reffered to as the “Throne Seats” In the other seats it Alternates between on the left and on the right. In most cases the seats are set 1-2-1 some are set 2-2-1 others have random set ups. 11K has the column on the aisle, giving you just a little more privacy with your aisle access.

The seat goes fully flat and has a half decent AVOD selection (although not touch screen unfortunately) but the one thing that confused me so much was the Tray table. It has a very unique design which drove me INSANE! But hey what can you do!

As the flight progressed, I still could not sleep so just relaxed and chilled out watching Thor and also chatting to the flight attendant, about my trip and my birthday etc. It was a good, easy flight. Business was 100% full so there was people crammed everywhere. About 90 minutes prior to arrival, the lights came on (no mood lighting unfortunately)) and it was time for a light breakfast to be served. These were done the night before really when you filled out your breakfast card and handed it back to the flight attendant. However they forgot my coffee. Service as a whole although good was spotty at times but it wasn’t anything horrible really. Breakfast was a light European style, so Fruit, yoghurts, Pastries/Bread really. I wasn’t really hungry and since I still had another breakfast flight, just stuck with a serve of fruit.

Soon enough we were given a pre descent brief by the Captain and we started to come down into the low cloud around Zurich. It was a weird approach though, we could of come in on a nice straight direct approach but maybe for Noise purposes they fly a spiral descent. It was extremely weird. Soon enough we were on the ground and taxiing towards the dreaded E gates at Zuirch, which meant the Heidi train. I wasn’t to worried, as we landed a good 45 minutes early so I had heap of time to connect it just made it a lot easier for me as I would e able to get into the Lounge for a bit more time and a shower, rather than have to skip it altogether.

The disembarkation process seemed all to quick and I barely even had my stuff on my shoulder before I was being forced towards the front of the plane by the pushy people at the back. I made my way off the plane and headed quickly for immigration with one thing on my mind. A shower. Onto the next Heidi train and off we went towards the A Gates. I headed into European immigration where I was asked one question “Are you on Holidays” to which I answered Yes and was admitted. No forms, no nothing, no worries! All to easy.

The Swiss lounges in Zurich are in one main complex which makes things all to easy really. It made my life all the better. I queried seat allocations when I arrived at the gate to see if I could get something better than the 6F I was assigned and was given 1F. Anything in Row 1 is better than Row 6 imo. With that I was handed a shower key, explained how the weird system worked and off I went. The lounge was very empty which was fine, with very basic breakfast offerings (nothing hot) but again wasn’t worried. They did have Movenpick iceceam and free wifi vouchers available with 30 min sessions at a time. Jumped on the wifi to get my phone ready and working and then it was grab a quick drink, banana, steal all the swiss chocolate in site for my friend and then off to do some more plane spotting and clear security. Unfortunately gate A85 where my flight to Paris was departing was the very last gate on the A pier. A good 10 minute walk after security. They were not wrong. Add on time to take photos and security itself and you have a good 20-25 mins from start to finish. By the time I got to the gate, boarding was just about to begin. They preboarded special cases (ie very old people) and soon enough boarding was called.

Swiss International Airlines
LX634
Zurich to Paris – Charles de Gualle
0905-1020
Airbus – A320 (HB-IJS)
Business Class – Seat 1F

Boarding: 0840 (Gate A85)
Push Back 0903
Take Off Roll: 0910 (Runway 28)
Top of Descent: 0936
Touch Down: 1000 (Runway 27R)
Shut Down:1005 (Gate: 66)

As boarding was being called I was already half way down the Air Bridge as had been boarded just seconds after the last special needs person. This meant I had a nice empty cabin to deal with. But being that the seats are the same as economy, I wasn’t to worried. What did shock me as tehe lack of entertainment, including a radio,. Not a thing was fitted at all, so it was a bit of a shock really. The trusty ipod would come in handy on this flight.

Not a full flight in either cabin this time and business was empty apart from me in `1F and another gentleman in 2A. What tehe hell. Why assign me Row 6 in business if only 2 people. Whatever. At least with plenty of space I could spread out either way. I took heaps of photos of the taxing aircraft around us as everything came in right next to me really. Lots of stuff I had never seen beofore in my life. Awesome!!

Pretty soon we were taxiing back after the flight attendant gave perfect translation to 3 different languages. With a quick taxi to a different runway and a very hasy pull up and ascent, pretty soon we were airborne and winging out way to France. Not much to talk about on this trip, a quick 50 minute flight, up, down, wham bam thank you maam.

I did end up getting a warm pastry breakfast, including several offers for extras (declined) and some of the famous swiss chocolates just prior to arrival into Paris. On the ground in CDG it was more of the same forme. Photos Photos photos. I am loving all these aircraft I have never seen before. Love it! Getting a lot of Star Alliance painted aircraft including Swiss, Austrian and United.

With the arrival into CDG, I went into a kind of scared over protective mode. I had heard of the sheer craziness of the airport itself and how confusing it is, along with the whole “people will rob you” advice of Paris. So I wasn’t sure what I was doing or where I was going. I just followed the signs and tried to make sense of the French words around. I found the baggage belt and was hoping that my bag made it here. In a good strike of smarts the people who run CDG tell you how long your expected to wait for your bags, so gave me plenty of time to sort things out. When the bags started to hit the belt, mine was first off, priority tags really do work!

Then it was working out how to find my way to the RER with the very confusing directions and after a bit of help and guidance from the information booths, I was on my way to T3 and onto the RER. I was smart enough to have some Euro Coins on me to get the RER ticket and I was onboard and heading to Gard du Nord, and my hotel… some luxury for one night. The Paris Marriott Hotel Champs-Elysees.

Sunday 7th August 2011 – Paris to Bayeux
SNCF – Intercities
Paris St Lazare to Bayeux
2nd Class

Up nice and early after a very very long 37 hours or more of no sleep and a massive day in Paris of exploring, wandering, indulging and an amazing birthday Celebration at Les Ombres, I hit the gym for a bit of a wake up and then repacked some stuff into a smaller bag for the trip down to Bayeux and the Normandy region for some Battlefield explring.

After having done a bit of half assed research the afternoon before, Yena (who has joined me for france) and I made our way after a quick caffeine hit in the lobby down a very, very empty Champs-Elysees to the Franklin D Roosevelt Metro stop for a 3 stop metro ride to Gare St Lazare. With that completed we sussed out where we needed to go and with plenty of time to spare, we hit up a local café for another caffeine hit (can you tell we both enjoy our coffee). We had pretty much planned that this would be a quiet morning with a 2 hour train ride to catch up on things all the way down.

Coffee consumed we headed back over the street to the station to suss out some take along breakfast pastries and to figure out what platform we were departing from. There was a massive crowd at one end of the station and what we didn’t realize was that was for our train. All the crowd was waiting for the platform number to be released and when it came up we got bumrushed by the crowd and it was like O M G I am about to be run over by a billion people. Then we realized it was our train, and knowing that the train is unreserved seats we split up. Yena to get pastries (she was hungry, I didn’t care really) me to get our seats (was more worried we wouldn’t get a seat). We need not have worried at all as I found a 4 seat with table all the way at the far end of the platform and soon enough was joined by Yena carrying our breakfast. With an apple and drink pilfered from the Hotel Gym, it was a tasty if not all that healthy breakfast (it was my first “French” breakfast so it counts as ok really and its really hard to find a French breakfast without some form of Chocolate, you will know what I mean if you check out a cereal aisle over here). With that we settled in and dead on time, the train rolled into the station.

Pretty much as the train sped on, Express to Caen the French countryside rolled past the window and I worked on my trip report and blogging while Yena worked on her journal and we both got out the ereaders for a light spot of reading. Pretty soon Caen approached and the train was stopped for about 10 minutes or so, then it pulled out again nice and speedily. We had roughly 15 minutes or so till our scheduled arrival into Bayeux.

Soon enough an annoucement was made in french about 30 seconds from arrival and we jumped up and grabbed our bags, making it out of the train shortly after arrival into Bayeux. The platform was pretty bare but we followed the mass crowd towards the exit and then it was off on foot to our hotel for the next 4 nights. The Hotel Chateau de Bellefontaine.

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So when I first planned this trip, I knew I wanted to stop in New York as the flights I wanted to take were with Swiss Airlines and the only way to guarantee the new service was out of New York City. Now in saying that, the dates coincided with my birthday, so really, what better way to spend a birthday than in New York City. Sure I would be alone, but hey.. who cares. I am used to being alone and enjoying myself still.

After flying across the country and arriving in New York I was looking forward to just a few days in a room on my own. Some alone time was going to be good, no guilt, no nothing, just pure unadulterated personal space. The hotel I had chosen I had booked so much in advance I had totally forgotten about any of the costs etc and even stopped caring really. But I booked myself to stay at the Element Times Square West. Located just off 8th Ave and West 39th St it was literally like 3 blocks to time square. Location… tick! It was also brand spanking new at the time so even better it was new and was looking damn good. Free Breakfast, Wifi, 24 hour gym and a laundry on site, small kitchenette in the room (the rooms were more like a studio than anything) win freaking win!

The whole hotel was great when I arrived, checked in with ease and while playing on Four Square realised if I checked in at the hotel, I could get 2 bottles of water, saving me a trip to the covience store at 10pm at night. This was getting better and better. The room was much larger than expected and the bed was just soft and dreamy, I was in heaven. I hit the sack pretty quickly after a quick set up of a few things and working out some stuff for the morning. There was one thing I didn’t do, and you will see what.

I set my alarm for 530am, sunrise was meant to be 6am. Why so early? Well I had two mornings in New York. I figured to make the most amount of my time, I would do something I have always wanted to do, run through Central Park. I figured if I did It the first morning or planned to and the weather was crap I still had one more morning. So to maximise time I wanted to be in the park by sunrise. What I forgot though was to fix up my phone to the correct time zone, it was still on Chicago time, one hour before. Woops! So when I woke myself up at what I thought was 5am and saw it was light out, I immediately knew something was a miss. I rolled out of bed, looked at my watch, ah crap! I was now behind. So I jumped out of bed and fled uptown in a cab to 86th Street, where I was to start my run around the Reservoir track.

I have always wanted to make that run and 2 laps around the Reservoir is just over 5k so perfect for me. I ran to my hearts content, seeing so many other people doing the exact same thing. I am sure all the other people running were thinking what a weirdo as I was running with the biggest smile on my face. So big I swear I would hurt myself from the grin. It felt so good to finish that run, hell I could of kept running I was feeling so good!

With the run complete, I jumped back in a Cab to the hotel (was going to the use the subway but didn’t) and back to the hotel where the crazy morning would begin. Todays plans were: Run, Breakfast, Shopping, United Nations Tour, Canal Street Shopping, Crumpler East Village, Chelsea Market to get some lunch, Walk the High Line, A Cup of Disposable French Press Coffee (yes that’s right a plunger in a disposable paper cup) at Foodparc, Then back to the hotel and a Broadway show. But for some reason I checked the Daily Show/Colbert Report Ticket Twitter feed first thing. I don’t know why as I had pretty much given up trying. But low and behold, 4 tickets to Colbert Report, for tonight, released 3 mins prior. GOGOGOGOGO.

I jumped on the chance and I got a ticket! I couldn’t believe it. What a score. So rather than a Broadway Show I was going to Colbert, but since I had to be their earlier, I had to shuffle around a few things like when to eat dinner etc. But no biggy. So I fled off on foot exploring the city to do a bit of shopping (in the process getting myself lost by going way past where I should of) and then heading to the UN building for my tour. As I got there earlier than expected and didn’t get stuck in security, I tried to get on an earlier tour, but they wanted me to buy a new ticket, so I did, what the hell. The Tour was great, got to see the Security Council & General Assembly chambers, post a couple of postcards from the UN and also buy some stamps for my mum. I hiked it back to Grand Central after this, discovered the Central Market (omg the food was amazing looking) and grabbed a “Black and White Cookie” for some nourishment. The B&W is more like a soft cakey kinda cookie with a Chocolate & White icing on it. Yum++ and you can only get them in New York. I jumped on the subway down to Canal St (getting on an express and skipping my station which meant backtracking on a local train 1 stop) and picked up some tacky I <3 NY shirts (my first ones and some as gifts). Then it was off to East Village via 2 subways and to the Crumpler Store. I picked up some stuff there (impulse buying… love it) after checking out the newest store design and just seeing how cheap the bags are overseas. Then the walking began. From Crumpler to my hotel via all the stops was about 3 or 4 miles and I was going to make sure I worked off that nights dinner, my lunch and that cookie. Chelsea market was a damn huge temptation, I was lucky to make it out of there alive I think.

The High Line was amazing (for those that don’t know it is a park built on old raised railway tracks running at present from 10th St to 30th Street in New York. It was a great looking park with heaps of places to sit and relax or just keep going. I enjoyed a bit of lunch under the standard hotel and continued on for my coffee date with Foodparc. After that I hoofed it back to the hotel to go to the Post Office and send home the last of my purchases from that trip via a shopping stop on 34th street. It was a full on day but the fun was sure to come!

When I got up to the Colbert Report taping, I was running a bit behind as it was hard to find a cab at that time of day and probably should of just gone earlier. But I was worried I wouldn’t get a ticket as they oversell the crowd every night and just having a ticket reservation doesn’t guarantee you in the crowd. I was so nervous, using the “its my birthday tomorrow” line to try and get me in. Thankfully I didn’t need to as I got my ticket and after lots of silly photos, lots of hurry up and wait timel, we got into the crowd. It was such a good show I loved it. After the taping a lovely couple I was chatting to in line gave me a Wrist Strong bracelet they had scored during the taping as a birthday gift (thanks whoever you are) and I was over the moon. Wandered Time Square to find some dinner and ended up at a diner with meals that I just could not finish. But the one thing I was looking forward to that night, dessert!

While watching a random food show one day I heard about a place called “Shake Shack” and how they serve an ice cream concoction called a “Concrete” which was meant to be so thick you couldn’t even scoop it. So I just had to try it. I went with the flavour “Jelly’s Last Donut” and it tasted good, but it wasn’t as thick as advertised, I think they ended up leaving it sit for to long before handing it over to me (it was really busy). The sleep that night was well deserved.

Day 2 would bring my birthday, after a work out and breakfast on the run, again more walking after a subway ride. This time I jumped the A train (fastest way to Harlem!) to Brooklyn and was going to Walk Across the Brooklyn Bridge. It was so easy to find and soon enough I was powering it over the bridge, all while trying to complete a challenge set out to me by my coworkers. But to be honest I was so loving every minute and enjoying my birthday I didn’t care. I was wandering uptown to my lunch stop in SoHo via a crumple store (which turned out to be closed) and since I had heaps of time to kill, I did something utterly random.

In San Fran I had seen the “Art of Shaving” and was thinking had I the time, I could of gotten an old school shave and a haircut for like $85… sounds good. Unfortunately I didn’t have the time then, but I thought, I have some time now, why not get a hair cut, I sure did need it, I was looking pretty scraggly. So out came google maps and with a few trusty clicks I was walking to a Hair Salon close by. Unfortunately they couldn’t take me till 1pm (no good) but pointed me in the direction of a few more Salons with the warning that it won’t be cheap. What the hell, I still have USD to burn. So I was walking down the street and saw what looked like a Salon, walked in and after being told a price and that they can take me right then, it was on. What I didn’t realise at the time was that I had just walked into a Celebrity Salon, one that is apparently pretty famous. I even got to meet the owner due to a mix up (almost had him cutting my hair… damn) but what the hell. Awesome if you ask me. It was the most expensive, longest hair cut in my life, but Rayna deserved the $20 tip I gave her on top of the $94 hair cut cost (that’s right total cost of a hair cut $114). But she made me look DAMN GOOD! I was over the moon, looking sexy as, new body, new look, new clothes all in a City on my 30th Birthday… Fuck it!

I hiked it as quick as I could over to my lunch destination “Katz Delicatessen” in East SoHo. It took about 10 mins but I had to get their quickly to avoid the lunch rush, and I did by sheer minutes. I had been told pretty much what to get. Pastrami on Rye with Mustard, Motzah Ball Soup, Potato Kinish & Pickles. I washed it all down with a Seltzer (Soda) Water. It was the most fantastic meal of my time so far. The Pastrami was like nothing I have ever had before, the Kinish light and fluffy and the Motzah Ball… It was like a ball of cloud, floating in a gorgoues broth. I wanted to have it all over again. With that done it was back to the hotel by Subway and then the fun journey was yet to keep going. To the Airport I was bound… but lets leave that for the trip report.

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An early morning wake up and no running this morning as to dark and the “fitness centre” at the hotel opens to late. Not to worry, will enjoy a day of rest and relaxation as I fly across the country. A light breakfast and a final check of emails before I jump onto my free shuttle to the airport.

Upon arrival at Terminal 3 at SFO I noticed that this was not a good thing to be here at this time. It looked like a madhouse at the Economy check in and security. Fortunately I had access to Premium Check In and also Premium Security. Thank the lord. No real wait, was directed to a self check in machine and figuring it wouldn’t work for me, I waited for someone to come up and offer assistance. After 2 or 3 minutes no one came. So I gave up and put in my confirmation number still expecting it to fail on me. It didn’t. Now this is where I should of figured things were not as expected. My boarding pass spat out both flights as United First. Hrm thats wierd. I figured I would deal with it at the gate and get through security while I could.

I was directed to premium security after asking where it was, and soon enough I was in the queue. I grabbed a few zip lock bags as I didn’t have the right size and some spares will come in handy later in the trip. Security was a non issue, not even a grope from the TSA 🙁

Once through I went in search of the gate so I could get my bearings before running a few errands. I found the gate next to a customer service point so queried my boarding pass. I was told all was fine and it was just a system issue. I double checked my seat on seat guru and I was still allocated a backwards facing seat. Awesome. I convinced the agent to reprint me passes on real stock rather than the flimsy crap the self service kiosk spits out.

With that done I went in search of a banana, some coffee & some water. No access to Red Carpet Club meant I couldn’t get this free. I explored the terminal for a while getting heaps of photos and searching for a retro jet. No dice 🙁 I browsed the shops for a bit (if u walk into the Ghiradelli shop they give you samples) and soon enough I could see a crowd gathering at the gate. Figuring the gate lice were starting early realised there was only 15 mins to boarding and a plane was at the gate. Unfortunately my worst fear had come true, an aircraft swap. We were changed to a domestic configuration 757-200 🙁 No more backwards facing seat.

I was a little dissapointed but thems the break. What was good for me though was that I was not in economy as a lot of people were about to get bumped. Volunteers were bound to be asked for. I ended up joining the back of the scrum rather than sit down as it wasn’t worth it by this stage with only a few minutes till boarding time.

United Airlines
UA972
San Francisco to Chicago O’Hare
1011-1625
Boeing – 757-200 (N581UA)
First Class – Seat 6A

Boarding: 0941 (Gate 82)
Push Back 1020
Take Off Roll: 1032 (Runway 1R)
Top of Descent: 1530
Touch Down: 1604 (Runway 10)
Shut Down: 1610 (Gate C26)

With boarding called on time, I gave it a few minutes to let the scrum die down a little before getting in the boarding queue and then having to fight through the pushing and shoving of the DYKWIA crowds. I got through soon enough and was shortly on my way down the jet bridge.

At the door there was quite a wait for people to get into the aircraft as their million & one carry on bgs were stored. I was welcomed on board, directed to my seat. Jackets were hung, no pillows on offer but blankets at the seat. No sign of headphones or menus (neither ever offered). But I settled in and was soon offered a pre departure beverage of choice. As we waited during the boarding process the Captain gave a very thorough flight introduction including telling us where we were going to fly over (Sacremento and Sioux Falls were the two I distinctly remember. Channel 9 was active (yay) and soon enough we were pushing back. Numerous times the crew were advising people to fix, up there bags before takeoff.

We pushed back a little late and listening to Channel 9 was awesome for this as i could tell exactly what was going on. We taxiied pretty quick to Runway 01R and after a little hold we were airborne. Right turn towards Oakland and Sacremnto and a nice long climb to altitude. Orders were taken and was originally told the only option was a Turkey Sandwhich, however after being told that a salad was also available and I had the option due to status I took it.

A beverage was offered next and I took a diet coke with lime and some warm nuts as my tribute to lucky from “One mile at a time, a blogger I enjoy reading. With those cleared away lunch was soon brought around and my Southwest Chicken Salad with soup and Breadsticks was offered and I settled in to enjoyed this lunch while watching the movie, Water for Elephants.

Lunch was cleared away, coffee and an oatmeal cookie fresh from the oven were offered and I savoured this with one of my samples of San Fran chocolate, while writing part of this trip report as well. After a while I gave up watching the movie and settled into reading my book on my tablet while listening to channel 9. Now lets discuss this lovely function that is only available on United. Channel 9 is an audio channel which feeds the air traffic control feed from the cockpit direct to the audio system. Whatever the pilots hear, you hear. It is an avgeeks dream. I loved it. While I sat there enjoying it, the world passed away below.

Eventually we started to descend and with Ch9 running I could hear it coming. It was a very slow, gradual descent but as we got closer to Chicago you could hear the ATC get crazier. The O’Hare airport is one of the busiest so you can expect it to get crazy. The landing was silky smooth and I was to distracted shooting photos to really notice. We had a fairly quick taxi to the gate and we were released to the masses about 20 mins early.

Once on the ground the emails flooded in and the tweets were flowing as I was trying to get some tickets to the daily show. Some where released and as I ambled through the terminal trying to get the tickets i had no idea where I was going and ended up walking the whole length of the C concourse. Unfortunately no tickets 🙁

One good thing about going from Concourse C to Concourse B is the use of the trippy tunnel. O yeah. I had camera ready to snap away. Took a number of photos in the tunnel all while I am sure annoying lots of people as I was gawking.

Once out into the B concourse I went scouring the terminal for any signs of a retro jet, but sadly no luck. I wanted it so bad I swear I walked that terminal about 3 times and those terminals are not small either. By the time I had realised what the time was I was meant to be boarding so rushed to the gate. But it was still full of people. Just then the gate agent made an announcement that he had no computer access to either of his terminals so he could not board till further notice.

We waited and waited, with no updates. Pretty soon departure time came and went but then the announcement came. He said and I quote. “Ladies and Gentlemen. This will not be pretty at all. I am going to board two classes and two classes only, no status, no zones. This will be a slow manual process. We will board First then Economy. If you are standby on this flight, you will not be clearing this flight. Unfortunately I can’t do anything about this, I do apoligise. We will now board First Class.” With that the masses pushed the gate but those of us in First made our way to the front.

United Airlines
UA692
Chicago O’Hare to New York La Guardia
1730-2046
Airbus – A319 (N840UA)
First Class – Seat 1A

Boarding: 1735 (Gate B6)
Push Back 1752
Take Off Roll: 1812 (Runway 9R)
Top of Descent: 2011
Touch Down: 2107 (Runway 22)
Shut Down: 2112 (Gate C7)

Once through I manged to get down the gangway fairly quickly after my beloved boarding pass was cut in half. Can’t have everything I guess. I made my way down to the aircraft where most people were in a jovial mood. Even the crew were in good spirits. Joking around. I found my seat, stahed my gear easily and made myself comfortable as somehow, a passenger made it onboard the wrong flight. This was not going to be pretty.

As boarding progressed it was obvious this flight was not going to be full but that didn’t matter to me much. Channel 9 didn’t sound like it was active, so I asked one of the crew if they could ask the captain to turn it on. I was informed it was and after a bit of playing we got it to come on. What more could an avgeek want. A comfy seat in the pointy end, live ATC on the audio and the chance to spot at a busy airport on the taxi out.

We eventually pushed back from the gate and as we got clearance to taxi it was obvious on Ch9 we were not going anywhere anytime soon as we had missed our slot, we were heading to the penalty box. Where we sat for about 5 or more minutes. A string of United and American Eagle CRJs were cleared infront of us. We were told to clear our holding spot and move and do a 180 turn to get out of the way. The pilots did not like this at all and protested to which they were promptly told to do as told by Chicago ground control. As we were doing this we got our paperwork and were given clearance to the active.

Again we held, longer and longer, but no word from ATC as to why. But to the front I saw 2 CH46 Bullfrogs take off. Thats a bit wierd what are they doing here, wait Obama is in town. Yep sure enough 2 minutes later, Marine One takes off (at least one of the VH3’s was Marine One). Twice now I have seen Air Force One… score.

A few minutes later we were cleared for takeoff and on our way. We roared past the VC25A (Air Force One) hiding off to the side and went airborne heading over Lake Michigan. Since they were going to play the same movies I got stuck into the trip report waiting for the “snack” service (which is really a light dinner). Options were again a Turkey Sandwich or Chicken this time over Pasta Salad. Chicken it is, but no offer of nuts 🙁

As the flight cruised on I worked on the trip report some more while listening to channel 9 and tried emptying the aircraft of diet coke with lime. As we approached the mid flight point I could hear lots of deviations for weather and as we were cleared to descend we were told it was gonna get bumpy. It wasn’t that bad really and to be honest i’ve been through worse. It was a long long slow descent almost an hour as we were held over New York. Eventually those lovely words “United 692 cleared to land” were said.

We landed and a quick taxi to the gate and everyone was in a mad rush to get off the flight it seemed. I wasn’t in a world of a rush so lolligagged a bit before heading to the baggage claim area and by the time I had my jacket on my suitcase was out. I quickly dialed the limo company followed instructions and waited for the car. After a while, eventually found the driver (what do you expect when every car company uses black Lincoln Town Cars) and I was headed to my hotel, the Element Time Square West.