Around the world in NZ/LH/LX/SA J (and LA/UX/BA/TP/U2/KL Y) - including Chornobyl

[HeavyElectricity]

Re: EZE-FRA

Thought: Why are airlines removing personal air vents from aircraft? At times on both the Air New Zealand and Lufthansa flights it was unbearably warm. All three flights (PER-AKL, AKL-EZE, EZE-FRA) didn't have air vents.

 

[JohnM]

Re: Eze-fra

What was your overall impression of the B748? Anything noticeably different from a B744?

 

[Lemon_Party]

Re: Eze-fra

Thought: Why are airlines removing personal air vents from aircraft? At times on both the Air New Zealand and Lufthansa flights it was unbearably warm. All three flights (PER-AKL, AKL-EZE, EZE-FRA) didn't have air vents.

Just flown PER-HKG and back with CX and had exactly the same thought. The PE cabin on the A333s was melting both ways on red eyes, no air vents to be found.

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Re: Eze-fra

Q: On your booking. Was this a purchase fare, or a redemption?

 

[HeavyElectricity]

Re: EZE-FRA

What was your overall impression of the B748? Anything noticeably different from a B744?

Nothing massively different, but I'm often a bit oblivious to these things. The 748 certainly is impressive when seen from the airbridge. The engines seemed quiet, especially during takeoff.

 

[HeavyElectricity]

Re: EZE-FRA

Q: On your booking. Was this a purchase fare, or a redemption?

Originally I was planning as a redemption Krisflyer Star Alliance RTW trip - but because of the unavailability of NZ J on the leg I wanted (AKL-EZE), and because I stumbled across what I thought was a good price, I ended up purchasing - some details here: Unusual RTW trip (J) - reasonable price?

 

[HeavyElectricity]

FRA-MAD

Flight: LH1114
Aircraft: A321-200
Seat: 4D (J) / 3F (J)
Departed: FRA 20/09/2016 13:40 CEST (25mins late)
Arrived: MAD 20/09/2016 16:00 CEST (10mins late)
Duration: 2h 15m


FRA transfer was a huge mess - busy queues, slow security checks. Lufthansa business lounge was heaving - no seats - people leaning against the walls with their luggage. Why even let people in? I left straight away.

I then remembered I had Star Alliance Gold with the United status match trial, so I headed for the Senator Lounge. It was still very busy, but a few seats were free. By then there was only enough time for a thimble of orange juice (glasses were slightly enlarged/taller shot glasses, orange juice was dispensed from the soft drinks fountain) before the gate was called. There were long queues for the toilets in the lounge, so I didn't even use that.

Boarding was another complete mess. Huge crowd around the gate. Despite calling business passengers and Star Alliance Gold only, everyone started to board. Maybe half the plane was Star Alliance Gold? Then after getting through the gate - surprise! We're not going down the aerobridge, but are instead going down the stairs - and a bus to a remote gate! Got on board to find someone in my seat. When they saw me staring at them as I was approaching, they asked if they could swap. I didn't really mind, but would have been nicer to have asked before sitting in my seat.

My first experience of 'euro business' . To me, the main benefit of business is the nicer seat and more room - food/service comes second. Although the service was fine, I wouldn't ever seek out this fare in the future (only when bundled as a connecting flight to a real business ticket, as was in this case).

Food was ok, I had the chicken:

 

[bPeteb]

Re: Eze-fra

Thought: Why are airlines removing personal air vents from aircraft? At times on both the Air New Zealand and Lufthansa flights it was unbearably warm. All three flights (PER-AKL, AKL-EZE, EZE-FRA) didn't have air vents.

We were lucky with two on both of NZ flights as we'd read that air flow was a problem. Our 'oven experience' was an overnight from London to Tokyo on BA in a centre pair of the then new J. We slowly slipped clothes off until we were down to just underwear under the blanket!!

 

[Boca68]

Re: Eze-fra

Thought: Why are airlines removing personal air vents from aircraft? At times on both the Air New Zealand and Lufthansa flights it was unbearably warm. All three flights (PER-AKL, AKL-EZE, EZE-FRA) didn't have air vents.

Yet, they still have ashtrays in the toilets? Go figure. Flying Latam on 787-8 recently, noticed the toilet still has an ashtray. What its been 25 years. (probably 15 since JL ceased smoking maybe more?)

 

[TomVexille]

Re: Eze-fra

Yet, they still have ashtrays in the toilets? Go figure. Flying Latam on 787-8 recently, noticed the toilet still has an ashtray. What its been 25 years. (probably 15 since JL ceased smoking maybe more?)

I'm guessing that they need to have those as if someone is stupid enough to light up onboard it's likely to be in the lav, and they need somewhere to put it out.

 

[24601]

Maybe half the plane was Star Alliance Gold?

They probably were with the number of status matches about recently. Or perhaps they are adopting some QF boarding systems.

 

[HeavyElectricity]

Madrid

The few days I had in Madrid were great. Fantastic weather in a clean and beautiful city.

I ended up using Uber to get to my hotel (Mercure Madrid Centro - good location but a bit average, would probably choose somewhere else next time) - it was quick and comfortable, although I later understood that it's not really cheaper than local taxis, most of which accept card payment with no surcharge.

I spent most of my time catching up with old friends (some living in Madrid, and some visiting). Good food, drink, and company .

Plaza de la Villa:


Estatua del Ángel Caído in Parque de El Retiro:


Pintxo Basque country style tapas at Orio Madrid Fuencarral:


Dessert at A&G Madrid:

 

[HeavyElectricity]

MAD-LGW

Flight: UX1015
Aircraft: E190 (downgraded from a 737)
Seat: 11C (Y)
Departed: MAD 24/09/2016 15:09 CEST (9mins late)
Arrived: LGW 24/09/2016 16:28 BST (8mins late)
Duration: 2h 19m


Took a taxi to the airport, was a quick and easy journey. No queues at check-in, but the sneaky priceline.com lies meant I had to go and pay for checked luggage at the service desk before trying to check in again (as of 4th November 2016 the Air Europa baggage policy on their site still says first checked bag is free - don't believe them!).

Bus gate departing MAD. No raisable headrests, and my knees were firmly implanted in to the seat in front. It was quite uncomfortable, and I'm glad the flight was only a few hours. No complimentary food or drink (not even free water), but a paid service was available.

Arriving at Gatwick wasn't too painful, and we had an aerobridge. It was a long walk from the gate to immigration, and there were some queues, but nothing too bad.


Summary: I wouldn't go out of my way to fly Air Europa again, and I certainly won't be using priceline.com ever again.

 

[HeavyElectricity]

United Kingdom

I then spent a week in the UK visiting family in The New Forest - nothing too much to report on here. There were a couple of very nice days (probably the last warm autumn days for this year):

Horses in The New Forest:


The sun getting low in the sky:

 

[HeavyElectricity]

LHR-KBP

Flight: BA882
Aircraft: A320
Seat: 12D (Y)
Departed: LHR 04/10/2016 08:25 BST
Arrived: KBP 04/10/2016 13:53 EEST (18mins late)
Duration: 3h 28m


Arrived in the early hours at LHR. Speedy passport check, but then a bit of queue at security. This flight was departing from the Terminal 5 'B' satellite terminal, which required a short trip on a train. The satellite terminal was clean and quiet, and it was quite pleasant to grab a coffee and look out the windows to while away the time.

The flight itself was fine, but not particularly comfortable. Paid extra for an exit row seat. The older style seats did not have height-adjustable headrests, so no real head support for a tall person such as myself.

Breakfast service commenced, and we received a decent breakfast box (full sized egg and bacon sandwich, yogurt, and a chocolate) with hot and cold drink. Later there was another drinks service including alcohol. Sorry no photos for this flight, I forgot.

No dramas when arriving at Boryspil airport, which was not at all busy. We took a taxi from airport to hotel, I was a little paranoid as the taxi drivers approached us just as we were using the ATM at arrivals, but it turned out to be fine, and the agreed price was honoured even though there was insane traffic congestion once we reached the city centre - and it seemed to take an age to arrive at the hotel.

For this one night we stayed at the Ibis Kyiv City Centre, which was fine. Very friendly and helpful staff. Had a nice pasta dinner at a nearby restaurant. The prices of food and drink here are fantastic. The 2-day Chornobyl commences the next morning (I'm still sorting through the photos, so it may be a little while before I can post).

 

[HeavyElectricity]

Chornobyl Exclusion Zone Day 1

The remainder of the tour fee (we'd already paid a deposit online) was required in cash. The tour group suggest bringing euros, but also accept Ukrainian Hryvnias. We were travelling from the UK, and I'm not one to use travel money exchange services, so we planned on just getting cash out on arrival in Kyiv.

That turned out to not be as easy as originally thought, and we had a minor panic when we discovered each ATM would only dispense a maximum of 500-2000 Hryvnias (depending on the machine) at a time. We needed 16,000 Hryvnias (EUR513). Between us we had 3 bank cards, and we were able to use the same card between 3-5 times in each machine before it started rejecting us. We ended up walking around different banks/ATMS for awhile, including completely draining all the cash from the machine in the Ibis hotel lobby. But we eventually got the money we needed. Note for next time: get some Euros.



We woke up early and made our way through/under Kyiv Passazhyrsky central train station to the meeting point for the tour. We were a little worried about carrying so much cash on us and then having to wait by the side of the road for the bus to pick us up - but the tour group organisers and mini-bus were already there and well organised.

En-route to the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone we were provided with our dosimeters, and a documentary was shown on the bus TV. We stopped at a service station to pick up some lunch for later, and to grab a coffee. The service station had an interesting name.

 

[HeavyElectricity]

Chornobyl Exclusion Zone Day 1

The bus arrived at the "30km" Exclusion Zone checkpoint. Two boundaries existing for the zone, a "30km" boundary, and a "10km" boundary. These were named based on circles drawn on a map in the initial aftermath of the Chornobyl disaster, however they have been redefined as more data on radiation levels and spread was recorded, and no longer belong much resemblance to their naming.

Whilst paperwork was sorted with the checkpoint and tour operators, we took a look at some of the signage by the road:



The first stop within the zone was Zalissia Village. This village was evacuated, but hadn't been levelled/buried like some of the other villages in the zone.





Downed power poles:


Supermarket (I think):

 

[HeavyElectricity]

Chornobyl Exclusion Zone Day 1

One home had continued to be occupied up until a year previously. The resident had moved back in to her house, and lived by herself in the otherwise abandoned village.





Playground:







Next stop: Chornobyl Town!

 

[Straubs]

Re: Chornobyl Exclusion Zone Day 1

what a fascinating trip ...

 

[HeavyElectricity]

Chornobyl Exclusion Zone Day 1

Chornobyl Town was the next destination, where our guide was required to file some paperwork. The town existed long before the power station was constructed, and is actually further away from the power station than Prypiat city - which was constructed to house power station workers and their families.

Chornobyl town is still inhabited to this day, and serves as the administrative centre of the exclusion zone. Workers in the zone (including those working on decommissioning the power station) live here for several months at a time. There are also a couple of shops and a hotel where we were to stay overnight.

Welcome to Chornobyl:


Chornobyl's civic centre and post office (still operational):


One of the few remaining Lenin statues in Ukraine:


Memorial to the evacuated settlements within the exclusion zone:


Memorial:


In the background of that last photo is a museum which was apparently opened for dignitaries on the 30th anniversary of the disaster. It promptly then closed a day later, as no funding had been allocated to keep it operational.


Next stop: Prypiat city Middle School No. 3...