Ein AFF Mitglied reist für sechs Wochen (an AFF member travels for six weeks)

[anat0l]

Tue 03 Nov (Frankfurt am Main)

More FRA scenery and architecture. FRA has a sort of town rather than city feeling to it.

I forgot to mention that this day was the only full day I had for sightseeing in FRA. The next day was the first day of the European (main) part of Star Mega Do (the first part was much celebration and drinking before LH405 in ORD/EWR/JFK that was 3/11).

A few things about sightseeing in Europe:

• Except for LON, everywhere will charge you an admission fee to enter attractions (this includes galleries, museums, monuments, churches/cathedrals, etc.). These fees aren't always cheap. Get used to it.
  • Exceptions (only some attractions): students, persons aged 26 and under, kids, EU students (especially this one - in many cases EU students can visit attractions for free)
• Check opening times - no jokes. For example, in some places we went, all museums closed on a Monday. In the case of churches, they may have split opening times (e.g. to allow for mass time).
• There are heaps of the aforementioned cultural places of interest. Unless you have time, enthusiasm and money (unless you buy some special passes, e.g. "Museum Pass" or the like), do not try and visit them all.
• There is a Jewish museum almost everywhere in continental Europe. No prizes in guessing why.

I also forgot to mention that I was travelling in the not so prime season (prime season for travel is Euro summer, i.e. middle of the year). In this case, this is when most attractions decide to carry out their maintenance. You'll see lots of scaffolding, covered statues (sometimes completely covered so you can't see them), gardens devoid of flowers, etc. In some cases, the "cover up" is a pretty good job:

Alte Oper. Well, at least a good impression of it.

Some other interesting aspects of FRA:

A U-Bahn station entrance made to look like a carriage collapsing into the ground

Your everyday office tower, but this one is stylised with a hint of Japanese. Like a lantern. Or so it is said.

I enjoy going to lookouts (e.g. high towers); the Main Tower in FRA is good for this. Here's a shot I took from the top:

Shot from the top of Main Tower

FRA is the seat of the European Central Bank (until some time in the future when it will be moved).

That's a lot of Euro. I wish I had that much.

 

[Must...Fly!]

anat0l - great photos!

All of them remind me of 1 afternoon I had in Frankfurt looking around in July for the very first time...I can't wait to get back there. Incredible place.

Seeing the HBF and the Romer and also the shopping centre makes me think back to that awesome day!

A bit of a pity I had to go to the Formula 1 GP of Germany at Nurburgring (but hey Mark Webber won that one, so it's all made up for right! ) and not see more of Frankfurt, but I'll get back to do more than an afternoon in Germany!

 

[Alanslegal]

Awesome report, enjoyed the photos of FRA and will help my travels whenever I end up there .... eta June 2011.

 

[drron]

Yes the photos of FRA bring back memories.This weekend have been looking at future travel and tentatively have FRA penned in for early June 11 as well.

 

[sr81]

Great TR, thanks for sharing and I look forward to the Mega Do report.

I agree in regards to QF F being 'crowded' but I like my cabin a little open. The SQ/EK suites just seem very overly personal. That said I would be very happy to try either.

 

[anat0l]

Tue 03 Nov (Frankfurt am Main)

The banks of the Main river. Great for a leisurely stroll.

Heading back to the river, I walked along until I decided that I had to at least visit a museum of sorts. So I decided on the Jüdisches Museum, i.e. Jewish Museum. Almost every European city has one of these.

The Jewish Museum in Frankfurt

I forgot to mention at Main Tower, but to get into certain attractions, you usually need to pass a security test, not unlike that at an airport, complete with x-ray and WTMD. This place was no exception.

Plenty of exhibits inside. English translations of the German exhibit captions and texts are provided in booklets which are placed sparsely on music stands. (For what it's worth, the translations actually make sense and are grammatically correct).

A long walk through the museum and it's time to head south of the river.

A very small island in the middle of the river Main

Did a lot of walking south of the river. There is a whole part of the south bank of the river which is museums. Then there is a small area called Sachsenhausen, where one can usually find a place to enjoy a drink, including the local specialty, Apfelwein (sometimes called Ebbelwoi) - i.e. apple wine. Described as strictly acquired taste but from that point on a refreshing drink, certainly it is quite bitter compared to the only other apple cider I've tasted (Strongbow red label cider), but not awfully bad.

Glass of Possmann's apple wine

A glass of apple wine and a French pizza later, I crossed back to the north end of the river and back to Zeil just for more walking.

A Frankfurt fountain at night

I dropped into a grocery store to get some bottled water. Germans (or Europeans) seem to like carbonated water. I grabbed what looked like non-carbonated water, but my false confidence got the better of me later that night, in a rather messy way.

That aside, tomorrow was a big day - Star Mega Do was coming to Europe.

 

[anat0l]

Wed 04 Nov (Frankfurt am Main) - Star Mega Do 1

Wednesday, 4 November, 2009
Star Mega Do comes to Europe and
An Afternoon with Lufthansa

Ed: There are many Star Mega Do trip reports. Here is just one of them.

Lazy wake up and made breakfast just before they closed up the buffet. Then another lazy pace as I packed up my luggage. Checked out, off to Hbf, find the correct S-Bahn to the airport from the information desk ("take the train going towards Wiesbaden"), downstairs and wait at the platform.

I boarded the next train to Wiesbaden, but when had gone a few stops, I realised something was wrong. I never saw that station before. Then I realised by reading the S-Bahn map. I'd got on the wrong line to Wiesbaden (there are two lines that do this - one goes through the airport, the other doesn't). So I hop off at the next stop, make a long walk to get to the other platform and luckily I don't have to wait long for a train back to Hbf.

OK, back at Hbf now. This time on the correct train! I've missed meeting everyone arriving off LH405, so I can only hope that there is a hold up at the Sheraton FRAport so I can find my room flatmate.

Off the train, up and up to the Sheraton and to reception. There appear to be quite a few people still checking in and what not. I see yellow Flyertalk tags. Looks like a good sign.

I chat to a couple of people and some introductions are made. I ask them if they know anyone named sjefenole. No sooner had I said much more then a young gentleman sporting an impressive SLR approached me. Oh, hello......

....after hearing a tale of someone standing behind Randy Peterson and getting the upgrade of his life, we headed straight to the room, since my roommate was rather tired from the flight, and he had to be ready for a photo shoot later for Conde Nast Traveller. Being a bit short on clean clothes, I demonstrated to my friend how to wash his clothes using hotel room resources.

Our room at the Sheraton FRAport. Pretty boring.

As for me, I had to freshen up quickly and make my way downstairs. There were registrations to be made, waivers to sign, badges to collect and tours to attend. Our tour today would be hosted by LH and their facilities at FRA.

The troops for the tours were assembled. Out of the hotel and onto the ground floor, one lift load at a time. Then onto the shuttle buses...

Oooh....a carriage for me?

...indeed! Danke schön!

....and onto the LH Aviation Centre for more registration, sign-in and splitting up into groups. Hence started our afternoon with LH.

Into the impressive LH Aviation Centre

Great open lobby area with seating and something you probably wouldn't find in any old waiting lounge.....that's right! A self-serve check-in machine!

 

[Flashback]

Thanks for the universal power adapter!

 

[JohnSydney2000]

Hey Anat0l,
Merhaba salem.
Enjoyed the Bridge to BNE health spa with you.
Just delightful to read your extensive, detailed and nicely photgraphed trip report.
It brought back so many memories.
FRA - Sachenhausen quite different to rest of the city. Had some student chums with an appartment overlooking the river. Two businesses on ground level, Jazz Bar and Italian restaurant. One was their excuse for missing their lectures, other was their canteen. Just up the street, about a dozen museums.
S-Bahn - you were playing Hessian roulette lobbing in the 1st class mini-compartment. Use the S-bahn in FRA often, and frequent ticket inspections show no mercy to visitors in the wrong compartment.

As I said when I saw you, I appreciate that you/other TR'ers are able to photograph/write up such wonderful reports.
Thanks very kindly JS 2*10^3

 

[anat0l]

Now that this TR has been rebumped, I guess I owe everyone to complete it in earnest, don't I?? :-|

I better pull out the photo collections and get them organised and uploaded....

 

[Bundy Bear]

Now that this TR has been rebumped, I guess I owe everyone to complete it in earnest, don't I?? :-|

I better pull out the photo collections and get them organised and uploaded....

Hurry up slow coach, although I once did a trip report that involved 10 flights, but I finished 16 months; 10 days; 8 hours, 15 minutes after I got home, so you got a few months to beat that record.

I am waiting to see the picture of the sign that Mal made for your arrival into the UK. :idea:

 

[Flashback]

Hurry up slow coach, although I once did a trip report that involved 10 flights, but I finished 16 months; 10 days; 8 hours, 15 minutes after I got home, so you got a few months to beat that record.

I am waiting to see the picture of the sign that Mal made for your arrival into the UK. :idea:

Ask and ye shall receive!

 

[Bundy Bear]

Ask and ye shall receive!

Great; thanks.

When you arrive into a lot of major airports/train stations you see people holding up signs for people arriving from overseas, so Mal thought it would be a good to make it look like we were waiting for someone famous.

Mal also did something similar, during the 2007 FT AGM where Mal wrote Mr ANAT0L on a sign while waiting for ANAT0L to come off a flight from Perth.

 

[Flashback]

Great; thanks.

When you arrive into a lot of major airports/train stations you see people holding up signs for people arriving from overseas, so Mal thought it would be a good to make it look like we were waiting for someone famous.

Mal also did something similar, during the 2007 FT AGM where Mal wrote Mr ANAT0L on a sign while waiting for ANAT0L to come off a flight from Perth.

IIRC I decided I was Alan Joyce...

 

[anat0l]

Wed 04 Nov (Frankfurt am Main) - Star Mega Do 1

OK.... I thought I'd rush this part through since I'm egging on SMD2...

So after getting assembled and divided into groups, the LH tours began. Our tour guide was a kindly gentleman who used to be a LH pilot. And with every pilot, there are plenty of stories. But I digress....

LH Frankfurt Flight Training Facility

Our first stop was the Flight Training Facility, which has training facilities for both cabin crew...

Mock A340 premium cabin with galley

...and flight deck.

Flight deck simulators...

...and more of them, rocking back and forth.

Our next stop was one of the hangars in FRA. We got to go into a few LH aircraft and have a look around, including a LH 747 and A340.

"What's this button do?" <pushes button>

One of the A340s we visited was for the JNB flight later that night, so we were told not to sit in the seats as they had just been cleaned. By the time we had a good view of each aircraft both in and out (including walking around the landing gears and the what not), it was time to head back to the main building for the Star Alliance dinner.

 

[anat0l]

Wed 04 Nov (Frankfurt am Main) - Star Mega Do 1

Lufthansa and the Star Alliance sure knew how to put on a function. Plenty of interesting food for everyone, drinks put out and a great ambience.

People at the Star Alliance dinner - suits or not

Busy scene at our table. Notice Freddie Jr's case just nearby?

It wouldn't be quite a dinner if it didn't have a speech. We had a couple from the SMD organisers, tommy777 and oliver2002, but the highlight speech was from the CEO of the Star Alliance, ex-Mexicana pilot Jaan Albrecht.

Jaan Albrecht addresses the intimidating crowd of FlyerTalkers

Jaan referred to us, or as he has been "told", that we are "the people who fly like Hell". Cue much laughter. His next words didn't help dissolve the mirth:

...you are the people who fly like Hell. Which I think is great, so please, continue flying like Hell, and, more importantly, please enjoy doing it.

The only other laughter was related to the upcoming partners of Star Alliance:

...we have Aegean from Greece. <light applause> And then Brussels from Belgium. <light applause> And we have Air India from India <light snickers>... eerrrr, all great partners <light laughter>.... ummm... thank you for your support! <much laughter ensued>

From then, it was only a matter of time before the crowd started to thin; after all, we had an early start the next day. Some people moved to the Sheraton's bars to kick on long into the night. Quite a feat when you consider we had a very critical wake up requirement the next day.....

Nice main meals to be had whether you prefer German...

...or more traditional Western meals.

A pleasant strawberry dessert, next to a bottle of Lufthansa signature light liqueur. The liqueur is best served on the rocks.

 

[anat0l]

Thu 05 Nov (Frankfurt am Main, Oslo, Toulouse) - Star Mega Do 1

Thursday, 5 November, 2009
The Star Mega Do Charter Flight

My BP for the FRA-OSL-TLS legs

We had a Condor Boeing 757-300 chartered to fly the Do participants all around Europe for today's special charter flight. The plane featured a special livery with the befitting words on the side "Wir lieben Fliegen" (we love flying).

The only downside was needing to get up really early. To fit the day's schedule in and get a departure slot out of FRA, we had to depart at 0550h.

Old style clickety-clack departure board at FRA. You can see our flight at the top of the board.

Our aircraft!

Everyone was here - participants, airline crew, press...


Charter Flight: Condor Airlines DE9254 Frankfurt am Main (FRA T1) – Oslo Gardermoen (OSL)
Depart: 0550h Sched; 0550h Actual
Aircraft: D-ABON "Willi" Boeing 757-300
Distance: 710 mi (1,141 km)
Class: Economy
Seat: 26F

What? There are no pineapples in cold Frankfurt!

As we boarded the flight, leis were bestowed upon us by Hawaiian shirt-wearing FT moderators. The theme for this flight was to recreate the first Hawaiian flights on Continental Airways. Those that paid for Business received "special catering" that replicated the breakfast meal on that exact flight. One of the members of FT also owns a coffee business in the Hawaiian islands. That coffee was brewed on board, again for Business class passengers.

Everyone getting seated and FT moderators doing pre-flight checks

Anyway, we needed to board, get seated and cleared to go as soon as possible, lest we be held back and lose our slot out of FRA. The various moderators of FlyerTalk, including Randy Peterson, were our faithful "cabin crew" today (we had a real cabin crew for legal reasons). For our safety demonstration, first we saw the boring video safety demo standard for Condor. Then our lively Condor purser began reading the safety demo as the moderators tried their hilarious best to demonstrate...with the words blaring over the PA in German. Much hilarity ensued.

More hilarity ensued when everyone started lighting up the call bells. We had a full runway of call bell lights from row 1 right back to the rear of the aircraft. Ironically, our purser announced, "If you wish to get the attention of our lovely cabin crew, please press your call bell. They will not answer you!"

 

[anat0l]

Thu 05 Nov (Frankfurt am Main, Oslo, Toulouse) - Star Mega Do 1

A cadre of FT moderators, errr, I mean, flight attendants

So we were off the OSL. Those of us in pleb class got a token breakfast, but more than enough to tide everyone over. As we were to find out, there was plenty of opportunity during the day for one to satisfy their stomach and palate.

(As a side note, it was noted for SMD2 this year that FT crew made the service rather slow, so they will be eliminated this year in favour of real airline crew serving. In addition, the food should be better this year.)

FRA-OSL breakfast - fruit and a cheese sandwich

Everyone on board was egging for a fly-by at OSL, but with conditions at -1 degrees Celcius and snowing, no chance that was going to happen.

Approach into OSL

** VIDEO: Landing in OSL

Once we touched down in OSL, we parked at a remote stand away from the airport and nearer to the SAS hangars. The airstairs were lined up and we all clamoured off "Willi" and into the cold Oslo weather. This was pretty exciting for me because this was the first time I had seen snow in person (because the stuff in your freezer doesn't count).

Disembarking in snowy OSL

We were piled onto buses and driven to the SAS hangar, where SAS entertained us with various activities and performances.

Inside the SAS hangar

Before we divulged in the activities, we had the usual welcoming speech from the CEO of SAS. We had a small demonstration of some Norwegian folk dancing (and live folk music). We had a singing SAS FA.

There were tours of an SAS aircraft when set up for medical emergencies, then other tours looking at the more technical aspects of SAS aircraft. There were also several stands set up for SAS and Eurobonus, as well as more than enough SAS onboard refreshments than you could poke a stick at, just to make sure everyone never went hungry or thirsty.

Our visit to SAS was concluded with tommy777 demonstrating how to use an emergency exit slide, followed by another performance by the lovely singing SAS FA.

Our singing FA from SAS on the wing - "Fly me to the moon..."

 

[anat0l]

Thu 05 Nov (Frankfurt am Main, Oslo, Toulouse) - Star Mega Do 1

Charter Flight: Condor Airlines DE9254 Oslo Gradermoen (OSL) – Toulouse Blagnac (TLS)
Depart: 1130h Sched; 1130h Actual
Aircraft: D-ABON "Willi" Boeing 757-300
Distance: 1,215 mi (1,957 km)
Class: Economy
Seat: 26F

Passing by the SAS hangar

We bid goodbye to SAS as they waved to us from outside the hangar as the aircraft taxied by. Unfortunately, we were not in for a straight forward take-off, as we needed to de-ice first. So it was off to the de-icing bays to get the spray treatment.

Getting de-iced

De-icing took a while, but soon after that and another wild and woolly safety demo by the FT crew, we were off and flying to TLS.

Lunch was served on the way to TLS along with complimentary "adult drinks" (as they would call them now in the USA).

Charter Economy lunch

Toulouse

Our weather in TLS couldn't be any more different than in OSL. And now... the fly by that everyone wanted in OSL was going to happen now!

** VIDEO: Fly by at TLS

Looking towards the Airbus hangars

Once we finally touched down in TLS, we pulled up to a gate and had to clear out of the sterile area. A bus was waiting on landside to take us to Airbus.

Unfortunately, I don't have many photos of Airbus - in fact, none - because photography was strictly prohibited whilst on site. Only the press were allowed to take footage and photographs.

Airbus put on a handsome reception of canapes and drinks before we were asked to select a tour to participate in - either engine design, or aircraft cabin mockups. I went for the cabin mockups.

Our tour guide enthusiastically showed us around the various Airbus cabin mockups as we gazed upon some features in planes we would rather have (like cool bars and small business centres). I told our tour guide that I had been on the QF A380 F, and whilst she had seen the SQ A380 F she was very interested to see how QF did theirs up. I was happy to follow her up with some photos via email.

Our tours over, the buses came to round everyone up and take us back to TLS airport. We checked in quickly and proceeded through security back to airside and back to "Willi" for the final leg of our charter.

 

[anat0l]

Thu 05 Nov (Frankfurt am Main, Oslo, Toulouse) - Star Mega Do 1

Charter Flight: Condor Airlines DE9255 Toulouse Blagnac (TLS) – Frankfurt am Main (FRA T1)
Depart: 1940h Sched; 1940h Actual
Aircraft: D-ABON "Willi" Boeing 757-300
Distance: 557 mi (900 km)
Class: Economy
Seat: 26F


By the time everyone got on, you could tell some people were getting very tired after a very long day of great activities.

** VIDEO: The last corrupted safety demo of the day...yep, still in German!

A snack was served on the flight back to FRA. In the case of the Economy pax, it was a mere cheesecake bar. I didn't know you could package cheesecake in candy bar form, but there you go. The winners of the onboard charity raffle that was organised previously were also announced (with a careful mention to all to not please light up your call bell lights unless you were the winner!)

Once we were back in FRA, some people decided to go back to the hotel and hit the sack, but the majority decided to kick on (a bit) at the new LH Tower Lounge in FRA. Since the Tower Lounge is - obviously - airside but also in the non-Schengen area, we needed to get stamped to get into the lounge. So a whole lot of people effectively "departed" Germany for a mere hour

One thing about the Tower Lounge is that you must use the lift to access it. Whilst in practice this might be OK, when you're trying to get a few score of people in.....

LH Tower Lounge

We had a good time walking around the new lounge and sampling some of the refreshments. Since we never had a proper dinner, some of us were starving, but unfortunately there wasn't much food to go around, and what little went around was just that, little. There were some breads and small sandwiches and what not, but ultimately most people got by with snacks and booze :mrgreen:

An hour was spent in the lounge before we all moved away and back to the hotel, getting welcomed back into Germany along the way. It was a long day but still some persisted in organising drinks at the Sheraton facilities or in their own rooms. Kiwi Flyer had a few guests in his room, so I had a couple of drinks before retiring for the night.

The press said that we did this event just for the 15,000 redeemable and status miles (LH, SK or BD). Most of us thought it was an experience that had to be seen to be believed. I think we were right