My White Christmas attempt

[VPS]

I enjoyed wandering and then you'd come around the corner and see something like this

 

[VPS]

Interesting seeing day to day life on water instead of on land





Trains to Venice - the quicker ones had power points and some had meals but the slow trains that stopped at every station didn't have much



These paintings in a shop caught my eye - the whole painting is done with numbers

 

[VPS]

Dinner first night at Rosso Pomodoro https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Rest...iews-Rossopomodoro_Venezia-Venice_Veneto.html
which was very popular – someone had recommended it to me but to me it was very touristy and fast food and my pizza was ordinary.

The second night the hotel recommended a local restaurant https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Rest...320317-Reviews-Da_Carletto-Venice_Veneto.html

Dinner second night – salmon was OK but the sauce was odd and the potatoes were really hard.

I had forgotten about the smells in Venice and the constant steps up to the canal, cross the canal and steps down and the uneven calles but thoroughly enjoyed it. I also couldn’t believe how crowded it was with people of all nationalities – in almost every shop or restaurant I went into they just started speaking in English.

 

[VPS]

I’d been to Venice many years ago, so skipped Murano but did take the ferry out to Burano – this is included in your travel card. Although it was very attractive with all the different coloured houses there wasn’t much else to do if you didn’t want to shop or eat.

 

[VPS]

and more Burano

 

[VPS]

Then it was time to head out to the airport – I could have gone a roundabout way that was included in my travel card, but by that time I was tired and although I just had a small carryon case I didn’t feel like getting lost trying to find another stop a few blocks away. It was only a short walk to just past St Mark’s square to San Zaccaria and caught the Alilaguna directly to the airport – it costs 15 euro and takes a bit over an hour and you get to see quite a lot of the harbour as you go all over the place.

At the airport it says it’s about a 10 minute walk from vaporetto to terminal but I thought it was quicker than that and quicker still if you use travellator.

There wasn’t much of a queue for security- it said to take off your watch which I didn't and no one asked. I did have to take off my jacket but not my boots but the girl in front had to take off her boots not sure if it was because of my charming smile and grey hair.

There seemed a lot of shops and cafes in the terminal but I headed to the lounge. In the lounge, they wouldn't accept my gold status unless I showed my Qantas card but I found my priority pass first and that worked fine.

There wasn’t a great range of food and drinks but all free including wine. There were a few chairs that had power points next to them for charging. The lounge wasn’t very large but it looks like they have major plans for it.

 

[VPS]

BA2587 Seat 10C flight from Venice to LGW on A319 which only had one exit row which I hadn’t seen before – it also had only one toilet for all of Y.

Priority boarding went ok - went through and then had to wait at top of aerobridge for a few minutes - a DYKWIA in front flashing their 1a cards grizzling about why they pay all this money when they have to wait - steward came out with wheelchair and had been loading someone on but that didn’t seem to appease them

8.15 due for departure but didn't push back until about 8.50 as couldn't get a slot.

You were offered a packet of chips (crisps) or a biscuit and a drink

I was chatting to staff and they said they are only supposed to give one snack to each person and they had at least 40 bags of crisps left over which apparently are thrown out - also plastic cups that have been opened from the outer plastic sleeve must also be thrown out - she said that if she put an opened bag of cups in with an unopened bag then they would throw them all away.

The plane was full except for one spare seat in the exit row. Again, there were multiple screaming children!!!

We were quite late getting into LGW and it was very foggy and I think we were lucky to get in there because the pilot said he could hear others behind him banking up and starting to divert.

 

[VPS]

Back to London and off to my friend’s place. I know people do complain about the British Railway System I find it incredibly efficient – also now I’m over 60 I can get a senior railcard that gets me 30% off the standard rates. You do have to pay to get the railcard but if you’re doing a lot of travel on trains in the UK it is worth it. I also spend time checking on the best deals – eg if I’m on holidays and not in a rush you can often get good deals – the train from Euston to Crewe if you’re prepared to be flexible you and didn’t mind taking an extra hour you didn’t have to pay 72 pounds but 10 pounds. I ended up paying 5.95 with my 30% off – great value. I also found the National Rail app worked well.

The next few days I spent wandering around London and doing a few overnight trips to catch up with friends. I love London – I’ve had many enjoyable times there and I know it well but there are always places to explore eg I’d never been to the Monument and Pudding Lane (but I did this time). I’m also lucky that I have a friend to stay with and can base myself there and just trot off for short trips.

I visited the Charles Dickens museum which was quite interesting – I’m not a huge Dickens fan but the story of his life from father in the workhouse to a successful author was fascinating.

I also visited the Geffrye Museum which had a display of Christmas through the ages – it also had a display of photos and memorabilia from contemporary teenage bedrooms that someone did for a PhD. The rooms were from a range of socio economic areas and types of housing and I found it quite fascinating.

I visited Saville Gardens at Virginia Water (my old stomping grounds from when I worked then many moons ago) – it was quite cool but the gardens were still lovely and if anyone is around there in spring the Rhododendrons are just magnificent (as they are in the Isabella Plantation in Richmond Park)

I wandered up and down Portobello Rd and Notting Hill.

I went to the theatre to see An Inspector Calls – I’ve seen it before but this was at the Playhouse Theatre which is part of the National Theatre.

I also saw the Nutcracker Ballet by the English Ballet at the Coliseum.

I went to dinner at the Darwin Brasserie at the top of the Walkie Talkie (20 Fenchurch St and home of the Sky Garden) The view was fantastic but I thought the food was pretty ordinary







If you've read Longtitude by Dava Sobel you'll know why I took this - great book

 

[VPS]

Didn't see Hugh Grant or Julia Roberts



Portobello Rd - you can do a master class and make a gin with your own flavours but it was 110 pounds - maybe next time and I think it would be more fun with others

 

[VPS]

Christmas Lights Oxford St







Burlington Arcade



Christmas Lights Regent St - these were magnificent and the photo doesn't do it justice

 

[VPS]

Random London photos - love the architecture



Sherlock fans might recognise this



Natural History Museum and skating rink



Love the old Routemaster



Borough Market - one of my favourites

 

[VPS]

More random London

 

[VPS]

My friend took on a river cruise https://www.bateauxlondon.com/thames-river-cruises/lunch-cruises/classic

I was quite impressed with the food and it was interesting trip

 

[VPS]

 

[VPS]

So - now my holiday is over and it's time to head for home

Finished packing and car booked for 4.30 but text around 4.10 to say car had arrived so headed off – traffic quite bad – late model black Mercedes and driver very pleasant.

Transit time was estimated at 45 minutes but ended up taking an hour and 15

Driver asked if I looked at YouTube and I said I preferred books and after a while he asked what kind of books - then he asked if I could watch YouTube and I said yes so he suggested a couple of people I could check out who discussed the Koran and Islam and that one of them was an American who was a non-believer but after he read the Koran he was a believer and he gave some really interesting talks. Needless to say, I didn’t write down either of the names he suggested and his tip just went out the window

Got to terminal 3 although very heavy traffic as there was yet another rail strike that day– J check in was very quick – was directed to Economy as there was no one waiting

Went to the Cathay lounge – better than the BA but nothing amazing especially as there were two toddlers one of whom spent a lot of time screaming - it was amazingly hot in the lounge – very uncomfortable

 

[VPS]

Settled in with my Negroni (or two) and waited for boarding

 

[VPS]

I tried to get into the Emirates lounge but was told that I had to go into the BA lounge – I wasn’t really in the mood to argue with her - anybody know whether I should have been able to or not

Boarding was a bit delayed and the priority boarding seemed a bit of a mishmash.

I was in Seat 13F Business in front section. Again, I thought the menu ordinary and not inspiring.

I thought the customer service was quite poor – I ordered the lamb pie and waited and waited and others were getting their dessert. In the end, I asked and it came out a quite quickly (and it certainly wasn't worth waiting for). They asked the women across from me if she wanted dessert and she said she hadn’t had her main yet.

I also had the cheese but no one came back to ask if I wanted anything else

Overall there are some quite professional FA’s but others were not that great. There were bits of paper on floor not picked up and when I was unfolding my mattress at least three people walked past and no one offered to help with it whereas on the outgoing leg as soon I got it out someone came up and said “Here I’ll do that for you”. I’ve always been loyal to Qantas and expect the services should be better than that in J.

We circled Dubai for an hour due to mist and I was told later that we may have had to divert like Cathay but because we had enough fuel we got to around and around and around.








The joys of living in Adelaide - you go right over the top of it but you know it's going to be at least another few hours before you get there

 

[VPS]

We were of course quite late into Dubai and then late leaving. The CSM came around and asked how I was and noted that I had a connecting flight and said he would come back and let me know what was happening later. He didn’t ever come back but they did announce that people who should have been on my flight had been moved onto the next one.

 

[VPS]

Arrival into Sydney and Immigration and customs wasn’t too bad but I waited over 30 minutes for my bag to come out even though it had the priority tag.

By this stage my flight to Adelaide had already left so I was resigned to waiting for another couple of hours.

I caught the bus back to the Domestic Terminal and went into the J lounge to have a shower. The showers need refurbishment and was surprised they didn’t even have any tissues in the showers

A bit of time to look out the window

 

[VPS]

And then the final flight QF741 1A - should have been of QF739

Flight back to Adelaide – there was no priority boarding even though the sign was up – I sat next to a yummy mummy who didn’t think that Airplane mode applied to her because she told her kid that she’d forgotten to download a new game for her so proceeded to download stuff as we were taxiing and taking off and left it on for quite a while.

Because I’d missed the connecting flight due to the delay into Sydney, Qantas assured me that they would notify the Chauffeur Drive. As I was about to leave Sydney I got a phone call from the driver to say that he was still waiting for me in Adelaide to get off the earlier flight – I explained that I had missed that flight and Qantas had assured me that they would notify Hughes. I told him what flight I was on and he said he’d let Hughes know and they would have someone waiting for me. When I got to Adelaide there was no driver for me - there was another driver and I asked him and he very nicely rang Hughes for me and explained and luckily, they had another driver who was just about to leave the airport and he could come back and get me.

Proscuitto Salad was pretty good