The Ballot - Greeks, Turks, Last Post and those Marbles

[amaroo]

One massive thank you to the AFF member working at QF BNE!

Our bags had been sent down the belt on their way to AHN (Athens Georgia). Thank goodness our fellow AFF member intervened and sorted it .... Hopefully the supervisor sent down with the new ATH (Athens Greece) bag tags will be successful and they'll join us in around 40 hours from now!

AFF, what a great community.

Great news! The bags did arrive at ATH with us . They were last out, but arrive they did. Glorious weather here in Athens and thanks to a previous TR from Boomy we have a room with a view!

 

[amaroo]

EK F lounge DXB.

The words that come to mind - huge, OTT, mustard...

 

[amaroo]

Time to board





Time to pull down the window shade



Coming up - QF1 F DXB-LHR

 

[boomy]

Looks like I found this TR just in time keep the photos coming amaroo and enjoy your trip!

 

[boomy]

Enjoying your QF1 F review. I'll be on that flight next month, getting excited

 

[amaroo]

Sorry forgot the menu

Mezze plate looked the goods - very tasty.



Time for sleep



Breakfast



View from 2A



Hello BA!



The flight was excellent with a great crew on both sectors!

 

[amaroo]

Moving from T3 > T5 was slow. It took the best part of 2 hours before we walked into the BA T5 Galleries F lounge. Fast Track worked for immigration however, was useless for security. The queue for the transit bus was horrid.

Two BA lounge angels did their best to convince me we should use the CCR ... a third dragon killed the moment so we entered the F lounge. Nice lounge but the food offering is outright pathetic for an F lounge IMO.

The showers in the Spa are filthy, tiny, and in dire need of refurbishment.

 

[amaroo]

Nice to see an old friend!

 

[amaroo]

BA632 CE (J) LHR-ATH

Very happy to see a B767 waiting for us. Miss seeing these workhorses flying with a red tail

This bird wasn't that old (1998) but geez she looked more than her age - CE does not set a very high standard.

Full flight - this 767 was still paying her way!









Typical LHR queue.

 

[amaroo]

Flight was your normal 3+ hour sector.

Strange choice for a BA flight heading to ATH



Chicken curry - ok.



Views from the seat.

 

[OATEK]

BA632 CE (J) LHR-ATH

Very happy to see a B767 waiting for us. Miss seeing these workhorses flying with a red tail 

This bird wasn't that old (1998) but geez she looked more than her age - CE does not set a very high standard.

Full flight - this 767 was still paying her way!

We were on BA639 ATH-LHR last week and it was a fairly new A320. So they may be boosting capacity with the B767 this week.

By the way, the BA Terraces Lounge in ATH was only about the same size is the QF Lounge in Hobart.

 

[Rugby]

amaroo - How did you rate the wine selection on QF1?

 

[amaroo]

We were on BA639 ATH-LHR last week and it was a fairly new A320. So they may be boosting capacity with the B767 this week.

By the way, the BA Terraces Lounge in ATH was only about the same size is the QF Lounge in Hobart.

Will miss that lounge as we're flying TK to IST - but we will get to see the BA/partner lounge in IST. Doesn't look that flash ... thought about flying TK to LHR (so we could checkout the TK lounge) however, the 80SC pulled me back to OW

amaroo - How did you rate the wine selection on QF1?

Disappointing! Young and forgettable.

 

[amaroo]

ATH was dead, other than staff we didn't see another passenger until the baggage belt.

Bags were amongst the last out so another priority luggage failure from BA/OW. We were very happy to see them given the AHN/ATH coughup at BNE some 40+ hours earlier.

Hotel car



Hotel Grande Bretagne







After checking in and washing away the last 40+ hours in a decent shower we headed out for a bite to eat. 10pm and the place was pumping - love Europe!

Concierge recommendation in hand we were sorted.

Tzitzkas Kai Mermigas - excellent choice for a casual meal.

 

[boomy]

Disappointing! Young and forgettable.

Oh no, young vintages in F?? Huge fail!

 

[Pushka]

Travelling along with you! Could you possibly write the name of the City where you are staying each time you move? I'm getting a bit confused where you are!

 

[amaroo]

I booked a deluxe with Acropolis view. We ended up in a smaller room but with a terrace with the most wonderful view. No mention at checkin about upgrade/downgrade however, we were very happy to have the terrace!









View from the bed.

 

[amaroo]

Travelling along with you! Could you possibly write the name of the City where you are staying each time you move? I'm getting a bit confused where you are!

No worries. I know we're 35 posts in, but we've only just collected the bags for our first stay.

SWMBO said it was a silly title Maybe this will make sense of it all.

Greeks = Athens
Turks = Istanbul
Last Post = Gallipoli/Dawn service
Those Marbles = London ... to be precise the "Elgin Marbles"

 

[LadyC]

Great views from your room!

 

[amaroo]

This place is impressive! Breakfast with views...









Seen this fellow everyday - hotel dog or loved stray?