Short hair Francis

Thanks DXBFlyer
A week damn!!!
I was hoping for a good christmas reading, guess I've went quite overboard
Should have another part up tomorrow

coeur 05

When you have no life and just waiting for SFO777 and SHF reports, it
sometimes feels time is passing very slowly, again I kid, thanks for this
epic journey, I sometimes get dizzy just trying for find my bearing on your trip report "is he in Asia, Africa or wait he is in Europe", thanks for report, much appreciated and love the pictures and detail.

Short hair Francis

Haha Coeur 5, come on!
SFO777 writes like a bushel more Trip Reports than yours truly and he's quick with them while I'm significantly more sluggish.
My goals is to try to have 1 part up every 1-2 days when possible so sorry if it feels like it's taking forever.

And yes I do find it's funny how you say it''s hard to keep track
Where's Waldo, Where's SHF

Short hair Francis

Part 42 – Adria Airways Y LJU-SPU + Touring the Dalmatian Home Base, Split, Croatia


When originally planning this 4.5 day section in Croatia/Bosnia/Slovenia, I had some relative flexibility as to visit what place on what day. That was except for Ljubljana as the Ljubljana to Split flight only ran on Saturday morning. So in order to catch this short flight and to save travel time on this trip, I had my personal flight and city restriction.

Jul 13, 2013 – Saturday
JP 746 LJU – SPU 5:35am – 6:25am (CR9/Y)
LH 1413 SPU – FRA 6:45pm – 8:35pm (319/J)


Oh Christ, 3am wake-up, please no more, no more…..
After quietly packing up in the 4 persons dorm and dropping off the keys, I went to the streets and caught a taxi to the airport.
There was no other way to catch transportation at that hour for this early flight.
Hmm, the taxi ride costs 50% more than the night at the hostel..

Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport






Adria Airways Check-In, not open til 4:10am


Nah, I think I’ll save the 80 Euros vs enjoying Euro-Business Class


Check-In was relatively smooth and my standard rollaboard was approved for gate-check

Ljubljana Adria Airways Business Class Lounge













Part 42 Continues Below

Short hair Francis

Some cold snack, breakfast and some god awful sandwiches were available and I made my way to the gate at 4:55am.

Time to walk to another bus gate


Adria Airways Canadian Regional Jet 200



Adria Airways Canadian Regional Jet 900



*44th flight, 99579 Miles flown since Apr 28
Adria Airways 746
Ljubljana to Split
Scheduled – 5:35am – 6:25am, 50 min flight
Actual Departure – 5:33am
On Time Arrival – 6:25am
Economy Class, Seat 1B
Food – Beverage Service
Equipment – Canadian Regional Jet 900




Boarding started at 5:10am and only 1 bus was needed for roughly 30 passengers for this early morning flight to Split




Adria Airways Canadian Regional Jet 900 Economy Class Cabin





Adria Airways Canadian Regional Jet 900 Economy Class Seat




Door were closed at 5:33am for a short 45 Minute flight to Split
I moved to 2A, as the next seat pair was empty.







Part 42 Continues Below

Short hair Francis

Quick Tea and Water Service


Finally coming out over the Mediterranean




Right above Trogir on Final Approach


Taxiing Past the Terminal


Follow Me


We parked right on time at 6:25am and time for another bus ride back to the terminal


The craziness of Saturday flying in Split


Seeing it was still bloody early, I headed back to FlyingNynaeve’s place and crash for a couple hours prior to exploring Split.

And around noon, we made our way towards to the inner city




Cathedral of Saint Dominius




Diocletian's Palace







Part 42 Continues Below

Short hair Francis

Split Harbour
















Time for more time in the city







Part 42 Continues Below

Short hair Francis

And after 2 hour tour, it was time to go pick up the bags and go back to the airport.

And in the Mediterranean beauty, you can still see the poor barely hidden underneath

*Girl was picking up water bottles for deposits

And at 4pm, FlyingNynaeve dropped me off at Split airport, 4.5 days in Balkans over, now the next destination.

Split Airport


Oh god, what’s with all these kettles, definitely not flying out of here on a Saturday again




That’s a lot of flight for a small airport like Split


Star Alliance Business Class Check-In


Split Airport Business Class Lounge




International Departure Hall




The place was packed to the gills, no place to stand and you have the old and the young sitting all over the place, they badly needed a bigger terminal here.

Lufthansa Airbus 319-100



*45th flight, 100158 Miles flown since Apr 28
Lufthansa 1413
Split to Frankfurt, Germany
Scheduled - 6:45pm – 8:35pm, 1 hr 50 min flight
Delayed Departure – 7:00pm, Late Arrival of Inbound Aircraft
Delayed Arrival – 9:07pm
Business Class, Seat 2D
Food – Dinner
Equipment – Airbus 319-100

As the inbound didn’t arrive until 6:20pm, the flight had to hold boarding for awhile.

It’s 6:41pm for a 6:45pm flight, we are delayed today


Boarding finally began at 6:45pm and no bus was needed since the aircraft was directly across the road so we just had to walk across

Lufthansa Airbus 319-100 Business Class Cabin


Why did APU had to die during the summer, it’s an oven in here


So that is Malmo Aviation, never heard of them before


Door were closed at 7:00pm and 5 min we started taxiing towards the runway after having an air-starter available




Part 42 Continues Below

Short hair Francis

Finally airborne at 7:20pm, Flight Time to Frankfurt was 1 Hour 35 Minutes





LH 1413 Dinner

Main Dish
Boiled Rump of Prime Veal with Pumpkin Salad and Pumpkin Seed Oil

Cheeses
Mountain Cheese, Rock Salt Cheese, Camembert

Dessert
Raspberry and Rhubarb Compote with Vanilla Crème Fraiche and Almonds

Lufthansa 1413 Dinner




With the estimated landing time of 8:55pm, and my Heathrow connection at 9:30pm, I am so screwed with a 35 minute connection in Frankfurt.

And around 8:45pm, we finally started our descent into Frankfurt airport


Estimated Landing time at 8:57pm, I better run like O.J Simpson if I want to have a chance to make that 9:30pm Heathrow flight


PS. – Extra Thanks to FlyingNynaeve, my Balkans Adventure wouldn’t happen without your Super Help


Next Part
Part 43 – It’s not a Stopover if It’s not over 24 hours, London, United Kingdom

El_Chiflero

Agreed, Im surprised he didnt eat the rooster in the cargo bay as well...

El_Chiflero

You have no one to blame for your long trip out of NYC. Its a 10 minute drive to the Triboro/RFK bridge which gets you to the bronx right away on i87...why you added nearly 20 miles to your journey by using the Williamsburg bridge is baffling...

Oh Francis, have I taught you nothing all these years???

El_Chiflero

Whats my reason for agreeing with Jfkeze? Im a drivinf NY'er..

Ok I'll stop teasing you
..for now...

Great trip report Francis. Makes me miss our old adventures...

Short hair Francis

El_Chiflero, bahaha, come on pretty sure you can eat more and drink more than me in 1 sitting.
Pretty sure my appetite wouldn't want a un-cooked rooster, I'm not a caveman


10 Mins on the Tri-Boro from LaGuardia to the Cross-Bronx in Rush Hour?!?
I admit I screw up when I turn wrong into the BQE but I won't say 50 mins from LaGuardia to the Garden State Parkway in rush hour is horrible.
Myself + jfkeze thought we hit the jackpot on the Cross Bronx that day

Actually I've never sat in a car with you in NYC lol

You agreeing with jfkeze that I should have a couple drinks and drive drunk?!?
I'll admit I've driven drunk before, like in a 25 mp/h zone for a 1/2 mile back in College, not proud of it but I admit it.
But on a freeway, nah can't see myself being that stupid.

Thanks El Chiflero, glad you've enjoy my adventures, the Old Pittsburgh call-up call at 3am, how can I forget

AA_EXP09

Out of curiosity, why didn't you use the HK passport to enter Indonesia?
TIMATIC states:
National Hong Kong (SAR China) (HK)
Destination Indonesia (ID)


Indonesia (ID)



Passport required.
- Passports and/or passport replacing documents must be valid
for at least 6 months from date of arrival.
Passport Exemptions:

- Holders of Emergency and Temporary passports.

Visa required, except for A max. stay of 30 days (not
applicable to holders of Emergency and Temporary passports):
- for holders of Hong Kong (SAR China) or Macao (SAR China)
passports(SEE NOTE 40642) ;
NOTE 40642: Only if arriving at one of the following
airports: Ambon (AMQ), Balikpapan (BPN), Bandung(BDO),
Batam (BTH), Biak (BIK), Denpasar-Bali (DPS),
Jakarta:Soekarno-Hatta(CGK), Kupang(KOE), Lombok (LOP),
Makassar (UPG), Manado (MDC), Medan Kuala Namu (KNO),
Padang (PDG), Palembang (PLM), Pekan Baru (PKU), Pontianak

(PNK), Surakarta (Solo) (SOC) or Surabaya (SUB) .

Besides, using the Canadian passport in this case=faster exhaustion of passport which is best avoided with the new 'enhanced' fees.
(I would likely not renew the Canadian passport at all if I did not need to travel to the USA.)
(somehow the Philippine government can issue epassports for <25 USD, yet ours can't?)

Short hair Francis

Part 43 – It’s Not a Stopover if it’s not over 24 hours, London, United Kingdom


Now why do I want to go to London, firstly London – Tokyo was available on All Nippon First Class for Jul 14 way back when I redeem the award in December.
I personally loving going back to the UK and I still swear loyalty to Old Britannia & The Queen, but when a tax is a pure cash-grab as the Air Passenger Duty to help out the treasury
Customers like me have a choice is 1) avoid UK as a whole as a destination, 2) take advantage of 23:59 connection so I’m actually flying more flights than I need to get to where I’m going “think of the environment”, but thanks for the great thinking UK Treasury.


Jul 13, 2013 – Saturday
LH 922 FRA – LHR 9:30pm – 10:10pm (320/J)

Another landing out at the runway built for Frankfurt-Hahn at 8:57pm, this time took 10 min to taxi to our outer position opposite Terminal 2.
Plane finally parked at 9:07pm, I have no shot at this connection…
23 Minutes connection time in Frankfurt of all places forget it

When is the bloody airstairs, for the front door, it bloody broke down.
You have to got to be $hitting me, really, thanks for German efficiency, so everyone had to get out via the rear door.
Really sucks to be sitting in Business Class, I mean Euro Y+. Ugh
Finally in the bus, it’s now 9:15pm now where is it dropping us off.
Not the Z gates, No…..
A train ride from Z back to the around the B5 gates.
Where is 922 leaving from, B47, please shoot me when this nightmare is over


*46th flight, 100564 Miles flown since Apr 28
Lufthansa 922
Frankfurt, Germany to London Heathrow
Scheduled - 9:30pm – 10:10pm, 1 hr 40 min flight
Delayed Departure – 9:47pm, Late Arrival of Inbound Aircraft
Delayed Arrival – 10:13pm
Business Class, Seat 2C
Food – Snack
Equipment – Airbus 320-200

For some reason, the flight was running late due to a late arrival but LH never posted a delay. So I somehow got to the gate at 9:43pm, last passenger to board, I’m surprised I didn’t suffer a heart attack and triggering an air return after running like that around Frankfurt airport.



Door were closed after I got onboard at 9:47pm, the entire flight was packed and the entire J cabin, whole 3 rows were all op-up by U.K university students originally flying ZRH – LHR. Talk about odd being the only paying passenger there and I’m equally just as young.

Flight time of 1 Hour 12 Minutes to Heathrow tonight, and shortly airborne by 9:56pm.

Now where are the many glasses of water I need to recuperate?

LH 922 Snack
Light Dishes
Sesame coated Smoked Tuna on Asian Vegetable Salad

Knuckle of Beef and King Oyster Mushrooms on Soybean Sprout Salad

Goat Cheese Tatar with Tomato Concasse and roasted Pine Nuts



Nothing special flight and we started our descent at 9:55pm London time for Heathrow and with no holds tonight landed at 10:08pm and a short 5 minute taxi to the gate.

For tonight’s stay, I had the Hyatt Regency Churchill nearby Marble Arch as the Andaz I usually stay at was sold out.

Took Piccadilly Line to Hyde Park Corner where the train was stopped to take in extra customer leaving a concert.


And stupid me, decided to walk from Hyde Park Corner to Marble Arch, not usually a problem, but highly ill-advised with 20 Kgs of carry-on from a 3 week RTW.
That walk took about 20 minutes or just about midnight when I got to the hotel.
No more early start, I am definitely sleeping in tomorrow.

Hyatt Regency The Churchill









Diamond Amenity



Part 43 Continues Below