List of Chapters

(We're up and running now with this now. You need to keep an eye on this opening List of chapters because I will update it regularly as we go along).

1. Introduction (post#2)

2. Ideas, Offers and Promotions Q3 2026 (post#3)

3. TRAIN SBB: Villeneuve - Basel SBB / DBB: Basel Bad Bf - Duisburg Hbf (post#9)

4. FLIGHT MGL-QRL (EDLN-EDLA) Private Plane (F) PP019.(post#10)

5. FLIGHT QRL-MGL (EDLA-EDLN) Private Plane (F) PP020 (post#11)

6. MUSIC & ARTS Schauspiel: Teatro Delusio, Theater Duisburg (Familie Fl�z) (post#15)

7. FLIGHT DUS-GOT BASIC (M) EW9220 (post#18)

8. Gothenburg and it's Maritime Past (post#21)

9. FLIGHT GOT-IST Business (K) TK1800 (post#26)

10. FLIGHT IST-HKG Business (K) TK070 (post#27)

10a. Turkish Airlines: Gastronomic Offer (post#31)

11. HOTEL Holiday Inn Express Hong Kong - Causeway Bay (post#35)

12. Back to my Roots (post#36)

13. FLIGHT HKG-SGN Economy (Q) VN595 (post#38)

14. C. Glow Healthcare Spa; Learning the Guzheng (post#39)

15. My First Zumba Class! (post#40)

16. The Ups and Downs of Ho Chi Minh City (post#42)

17. FLIGHT SGN-HKG Economy (E) VN594 (post#45)

18. Stanley Market, Stanley Main Beach and Bag Nicking (post#46)

19. Hong Kong Milk Tea, Egg Tarts, Montane Mansion (post#49)

20. Star Ferry, Tsim Sha Tsui - Hong Kong is Not what it Was (post#50)

21. FLIGHT HKG-IST Business (J) TK071 (post#54)

22. FLIGHT IST-GOT Business (J) TK1797 (post#57)

23. FLIGHT GOT-AMS Economy (T) KL1234(WA) (post#58)

24. FLIGHT AMS-FRA Economy (T) KL1821(WA) (post#59)

25. Happy Times in Oberhausen Rain (post#62)

26. HIKE Niederrhein - Rother Hike 26 - Durch die Lommerheide (post#64)

27. TRAIN Deutsche Bahn (DBB) & SBB - Duisburg Hbf - Montreux (post#65)

28. FLIGHT QYL-QYL Private Plane (F) PP021 (LSGL-LSGL) (post#66)

29. Lake Geneva, Timeless and Beguiling (post#67)

30. FLIGHT GVA-MUC SWISS Economy (X) LX1122 (post#68)

31. FLIGHT MUC-DUS Business (I) VL2016 (post#69)

32. HIKE Ruhrgebiet - Rother Hike 4: Hohensyburg und Hengsteysee (post#70)

33. FLIGHT MGL-QCI Private Plane (F) PP022(EDLN-EDRK) (post#71)

34. FLIGHT QCI-MGL Private Plane (F) PP023(EDRK-EDLN) (post#74)

35. HOTEL Garner Hotel Essen - Messe (post#77)

36. HIKE Niederrhein - Rother Hike 25 - Rund um Walbeck (post#79)

37. HOTEL Garner Hotel Oberhausen

38. FLIGHT DUS-DRS Basic (U) EW9022(E6) (M&M award, delayed 3h25)

39. HOTEL Bilderberg - Bellevue Hotel, Dresden

40. Dresden - Frauenkirche and Cathedral

41. HOTEL Hotel Indigo Dresden - Wettiner Platz

42. Dresden - Zwinger and Museum of Old Masters

43. DBB: Dresden Hbf - Leipzig Hbf 2nd class;Leipzig Hbf - Dortmund Hbf 1st class

44. The Westin Leipzig

45. Leipzig - the Grassi Museums

46. Leipzig - Caf� Riquet and Altes Rathaus (City History Museum)

47. DUS-AMS Economy (V) KL1802(ZQ)

48. AMS-GVA Economy (V) KL1837(WA)

My summer trip report kicks off with a flight in a private plane from M�nchengladbach airport (EDLN-MGL) to the small landing strip at Arnsberg-Menden (EDLA-QRL). With an elevated runway and a drop at either end of it, this was no airfield for amateurs. This was followed by a trip to Gothenburg, Sweden, from where I flew to Hong Kong with Turkish Airlines in Business class. Hong Kong is my birthplace so it was interesting to see it again, but it hasn't changed into anything nice over the years. From there I flew to Vietnam and spent some time there, before returning to Europe via Hong Kong for a few days.



Our Piper 28 plane, waiting at M�nchengladbach airport to start the flight to Arnsberg-Menden airfield


This is the area dedicated to tea in the Turkish Airlines Business class lounge

Late summer saw lovely weather in Germany, so I was able to achieve a couple of hikes in the Niederrhein region. Another excursion with a private plane took me to Koblenz airfield and the vineyards of the Moselle. Later, I made a trip to Dresden and Leipzig, checking out some interesting sights such as the Grassi Museum in Leipzig. I had to go back to Switzerland for work on a couple of occasions and I elected to book KLM via Amsterdam rather than the dreadful Eurowings or Deutsche Bahn, with their endless delays and cancellations. Finally, a trip to Asturias with Ryanair, which included a visit to nearby Galicia, wrapped up the many interesting trips of this summer.



One of the huge exhibition halls in the Old Masters Gallery in the Zwinger Palace in Dresden, Germany


That famous stew (Pote Asturias), a typical dish in Asturias, here in the Casa Tataguyo restaurant in Avil�s, Spain

This post is becoming a bit pointless, because there doesn't seem to be any offers and promotions like there used to be. My Turkish Airlines Business class trip to Hong Kong cost EUR1,770 , which I thought was a very good deal given it was bought at fairly short notice and could be termed a special offer! Intra European flights remained quite expensive, though, prompting me to use Miles & More for some European flights and finding really excellent deals. Later, in September, I bought a flight with Ryanair from Bergamo BGY to Niederrhein NRN for just �14.99!




Well... I managed to get through the summer with this, apparently



And the latest bonus miles promotion when converting Coop Superpoints into Miles & More miles

The best promotions came from the hotels, with IHG leading the pack with a series of stackable bonus points offers. Accor and Hilton had points promotions too, but not anything hugely exciting. With my hotel bookings it very much paid to check points and cash rates nearer the date. In one case I saved exactly 10,000 points for a points booking and in another, 22 Euros. I always make flexible hotel bookings. At IHG Hotels I finally regained my Platinum status and I bought a Bundle from Miles & More with a 60% bonus, yielding 160,000 miles. A lot of interesting offers suddenly appeared at the beginning of September. This included REWE supermarket selling Deutsche Bahn gift cards for �26 instead of �30. And the supermarket Netto was selling cartons of Hohes-C fruit juice for �1,79 which contained �10 reduction vouchers for Deutsche Bahn (I'm really not a fan of fruit juice with all the sugar and yuck that's in them, but these were really good quality).



Bundle & Go promotion at Miles & More with a 60% bonus

I hope that it is clear when am flying to Arnsberg and Koblenz airports that there are no commercial flights to these airfields and I flew there in a private aircraft. Later on I have written a review of a private flight that I made from Lausanne aerodrome, which took me over the pre-Alps mountains of Vaud and Fribourg, and over Lake Geneva, in a Piper Saratoga 32.

There are also posts about Gothenburg in Sweden, as well as my experiences in Hong Kong, my birthplace. There are also posts about Vietnam, about the museums and caf�s in Leipzig and about La Coru�a in Galicia. I will load the chapter titles here bit by bit, usually in batches of 6 titles. When each post is completed and locked then I will write the post # number beside the chapter number in the first post.

Duplicate post.

Reserved for future use.

The fun begins, starting with the next post!

Well, I don't think I'll be using this post in the future, we will just continue where I left off. Not sure why it was duplicated.

I am quite sure that I never in a million years expected to see a city from the Sauerland mentioned here!
Sorry for quoting a german song here, but: "Sauerland, mein Herz schl�gt f�r das Sauerland, Begrabt mich mal am Lennestrand! Wo die Misthaufen qualmen, da gibts keine Palmen ..."

I also know another version of this song with the S-word....

Well, I am a great fan of the Sauerland and there are some really beautiful corners there. Like the Niederrhein it is devoid of tourists, although the outdoor activity possibilities are wonderful. Some of the towns are gems that somehow avoided the war. My friend had a holiday home at Holzhausen near Battenberg and Allendorf until deciding to sell it. Here are 2 links to hikes that I did in the Sauerland, although they were listed in the Ruhrgebiet book.

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/34789736-post46.html

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/34804321-post49.html

This odd routing turned out to be highly efficient and travel costs were supported by my Swiss GA from Villeneuve to Basel SBB and Basel Bad station over the border in Germany. Renens has become a new rail hub where you change trains, instead of changing in Lausanne's crowded train station. This idea was a stroke of genius and it has really eased passenger congestion in the Lac L�man (Lake Geneva) area. The rest of the journey to Basel was uneventful and I enjoyed the surprisingly comfortable 2nd class carriages of the Swiss train company SBB.



At Basel SBB station free drinks were being offered, due to the hot weather (and marketing, for the drinks company)


The train ride to Duisburg was operated with a Swiss SBB train

In Basel I had time for my usual peregrinations, including lunch at the Persian food stall inside the Markthalle. I boarded the EC6 to K�ln Hbf (Cologne station) and the journey went surprisingly well, given the huge amount of chaos that currently reigns at DB Deutsche Bahn (German rail). This stretch was operated by a Swiss SBB train and, being in 1st class, I felt that the seats were more comfortable than those of Deutsche Bahn (whereas Deutsche Bahn is more comfortable in 2nd class than SBB). After leaving Cologne main station things rapidly went downhill. What turned out to be the beginning of a series of arson attacks on the tracks between Dusseldorf and Duisburg meant that I reached Duisburg main station over 3 hours later than planned. It was a major pain and the S-Bahn to M�lheim Ruhr(Styrum) was also suspended. So I had to get a replacement bus service I thought would never appear from Duisburg to Alstaden in Oberhausen, making it there just before midnight.



1st class seating on Swiss SBB trains is more comfortable than that on Deutsche Bahn trains


Sch�tzengarten is a beer brewed in St. Gallen, Switzerland, and it is one of the best beers that exist now

01.07.25

EDLA - Arnsberg-Menden (ICAO code)
QRL - Arnsberg-Menden (IATA code)
EDLN - M�nchengladbach (ICAO code)
MGL - M�nchengladbach (IATA code)

Departure time parking stand 17h32
Runway dep time EDLN 17h46
Runway arr time EDLA 18h43
Arrival time parking stand 18h47



At M�nchengladbach airport - fuel level in the right wing was a little low


Adding fuel to the plane before leaving M�nchengladbach


Completing the preflight checklist before taking off from M�nchengladbach airport

Pilot friend Tek contacted me out of the blue at around lunchtime and said, let's do a spontaneous sunset flight. So I set off on the 45 minute drive to M�nchengladbach Flugplatz and met Tek in the pilot's briefing room. He had done most of the preflight preparations so all that remained was to print out the weather situation for our route and file the flight plan. We then walked out onto the apron to do the external preflight checks and have a look the engine. It turned out the aircraft was low on fuel (both wings of the Piper 28 hold the fuel tanks) so we had to manually push the aircraft over to the refuelling pump, being careful to not clip the pump with the wing - more easily done than you can imagine. We added just over 40 liters, did the paperwork then pushed the aircraft back to its start position so we could finally board. It was already early evening.



Taxiing to the head of runway 31 prior to take-off at M�nchengladbach airport


Shortly after our take-off from M�nchengladbach we found ourselves over the floodplain of the river Rhine

Tek methodically went through the interior preflight checks then started the motor and propeller, before finishing the checks while the engine warmed up (the motor needs to turn over for about 10 minutes). Then we rolled to the southeastern head of runway 31 and waited a good moment while another Piper aircraft landed. We took off to the northwest and circled over M�nchengladbach city before heading towards the Rhine a few miles south of Dusseldorf. We traversed the northern edge of the Bergisches Land, keeping Wuppertal to the north, and headed into the Sauerland. Along the way the landscape became much more hilly and heavily forested. In fact, this is borderline mountain territory.



Flying over the Ennepetalsperre in the Sauerland - the dam itself is off this photo to the left


The town of Iserlohn shortly before reaching the area of Arnsberg-Menden airfield

Thank heavens we turned back the last time we tried to fly to Arnsberg-Menden (the time we diverted to Marl-Lohm�hle) because even with the perfect vision we had today, the approach was challenging. First of all, you have to fly lower than 1,600 feet due to the presence of air traffic approaching the nearby airport of Dortmund. Coupled with that you have fly over irregular hilly terrain and keep a close look out for electricity pylons and wind turbines. Locating the airport on visual was really tricky - you'd think that it would be easy to spot airfields from the sky but it isn't. We had the paper charts, maps, iPad chart and the compass, so we knew where it was - roughly. It took time to find it in the forested hills and once we located it you could clearly see it was on high ground, with a sudden drop at both ends of the short runway. This is not an airfield for amateurs and Tek and I circled overhead once to plan a landing strategy (last year a small plane with 3 occupants had slammed into the end of the elevated runway, the less said the better). Tek plonked the plane down as quickly as possible at the beginning of the runway approaching from the North, so we had enough time to decrease speed before the other end of the runway, but only just. If you tackle Arnsberg-Menden airfield, make sure you are absolutely sure you know what you are doing and do it in perfect weather only.

Rating: brilliant!
Aircraft P28
Seat 2F
Registration D-EARN
03.07.25



Here you can see where the incomplete autobahn A46 ends


It was surprisingly difficult to spot Arnsberg-Menden airfield visually because we had to fly at low altitude due to the presence of air traffic approaching Dortmund airport


Just before touching down at Arnsberg-Menden airfield

EDLA - Arnsberg-Menden (ICAO code)
QRL - Arnsberg-Menden (IATA code)
EDLN - M�nchengladbach (ICAO code)
MGL - M�nchengladbach (IATA code)

Departure time parking stand 19h26
Runway dep time EDLN 19h29
Runway arr time EDLA 20h20
Arrival time parking stand 20h27



The terminal building at Arnsberg-Menden airfield


Walking back after lunch to our parked aircraft at Arnsberg-Menden airfield


Taxiing to the head of runway 23 at Arnsberg-Menden airfield


Sauerland landscape shortly after taking off at Arnsberg-Menden

Sadly the restaurant in Arnsberg-Menden airport proved to be be quite disappointing, with over salted average food. There wasn't much time to linger, so Tek and I gobbled up dinner (eating fast didn't help, but it does take talent to screw up a Schnitzel) and then we hurried back out onto the apron to prepare the aircraft for the flight back to M�nchengladbach. Taking off from Arnsberg-Menden was a lot less scary than landing there, fortunately!



Another look at the cockpit control panel in the Piper 28 plane


Early evening over the forested hills of the Sauerland


Tek is fully in control of the aircraft as we soar above the forested Sauerland


I need to slip in just one selfie for this trip report!

The flight over the northern Sauerland and once again over the Ennepetal Sperre lake with its dam was very scenic and a lot of the landscape below looked highly interesting, probably due to the longer shadows of the mid evening sun. In fact, M�nchengladbach airport closes at 20h30 which is absurd in the summer months given that people are out flying and doing their loop-the-loops in the late afternoon and evening. Crossing the Rhine south of Dusseldorf was spectacular, as usual, with the meanders of the huge river illuminated by the evening sunshine. The short distance to M�nchengladbach Flugplatz was as interesting as ever, flying over the towns and villages below. When the landing strip came into view we quickly approached for a fairly smooth landing. Afterwards, Tek and I remained for some time in the airport private terminal, talking about the flight.

Rating: excellent!
Aircraft P28
Seat 2F
Registration D-EARN
03.07.25



Crossing the timeless river Rhine once again, as we approach M�nchengladbach


Countryside on short final before landing at M�nchengladbach airport


The plane gets pulled into its kennel - sorry, hangar - by ground staff at M�nchengladbach airport

I have a handful more photos to add to the trip report about the flight to Arnsberg-Menden. I try to avoid loading too many pics in a single post, but I think these deserve to be included too.



The RWL German Flight Academy in its private terminal at M�nchengladbach airport


Just after takeoff at M�nchengladbach airport


Sun dappled countryside before crossing the river Rhine on the way to Arnsberg-Menden


Circling over the airfield at Arnsberg-Menden, to help calculate landing


The next 3 screenshots were taken from the Arnsberg-Menden airport website and this one shows the apparently short runway


Line up for take-off on runway 23


The Arnsberg-Menden airfield terminal building

Really😉

Actually, this was the pic I meant to include! And it seems that Junkers had a presence there too:



From the site of Arnsberg-Menden airfield


An older photo showing a Junkers aircraft at Arnsberg-Menden airfield

Familie Fl�z hail from Berlin and they do the rounds of German theaters so that audiences throughout the country get the chance to experience their magic. I was sure there were 6, 7 or 8 people on the stage during the 90 minute show, but in reality there were just 3 people. Three talented guys who had mastered the art of changing costumes with lightning speed, playing Maskentheater, working puppets, sword fighting and dancing around. Oh and they played a series of weird musical instruments too, which was their encore gig at the end. Throughout the show they wore a series of masks with rather contorted and vaguely spooky heads. The puppet doll at the beginning and end of the piece had me genuinely thinking that it was a real person until I realised it was being operated by the guy behind. Having briefly performed with the puppet doll the three guys then transformed themselves into a series of puppet dolls for the remainder of the show.



A publicity photo for Teatro Delusio

And what of the show? The setting is backstage, behind the scenery, so you get a sort of reverse effect that really worked well at the very end of the show. Here, during the applause, the three performers leapt out of the visual back of the stage in the direction of the real backstage, giving us the impression that we were far behind the stage and scenery and looking forward onto the stage. It's oddly difficult to explain lucidly and I'm beginning to doubt my own brain work now. And this is where this odd theater piece, wholly without text or speech, takes us: into a netherworld redolent of the feeling you get when you are just between waking and sleeping, a borderline dreamworld of misconstructed reality. This is an area I find very interesting and I feel that music plays a big role in these edge of reality scenarios. Here, there were a number of well chosen playback excerpts of music.



Info about the Teatro Delusio team

The story? There wasn't one, the action just moved from scene to scene, most of them somewhat unrelated, just in the way dreams do. In a dream you quickly forget the previous semi-reality as you focus on the new environment, while it takes you into the unknown. I am one of those who can control my dreams and if they start going into too horrible a place, or become too absurd, I can simply turn them off or divert the flow elsewhere. This is truly interesting stuff and you should try to catch a show if you can. It ran for 90 minutes without a pause.

05.07.25



Details in German about the show that I saw in Duisburg