LAX-FRA-HEL-CDG-ZHR-Wengen-GVA-FRA-LAX
Jul 1, 1999, 2:57 pm
#1
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 1999
Location: Seat 1A, Juice pretty much everywhere, Mucci des Coins Exotiques
Posts: 34,339
LAX-FRA-HEL-CDG-ZHR-Wengen-GVA-FRA-LAX
I took an average Lufthansa flight from LAX to FRA in seat 5G. It's a good location, but I don't think the seat goes back quite as far as the others due to the wall.
Went to the Senators Club thanks to my 1K card near B28 which is not as good as the other Senators Club.
The LH flight to Helsinki was also pretty ordinary. I stayed at the I-C Strand and was automatically bumped up to a corner suite thanks to the 6-C club.
The flight from HEL to CDG was a nooner on Finnair and was nearly empty. Very good service.
Paris was beautiful and the Le Meridien Montparnasse was great as usual.
Finished work early and took the 5pm AF flight from CDG to ZHR. Waited in a horribly slow AF line to buy my ticket. Walking to my gate later I passed by a ticket desk with nobody in line. <shrug>
Uneventful AF flight to ZHR. Was met by Rudi and Jamiel. We proceeded to Rudi's Zurich home for Champagne. Later we went to the Sheraton Arabella (booked on the web) in Zurich. Was automatically upgraded to an excellent top floor room with a welcome basket complete with a bottle of Toscana.
Later we went to dinner at an excellent Zurich restaurant where I had Beef Stroganoff like I'd never had it before. This was followed by an excursion through old-town which was packed with Friday-night revelers.
Slept til about 1pm the next day. Rudi picked me up for a drive to Luzern. There was a festival happening and a lot of people out on the street. Stopped by the train station to purchase a two-year 1/2 price Swiss rail pass thanks to Rudi's advice. 222 SFR was a good investment which has pretty much paid for itself already.
Then we went to the famous Geisbach hotel with an awesome waterfall. Had a quick beer and headed to Interlaken. Stopped at the prize hotel Victoria Jungfrau for a tour and the requisite Sidecar made perfectly by the senior bartender.
Then we headed to a small train station up the hill a ways from Interlaken. We parked the car and hopped the train. Soon we were in Wengen. It's an absolute paradise. I could have stayed for weeks. I'm the type of person who sees a hill and climbs a hill. But I'll have to return for that later.
First we had a lovely Swiss dinner made by Gisela. Then we went for a walk up to one of the fine Wengen hotels for a nightcap. The clean mountain air is perfect for digestion. I fell straight to sleep when we returned.
I think that Rudi is a night person and I'm a morning person. After hanging around the chalet waiting for everyone to wake up, I decided to head up to the top of Europe myself. I took the train to Jungfraujoch on what turned out to be a perfect day. There were plenty of other tourists, but it wasn't too crowded.
After returning in the afternoon, Rudi and I stepped out for some tennis. It was unbelieveable how Rudi could consistently place the ball on the back line. I got one lucky serve by Rudi to keep some dignity.
Later Gisela arrived and we got some more exercise before our hour was up. After a quick shower, Rudi and I headed back down to Interlaken and I regretfully had to say goodbye to Rudi and my weekend.
I booked a first class ticket to Geneve via Berne. Swiss trains are excellent. I had a nice dinner in the dining car between Berne and Lausanne. After arriving in Geneve, I took a taxi to the I-C. Since I was on a discount U.N. rate and the hotel was full, I got no upgrade. But this is an excellent hotel in any room. I did get a fruit basked and a bottle of Evian.
Tuesday night I missed my dinner connection and wandered around city center til I found a Mexican restaurant. Being somewhat of an afficianado, I gave it a try. They passed the first test by understanding my spanish. The food was very good and the Margarita's weren't too bad. They got better as the night went on.
The had a Paraguayan canto playing guitar. He knew every song in the book. After dinner I joined him at the bar to sing along on Guantanamera. Then several of his Paraguayan friends came in. None of them spoke English, but we got along fine in French and Spanish. Before too long I looked up and it was 1 AM and I had a pocketful of phone numbers for my next trip to Geneve.
The next day with a bit of a Tequila hangover, I stayed in the room til 13:30. I had a 14:30 flight to FRA and a 17:00 flight to LAX. I checked in at the LH desk and they told me that the flight was badly overbooked. They said that I may not make in on the flight even in Economy.
I said "wait a minute!". I'm a Star Alliance Gold member traveling on a $6500 ticket. I'm pretty sure I get priority here. They said "OH!. I'll make sure you get on the flight. Later at the gate it was a zoo. The flight was delayed for about 45 minutes and all the people who were bumped off or downgraded got their turn to shout at the Swiss airport staff. I didn't make it into business, but I wasn't too upset since it was an hour-long flight and I was checked in for business on the next hop to LAX.
Before boarding, the nice LH rep told me I would get a voucher for 600 DM flight credit or 300 DM in cash once I reached FRA. I was in a middle seat in the last row inbetween two large men. I rarely fly coach so this was a very unpleasant experience for me. I basically held my breath for the whole hour.
Since we arrived late, I rushed to the LAX gate with 5 minutes to spare. There I found that the flight was delayed due to toilet failure. The nice LH flight manager gave me the voucher as promised.
Two hours later we took off. The flight was full and the FA's seemed stressed. After dinner, one of the FA's yanked a bottle of red wine from the island in front of me and spilled it all over my pants and shoes. She didn't even realize what she had done.
I got up and went after her. When I showed her the mess she made she was immediately apologetic. She went for soda water and salt and got down on her knees and started scrubbing my pants and shoes. She jokingly told me I should feel good to have a pretty girl on her knees servicing me.
Later she gave me another voucher for cleaning my clothes. I just take my cleaning bill to any LH office and LH will reimburse me.
All in all a great trip, but one that totally wore me out!
Now I'll enjoy the 4th of July and head back to Europe on the 5th. I need a vacation at home!
Went to the Senators Club thanks to my 1K card near B28 which is not as good as the other Senators Club.
The LH flight to Helsinki was also pretty ordinary. I stayed at the I-C Strand and was automatically bumped up to a corner suite thanks to the 6-C club.
The flight from HEL to CDG was a nooner on Finnair and was nearly empty. Very good service.
Paris was beautiful and the Le Meridien Montparnasse was great as usual.
Finished work early and took the 5pm AF flight from CDG to ZHR. Waited in a horribly slow AF line to buy my ticket. Walking to my gate later I passed by a ticket desk with nobody in line. <shrug>
Uneventful AF flight to ZHR. Was met by Rudi and Jamiel. We proceeded to Rudi's Zurich home for Champagne. Later we went to the Sheraton Arabella (booked on the web) in Zurich. Was automatically upgraded to an excellent top floor room with a welcome basket complete with a bottle of Toscana.
Later we went to dinner at an excellent Zurich restaurant where I had Beef Stroganoff like I'd never had it before. This was followed by an excursion through old-town which was packed with Friday-night revelers.
Slept til about 1pm the next day. Rudi picked me up for a drive to Luzern. There was a festival happening and a lot of people out on the street. Stopped by the train station to purchase a two-year 1/2 price Swiss rail pass thanks to Rudi's advice. 222 SFR was a good investment which has pretty much paid for itself already.
Then we went to the famous Geisbach hotel with an awesome waterfall. Had a quick beer and headed to Interlaken. Stopped at the prize hotel Victoria Jungfrau for a tour and the requisite Sidecar made perfectly by the senior bartender.
Then we headed to a small train station up the hill a ways from Interlaken. We parked the car and hopped the train. Soon we were in Wengen. It's an absolute paradise. I could have stayed for weeks. I'm the type of person who sees a hill and climbs a hill. But I'll have to return for that later.
First we had a lovely Swiss dinner made by Gisela. Then we went for a walk up to one of the fine Wengen hotels for a nightcap. The clean mountain air is perfect for digestion. I fell straight to sleep when we returned.
I think that Rudi is a night person and I'm a morning person. After hanging around the chalet waiting for everyone to wake up, I decided to head up to the top of Europe myself. I took the train to Jungfraujoch on what turned out to be a perfect day. There were plenty of other tourists, but it wasn't too crowded.
After returning in the afternoon, Rudi and I stepped out for some tennis. It was unbelieveable how Rudi could consistently place the ball on the back line. I got one lucky serve by Rudi to keep some dignity.
Later Gisela arrived and we got some more exercise before our hour was up. After a quick shower, Rudi and I headed back down to Interlaken and I regretfully had to say goodbye to Rudi and my weekend.
I booked a first class ticket to Geneve via Berne. Swiss trains are excellent. I had a nice dinner in the dining car between Berne and Lausanne. After arriving in Geneve, I took a taxi to the I-C. Since I was on a discount U.N. rate and the hotel was full, I got no upgrade. But this is an excellent hotel in any room. I did get a fruit basked and a bottle of Evian.
Tuesday night I missed my dinner connection and wandered around city center til I found a Mexican restaurant. Being somewhat of an afficianado, I gave it a try. They passed the first test by understanding my spanish. The food was very good and the Margarita's weren't too bad. They got better as the night went on.
The had a Paraguayan canto playing guitar. He knew every song in the book. After dinner I joined him at the bar to sing along on Guantanamera. Then several of his Paraguayan friends came in. None of them spoke English, but we got along fine in French and Spanish. Before too long I looked up and it was 1 AM and I had a pocketful of phone numbers for my next trip to Geneve.
The next day with a bit of a Tequila hangover, I stayed in the room til 13:30. I had a 14:30 flight to FRA and a 17:00 flight to LAX. I checked in at the LH desk and they told me that the flight was badly overbooked. They said that I may not make in on the flight even in Economy.
I said "wait a minute!". I'm a Star Alliance Gold member traveling on a $6500 ticket. I'm pretty sure I get priority here. They said "OH!. I'll make sure you get on the flight. Later at the gate it was a zoo. The flight was delayed for about 45 minutes and all the people who were bumped off or downgraded got their turn to shout at the Swiss airport staff. I didn't make it into business, but I wasn't too upset since it was an hour-long flight and I was checked in for business on the next hop to LAX.
Before boarding, the nice LH rep told me I would get a voucher for 600 DM flight credit or 300 DM in cash once I reached FRA. I was in a middle seat in the last row inbetween two large men. I rarely fly coach so this was a very unpleasant experience for me. I basically held my breath for the whole hour.
Since we arrived late, I rushed to the LAX gate with 5 minutes to spare. There I found that the flight was delayed due to toilet failure. The nice LH flight manager gave me the voucher as promised.
Two hours later we took off. The flight was full and the FA's seemed stressed. After dinner, one of the FA's yanked a bottle of red wine from the island in front of me and spilled it all over my pants and shoes. She didn't even realize what she had done.
I got up and went after her. When I showed her the mess she made she was immediately apologetic. She went for soda water and salt and got down on her knees and started scrubbing my pants and shoes. She jokingly told me I should feel good to have a pretty girl on her knees servicing me.
Later she gave me another voucher for cleaning my clothes. I just take my cleaning bill to any LH office and LH will reimburse me.
All in all a great trip, but one that totally wore me out!
Now I'll enjoy the 4th of July and head back to Europe on the 5th. I need a vacation at home!
Jul 1, 1999, 3:17 pm
#2
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Canada
Programs: AC SE 2MM, HH Dd, SPG; IC Pl/A; AA; DL
Posts: 14,323
Thanks for the report Stimpy. Travelling around some of the most expensive places in Europe (Zurich and Geneva).
Rudi: are you a night person? You didn't seem too groggy when I woke you at 6 AM to go up to Jungfrau
Thank you and Gisela for putting up with us "early risers" (although I wouldn't call Stimpy's sleeping in until 1PM the first night getting up early).
Rudi: are you a night person? You didn't seem too groggy when I woke you at 6 AM to go up to Jungfrau
Thank you and Gisela for putting up with us "early risers" (although I wouldn't call Stimpy's sleeping in until 1PM the first night getting up early).
Jul 1, 1999, 3:32 pm
#3
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 1999
Location: Seat 1A, Juice pretty much everywhere, Mucci des Coins Exotiques
Posts: 34,339
I normally don't sleep all day, but this trip really wore me out. I didn't want to bore everyone with all my work details, but it was heck.
But after arriving home late last night, I woke up at the decent hour of 3am to start in on the 600 emails that arrived since my tequila binge.
But after arriving home late last night, I woke up at the decent hour of 3am to start in on the 600 emails that arrived since my tequila binge.
Jul 1, 1999, 3:39 pm
#4
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: CH-3823 Wengen Switzerland
Programs: miles&more, MileagePlus
Posts: 27,041
thank you stimpy
BlondeBomber: I am just a not-long-sleeper at all, only exception on long-haule-flights, and on that stimpy-Sunday-Wengen-morning I was up before him at 6PM, went out to the balcony and it was all foggy - so I didn't bother to wake him up and went to bed again. But as it turned out, the weather improved afterwards fast - and stimpy was right to go to the Jungfrau (he left after 8AM).
BlondeBomber: I am just a not-long-sleeper at all, only exception on long-haule-flights, and on that stimpy-Sunday-Wengen-morning I was up before him at 6PM, went out to the balcony and it was all foggy - so I didn't bother to wake him up and went to bed again. But as it turned out, the weather improved afterwards fast - and stimpy was right to go to the Jungfrau (he left after 8AM).
Jul 2, 1999, 12:03 pm
#7
Commander Catcop
Join Date: May 1998
Posts: 10,259
Rudi WHEN I make it to Switzerland just to let you know in advance that I am NOT AN EARLY RISER! Unless my hosts want to go somewhere early and then I will rise early.
One of the focuses of my weekends is earning frequent sleeping miles even as the "children" decided they want breakfast at 4:45 am and then play an hour later!
Very nice trip report Stimpy... a trip I think made better because of the wonderful hosting of Gisela & Rudi Martel, the goodwill ambassadors of Europe!
------------------
MEOW! MEOW! MEOW!!!
Unless my hosts want to go somewhere early and then I will rise early.One of the focuses of my weekends is earning frequent sleeping miles even as the "children" decided they want breakfast at 4:45 am and then play an hour later!
Very nice trip report Stimpy... a trip I think made better because of the wonderful hosting of Gisela & Rudi Martel, the goodwill ambassadors of Europe!
------------------
MEOW! MEOW! MEOW!!!
Jul 2, 1999, 1:59 pm
#8
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: CH-3823 Wengen Switzerland
Programs: miles&more, MileagePlus
Posts: 27,041
Jul 7, 1999, 8:59 am
#9
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: CH-3823 Wengen Switzerland
Programs: miles&more, MileagePlus
Posts: 27,041
"to purchase a two-year 1/2 price Swiss rail pass thanks to Rudi's advice. 222 SFR was a good investment which has pretty much paid for itself already."
stimpy: the abo (credit-card-style with photo on it) arrived at our Zurich-address - and is now on it's way to CA by registered mail (stimpy did receive in Lucerne just a temporary pass for the first month)
stimpy: the abo (credit-card-style with photo on it) arrived at our Zurich-address - and is now on it's way to CA by registered mail (stimpy did receive in Lucerne just a temporary pass for the first month)