Soccer and sights: BCN, LGW, and AMS
Mar 25, 2004, 12:31 pm
#1
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Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2002
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Posts: 24,252
Soccer and sights: BCN, LGW, and AMS
My wife and I recently traveled to Europe on vacation. On Monday, March 15, 2003, we flew from SAT-DFW-LGW on AA #2024 and 78. Nothing especially noteworthy about the M80 and 777 experiences. AA's movie selection both ways between the UK and the US was quite disappointing, however. But it really didn't matter too much on the outbound because we opted for some Ambien-assisted sleep. And AA #78 gave me the miles needed to successfully complete my Gold Challenge.
Our first city of visit was Barcelona. I booked us roundtrip LGW-BCN tickets on EZ because their prices were much better than BA and IB. Our four hour layover at Gatwick was assisted greatly by our complimentary visit to CO's Presidents Club lounge thanks to a pass I had received from CO last year and another donated to me by a generous fellow FTer (thanks Steve!). After a very welcome shower and the copious consumption of Bacardi and Diet Coke, we were off to Spain.
EZ #5135 was operated by a 737 (737-700). My wife and I were among the first to board so we snagged the bonus legroom afforded by the exit row. Quite comfortable, actually. EZ may offer no-frills service, but for the price, it's hard to complain. A few hours later, we arrived in BCN.
The Aerobus took us directly from the airport to Placa Catalunya. Our hotel, Hotel Continental, was only a few steps away from the bus stop and square, on the famous La Rambla. The Continental was an excellent budget hotel. It had a very central location, a decent breakfast, and clean rooms. On the downside, our room was miniscule and we had to purchase bar soap because the liquid soap dispenser did not tickle our fancy. But all and all, I would highly recommend the Continental.
Barcelona is a fun city. I'm sure it would have been even more fun had it not been for the tragic events of 3-11, but the city appeared to be operating as normally as possible under the circumstances. We used the Bus Turistic to familiarize ourselves with the prime sights, and then proceeded to explore the Sagrada Familia and Park Guell at length. Antoni Gaudi was clearly an architechtural genius.
On Wednesday night, my wife and I attended the Copa del Ray final between Real Zaragoza and Real Madrid. We had to score tickets from a scalper, but the match was well worth the cost. 90 minutes wasn't enough to separate the teams, but in the 30 minute overtime period, Zaragoza scored a third goal and shocked los galacticos. Nice to see the underdogs grab the crown.
We went to a cool nightclub, the Baja Beach Club, on Thursday night. There was plenty of eye candy at the club, but the drink prices at 7 Euros per, were fairly steep. After a few hours, we tried our luck at the blackjack table at the nearby casino (no luck, really), and then called it a night.
On Friday, March 19, we continued to explore the city before catching EZ #5138's return service to LGW. This time, the aircraft was one of EZ's new 319s. A word to the wise: there is no legroom anywhere on EZ's 319. Even the exit row appears to be equally legroom deficient as the rest of the airplane. EZ's Airbus is definitely not easy on the knees. But thanks to a 15 minute early push from the gate, we arrived at LGW well before midnight.
It was off to the Gatwick Express, and following a nightbus from Victoria Station, we reached the Comfort Inn Vauxhall. The Comfort Inn Vauxhall was a steal from Priceline at $60/night. The hotel was built in 2000, and the rooms are quite spacious and well-equipped, especially in comparison to the competition in the budget range. The beds were comfortable, and the rooms are avant garde (bright walls, modern ceiling fan). Another hotel worth recommending, especially if you can get it on Priceline.
The focus of our brief trip to London was to see Saturday's Arsenal-Bolton fixture. Arsenal are my favorite team, and we had arranged for tickets well in advance, so dealing with the touts as we did in Barcelona, was not necessary. Arsenal jumped to a quick 2-0 lead thanks to Robert Pires and Dennis Bergkamp, but Bolton was scrappy, scoring a goal courtesy of Real Madrid-castoff Ivan Campo, and Arsenal's record-tying victory wasn't certain until the final whistle. Watch out, cause the treble is fortcoming!
After some sightseeing on Sunday, we headed to Amsterdam on Monday, March 22. Again, we returned to LGW via the bus and the Gatwick Express. We sat in first class on the Gatwick Express for the price of second thanks to a promotion from BA. Our BA #8113 was operated by a 737 with its tail bearing a Sweedish floral livery. Though the departure was a little late because everyone had to be bused to the remote stand, the arrival was timely. And breakfast, including a nice lemon muffin, was quite tasty. I wish the American carriers were as good at offering food on short haul flights as BA.
Amsterdam, Venice of the North, is a really great city. Schiphol Airport, for my money, is the best on the planet. It couldn't be any easier to get from the airport to the city center. We stayed at the Best Western Eden, another bargain at 60 Euros per night from the hotel's website.
After two days in Amsterdam, we finally ended our European adventure on Wednesday, March 24 (regretably missing the Champions League battle of London while en route). First, we flew BA #8114 from AMS-LGW. We were connecting to AA flights from LGW-DFW and DFW-SAT. Usually, BA is happy to check us in for the whole trip and issue boarding passes at the first airport even with separate reservations, but this time the oneworld Alliance dropped the ball, leaving us to check in and get seat assignments for our AA flights at LGW.
BA #8114 actually left the gate a few minutes early which was helpful because we had to taxi to Schipol's very remote new Polderbaan runway. The taxi, even at a brisk pace, took over 13 minutes. It seemed like we were going to taxi all the way back to London.
Upon arrival, we had to transfer from the North Terminal to the South Terminal at LGW. What a pain in the butt! The wait for the interterminal bus was interminable. But after we finally got to the South Terminal, check in, and cleared security at the gate, we were in for a nice suprise: an op-upgrade to business class on AA #79 from LGW-DFW. Thank you, AA!
The business class upgrade made all the difference in the world. The extra legroom was good, and the food, a lamb tenderloin and a chicken pizza hit the spot. After eight hours, we were back in the States, and we continued back home on AA #1854, after a slight delay in waiting for inbound flight attendants.
A wonderful trip overall, albeit too short. It was great to visit Spain for the first time, and just as nice to pay return visits to old stalwarts, London and Amsterdam. BA, as usual, offered top notch service; EZ delivered good bang for the buck; and AA came through in the clutch with the op-upgrade. All three of our hotels, although budged priced, are deserving of future visits. I can't wait until we return to Europe again!
Our first city of visit was Barcelona. I booked us roundtrip LGW-BCN tickets on EZ because their prices were much better than BA and IB. Our four hour layover at Gatwick was assisted greatly by our complimentary visit to CO's Presidents Club lounge thanks to a pass I had received from CO last year and another donated to me by a generous fellow FTer (thanks Steve!). After a very welcome shower and the copious consumption of Bacardi and Diet Coke, we were off to Spain.
EZ #5135 was operated by a 737 (737-700). My wife and I were among the first to board so we snagged the bonus legroom afforded by the exit row. Quite comfortable, actually. EZ may offer no-frills service, but for the price, it's hard to complain. A few hours later, we arrived in BCN.
The Aerobus took us directly from the airport to Placa Catalunya. Our hotel, Hotel Continental, was only a few steps away from the bus stop and square, on the famous La Rambla. The Continental was an excellent budget hotel. It had a very central location, a decent breakfast, and clean rooms. On the downside, our room was miniscule and we had to purchase bar soap because the liquid soap dispenser did not tickle our fancy. But all and all, I would highly recommend the Continental.
Barcelona is a fun city. I'm sure it would have been even more fun had it not been for the tragic events of 3-11, but the city appeared to be operating as normally as possible under the circumstances. We used the Bus Turistic to familiarize ourselves with the prime sights, and then proceeded to explore the Sagrada Familia and Park Guell at length. Antoni Gaudi was clearly an architechtural genius.
On Wednesday night, my wife and I attended the Copa del Ray final between Real Zaragoza and Real Madrid. We had to score tickets from a scalper, but the match was well worth the cost. 90 minutes wasn't enough to separate the teams, but in the 30 minute overtime period, Zaragoza scored a third goal and shocked los galacticos. Nice to see the underdogs grab the crown.
We went to a cool nightclub, the Baja Beach Club, on Thursday night. There was plenty of eye candy at the club, but the drink prices at 7 Euros per, were fairly steep. After a few hours, we tried our luck at the blackjack table at the nearby casino (no luck, really), and then called it a night.
On Friday, March 19, we continued to explore the city before catching EZ #5138's return service to LGW. This time, the aircraft was one of EZ's new 319s. A word to the wise: there is no legroom anywhere on EZ's 319. Even the exit row appears to be equally legroom deficient as the rest of the airplane. EZ's Airbus is definitely not easy on the knees. But thanks to a 15 minute early push from the gate, we arrived at LGW well before midnight.
It was off to the Gatwick Express, and following a nightbus from Victoria Station, we reached the Comfort Inn Vauxhall. The Comfort Inn Vauxhall was a steal from Priceline at $60/night. The hotel was built in 2000, and the rooms are quite spacious and well-equipped, especially in comparison to the competition in the budget range. The beds were comfortable, and the rooms are avant garde (bright walls, modern ceiling fan). Another hotel worth recommending, especially if you can get it on Priceline.
The focus of our brief trip to London was to see Saturday's Arsenal-Bolton fixture. Arsenal are my favorite team, and we had arranged for tickets well in advance, so dealing with the touts as we did in Barcelona, was not necessary. Arsenal jumped to a quick 2-0 lead thanks to Robert Pires and Dennis Bergkamp, but Bolton was scrappy, scoring a goal courtesy of Real Madrid-castoff Ivan Campo, and Arsenal's record-tying victory wasn't certain until the final whistle. Watch out, cause the treble is fortcoming!
After some sightseeing on Sunday, we headed to Amsterdam on Monday, March 22. Again, we returned to LGW via the bus and the Gatwick Express. We sat in first class on the Gatwick Express for the price of second thanks to a promotion from BA. Our BA #8113 was operated by a 737 with its tail bearing a Sweedish floral livery. Though the departure was a little late because everyone had to be bused to the remote stand, the arrival was timely. And breakfast, including a nice lemon muffin, was quite tasty. I wish the American carriers were as good at offering food on short haul flights as BA.
Amsterdam, Venice of the North, is a really great city. Schiphol Airport, for my money, is the best on the planet. It couldn't be any easier to get from the airport to the city center. We stayed at the Best Western Eden, another bargain at 60 Euros per night from the hotel's website.
After two days in Amsterdam, we finally ended our European adventure on Wednesday, March 24 (regretably missing the Champions League battle of London while en route). First, we flew BA #8114 from AMS-LGW. We were connecting to AA flights from LGW-DFW and DFW-SAT. Usually, BA is happy to check us in for the whole trip and issue boarding passes at the first airport even with separate reservations, but this time the oneworld Alliance dropped the ball, leaving us to check in and get seat assignments for our AA flights at LGW.
BA #8114 actually left the gate a few minutes early which was helpful because we had to taxi to Schipol's very remote new Polderbaan runway. The taxi, even at a brisk pace, took over 13 minutes. It seemed like we were going to taxi all the way back to London.
Upon arrival, we had to transfer from the North Terminal to the South Terminal at LGW. What a pain in the butt! The wait for the interterminal bus was interminable. But after we finally got to the South Terminal, check in, and cleared security at the gate, we were in for a nice suprise: an op-upgrade to business class on AA #79 from LGW-DFW. Thank you, AA!
The business class upgrade made all the difference in the world. The extra legroom was good, and the food, a lamb tenderloin and a chicken pizza hit the spot. After eight hours, we were back in the States, and we continued back home on AA #1854, after a slight delay in waiting for inbound flight attendants.
A wonderful trip overall, albeit too short. It was great to visit Spain for the first time, and just as nice to pay return visits to old stalwarts, London and Amsterdam. BA, as usual, offered top notch service; EZ delivered good bang for the buck; and AA came through in the clutch with the op-upgrade. All three of our hotels, although budged priced, are deserving of future visits. I can't wait until we return to Europe again!
Apr 4, 2004, 4:17 am
#3
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: Cork, Ireland. Aer Lingus (in the bin), BA Gold (woo hoo!), EBB Blue, HH Diamond, Starwood Plat, Hyatt Diamond
Posts: 1,347
Hi cAAl,
Sorry to rain on the Arsenal parade - I'm a Man Utd fan !!!
Oh well, there's always next year for the treble !!
1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0 ..... etc. etc.
(All in good fun !)
John P.
Sorry to rain on the Arsenal parade - I'm a Man Utd fan !!!
Oh well, there's always next year for the treble !!
1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0 ..... etc. etc.
(All in good fun !)
John P.
Apr 4, 2004, 11:56 am
#4
Join Date: Apr 2001
Posts: 2,729
I have seen a lot of matches this year in Europe and South America and Arsenal is one of the top teams this year but you should have visited a Werder Bremen match. Currently Europes top team and the a very cheap one,too. All together the team didnt cost more than 7,5 Mio Euros and as I have some intern information of the players salaries in Bremen and many other clubs I can say that the best-paid player of Bremen earns about the same as an average player in a British top club. The only difference is that the player of Bremen gets it a month and the British player in a week... 
Anyway, great report, too!
Anyway, great report, too!
Apr 4, 2004, 1:26 pm
#5
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2002
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Originally Posted by JAP
Hi cAAl,
Sorry to rain on the Arsenal parade - I'm a Man Utd fan !!!
Oh well, there's always next year for the treble !!
1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0 ..... etc. etc.
(All in good fun !)
John P.
Sorry to rain on the Arsenal parade - I'm a Man Utd fan !!!
Oh well, there's always next year for the treble !!
1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0, 1-0 ..... etc. etc.
(All in good fun !)
John P.
I don't know which is worse: that Arsenal lost the game, or that all suspense has been eviscerated by your post. Neither are your fault, of couse, but a plague on your house anyway!