Christkindlesmarkt villages in Germany via British Airways and Lufthansa First Class
Mar 23, 2019, 10:56 am
#36
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: YVR - Vancouver, with most winter weekends in Whistler.
Programs: Aeroplan 35K, Alaska MVP, Marriott Titanium / Lifetime Platinum, Hertz President's Circle
Posts: 4,609
Great start to your report worldtraveller73. Yeah, BA First is pretty cramped on the 744 especially if seated behind row 2. And 14 pax in the pointy end of a 744 is just awful.
I connected to CX in YVR last summer and also liked the new shops and feel. I too found the SkyTeam Lounge equally empty and pleasant. Since I arrived before the CX Lounge opened, I had originally tried the BA Lounge but was denied because they restricted the lounge to BA pax when they flew the A380. After reading your report and seeing the pics, I'm glad I was denied, and happy to go back to the SkyTeam Lounge.
I connected to CX in YVR last summer and also liked the new shops and feel. I too found the SkyTeam Lounge equally empty and pleasant. Since I arrived before the CX Lounge opened, I had originally tried the BA Lounge but was denied because they restricted the lounge to BA pax when they flew the A380. After reading your report and seeing the pics, I'm glad I was denied, and happy to go back to the SkyTeam Lounge.
It seems they have a ways to go SQTraveller. The First Class now is accessible on miles; whereas I don't know if that will be the case moving forward after they have improved the product substantially.
Mar 23, 2019, 11:04 am
#37
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: YVR - Vancouver, with most winter weekends in Whistler.
Programs: Aeroplan 35K, Alaska MVP, Marriott Titanium / Lifetime Platinum, Hertz President's Circle
Posts: 4,609
DB Bahn – Inter City Express
ICE 856
First Class
Munchen Hautbahnhoff – Hannover
Dec 10, 2018
1:18 PM – 5:32 PM
Actual: 1:50 PM – 6:20 PM
We turned up at the Munich Hautbahnhoff at about T-45. Being a Monday, the place was packed with people coming and going being the first work day of the week.
We easily found our train track on the displays and headed for gleis 19; right in the middle of the train station.
We wandered all the way down to the front of the car and helped ourselves on board. We had purchased our tickets online via the DB Bahn website. The ticket printouts came in German with no englsh translation so it took a little bit of time for us to figure out what and where we were supposed to be since the car number, seat number and other information was wholly in German. Our train appeared to be a split train, in that half the train was being decoupled and going to a different destination midway on our journey.
We found our First Class seats. There are no luggage carts on the DB ICE Train we were on. We kept all luggage on rack above our seat.
The train departure time of 1:18 PM rolled by. There were several announcements in German that weren’t translated to English. It turns out there was a snap train strike going on, which resulted in a major delay of approximately 1 hour. We would never end up re-couping this time. This made staring out the window at Jennifer Aniston while we sat at the Munich Hbf the only way to pass the time.
We eventually got going. There wasn’t much interesting scenary on the trains on the way by. There were quite a few hundred Audi’s stacked on train decks when we passed though Ingolstadt. Ingolstadt is the home of Audi.
As the journey continued on, there must have been several cancellations of trains. We ended up with about 30 people in our car that would randomly board and stand in the aisles seated on their suitcases. MrsWT73 had a bum in her face for the last half of the journey. Quite the First Class experience (laughing). Many were cracking open bottles of wine that they had brought with them. There were also lots of senior citizens shouting into their phones in German. I am assuming that these were updates to their family about their lateness.
We eventually arrived to a very busy Hannover Hautbahnhoff station at about 6:30 PM. It seemed most of the world was passing through here at this hour.
The most interesting part was another Christmas Market immediately outside the front door of the Hanover Hautbahnhof. We passed through in order to get to a taxi.
The snap strike ultimately made the trip a lot less comfortable than travelling by aircraft. I think we’d probably opt to fly next time.
ICE 856
First Class
Munchen Hautbahnhoff – Hannover
Dec 10, 2018
1:18 PM – 5:32 PM
Actual: 1:50 PM – 6:20 PM
We turned up at the Munich Hautbahnhoff at about T-45. Being a Monday, the place was packed with people coming and going being the first work day of the week.
We easily found our train track on the displays and headed for gleis 19; right in the middle of the train station.
We wandered all the way down to the front of the car and helped ourselves on board. We had purchased our tickets online via the DB Bahn website. The ticket printouts came in German with no englsh translation so it took a little bit of time for us to figure out what and where we were supposed to be since the car number, seat number and other information was wholly in German. Our train appeared to be a split train, in that half the train was being decoupled and going to a different destination midway on our journey.
We found our First Class seats. There are no luggage carts on the DB ICE Train we were on. We kept all luggage on rack above our seat.
The train departure time of 1:18 PM rolled by. There were several announcements in German that weren’t translated to English. It turns out there was a snap train strike going on, which resulted in a major delay of approximately 1 hour. We would never end up re-couping this time. This made staring out the window at Jennifer Aniston while we sat at the Munich Hbf the only way to pass the time.
We eventually got going. There wasn’t much interesting scenary on the trains on the way by. There were quite a few hundred Audi’s stacked on train decks when we passed though Ingolstadt. Ingolstadt is the home of Audi.
As the journey continued on, there must have been several cancellations of trains. We ended up with about 30 people in our car that would randomly board and stand in the aisles seated on their suitcases. MrsWT73 had a bum in her face for the last half of the journey. Quite the First Class experience (laughing). Many were cracking open bottles of wine that they had brought with them. There were also lots of senior citizens shouting into their phones in German. I am assuming that these were updates to their family about their lateness.
We eventually arrived to a very busy Hannover Hautbahnhoff station at about 6:30 PM. It seemed most of the world was passing through here at this hour.
The most interesting part was another Christmas Market immediately outside the front door of the Hanover Hautbahnhof. We passed through in order to get to a taxi.
The snap strike ultimately made the trip a lot less comfortable than travelling by aircraft. I think we’d probably opt to fly next time.
Mar 23, 2019, 11:08 am
#38
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: YVR - Vancouver, with most winter weekends in Whistler.
Programs: Aeroplan 35K, Alaska MVP, Marriott Titanium / Lifetime Platinum, Hertz President's Circle
Posts: 4,609
Novotel Hanover
Standard Room - Double Bed
MrsWT73’s business meeting put her up at this hotel on a group rate. Overall, it was a pretty unremarkable stay. The property was well located but typical of the business hotels people stay in; well featured but not a whole lot going for it. The hotel is located in a suburban area of Hanover. We took a taxi from the Hautbahnhof which was 9.60 Euro.
The hotel was unique in that it was the first hotel that I’d stayed in that had it’s own smokestack.
The lobby was refreshed, but it didn’t have to much charm. It had a more institutional but corporate contemporary look.
The room was a standard sized room. Unfortunately no suite upgrades here today. Instead we got the Euro separate beds situation happening.
There was a small mini bar that was also available. We didn’t end up partaking.
The rate included breakfast in the hotel restaurant. This was loosely controlled as I would tend to arrive late in the morning and the staff either didn't bother to check my room number, or were more pre-occupied with clean up to notice.
The Novotel Hanover was your typical business hotel; a place to sleep for the evening. This version was well located but not all that exciting to stay in. I pretty much minimized the amount of time I spent in the room.
Standard Room - Double Bed
MrsWT73’s business meeting put her up at this hotel on a group rate. Overall, it was a pretty unremarkable stay. The property was well located but typical of the business hotels people stay in; well featured but not a whole lot going for it. The hotel is located in a suburban area of Hanover. We took a taxi from the Hautbahnhof which was 9.60 Euro.
The hotel was unique in that it was the first hotel that I’d stayed in that had it’s own smokestack.
The lobby was refreshed, but it didn’t have to much charm. It had a more institutional but corporate contemporary look.
The room was a standard sized room. Unfortunately no suite upgrades here today. Instead we got the Euro separate beds situation happening.
There was a small mini bar that was also available. We didn’t end up partaking.
The rate included breakfast in the hotel restaurant. This was loosely controlled as I would tend to arrive late in the morning and the staff either didn't bother to check my room number, or were more pre-occupied with clean up to notice.
The Novotel Hanover was your typical business hotel; a place to sleep for the evening. This version was well located but not all that exciting to stay in. I pretty much minimized the amount of time I spent in the room.
Mar 23, 2019, 11:18 am
#39
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: YVR - Vancouver, with most winter weekends in Whistler.
Programs: Aeroplan 35K, Alaska MVP, Marriott Titanium / Lifetime Platinum, Hertz President's Circle
Posts: 4,609
Hannover, Germany.
The first night we arrived, we walked up the street from the Novotel and left at the “T” about 5-7 minutes to Beckers Hannover wine bar. It was a quiet place on the street. There were no English menus so we set out with google translate to decipher the menu.
We ended up having Weiner Schnitzel which was a terrific way to spend an evening. All in it was super tasty and a nice way to arrive instead of the usual hotel restaurants that lack any We walked back to the hotel in the rain.
The next morning MrsWT73 went off to her meetings, and I had a leisurely start. The rain blew away so we had some sun. I ended up spending the day on an 18,000 step walking odyssey through Hanover.
I left the hotel and started walking towards town. I started at Listenplatz. I came across my first local Christmas market, which was just getting going for the day. It seems that the Christmas markets are everywhere throughout Germany, and that each neighborhood of importance has one. The Listerplatz market seemed to be the gathrering spot for this particular community and the area was getting filled with kids visiting the market in the morning.
As I wandered north, I passed by some lovely gardens that were very reminiscent of Amsterdam with its grand buildings.
Then over under the Raschenplatzhocstr flyerover, towards the Hautbahnhof train station. It was an interesting piece of seventies architecture and I couldn’t resist taking a view contrasting photographs.
I passed through the train station and into the main shopping area. Christmas was all around as I passed through the second Christmas market set up immediately outside the train station entrance at Ernest Ausut Platz. There was a statue of a man riding a horse outside the entrance.
I continued onwards down Kamarschstr through the main shopping district. I found a giant two story Gluewein pop up bar complete with spinning nutcrackers in the middle of the intersection at Kropcke; the city’s biggest underground metro train intersection.
I worked my way further south towards the Altus Rathus church. There were pretty much Christmas market vendors all the way south to and right around the church. This made for a pleasant walk with lots to look at.
The area around Altus Rathus church was very much the focal point and gathering area for the primary Hanover Christmas market. It was alive with vendors and the Altus Rathus church towering over the square made it feel all that more impressive.
As the early winter sun started to set, I circled around the church and headed further south to the Aegidienkirche church. The Aegidienkirche church was probably the most interesting sight of the town. The church was bombed in World War II in 1943 and has never been repaired. It has sat there empty, with a completely removed and open to the sky roof for the last 65 years.
A peace bell from Hiroshima sits inside as donated by the sister city of Hiroshima. It’s reported that every year on August 6, the day that the atomic detonation occurred in Japan, a delegation from Japan visits to ring the Hannover church bell.
The church is complete with a somber atomic bomb imagery on the floor by the bell.
I contined on towards the Neues Rathaus building. The sun was starting to set at around 3PM at this time so I was able to see it in both in part sunshine and shadows. It’s a majestic building that appears to sit on a man made lake.
I went down as far as the Courtyard by Marriott on the Maschsee for a little hotel chain reconnaissance for future stays. The Courtyard didn’t look super appealing in the winter, aside from it’s great location on the lake (likely terrific for summer); it looked downright sad in the winter months and was located quite a ways from absolutely everything except a stadium.
I returned back to down by the Altus Rathus church and the Christmas market surrounding it. The market was looking a little more magical with the lights coming on as the sun slipped away for the day.
I was getting a little hungry by this point so I stopped at one of the food stalls for some potatoes. The potatoes were being cooked on site fresh so I ate them as soon as they were ready. There were lots of variety at this point but I ended up with some with sour cream. Nothing like a nice light German snack! Simply devine!
I walked back up to the main train station (Kropke) where I took the U train back to the hotel. It was enjoyable to take in the sights under full color. Needless to say, an exhausting day!!
The first night we arrived, we walked up the street from the Novotel and left at the “T” about 5-7 minutes to Beckers Hannover wine bar. It was a quiet place on the street. There were no English menus so we set out with google translate to decipher the menu.
We ended up having Weiner Schnitzel which was a terrific way to spend an evening. All in it was super tasty and a nice way to arrive instead of the usual hotel restaurants that lack any We walked back to the hotel in the rain.
The next morning MrsWT73 went off to her meetings, and I had a leisurely start. The rain blew away so we had some sun. I ended up spending the day on an 18,000 step walking odyssey through Hanover.
I left the hotel and started walking towards town. I started at Listenplatz. I came across my first local Christmas market, which was just getting going for the day. It seems that the Christmas markets are everywhere throughout Germany, and that each neighborhood of importance has one. The Listerplatz market seemed to be the gathrering spot for this particular community and the area was getting filled with kids visiting the market in the morning.
As I wandered north, I passed by some lovely gardens that were very reminiscent of Amsterdam with its grand buildings.
Then over under the Raschenplatzhocstr flyerover, towards the Hautbahnhof train station. It was an interesting piece of seventies architecture and I couldn’t resist taking a view contrasting photographs.
I passed through the train station and into the main shopping area. Christmas was all around as I passed through the second Christmas market set up immediately outside the train station entrance at Ernest Ausut Platz. There was a statue of a man riding a horse outside the entrance.
I continued onwards down Kamarschstr through the main shopping district. I found a giant two story Gluewein pop up bar complete with spinning nutcrackers in the middle of the intersection at Kropcke; the city’s biggest underground metro train intersection.
I worked my way further south towards the Altus Rathus church. There were pretty much Christmas market vendors all the way south to and right around the church. This made for a pleasant walk with lots to look at.
The area around Altus Rathus church was very much the focal point and gathering area for the primary Hanover Christmas market. It was alive with vendors and the Altus Rathus church towering over the square made it feel all that more impressive.
As the early winter sun started to set, I circled around the church and headed further south to the Aegidienkirche church. The Aegidienkirche church was probably the most interesting sight of the town. The church was bombed in World War II in 1943 and has never been repaired. It has sat there empty, with a completely removed and open to the sky roof for the last 65 years.
A peace bell from Hiroshima sits inside as donated by the sister city of Hiroshima. It’s reported that every year on August 6, the day that the atomic detonation occurred in Japan, a delegation from Japan visits to ring the Hannover church bell.
The church is complete with a somber atomic bomb imagery on the floor by the bell.
I contined on towards the Neues Rathaus building. The sun was starting to set at around 3PM at this time so I was able to see it in both in part sunshine and shadows. It’s a majestic building that appears to sit on a man made lake.
I went down as far as the Courtyard by Marriott on the Maschsee for a little hotel chain reconnaissance for future stays. The Courtyard didn’t look super appealing in the winter, aside from it’s great location on the lake (likely terrific for summer); it looked downright sad in the winter months and was located quite a ways from absolutely everything except a stadium.
I returned back to down by the Altus Rathus church and the Christmas market surrounding it. The market was looking a little more magical with the lights coming on as the sun slipped away for the day.
I was getting a little hungry by this point so I stopped at one of the food stalls for some potatoes. The potatoes were being cooked on site fresh so I ate them as soon as they were ready. There were lots of variety at this point but I ended up with some with sour cream. Nothing like a nice light German snack! Simply devine!
I walked back up to the main train station (Kropke) where I took the U train back to the hotel. It was enjoyable to take in the sights under full color. Needless to say, an exhausting day!!
Mar 23, 2019, 11:25 am
#40
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: YVR - Vancouver, with most winter weekends in Whistler.
Programs: Aeroplan 35K, Alaska MVP, Marriott Titanium / Lifetime Platinum, Hertz President's Circle
Posts: 4,609
Hannover, Germany
Day 2
I took in today doing a little shopping. Being a work day, MrsWT73 was in meetings all day. I took the U Train downtown and engaged in a little retail therapy. There were great deals on Great deals on European brands like Scotch and Soda (from Amsterdam) among others. I later returned to the hotel to drop everything off.
It was the rowdy train “lite” for the work trip colleagues today. After they all got off work, we all went down to the Hannover Christmas market for a little festive cheer starting at Kropke. The place had a much different feel at night. It didn’t seem to matter that it was a weeknight, the whole town was out having a great time!!
After a foot long hot dog at the Kropke station Christmas pyramid, we walked down towards the church.
We stopped in the shadows of the Altus Church for a Glüwhen and white Glüwhen (not as satisfying). It was a nice atmosphere with a band playing with advertisements that Hannover was a UNESCO Cultural city for 2014.
After some collegial cheer, we set out to find the Zum Forsthaus. This is an artificial pine forest located in the middle of the city. The floor is woodchips and the concept is that you go into the trees for your drink, simulating being in a forest. Once inside, you can smell the pine throughout the atmosphere which is a very neat feeling. It’s also packed like a night club in likely in violation of the fire code. Otherwise it’s a really neat experience and I can’t imagine why this hasn’t been replicated elsewhere. Probably because dropping a cigarette ash in a dead forest covered with wood chips all over the floor with no real lighting inside wouldn’t lead to a great result (laughing).
We were quite hungry after the whole after work adventure so we stopped at a bar on the way back home. It seems like dinner for most undertaking Christmas markets are street snacks. I was pretty hungry for the day so when we stopped at the bar, we enjoyed traditional pub fare food; which was Chicken Cordon Bleu for me with hollandaise sauce and a large Herrenhäuser pilsner to wash it down.
We eventually made it home for sleep after experiencing the best festive cheer that Hannover's Christmas market(s) had to offer. It was a great experience in a town that I would have never otherwise had the reason or opportunity to visit.
Day 2
I took in today doing a little shopping. Being a work day, MrsWT73 was in meetings all day. I took the U Train downtown and engaged in a little retail therapy. There were great deals on Great deals on European brands like Scotch and Soda (from Amsterdam) among others. I later returned to the hotel to drop everything off.
It was the rowdy train “lite” for the work trip colleagues today. After they all got off work, we all went down to the Hannover Christmas market for a little festive cheer starting at Kropke. The place had a much different feel at night. It didn’t seem to matter that it was a weeknight, the whole town was out having a great time!!
After a foot long hot dog at the Kropke station Christmas pyramid, we walked down towards the church.
We stopped in the shadows of the Altus Church for a Glüwhen and white Glüwhen (not as satisfying). It was a nice atmosphere with a band playing with advertisements that Hannover was a UNESCO Cultural city for 2014.
After some collegial cheer, we set out to find the Zum Forsthaus. This is an artificial pine forest located in the middle of the city. The floor is woodchips and the concept is that you go into the trees for your drink, simulating being in a forest. Once inside, you can smell the pine throughout the atmosphere which is a very neat feeling. It’s also packed like a night club in likely in violation of the fire code. Otherwise it’s a really neat experience and I can’t imagine why this hasn’t been replicated elsewhere. Probably because dropping a cigarette ash in a dead forest covered with wood chips all over the floor with no real lighting inside wouldn’t lead to a great result (laughing).
We were quite hungry after the whole after work adventure so we stopped at a bar on the way back home. It seems like dinner for most undertaking Christmas markets are street snacks. I was pretty hungry for the day so when we stopped at the bar, we enjoyed traditional pub fare food; which was Chicken Cordon Bleu for me with hollandaise sauce and a large Herrenhäuser pilsner to wash it down.
We eventually made it home for sleep after experiencing the best festive cheer that Hannover's Christmas market(s) had to offer. It was a great experience in a town that I would have never otherwise had the reason or opportunity to visit.
Mar 28, 2019, 7:35 am
#44
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: London
Programs: BA Gold, LH Sen, MUCCI, Junior Jet Club.
Posts: 8,095
Excellent. Funnily enough I too went - with a group of other (mainly ex-)FTers - to Hanover this year for the weekend and to the Xmas Markets. I took the train from London via Brussels and Cologne which was fun. I thought Hanover was absolutely charming especially the old town by the big church. We spent many happy hours drinking lots of beer and eating lots of sausages that Saturday. A perfect weekend really.
Apr 1, 2019, 6:57 pm
#45
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: YVR - Vancouver, with most winter weekends in Whistler.
Programs: Aeroplan 35K, Alaska MVP, Marriott Titanium / Lifetime Platinum, Hertz President's Circle
Posts: 4,609
It was a pretty authentic visit experience nequine- away from all the usual Germany tourists. I didn't see many other travelers like myself. It was pretty unique.
Excellent. Funnily enough I too went - with a group of other (mainly ex-)FTers - to Hanover this year for the weekend and to the Xmas Markets. I took the train from London via Brussels and Cologne which was fun. I thought Hanover was absolutely charming especially the old town by the big church. We spent many happy hours drinking lots of beer and eating lots of sausages that Saturday. A perfect weekend really.