SOF-LHR

The same two FTers I met on the way out were also returning on the same flight, but only one of them had actually stayed in Sofia, the other was on another B2B. Thanks for saying hi guys, I am not naming you but you know who you are (if you read this). My seatmate back to LHR was not a regular FTer but was a reader trying out their first B2B to see how it went. As he found, it is super-easy. You get off the plane and you are already airside at the departure gate. Group 1 was called for boarding into the staging area before everyone had exited the plane, so you should be able to go straight through to boarding as you get off.

Food was the chicken salad, It tasted better than it looks.

On arrival more firsts... Took the Hex from T3 to T5 and the Sofitel, never done either of those before. It took a lot more time and walking than I was really happy with. On paper it looks like a convenient option, but it really isn't. It does have the advantage of not requiring many active brain cells to navigate though, so I was glad I chose it on this occassion and at least I've tried it now.

Morning was a lot better. My LUX flight had been moved from an early morning to a lunchtime departure, so it's off to T3 we go again.

LHR-LUX

Breakfast in the AA Lounge.



Noodles and bits in the Cathay lounge

A nice surprise was that the LUX flight departed from gate 9 which is right next to the Cathay lounge, so I didn't need to leave the lounge early for the marathon walk to the other end of T3 like I did for the SOF flight.

In flight, lunch was the prawns. There were very good. I chose them again later in the trip. The deserts are already starting to get a bit repetitive. I am sure I have seen this cherry trifle before...

Stayed at the Ibis airport hotel in LUX. All public transport is free in Luxemborg so that is going to be my means of getting around for a couple of days to try it out. The 29 bus stops directly at the airport terminal and the Ibis is directly opposite the next stop of the 29 bus towards Luxembourg city centre or a short walk (you can see the hotel sign away to the left as you exit the airport).

It is worth mentioning that although the Ibis room rate does not notionally include breakfast, there is in fact a free breakfast buffet if you are booked into the Ibis itself. If you are booked next door in the Ibis budget there is a connecting corridor through to the main Ibis and they will charge you 8.5 euros for the privilege. I think it is worth it. They have full continental and cooked options (although the bacon was a bit anemic for my taste) but the best bit is that they have proper coffee made from a bean grinding machine and proper orange juice where you feed oranges into a juicer machine. Not bad for a cheap airport hotel.

BA had also managed to mess up my booking at the Ibis. I was booked in fully paid for two nights (the original booking) and also booked in fully paid for three nights (the altered booking). This took a little time to sort out at checkin as the lady who checked me in had to call over a more experienced colleague to make sense of it.

In the morning I took the 29 bus to the central train station, then the train to Diekirch which terminates there. Then the 188 bus to Vianden from the bus stop at the train station. You can also take the 180 or 181 bus, which are quicker but they terminate at Vianden central station so you will have a short, but very uphill walk to Vianden castle. The 188 takes you on a cross country tour and then drops you right at the castle entrance. I was the only person on the (mini)bus for the whole journey, so it was a bit like getting a private transfer.

After the castle visit I had planned to have lunch in Vianden at a particular restaurant but hadn't booked it. It turns out that it was closed anyway due to a fire. But it turns out that most of the rest of Vianden was also closed. Tourist season is over so a lot of hotels and restaurants just shut down completely. I took the 181 back to Diekirch and train back to Lux Gare and picked up some fresh sushi to go from the station instead.

It was quite fun to listen to the locals talking. In Luxemborg everyone was talking in French, by the time you get to Vianden, everyone is talking in German.

The next day I had a walk round the city centre and visited the main museum there which is a bit of a maze on many levels as it is actually three huge really old houses knocked together with an excavation of the roman ruins underneath.
The trip down the glass elevator to the old city below was interesting, but to get to my original goal at the other side would have required walking up about a million stairs, so that wasn't going to happen. The old city was dead as it's outside tourist season and the locals don't go there. The main city above was just a large shopping area like any modern town centre.
Travel to the centre was via bus 29 and then tram 1, so I have ticked off the free bus\train\tram. Travel back was via bus to Cents Hams to pick up the 29 about halfway through its route.Steak tartare for lunch outside in Cafe de Paris in the main square of the city centre. Small glass of cremant which the Luxembourgese seem to do rather well. The square itself was mostly hidden as they seem to be in the process of filling it with stalls for the Christmas market season.

LUX-LHR

Sun dried tomato salad (haven't I seen that trifle before?)

LHR-GLA

Straight on to Glagow from T5. Had a bit of time in galleries North which I chose because I thought domestics departed from that end of the terminal, but both GLA and MAN departed from gates nearer the South lounge (17 and 13 respectively).

Lunch was the afternoon tea. It was edible but a bit boring.

GLA-LHR

The next day was late enough for the lunch option of roast celeriac. Nice enough and with apple crumble instead of trifle. Didn't need much after a full English in the Holiday Inn Express and a bacon muffin in the BA lounge.

I got my only secondary security inspection of the trip at Glasgow. I thought I was going to get away with it, but no. When I asked the nice man why my bag was picked he said I had a power bank in there and it just looked funny. Sometimes it just happens and there isn't anything you can do about it, he said. So I think as well as packing my electrical items in a seperate pull out bag, I need to be more careful spreading the bag contents out over the tray so they aren't on top of each other.

LHR-MAN

Last leg!

Airside transit from domestic to domestic in T5 was a breeze no security clearance required, straight through the automatic doors into the main concourse near Galleries North. Had a fairly short turnaround as for some reason the GLA flight was put on a remote bus stand and we had to exit through the back of the plane, but still enough time for a quick in and out of the lounge before heading to the gate. We were delayed slightly getting away, ostensibly by a late arrival, but more likely due to the person who was being pre-boarded with an accompaniment of four uniformed border force guards.

Lunch prawns and trifle.

That's it folks. Now safely back in Rainchester. Well done if you made it this far.

Summary,
BA holidays are potentially shambolic but worked ok after a couple of changes soon after booking.
Sofia was great and I'm sure I'll be back some day. This is a good time of year for brit to visit.
Luxemborg was a bit rubbish and especially so out of season.

Interesting that you only took photos of food. References to interesting Roman remains, the castle etc, whetted the appetite, for example, but it was not to be..

Under the latest BAH Double TP T&Cs you would not be eligible for double TPs as you left the UK more than once as you say.

Here you go

Back street in upper Luxembourg City

Famous castle at Vianden

2000 year old road still in use in a Sofia underpass

Lunch in a Roman Stadium in Plovdiv