Europe by scooter

[LadyC]

The Gentleman, MasterC and myself are heading back to Europe to visit some new locations and enjoy some warmer weather as the European summer commences. We finish our European adventure in Paris before we fly home via Bali and Singapore. This trip we are happily ditching the stroller in favour of a scooter to assist MasterC with the tourist trails.

Our journey will be:

• MEL – IST SQ J
• Istanbul – Four Seasons Sultanahmet
• IST – ATH A3 J
• Athens – Hotel Grande Bretagne
• ATH – BUD LH J
• Budapest – Ritz Carlton Budapest
• BUD – VIE OS J
• Vienna – Hotel Imperial
• VIE – CDG OS J
• Paris – Apartments du Louvre – Le Marais
• CDG – DPS QR J
• Nusa Dua – Ritz Carlton Bali
• DPS – SIN SQ J
• Singapore – Four Seasons Singapore
• SIN – MEL SQ J

We depart next week so open to any recommendations on restaurants, tourist attractions, tips or tricks that anyone has to offer.

 

[amaroo]

Have a wonderful trip - looks like a ripper.

Some familiar hotels in that lot.... Le Marais is a superb place to stay in Paris. Enjoy!

 

[Milboo]

If you want an outstanding meal in Vienna then Steirereck at Stadtpark. I’d go back for the bread trolley and cheese trolley alone!

The Bitzinger wiener stand outside the art gallery.

The Spanish Riding School.

I loved Vienna!

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Hotel Grande Bretagne - loved it - Alexander’s Bar with the huge tapestry behind bar - the Cigar Bar - the rooftop restaurant - if you haven’t been there before LC you will just love it.

And we are heading to Vienna 2020 so following closely for tips.

 

[NoName]

Look forward to reading your report. We stayed at the Appartments Du Louvre St Honore last year and it was great. Will be interested to see how their Le Marais location stacks up.

Also got married at the Four Seasons Singapore. Hope you love it as much as we did!

 

[Milboo]

Ticking a few European cities off the list (Zurich, Vienna, Prague, Paris)

I thought I would do a trip report for my recent trip that covered Zurich, Vienna and Prague as they are not destinations that I have seen in many reports here. Timing was mid/ late November. Given this is a frequent flying website, I'd be remiss not to mention the flight! Flew Etihad J - and...

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

This was my trip report that covered a weekend in Paris and Vienna.

 

[craven morehead]

Following along

 

[amaroo]

Also got married at the Four Seasons Singapore. Hope you love it as much as we did!

They do a fab Sunday free flow brunch

 

[LadyC]

If you want an outstanding meal in Vienna then Steirereck at Stadtpark. I’d go back for the bread trolley and cheese trolley alone!

I would love to go to Steirereck but unfortunately not feasible with MasterC. I love a good cheese trolley - here's looking at you Caprice in HK.

Hotel Grande Bretagne - loved it - Alexander’s Bar with the huge tapestry behind bar - the Cigar Bar - the rooftop restaurant - if you haven’t been there before LC you will just love it.

And we are heading to Vienna 2020 so following closely for tips.

First time in Greece so looking forward to it. Hotel Grande Bretagne is supposed to be one of the best - we have lunch booked at the rooftop restaurant (included as part of our booking) so hopefully we get a beautiful day.

Look forward to reading your report. We stayed at the Appartments Du Louvre St Honore last year and it was great. Will be interested to see how their Le Marais location stacks up.

Also got married at the Four Seasons Singapore. Hope you love it as much as we did!

Yes, it was on the back of your review that I decided to book the Apartments du Louvre. I would have chosen the other location but they were already booked up 8 months in advance. Self catering will be a nice change from the hotels but Paris hotels are also frightfully expensive so that played part of the decision too.

Four Seasons Singapore is great. We have stayed there a few times already but not since the refurbishment they did in the last couple of years.

Ticking a few European cities off the list (Zurich, Vienna, Prague, Paris)

I thought I would do a trip report for my recent trip that covered Zurich, Vienna and Prague as they are not destinations that I have seen in many reports here. Timing was mid/ late November. Given this is a frequent flying website, I'd be remiss not to mention the flight! Flew Etihad J - and...

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

This was my trip report that covered a weekend in Paris and Vienna.

Thanks, I will have a read.

 

[LadyC]

Due to the number of Marriott affiliated hotels we are booked at, I booked in for the Marriott Platinum challenge back in April. I have already kicked that off with a 3 night stay at the Westin in Perth, so should satisfy requirements once our Vienna stay is complete. I will be interested to see what benefits (if any) we get for our stay in Bali. All bookings except for the Paris apartment were booked through a Virtuoso travel agent to maximise benefits (breakfast included, USD$100 food and beverage credit and upgrade based on availability). With Master C, inclusive breakfast is always a winner and we will also usually utilise room service at least once per city.

 

[Major]

Love Athens at night

 

[LadyC]

MEL-SIN SQ208 J

An evening departure out of Melbourne first up. My first time on an SQ A350 and I enjoyed the new product. It was a full J load with most passengers heading beyond Singapore to other destinations.

Ready for take off


The seat


Ready for a snooze


Plenty of passengers were confused about how to flip the seat in to a bed, so I channelled my inner flight attendant to assist them.

 

[LadyC]

The menu

 

[LadyC]

The smoked trout starter was very nice. I followed with the beef for main. Although cooked a little low than what I would usually choose, the meat was still reasonably tender (well as much as you get on a plane) and I also enjoyed it. No dessert but I sampled the cheese plate to finish the meal.





After dinner and some sampling of the Krisflyer entertainment system, I opted for a few hours of sleep knowing how cranky we would all be when we landed in Singapore at 2am Melbourne time. MasterC was pretty wired so we only managed to get about 3 hours. We didn't sample either of the refreshments knowing we had more meals and lounge options ahead.

 

[LadyC]

We arrived about 15 minutes early into Singapore and had a 2 hour layover before our next flight. After an obligatory Lego purchase pitstop, we headed to the lounge for an hour to while away the time before we needed to head out to the gate. The Krisflyer business class lounge wasn't too busy, so finding seats and something to eat wasn't difficult.

 

[LadyC]

SIN-IST SQ392 J

Boarding was quick and the business class cabin was approximately 60% full. We were travelling on a 777 that was definitely showing its age. My seat didn't recline very effectively and near the end of the flight, the electronics on it seemed to stop working altogether. With an 11 hour flight time, MasterC and I stayed up to eat supper and watch some shows before going to sleep, in an attempt to recalibrate to a new time zone. The Gentleman deferred eating and went straight to sleep. We all woke up about 6 hours into the flight and whiled away the time until breakfast was served. Breakfast can either be full or continental if you want some more sleep. They started serving breakfast with about 2.45 hrs left, which seems quite long but as we were already awake, we were happy for the distraction. The flight was quite smooth with only a little turbulence and landed 5 minutes ahead of schedule.

 

[LadyC]

The seat


Obligatory foot shot


The menu

 

[LadyC]

Supper - Smoked duck salad - ok but nothing special


Supper main - BTC seared lamb loin - I quite enjoyed this. The texture of the lamb was better than expected (again I was worried it would be overcooked and tough).


Breakfast- a sad looking fruit plate


Breakfast- yoghurt - the plastic tub looks underwhelming but it was actually pretty tasty.


Breakfast - omelette - the omelette was nice but the sausages were a bit plain.

 

[LadyC]

Arrival in IST

I was very nervous about how long it would take to get through the airport as early reviews indicate that the new IST airport is huge and processing times can be lengthy. Although the former is definitely true, luckily for us we had a quick run. After landing, it took between 12-15 minutes to taxi to the gate. That is with no stops. It felt like we were driving down a wide road to the terminal. I'm not sure exactly where in the terminal we landed but it was about a 15 minute walk with a 5 year old to passport control. After a 5 minute wait in the queue, we were processed and heading collect our luggage. The terminal feels cavernous with lots of high ceilings and glass - a bit like a massive airplane hangar. Our luggage was some of the first bags off so we were out of the airport and on the road within 45 minutes. When collecting our luggage, I noticed there was only one other flight that had arrived so I guess it was lucky that the time of day meant we got through quickly. I imagine with a few more flights arriving in a short period could increase processing time significantly.

 

[LadyC]

Four Seasons Istanbul at Sultanahmet

This is a beautiful little hotel located in Sultanahment close to the Hagia Sofia and the Blue Mosque. It is an oasis from the maddening crowd of tourists nearby. We had a deluxe room booked (no upgrade) overlooking the courtyard and restaurant. Check in was smooth and quick and we were up in our room in no time.

The hotel had provided a few kids amenities for MasterC - an Istanbul tshirt, a wooden top and leather bracelet. They also placed some children's soap and shampoo in the bathroom as well as with a kids size bathrobe with the adult ones.