Flying *A from Australia to Europe

[boomy]

This city is so full of history, you can find a monument around every corner. Some are very old, some are more recent but all has great style.
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[boomy]

Brilliant TR boomy. And fabulous photographs.

You have whetted my appetite for my TG F flight later this year.

Thanks, love the iPhone5 camera
Two more TG F to go

 

[blackcat20]

That food looks amazing!

 

[burmans]

Boarding was easy, PB worked well.
A bit disappointed to get the old F cabin on the B747 but it's a day flight and I will be on the A380 for my coming night flight to CDG so no big deal.
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The cabin was 2/3 full and as soon as I took my seat in 1A I was offered a glass of DOM 2004.
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Ah that brings back some very good memories, we were a couple so had the middle seats but the same DOM 2004!

 

[JaswinderSingh]

narrow street pic i really like. this is my dream destination.

 

[Mark3000]

lovely photos and really enjoyed readingHotel looks great, I do love SPG
And what a bonus, Molton Brown!! Nothing beats it in my humble opinion

 

[boomy]

Can't finish a trip on Athens without seeing some demonstrations.


Police blocked the road near the Parliament.

Staff at hotel told us there is nothing to worry about as these are not demonstration, it's actually celebrations by the Greek Neo-naz_ party who got their leader realised from prison today and going to speak in front of the parliament (the Neo-naz_s or, Golden Dawn in their official name take part in the coalition).
I didn't like to see the naz_ red flags allowed to be displayed openly on the streets and it's very disappointing to see a nation that learned nothing from it's troubled past.
At least everyone were well behaved today and there was no disruptions for tourists.

 

[boomy]

Fourth leg ATH-TLV departing 10.40pm.
Check in at Aegean business class desk was easy, no queue at all.
The airport is long and narrow. It has 2 connecting halls, A & B which are almost a mirror of each other with similar DF shops. Each has it's own lounges which are located at the far ends of each hall, near the boarding gates.
Terminal B operate Intra-Schengen and Domestic flights.
Terminal A operate all the rest (has passport control area).
Aegean pax can enter both terminals but DF shopping can be done only from the terminal where the flight is departing from.

 

[boomy]

I arrived early to the airport and had plenty of time to check out both lounges.
They are located at the end of each terminal after the DF shops.
I started with Aegean lounge in hall B.

The lounge looks nice and spacious.




Nothing interesting to eat and the alcohol selection include the same wines served in Business Class.

 

[boomy]

Later I moved to hall A where my flight was departing from and I expected to find a similar (or even better) lounge there but to my surprise, instead of a dedicated *A lounge there was a general executive lounge which served various airlines and other programs.

As soon as I saw the list I knew it's not going to be very good inside.

 

[boomy]

Yes, I was right. This lounge is not as nice as the Aegean lounge in hall B.



Very poor selection of food and alcohol.

 

[boomy]

The flight ATH-TLV was on A321, also 2 rows in Business but the seats looked thinner and felt less comfortable then the A320 which I flew on my previous leg CDG-ATH.
There was one notable similarity though, I was the only passenger in J, again! Y was almost 100% full.
Is the economy in Europe that bad?!

It was a short flight and I fell asleep just after takeoff and skipped the meal.

 

[boomy]

Landed in TLV on a hot night, it was 30 degrees at 1am.

Priority luggage didn't work (again) but I'm used to it coming from OZ. Some things are the same even halfway around the world
The first part of my trip finished.
Still to come:
TLV - IST
IST - FRA
FRA-BKK
BKK-SYD

 

[craven morehead]

Cracking TR and great Photos :mrgreen:

 

[robd]

Great report. Keep it up.

 

[TomVexille]

Looks like an awesome trip, and you're doing a fantastic job with the TR. Keep it up.

 

[boomy]

TLV airport is beautiful and feels spacious, although it's quite small compared to major international airports.

Each gate has a general Business lounge which serves all foreign airlines, this lounges are all called Dan (called after the name of the hotel group that manages the lounges). They are a bit different from each other in style, but not much. They all offer the same F&B. There is also LY's flagship lounge - King David. It's a very nice lounge, spread over 2 floors bur you must fly LY to enter.
I went to Dan lounge at gate B, where my flight was boarding from.


The lounge is small and it was full. It was easy to see they tried to squeeze as many seats as possible and it really made the place look cramped.


Food offering was limited, being early morning there was a variety of serials, yogurt and some muffins. Soft drinks, no champagne, no sparkling, only coffee machine, no barista.
Wifi worked very well (it's also free and fast in the main terminal) and most people were busy surfing the net or reading the morning newspaper (there is also afternoon addition. People are heavily "addicted" to news here).
There are 4 toilets in the lounge, only 1 was open. The rest were out of order, shocking!
Boarding was delayed 15 minutes and I got bored so I decided to go to the gate early. It was chaos there, no organised queues, no priority boarding for J and *G, nothing.
When boarding finally started, people using wheelchair boarded first and then it was general boarding for everyone..

 

[boomy]

Type of aircrafts I flew so far on this trip:
SYD-BKK B747
BKK-CDG A380
CDG-ATH A320
ATH - TLV A321
Fifth leg TLV-IST departing 10am. Again a different aircraft type, this time it's A330-203.


Plenty of legroom and foot rest to stretch.


The seat turns into a (almost) flat bed. The cabin was full so I was too embarrassed to get up and take a photo .
There is a wifi option but it's not available yet, they say it's coming soon.

 

[boomy]

Breakfast menu.

First course. Ham, cheese, yogurt, fruits, orange juice and coffee.

Second course I chose the omelette, filled with cheese and tomatoes. It was good.

Service was efficient, no smiles, no small talk but someone was always within eyesight in case you need anything.
Things got a bit tense after the guy who tried to sleep in 1B was disturbed numerous times by the crew as they walked back and forth from the galley. To their defence, he was a big guy and he slept on his side so his knees were sticking out and it was very hard to avoid touching him. After the 3rd time he got really pissed off and started shouting at them. He was a scary guy and they tried to calm him down, it was awkward.

 

[boomy]

IST airport was super busy so I went straight to the lounge.
Some say TK CIP is the best J lounge in the world, I was eager to see if this statement is correct.
As soon as I entered I was blown away, it's HUGE, like a shopping centre!
First, I decided to take a tour, snap some photos and orientate myself.
Main entrance, at the end of the terminal.

The Library. Anyone for a game of snooker?

The Cinema.

Food sections and sitting areas everywhere.

Tea and coffee area.