Some island cruising - The Canaries and Sicily, then Milan

[RooFlyer]

Interesting. Wifi continues over India.

 

[SYD]

Oh yes… TK has super early boarding times! Like an hour before! Yet crew may turn up some time after that

Especially at IST there have been plenty of reports of denied boarding to pax turning up inside the hour… - allegedly - due to overbooked flights. If you’re not there one hour before, you don’t get on.

Boarding is always chaotic, too. But once on board it’s all good.

The boarding times were my only complaint about TK, I was gonna write in to them but then read all the stories of denied boarding and so decided I was just lucky to get on

Oh, yeah… they don’t do top ups! Blink and your glass will be gone

I’m not a huge drinker so not so muc( a problem for me, but a friend who flew them enjoys a couple of glasses… they are happy to provide it, just they don’t seem to understand a large pour, or a second glass!

Not selling it to me so far!

 

[RooFlyer]

A loo at the front, and 2 either side at the gallery between J and Y. These are used by both, by design or allowance. But it’s a nice big loo!

Plot thickens. Here is the layout



So it’s Economy back there, not PE. After the meal service, cabin darkened, snacks and soft drinks put out in the galley between J and Y; curtains left open. Crew at the front.

Guess what? Y pax come up & scoop up the snacks and container of Pepsi and head back aft!

Maybe it’s designed as a shared space?

 

[RooFlyer]

As the flight continued over Pakistan and Afghanistan, I took an interest in our route. I'd been following it on FR24 over the past few days so I knew it would take a zig-zag





Afghanistan









A few hours out of Istanbul, the refreshment course was served - breakfast. I'd love the hear the logic of serving 'breakfast at 2pm local. I just had the first part, not the omelette. It was enough!



Choccies to finish.

 

[RooFlyer]

We landed roughly on time.

So, what of my first TK long haul? 7-8/10. The food was excellent, as was the presentation. The bedding was good (although no PJs) and the bed reasonably comfortable. The crew was pretty good; not much engagement , but OK. The on-board chef is a bit of a gimmick, but seems to work.

Drinks service definitely not up to par. You have to be very proactive and point to the wine list.

Not sure about that 'shared' loo. The FAs certainly didn't care. When they were in that galley towards the end, it was very obvious that the Y pax were coming through and queuing with the Js.

I had 2 hours at IST before my final flight to Madrid. Arrival security which seemed a bit amateurish, then a beeline for the lounge for a shower.

I think most know about this lounge - its very large with numerous cooking stations. Took a few pics anyway.

Entry via scan of BP - no dragons.













Booze is available on several discrete carts



Amazing number of flights leaving same time as, or within 5 mins of my 18:55 MAD flight



A 40 min wait for a shower - there must be at least 20 of them.

 

[RooFlyer]

I calculated that boarding for my B737-900 MAX wouldn't be boarding the advertised hour prior, so I finished my shower and ambled out of the lounge - having eastern nothing and drunk only a glass of 'raspberry'. As usual, a long walk through a crowded concourse to gate A3B where most of th pax were waiting at 18:15 (flight at 18:55). We started boarding at 18:20 and all on board and ready to push back by 18:55.

The flight was MAD was blocked 18:55- 22:35 but the captain announce that we'd be at the gate by 10:00, a blessing as I was really wilting by that time. I knew I'd have to go though the EU EES registration process at Madrid, not one of my favourite airlines for timely bag retrieval.

True business class, oodles of room in my 2B and even little privacy dividers.







The privacy dividers work front and back, not just side/side.



DDBs (2 rounds); I think sparkling was also offered.





Business was ha;f full and most took the opportunity to recline, and blankets (and pillows at the seats) were provided.

This were the starters and desert for the main service. I skipped the mains.

 

[RooFlyer]

The airport was pretty deserted when we arrived and I followed the line to non-EU citizen passport registration for EES. Quite a simple process : via machine, scan passport, took photo, fingerprints of right hand then you advanced to another auto gate and then to a guy in a kiosk who checked that thing and stamped the passport.

Then had to try and find the Uber pick up point. Made more difficult than it should’ve been because some of the exit doors were closed but eventually I found the door follow the signs to Uber in one of the car parks.

Uber arrived okay and took me 10 minutes to the Melia INNSide Valdeberas hotel. It was the closest hotel to T4 I could find although I think there is an Ibis nearby as well. I joined the Melia loyalty program and got an instant 2000 points which I put towards the stay so got it for 190 euro for a standard king.

There is a shuttle to T4, half hourly which takes 10 mins.

Seemed pretty new and nice, sort of a Scandinavian vibe inside. The Uber driver said that hotels were being built here for the F1 race that will be here later this year. @JessicaTam may wish to take note.





Room is pretty basic, but the air-conditioner works well and quietly and there are half a dozen free water in juices in the fridge.





I took half a strong sleeping pill and slept pretty well. Breakfast was included and the buffet was very good.









View from my room

 

[JessicaTam]

Seemed pretty new and nice, sort of a Scandinavian vibe inside. The Uber driver said that hotels were being built here for the F1 race that will be here later this year. @JessicaTam may wish to take note.

Thanks. Tickets and hotel booked.

 

[Pushka]

The toilet situation sounds a bit grim

 

[RooFlyer]

The toilet situation sounds a bit grim

TBH I only saw a queue a couple times and they happened to be the one that I went to because it was nearest to me. And once an economy passenger said “ after you” when it was obvious that I was from the business section. Economy and business sort of met face to face at the toilet door.

Business pax not having PJs made a big difference to the bathroom use earlier and late in the flight, it seems.

 

[RooFlyer]

An efficient shuttle to the airport at 9am, found the IB Business check in, and Fast Track took me through security, quick-smart.

The IB lounge was ok - not quite what I expect at a base lounge.







I left the lounge early, as usual and did a couple of laps around T4 before they announced the gate.



Bus gate, then something I haven’t experienced before. I was in 1A so could see but not understand what was being said. Boarding finished, then 2 girls, maybe 8 and 14 ‘held’ at the front and a lot of messaging between ground crew, cabin crew and flight deck going back and forth.

I gathered that they were travelling, but parental consent was not evident. After 25 mins, the older girl was led off the plane. No tears or grief - the girls appeared to understand the situation. Later, the pilot came on and explained much the same. ?? Should have been detected at the gate?

 

[Lat34]

Following your trip report with great interest. Particularly the cruise around Sicily & activities in Malta/ Valetta.

Team Lat34 has a Nile cruise booked 22 to 29 Sep. We had no flight bookings in place when the ME debacle kicked off but had originally intended travelling through DXB both ways, with a Dubai stopover for a couple of days on the way home.

Rough plan DXB to either MAD or LIS for some pre-cruise activities in Portugal and/or southwest Spain (+Gibraltar ?) then make our way to Cairo. Post-cruise plan was a Jordan tour then round out the experience with some time seeing Malta (fly into Catania then make our way down the coast to Pozzallo to catch the ferry to Valetta; we toured part of Sicily last year - Palermo, Catania, Mt Etna and Taormina).

The ME situation has put us off DXB & DOH routes so we are now thinking possibly the new QF SYD-SIN-CDG route might be a better alternative as we have a friend who lives in the Burgundy region plus my cousin is taking part the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Nice 12/13 Sep. Perfect pre-cruise activities and what's not to like about France!

 

[RooFlyer]

Eurobusiness on an Iberia Express IB1609 dep MAD 12:35, 30 mins late. A321,1A, paid with Avios. Blocked at 3 hours. My neighbour at this point was in 1B, but soon shifted across.



Lunch of fillet steak, a bit stringy, but serviceable.





Flying over several of the islands a haze was apparent and on speech to LPA it was marked.





I learned later that this was the end of a ‘sandstorm’ brought across from the Sahara. The day before it was really thick - the day after I landed it had passed.

 

[RooFlyer]

I think I mentioned before that the hotel I had booked via Qantas hotels let me know a month or so ago that they were closing for a time, and gave me the choice of 2 other hotels to shift into.

I chose the Santa Catalina ‘a Royal Hideaway Hotel’ and it luckily turned out to be an inspired choice. I cannot say too much about this place. It was about A$400/ night, so expensive, but it could have been $1,000/ night for the quality. Both service and facilities were impeccable. Marble everywhere, luscious grounds and two pools.



I was in a standard room.








Entry foyer





Ballroom



One of the terraces



I’m always saying that I’m not a ‘relax by the pool’ type person, but this was hard to resist.

 

[craven morehead]

We arrived 30 minutes early and within another 30 minutes from leaving the plane I was at the Crowne Plaza at Changi. I’ve forgotten until I checked in that this was a points redemption.

I always request a Jewel wing room away from the elevator. I really like these rooms. A desk, lots of space and a separate bath and shower and always very quiet. Only glitch was that it was two singles not a queen or a king but no big deal.

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Up at seven, then out to terminal one for Turkish check-in, no big problem.

Ugh - Marharba Lounge only. I thought about going across to Terminal 2 or 3 to take advantage of my KrisFlyer gold but decided just to wander around.

Very poor breakfast options in a dark and dingy lounge.

Sigh.

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Decent room at the Crowne Plaza

 

[RooFlyer]

Another view of the main pool, from the hotel rooftop, and the rooftop’s own lap pool





It was definitely G&T time, on one of the terraces. Drinks are mixed at your seat



There is a wonderful selection of gins, and after starting with a familiar one, I found this - from Galicia , NW Spain



Spanish G&Ts are wonderful





Then it was back to the pool for a while

 

[RooFlyer]

There are 3 restaurants on site - two have signs ‘Michelin 2025’ and have degustation menus for 150 euro, with wine pairing a further 90 euros. Love to, but no. I went to the other one, outside table and it was very very good.







Bread you can sink your teeth into ... and get crumbs everywhere ... but I'm not cleaning ...



Brilliant anchovies on the lightest, fluffiest toast fingers I can remember.



Canadian Canarian wreck fish for mains.

 

[RooFlyer]

After dinner, a re-inspection of the grounds

 

[RooFlyer]

The cruise wasn't boarding until 4pm and I had a late check-out of 1pm, so after breakfast, at about 9, I took the 40 minute walk to the old town, called Vegueta.

Wikipedia gives some info

The city was founded by Juan Rejón on 24 June 1478, with the name "Real de Las Palmas". Rejón was head of the invading Castilian army, which then engaged in war with the locals.

The war began at the mouth of the Guiniguada ravine, where he settled together with his 30 soldiers El Real de Las Palmas, which today is the district of Vegueta.

The struggle lasted for a period of five years, costing a great number of lives, especially on the aboriginal side, which lacked sufficient means to defend itself against the armies sent by the Catholic monarchs. Even so, resistance was fierce. The end of the conquest came in 1483, with the incorporation of the island into the Crown of Castile by Pedro de Vera, who managed to subjugate the natives of Gáldar in the northwest of the island.

On November 20, 1485, the diocese was transferred from El Rubicón (Lanzarote) to Real de Las Palmas. The importance of the city grew gradually, with the establishment of the Bishopric of the Canary Islands, the first Court of the Holy Inquisition, the Royal Court of the Canary Islands and the residence of the Captains General of the Canary Islands.

In 1492, Christopher Columbus (Spanish: Cristóbal Colón) anchored in the port of Las Palmas for a repair of the rudder of his ship Pinta and spent some time on the neighbour island on his first trip to the Americas. He also stopped there on the way back to Spain. The Colón House [es] – a museum in the Vegueta [es] district of the city – is named after him.

In 1595, Francis Drake tried to plunder the town, leading to the Battle of Las Palmas. A Dutch raid under vice-admiral Pieter van der Does in 1599 was only slightly more successful; some of the town was destroyed, but the raiders were repelled.

The place was pretty much deserted at 9am on a Tuesday, only waking up about 10.





Cars had the fine sand/dust remnants of the Saharan sand storm, called a calima. Apparently it was quite a big one. They occur every 4-8 weeks, I was told.

Spain weather: 800-mile calima dust wave engulfs Canary Islands

LOCALS and tourists visiting the normally sun-drenched Canary Islands for the Easter holidays have been forced to take precautions after the popular

www.theolivepress.es

Benito Pérez Galdós was one of Las Palmas' favourite sons and a very significant figure in Spanish literature.

He was a Spanish realist novelist and politician. He was a leading literary figure in 19th-century Spain, and some scholars consider him second only to Miguel de Cervantes in stature as a Spanish novelist.

Pérez Galdós was a prolific writer, publishing 31 major novels, 46 historical novels in five series, 23 plays, and the equivalent of 20 volumes of shorter fiction, journalism and other writings. He remains popular in Spain, and is considered equal to Charles Dickens, Honoré de Balzac and Leo Tolstoy. He is less well known in Anglophone countries, but some of his works have now been translated into English. His play Realidad (1892) is important in the history of realism in the Spanish theatre. The Pérez Galdós museum in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria features a portrait of the writer by Joaquín Sorolla.

Pérez Galdós was nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1912, but his opposition to religious authorities led him to be boycotted by conservative sectors of Spanish society, and traditionalist Catholics, who did not recognize his literary merit.

Galdoz statue with Immigration building behind.



The city's main theatre, named for Galdos



Another famous 'local', Columbus (Colon) and his park





I found Las Palmas very pleasant - lots of parks and neat squares, very little litter etc.

 

[RooFlyer]

First stop was the Plaza Mayor de Santa Ana, a large square in front of the Cathedral.

The site of the Cathedral of the Canary Islands and the Plaza Mayor of Santa Ana was chosen by the conquerors as the center of one of the first urban developments in the Canary Islands. Around the Plaza de Santa Ana were built the City Hall , the Bishop's Palace, and the Cathedral. Also noteworthy is the Patio de los Naranjos (Courtyard of the Orange Trees) of the Cathedral of the Canary Islands

The town hall





At one end of the square are the Dogs of Santa Ana Square - 8 dogs in cast iron, placed here in the late 19th century, but who made them and where is unknown.