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Published: March 23rd 2008
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The Throne
The reason why toilets are referred to as "The Throne". Welcome to our travel blog.
Saturday 15th March & Sunday 16th March: Billy Major arrangements really began to take shape on the weekend prior to leaving. Marion took our cockatiel, Billy, to Newcastle, to holiday with Kerri while we are away. For those who don’t know Kerri she has a menagerie consisting of a dog, three cats, a galah and a cockatoo (not to mention Chino, another pooch who visits her fairly often).
When you take a pet interstate they are shipped as freight and have to be delivered to the airport, early in the morning prior to your flight, in a very small airline approved container. In Billy’s case it was a long narrow wooden box with a grill on one side and numerous holes drilled in the opposite side.
We are happy to report that Billy has settled in well and is enjoying being spoilt to death (or at least almost!) by both Kerri and Richard - thanks.
Friday 20th March - Saturday 22nd March: Getting There. Trevor Bankin very kindly delivered us to the airport and is looking after a few things in our absence (thanks Trevor).
Having been on a few long haul
Bankgok Novotel
The "modest" reception area in our Bangkok hotel! flights, we were determined to enjoy a better level of comfort than Billy in freight, and are making the trip to London “Business class”. This was the first time any of us have flown anything other than “cattle class”, so I can reveal what occurs the other side of the “curtain”! (It has always amused me that the economy passengers need to be separated from all the higher paying passengers by a physical barrier).
The aircraft we boarded was a 777, and we were certainly pampered by the Thai airways cabin crew from Melbourne to Bangkok. It was great to be able to stretch your legs out rather than having your feet squished by the chair in front of you. The food was also generally more palatable than most airline fare; Marion and I had Lamb Rogan Josh which was very nice but Owen didn’t care much for his “Chicken and Duo of Gnocchi” giving it 3 out of 10. But he did enjoy his frittata at breakfast.
One advantage of flying business class was that we were able to use the flight transit lounges to wind down and relax between flights. I had often wondered why the
The Tissue Box
Over-the-top service, in the Bangkok Novotel. loo was often referred to as “the Throne”; I found out why at the Thai transit lounge at Bangkok airport! (see photo) The toilets in the transit lounge were constantly kept clean by a couple of Thai ladies who had no hesitation in entering and cleaning, even while you were doing your “business”.
The Bangkok airport is shiny and new, about 18 months old and was immense (I would estimate at least 4-5 times the size of Tulla) and travelators were a must.
We had a long gap between flights and so spent the day snoozing in a Thai hotel room before taking off for London (via Frankfurt). Bangkok was hot and steamy, weatherwise, and the hotel had a reception area that was large enough to host three simultaneous wedding functions. (see photo) The hotel was also very swish, not only were the ends of the toilet rolls folded into a triangle but so were the tissues! (see photo)
The flight from Bangkok to Frankfurt was aboard a 747 (Jumbo) and was pretty uneventful, although long, with Marion and Owen spending most of the time snoozing. Marion found the seats aboard this Lufthansa plane even more comfortable
Costa Coffee
Just a small cup of coffee... than the Thai 777 as when fully extended into bed mode the seat was almost horizontal with the ground, whereas the Thai plane’s seats were at an angle of around 10 degrees.
Owen was blown away by the bustle and the number of people at Frankfort airport, even at 5.30 am.
We again made use of the transit lounge (this time Lufthansa) and had more toilet adventures; no, this is not going to turn into a “loo blog”! The wc’s in Frankfurt had automatically cleaning seats. When you entered the cubicle a sensor detected your presence and a covered sponge and disinfectant/detergent mixture extended from the rear of the seat, near the cistern, and the whole seat rotated under the sponge until it had completed 360O degrees; at which time you could use the newly cleaned, but slightly damp, seat.
The flight to London showed that the Germans hadn’t forgiven the Poms for beating them in two world wars!
We were herded out of the transit gate and packed into a very large bus (with a bi-fold section in the centre), and given a tour of the airport, before finally finding our plane. Once outside the plane we were held trapped in the stifling bus (it was more the humanity rather than the humidity), while a bureaucrat from the EU was chauffeured out in his private car (no bus for him) and entered the plane.
Once we were released from the bus we used two “old-fashioned” portable stairways to board the plane; first-class and business class up the front stairway and the riff-raff via the rear one. Marion noted there was a difference between the two stairways; the one for the higher paying passengers had a roof and glassed in sides, whereas the one for the economy passengers was open to the elements!
Fortunately although the ground was wet, it had stopped raining by the time we boarded the aircraft.
I’m not sure whether the seats in the business section of the A300 airbus were further apart than those in the economy section or not; if they were, it was only a small difference. The “compensation” was that the middle seat (both sides of the aisle had three seats) was vacant and had a platform fitted there that could hold plates and/or glasses. The food was also closer to the usual aeroplane fare, but we did all appreciate the bunny-shaped scone.
From our flights I would say the flying business class is definitely worth it (if you can afford it) for long-haul trips, but a waste of money for short 2-3 hour hops.
We had got a taste of the weather to expect in Frankfurt, but London was much chillier.
On clearing immigration and collecting our baggage, (I was worried because the last we had seen of them was in Melbourne, but all three got through) we went to meet Cyril, the renter of the apartment we had booked (and taxi driver), but he had been held up due to one of his employees sending our keys to the wrong person. It was suggested we go the Costa Coffee Shop in the terminal and have (another) sit down and a coffee.
I was the only one who decided that they would like a cup and innocently ordered a large coffee; supposing they were like large coffees at Gloria Jean’s or other coffee shops. I was somewhat taken aback when I was presented with a two-handled soup bowl full of coffee! (see photo)
Eventually Cyril picked us up around 10.00am and deposited us in our apartment where we all promptly slept for the rest of the day. The apartment is on the 3rd floor (Marion counted 57 steps) but there is a small lift which we used to move our bags. The apartment is clean and well-kept (and has lots of doors) and has most modern conveniences and includes a wireless modem. Everything seems to work OK, except for the TV (although we can use the connected DVD).
We awoke around 6.00pm and went in search of a place two eat. In a shopping strip around 100m (or should I say yards) long there were three Indian, three Italian and one Thai restaurant. Good Pommie fare!
We chose one of the Italian restaurants. We were a little worried by one of the chef’s specials which included (and I quote) “roasted aborigines”! By common consent we all avoided that dish. Marion had a seafood risotto, Owen had crumbed lamb cutlets and I had a ham and chicken risotto all of which were very tasty and totally free of indigenous natives of any description.
On returning to the apartment we got the internet sorted and crashed into bed relatively early after a couple of very long days.
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Harvie Clan
Andrew and Libby
Enjoyable reading!
I'm going to really enjoy this holiday - I feel like I'm living vicariously through you guys!!