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Belgrade Trip – Luton Airport and My Lounge

This is only a short post (with poor quality photos), as I didn’t really mean to visit My Lounge. I used to visit this lounge a few years ago, but it has been modernised and updated now with a new ground floor reception area. I had assumed that the lounge would be fully booked, but I went and asked if they usually allowed Priority Pass walk-ins. He said that it was normally fine and so I thought I might as well pop in and wait for my flight. You find your own table here, unless you’ve pre-booked, and there weren’t many left, but I found a quiet corner out of the way. Incidentally, note the healthy banana I acquired here. There really is no end to my healthy eating.

I’ve written before about the odd situation with lounges in the UK, and it is mostly the UK, where they are less business lounges and more ‘all you can drink before your flight’ rooms. This is why, I suspect, Priority Pass has had to come to an arrangement with some dining options at the airport, as otherwise there isn’t enough capacity. I can hardly comment on what other people drink (I mean, look at the state of https://untappd.com/user/julwhite…..) but I watched several customer groups here trying to get their value for money by constantly visiting the bar and I think they achieved their aims. I opted for just one beer, not least as it was Birra Moretti, which doesn’t surprise and delight me.

This is a bit hopeless as a photo, but I hadn’t intended to spend much time here, but I was trying to show that the surroundings are comfortable and tasteful in their decoration. I’m not sure that’s evident at all from the photo, but luckily I’ve just written it, so that’ll do instead. It did feel relaxing to be fair and there were plenty of charging points dotted around, with everything feeling clean. There were plenty of staff and so empty plates and glasses were being cleared promptly.

I did like their nachos, but the food offering was highly limited here. It was effectively jacket potatoes or nachos, which is sufficient as a snack, but the usual entrance price here is £32 and that’s a punchy price point. So we get into the situation where some customers will try and get their value from the alcohol, which means the lounge has cut back in other areas to facilitate that. For someone who doesn’t drink alcohol, I’d suggest that it’s probably better value to go to one of the restaurants at the airport rather than visit the lounge.

Although the staff member on the door said that Priority Pass customers are usually accepted, I’m not entirely convinced that’s anywhere near guaranteed judging from the reviews. But, I’ll pop in again if I get chance to try and get some better photos than the random rubbish I’ve managed to get here. I was going to get them during this visit, but then I noticed that the gate for my flight had been called.

September 10, 2024
Belgrade Trip – Luton Airport and Avalon

Following on from my visit to the Big Smoke Restaurant with my Priority Pass card, I walked the short distance Avalon for a dessert and coffee. It’s a relatively small unit with around ten tables and I’m slightly surprised they haven’t put some high tables around the outside to increase capacity. Anyway, the deal here was that I got a credit of £18 to spend on food and drinks.

My plan was to get a coffee and a slice of the Big Rock cake, as that seemed sufficiently filling.

The staff member said that I wasn’t spending anywhere near the allowance and she suggested a sandwich, before then adding other items to come to exactly £18. I wasn’t going to turn this down, so I then had more food than I really needed. However, I’m telling myself that this is an opportunity to try the various Priority Pass offerings, so it didn’t seem like a bad idea. The sandwich was slightly moist from the tomato, but the ham was quite decadent and gave the whole arrangement a pleasant taste. I’m not really a dessert person, but the cookie was chocolatey and the Big Rock cake was more than enough. I took the cereal bar to Belgrade with me for a late night snack.

The service here was always helpful, not least with helping me reach the maximum spend possible. I didn’t want to take a table up for too long and take other sales away from them, but it was a clean, comfortable and relaxed area. My latte was rich in taste and that might explain why I couldn’t sleep when I got to Belgrade, I try not to drink coffee after around 10:00….. The customers here looked rather middle class shall we say (although who am I to judge….), the whole thing feels a little more upmarket with its set-up than some of the other food options.

Incidentally, those on an unlimited lounge card can also go to Nolito for an Italian meal, but I decided that I really didn’t need any more food and I didn’t want to take excessive advantage of Priority Pass as otherwise they’ll end up withdrawing offers such as these. I will though pop into Nolito when I’m next at the airport, which is only in a few days, so my two loyal blog readers won’t have long to wait.

September 10, 2024
Belgrade Trip – Luton Airport and Big Smoke Restaurant

I mentioned in my last post about my new acquisition of an unlimited Priority Pass card, so my first usage of it was at Big Smoke Restaurant. The deal is that they give you £18 to spend as a dining credit at the restaurant on anything that you want. It’s not a huge amount, so it’s not going to get any traveller a three course meal and a smorgasbord of drinks, but it’s a decent snack. The service element was a bit fiddly, but it didn’t help that I asked to sit at the bar as there were power points and I didn’t want any of my devices low on battery. This meant that they didn’t have any waiter service to take my order, which might have made the process smoother. I tried to order at the bar and I was told they needed to find a staff member from the restaurant area to pre-scan my Priority Pass card, which they did.

I then tried again to order and this was going brilliantly until they realised that had left some breakfast menus out, and I needed to order from the lunchtime menu which started at 11:00. Again, it was sorted quickly enough and everyone was helpful, although this is a slightly fiddly arrangement all round. Here’s the main menu and it’s evident how far the £18 will go, or not go as the case may be.

I went for Smoky Chicken Wings and a pint of Electric Eye. The food took 12 minutes to arrive, it was neatly presented and the chicken was tender and fell off the bone easily. I decided I’d eat the celery for some variety in my life, which was particularly healthy of me. Would it have been worth the £17.20 that it would have normally cost? Probably not to be honest, I’d have likely gone to Boots next door and got three meal deals for less money. However, the dining environment was clean and comfortable, the service was polite and I was able to charge all my devices up which ensured that I wasn’t overly stressed for the rest of the day. I’ve got a new battery pack to avoid issues, but I try and remain fully charged when about to travel somewhere new, just in case something goes a bit wrong.

For an airport location, the prices aren’t unreasonable and I merrily listened in to other customers to see if they were happy. In general, they seemed to be and given the absence of a Wetherspoons here, it’s likely one of the better pre-flight options. As for the Priority Pass, it’s a handy option for those on unlimited passes, but it’s poor value for those on limited visit pass as it’d be cheaper to just pay at the restaurant.

September 10, 2024
Belgrade Trip – Priority Pass

This is nothing to do with Belgrade, but it will put the next few posts into some sort of context. A few years ago, before the days of acquiring status with BA (which I’ve since lost as I haven’t been anywhere) I had a Priority Pass lounge card. It worked well as I had an offer from Accor Hotels, but I heard too many stories of not being able to get into lounges and so I decided against renewing it. However, here we are again with Accor offering a lower price and also some Accor points, so I thought I’d treat myself. It has the advantage that it includes a spend at numerous airport restaurants, including at Luton Airport where I mostly travel from at the moment. After checking that I could use multiple visits in one day, I decided to go for it and just have to hope that they don’t change the arrangements any time soon. So my two loyal blog readers will now be seeing endless posts about random lounges that I’ve found, what a treat for us all.

September 10, 2024
Belgrade Trip – Luton Centre to Luton Airport

Before I start this, I accept that this post is, well, rather niche and a bit prosaic. But, I quite like reading back on the connecting parts of trips and since it’s my blog, I might as well write the stuff I want to remember. I’ve walked from the centre of Luton to the airport on numerous occasions and I have to say, it’s rarely an inspirational meandering through beautiful landscape and undulating hills. I’m quite proud of myself for this photo, which I think is the most beautiful spot along the route. Although, if truth be told, it’s actually in a traffic island (the underpass is visible at the rear of the photo), but it does show the little river that weaves its way through the town. It’s the River Lea, which becomes much bigger by the time it hits London and is also the origin of the town’s place name (Luton I mean, not London).

Last time I walked by here, the Luton DART hadn’t been completed. It’s a ludicrous fare of £4.90 to get to the airport from here, which is a minor walk (for me, I don’t speak for anyone else). When I get a train ticket that includes Luton Airport station, it does though include the DART ride. Not that I’ve had a situation where I’ve needed to buy such a ticket, but maybe one day.

I walked over these steps once before realising it was much less hassle just to cross the road. This is always my sign that I’ve reached Luton Airport. Other major airports have an old plane or something similar on display, but I like this little bridge. One point of this post is that if anyone does want to just walk to the airport, it’s only a thirty minute expedition from the town centre and so for anyone with a backpack and no walking issues, it’s some free exercise before the flight.

And here we are, London Luton Airport. Does travel get more decadent than this?

September 10, 2024
Belgrade Trip – Dragonfly Bus 610 from Hatfield to Luton

It was easier than I expected to get from Hatfield to Luton, it’s a short walk from the Travelodge to the Galleria and the bus stop is just opposite the front of the shopping centre. Some sensible urban planning.

As usual, I got to the bus stop 25 minutes early for my bus. Fortunately, the previous 610 bus was delayed by 20 minutes and so I was able to board the bus after just a couple of minutes of standing at the bus stop. Sometimes the bus Gods smile nicely…. The cost for this journey was just £2, many thanks to the bus cap which I still think is one of the best policies that the last Government managed to think of. The current Government are refusing to extend the cap, which otherwise runs out at the end of 2024, but it would be a serious blow for public transport if they fail to do so. I checked what the bus fare would have been before the price cap and back in 2019 I would have had to pay £9 to use the service.

This whole arrangement meant that I was in Luton around 60 minutes after setting off from Hatfield. My entertainment was boosted by two separate passengers asking the bus driver if she knew that her bus was late. It transpired that she did realise that the bus was late, but it was nice of the passengers to check.

September 9, 2024
Belgrade Trip – Journey to Travelodge

Woooo, a little adventure this week as I’m going to Belgrade which is my first visit to Serbia. I had a little issue that I had to work out how to get to Luton Airport for my flight, but where there’s a will, there’s a Liam and his car. He kindly picked me up just before midnight to take me to the delights of Hatfield. I had established that I could get from Hatfield to Luton Airport relatively easily, although I didn’t realise at the time how easily, and the Travelodge was only £30 for the night. It’s not the easiest hotel to find the entrance to, but I was dropped off in good time. The staff seemed startled at someone trying to get in, but the check-in process was quick and easy. The room is the old style Travelodge lay-out, but it was clean and entirely functional. For the money, it was really rather good and was suitably convenient.

Liam patiently waited outside to check that I had managed to check-in. This is the confirmation photo that he wanted before he could safely drive off without me messaging him 20 minutes later saying I’ve had a crisis.

The room was very cold and I think that’s the state of the art temperature control on the left. I like very cold rooms, but I suspect some guests might not have been surprised and delighted by the arrangement. If only all hotel rooms were chilled like this one then I’d be very pleased.

It was all very peaceful inside, although there are a fair few number of reviews complaining about both internal and external noise. I noted a customer review which reads:

“Horrific. Stayed in room 226, all I could hear all night was the banging from the loud music coming from a restaurant across the road. Went to reception and told them and they said they have had lots of complaints because of it but nothing has been done to resolve it. I literally ended up sleeping in the bath till half 2 in the morning when the music stopped. Worse nights sleep I’ve ever had.”

I’m really not sure that sleeping in a bath was ever going to work as a plan, but there we go…. I quite like the buzz of external noise, but another customer noted:

“There was a man asleep in the disabled toilet after drinking to much. The area around it was terrible. There was rubbish everywhere, bed linen that someone had thrown out of bedroom window was just left.”

Sounds an entertaining evening…..

“Awful ! Truly horrendous.

We started to worry when we tried to park behind the hotel – men openly selling drugs , drug paraphernalia on the floor .

Reception staff lovely but the hotel have an agreement with the local council . Apparently their residents are “well behaved” but on finding one hotel guest on the floor of the corridor so drunk or drugged he could not get up . With another lady guest hanging out the hotel corridor window smoking drugs we decided that due to feeling unsafe we would leave .

The bottles of urine outside the front of the hotel were just disgusting. The hotel surroundings are full of groups of men hanging around . We felt really uncomfortable.

The hotel have refunded my two nights but I am still out of pocket for the two hotels we had to find as we did not stay in Hatfield Central .

I would not like anyone to feel how we did , this in my opinion is not a hotel for a lone female .

I have since found out that another business stopped using this hotel as female staff felt so uncomfortable

Avoid!”

They sound like a satisfied customer.

It is an odd design though, as there’s an open car park under the building and it’s probably quite a protected area for someone some poor sod who sleeps rough to stay dry. There’s a JD Wetherspoon pub about three doors down, one I’ve visited before and I can’t say that I thought I’d be back in Hatfield any time soon.

But, lovely as the stay was, I had to work out to get from Hatfield to Luton Airport….

September 9, 2024
London – Greenwich (Borough of) – National Maritime Museum (Kangaroo Painting from 1772)

This artwork was originally known as ‘The Kongouro from New Holland’, and it’s notable as the first painting of a kangaroo (or at least in terms of western artwork). It was painted by George Stubbs, alongside a similar one of a dingo (more of which in a later post, as if this blog’s excitement couldn’t already be topped), in 1772 and they were the only two artworks he completed that weren’t based on actually seeing the full animal. Instead, he had just skin and skull bits of a dead kangaroo which had been collected whilst the good ship Endeavour was being repaired after a little incident when it ran aground and nearly sank on the Great Barrier Reef. Goodness knows what the public would have made of this kangaroo thing, they wouldn’t have seen anything like it before. Indeed, it just looks like a big rodent.

The artwork was first presented at the Society of Artists in London in 1773 and it, alongside the dingo painting were sold to an Australian buyer in 2012 for 9.3 million Australian dollars. An export ban was promptly put in place by the Government and Sir David Attenborough led a campaign to keep them in the UK. Although the National Gallery of Australia really wanted the artworks, a large donation from the Eyal Ofer Family Foundation (alongside donations from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Monument Trust, the Art Fund and the general public) meant that they were able to remain in the country. The National Gallery of Australia’s loss was the gain of the National Maritime Museum, which is where both artworks now reside. The artworks had been in private hands since they were painted and were on display at Parham House for some time before their auction sale, with both paintings always being displayed together. It’s quite an achievement that these works are now on public display at a location with no admission charge, successfully saved for the nation.

Incidentally, I like the old spelling of the word, namely ‘kongouro’, although it actually started off as ‘gangurru’.

September 5, 2024
London – Greenwich (Borough of) – National Maritime Museum (Percy the Penguin)

I went back to the National Maritime Museum earlier this week and I felt the need to post about Percy the Penguin. It’s a stuffed penguin, although that is likely fairly evident to even the most casual observer of the photo, dating back to 1904 (the penguin, not the photo). It was caught on Captain Robert Scott’s first expedition to Antarctica, between 1901 and 1904, and the label reads that this fascinated scientists at the time as they thought penguins were the link between birds and dinosaurs. I’m unsure where it spent the last 120 years, but there’s a note on the museum’s web-site that a label said “PRESENTED BY THE CAPTAIN, OFFICERS AND CADETS, HMS WORCESTER, 1950.”. This is also known as the Thames Nautical Training College, so it likely was looked at by cadets for many a year before finding it’s way to the permanent collection of a national museum.

Bristol Museums also have their own penguin, collected on Scott’s ill-fated expedition between 1910 and 1913. And, if that’s not enough, there was recently a dead penguin flogged off at auction. I’m not sure what they intended to do with all these penguins that they were collecting, I assume surprise and delight relatives back home with them as I would have thought the scientists didn’t need a whole job lot of them to study them.

And, the Maritime Museum clearly likes Percy as well, they’ve got a section on their web-site on how to make your own penguin. I likely won’t to be honest, but it seems a sound idea.

Anyway, I’ve digressed. All these wonderful exhibits at the museum and I get engaged by a penguin.

September 5, 2024
London – Greenwich (Borough of) – National Maritime Museum (John Hawkins Painting)

[I’ve reposted this post from February 2021 to fix broken image links and also because I have more ‘riveting’ content coming about the National Maritime Museum.]

When I visited the National Maritime Museum a few weeks ago, there were numerous signs on how they were modernising the displays to be more representative and inclusive. This is an interesting interview (in.doc format) which took place last year with Daniel Martin, the Head of Collection Services at the museum and they seem to be pragmatic and forward thinking.

This painting of John Hawkins (1532-1595), in the gallery which is being reviewed, is going to present the museum some problems in terms of its interpretation. Depending on your viewpoint, this is either one of the greatest English naval commandeers that there has been, or he’s one of the men most responsible for starting the slave trade. Which doesn’t even cover that it’s Hawkins and his crew who brought tobacco back, thereby causing no end of addiction issues over the centuries.

There was a Royal Navy cruiser between 1919 and 1947 which was named after Hawkins, which does reflect that his naval prowess likely enabled England to fight off the Spanish Armada. The town of Chatham was so proud of Hawkins that they named a flyover after him, which has only recently been demolished. I’m not sure that flyovers actually need to be named after anyone, but there we go.

There was a book, Devon Seadog, published about John Hawkins in 1907 written by Robert Alfred John Walling and this condemned Hawkins for his involvement in the slave trade (although it made passing note that this often benefited the slave in some ways, which isn’t necessarily an argument that might be pursued today with such vigour) so there has long been condemnation of some of his actions.

Martin mentions in the above interview that it’s not possible to put every viewpoint in 150 words or so, which is challenging with individuals like this. The museum has though made an attempt on its web-site, where it has more space, to tell the story of Hawkins from different perspectives. I’m not sure I envy though the museum in its attempt to tell the story of Hawkins, as it can’t just ignore him as he’s an important naval figure and they’re a maritime museum, but they need to add context as well as to the impact that he had on the world.

September 5, 2024