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  • Warsaw – Fort V Włochy

    Warsaw – Fort V Włochy

    Fort V, also known as Włochy, is part of the outer ring of the Warsaw Fortress which was constructed by the Russians in 1880s. The fortresses, of which there were ultimately 29, weren’t particularly effective in the defence of the city and they had to be upgraded soon after completion due to them already becoming out-of-date against modern weaponry. Then the ridiculous situation occurred in 1909 when the Russians, to save money, started to withdraw from the forts and they destroyed some parts of them. Then, in 1913, it was decided that they’d better start rebuilding them due to the threat of war. They were bloody useless anyway, the city surrendered to the Germans in 1915 without a fight.

    One advantage in the Russians leaving Warsaw after the First World War was that a decision was made to allow development outside the ring of forts. The Russians had banned this and it had held the city back from growing. After the First World War, the Poles didn’t really do much with the forts, although they were used when fighting the Germans during the Second World War.

    Today, the area of Fort V is a peaceful area with lots of paths and no shortage of lumps and bumps around the place. They could do with some interpretation boards though to try and explain what exactly used to be here, it’s quite a complex site.

    Anyway, some photos of the fort…..

  • Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue – Day 181

    Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue – Day 181

    The Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue was first published at the end of the eighteenth century, and given that the current health crisis is giving too much time to read books, I thought I’d pick a daily word from it until I got bored….

    Lamb’s Wool

    Grose is back to his alcoholic recipes again with this definition, which he noted was “apples roasted and put into strong ale”. The phrase first appeared in writing in the sixteenth century, although this was something likely done for many centuries before that.

    The origins of the word aren’t known, although some speculate that it’s from ‘La Maes Abhal’, from the festival of the Day of the Apple Fruit. I suspect it’s just named after the appearance of the drink, which had a frothy top, given that whole eggs were often added and whipped in with the drink. Actually, I’m not sure what the eggs were doing in this drink, just the apples put in strong ale seems enough to me, but there we go….

  • Warsaw – Paperwork to Enter Poland

    Warsaw – Paperwork to Enter Poland

    This is the new two-page form that everyone entering Poland needs to complete. It’s provided by the airline, although it was only handed out after landing and customers couldn’t leave the aircraft until they’d completed it. This is a slightly odd arrangement as it means customers without pens had to borrow them from others, which negates the non-sharing rule, although fortunately I always have a pen in case I need to fill out a voucher for discounted fast food. One customer didn’t seem keen to fill it in and tried to walk off without handing it over, but the Polish authorities stopped him and walked him back somewhere. It’s quite a detailed form, but at least it means that in the case of emergency the authorities can easily get in touch with those who had been on board.

  • Warsaw – Warsaw Chopin Airport

    Warsaw – Warsaw Chopin Airport

    Having arrived in to Warsaw with British Airways, this was the quietest that I’ve seen Warsaw Chopin airport. The immigration check was via a self-service kiosk, so I didn’t have to interact with anyone during that process.

    This moderately concerned me for a while, the signs for the railway into the city centre have been taped over. It’s also fair to say that there were nearly no passengers in the terminal, it all felt a little desolate.

    There’s a McDonald’s at the end of this corridor, that only had a handful of customers. It took me a while to establish what the airport had done, which wasn’t to close the train connection with the city, but simply to shut some of the connecting passages. Unusually for this very precise airport, the signage wasn’t entirely clear, but I was pleased to discover (after following some other people) that they had simply directed passengers to the trains via a different route.

    I do wonder how long airports will be like this for, they seem very sterile places at the moment, although at least that means they’re clean. The airport staff were also checking the temperatures of everyone entering the terminal, which didn’t happen at London Heathrow.

  • Heathrow T5

    Heathrow T5

    Just some photos from Heathrow T5 today, it didn’t feel that busy anywhere.

  • British Airways (Heathrow T5 to Warsaw)

    British Airways (Heathrow T5 to Warsaw)

    This is BA A320 G-EUYR after arriving into Warsaw Chopin Airport, an aircraft which has been in the BA fleet since 2013 and one I’ve not been on before. The boarding process at Heathrow T5 C Gates was well managed and customers were boarded from the rear seats to the front, which was efficient and has replaced the previous priority boarding system.

    The aircraft, which was probably around 40% occupied.

    I had a row of emergency exit row seats to myself and the overhead lockers were only lightly filled, so there was no problem in finding a space.

    Power was available in the form of plug sockets and USB sockets.

    When boarding, every customer received a hand gel and disinfecting wipe in a larger plastic bag, which the crew collected later on during the flight. The aircraft was as clean as I’ve seen BA manage before, so I’m confident that their new cleaning regime is working for them.

    The Buy on Board (BOB) system, which I always hated, has been scrapped for the moment and customers were given this bag free of charge. It contains a packet of crisps, a packet of shortbread and a bottled water. The crew members were visible throughout the flight, giving clear announcements about what customers could do. This was important as I was unsure of the process, so customers had to wear masks throughout and could only go to the washrooms when the green light was on. Anyone who wasn’t going to wear a mask had to explain this situation to the staff at the gate and the crew reminded a few customers to put their mask up over their nose during the flight.

    High Life Magazine is no longer offered in the seat backs, but it can be read on-line. There’s wi-fi which costs £2.99 for a flight, but I wasn’t that desperate to check e-mails during the journey.

    This flight was reasonably priced at £30.52 for a single journey, which I consider to be excellent value bearing in mind BA also supplied me with lunch and drinks in the lounge, as well as on-board snacks. All told, I remain very impressed that British Airways have managed to deliver such a positive experience given the ridiculous limitations that they’re operating within. And, this is why I don’t feel the need to switch to another airline.

  • Heathrow T5 (BA Galleries South Lounge)

    Heathrow T5 (BA Galleries South Lounge)

    Although I’ve been to this lounge many times before, I usually go straight to the B Gates lounge as it’s quieter. I wasn’t sure if that one was open at the moment, as Galleries North is closed, so I went to the large Galleries South complex. The lounge was spotless, there’s a real effort to ensure that there are sufficient staff available and everything looked ordered and well managed. I didn’t meander around the lounge this time, but it was quiet and easy to socially distance.

    The usual food and drink counters have been shut down, meaning that table service is offered. This has made the lounge a rather more upmarket affair, more akin to the First Class lounge on the floor below. There are a number of breakfast options available until 12:00 and I went for the club breakfast.

    The beer options, which are Heineken for those who don’t like beer, as well as two more interesting choices, namely Brewdog Speedbird and St Austell Tribute. I’m a huge fan of the Brewdog beer and it’s good to have it again after several months of not flying.

    The club breakfast of a bacon roll and potato rosti. OK, it’s not spectacular in its appearance, but the bacon wasn’t too fatty so it didn’t take me long to remove that fat. The roll is soft and it’s all perfectly adequate.

    Here’s the beer….. The food and drink was brought over within a few minutes each time and is ordered via a QR code. There were a couple of customers struggling with the concept, but the staff members were pro-active in helping them. There is a range of different seating types in the lounge, but I went with my preferred high seating and was able to plug my devices in.

    At 12:00 the menu switches to lunch and these are the hot options. There are also salads and cake options available for those who want that. As usual with British Airways, everything is free of charge, nothing is surcharged or limited.

    And here’s the Thai green chicken curry, which I think is way above what someone could expect in an airport lounge. Tender chicken and a richness to the sauce, it’s a perfectly acceptable dish.

    I was very controlled in the lounge, limiting myself to just ordering the breakfast and lunch options, as well as two Speedbirds. I haven’t seen the lounge in this good a state before, perhaps it’s just because it’s quieter. British Airways have done a quite marvellous job here in what are clearly trying times.

  • Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue – Day 180

    Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue – Day 180

    The Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue was first published at the end of the eighteenth century, and given that the current health crisis is giving too much time to read books, I thought I’d pick a daily word from it until I got bored….

    Knock Me Down

    There’s not much that I can add to this, but it’s a bit of social history recorded by Grose, being defined as “strong ale or beer, stingo”. I’ve had imperial stouts that should be called this….. A stingo is a strong ale, a word not really used much at all now, although Sam Smiths have a beer called stingo. The phrase was used in the middle of the eighteenth century and more commonly in the nineteenth century, before being mostly lost in the twentieth century. There is though one brewery, Zerodegrees in London, who still have a porter with this name.

  • London – Shoreditch – Goose Island Brewpub (Visit 2)

    London – Shoreditch – Goose Island Brewpub (Visit 2)

    I’ve pinched this exterior photo from my first visit to Goose Island, but the rest are from my second visit. I went as I had a voucher for a free drink, so thought this visit would be a marvellous idea after arriving into London Liverpool Street railway station.

    The tap list, which had a wide range of different beer styles including from Goose Island themselves and also guests. And, this is what I have to say annoys me a little about other pubs. I don’t expect country pubs to have this spectacular array of drinks, but it’s a shame that some make nearly no effort other than to offer some bland mass-produced IPA. Especially given a lot of this stuff is also available in cans, making it easy to store and with long best before dates.

    It wasn’t overly busy.

    The service was exceptional and the barman knew his stuff about the beers, which was a delight in itself. It’s rather lovely when the staff don’t just name beers, but also really engage about them. I know a barman in Norwich who was moderately good at doing this, but I won’t name him here….. The health requirements were well managed and one customer who came in and didn’t want to use his phone to sign in, instead wanting to write his name down, was refused entry.

    I went for the Eric by Brewski and the Forty Watermelons from Goose Island themselves, being rather delighted that one was free. The other drink isn’t a gin or tonic, it’s a water since I picked two different beer types and wanted something between them.

    The Eric by Brewski was decadent, a word I’ve been using too much recently, but absolutely appropriate here. Rich, smooth and a flavour of coffee and chocolate running through, with a slightly sweet aftertaste. The Forty Watermelons was a bit complex with its strong flavours of watermelon and mint, being rather quite sour, although that’s not a bad thing since it is a sour. Not quite as packed with flavour as I had expected, but still very drinkable and a nice contrast to the imperial stout.

    The bar is doing money off food and soft drinks at the moment, 25% off and this is a continuation of the Eat Out to Help Out campaign. I didn’t eat today, although I know from my previous visit that the food is excellent. Anyway, this is a quite beautiful bar and it’s another place which is on-trend not because that’s how they’ve designed it, but because others are following this sort of style. The staff members were knowledgeable and helpful, so this was another pretty much perfect visit.

  • Royal Tunbridge Wells – Basil

    Royal Tunbridge Wells – Basil

    Basil is a wholefood cafe located in Royal Tunbridge Wells and they have a couple of outlets, with this being the town centre one. There was a free table outside so we went for that, although discovered that there were also a few tables inside as well.

    The cake selection inside, which were all very tempting, although perhaps priced towards the higher end of the scale for a cafe.

    I wasn’t quite sure what was happening with the salad section, it seemed a bit limited in scope but they might have just been half-way through putting it out. For anyone interested, the options were (i) lightly Curried Slaw with Savoy Cabbage, Fresh Mango & Toasted Almonds, (ii) Quinoa with Avocado, Radish, Baby Cress, Cumin & Lemon and (iii)
    Roasted Spiced Carrots with Ginger & Honey, Toasted Pinenuts & Pomegranate Seeds. The service in the cafe was friendly and it was quite a relaxed location, with staff cleaning tables on a regular basis.

    I went for the sausage bap, with a soft granary roll and a rich and meaty sausage, so all rather lovely. The cafe prides itself on its wholesome ingredients and this quality seemed to be reflected in the food that I had.

    And the latte, which was of a suitably high quality with a rich taste. All in all, this is a pleasant little cafe, all welcoming and comfortable. Perhaps not the cheapest, but the prices weren’t entirely unreasonable and the staff were friendly.