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  • Flixbus – Berlin to Opole

    During the 2003 Iraq War there was a Minister for Information named Muhammad Saeed al-Sahhaf, although he was better known as Comical Ali. Flixbus’s advertising always reminds me of him, it’s aspirational to say the least. My past experiences with Flixbus have ranged between dreadful and poor, so they’ve really focused in on providing a consistent level of service.

    I wasn’t going to use Flixbus any more because they’re really not very good. But, there’s something quite amusing about them, in the same way that Comical Ali attracted quite an audience. Anyway, on this journey, I can’t fault the information provided at Berlin coach station, it was perfectly sufficient to know when and where my bus was going from.

    And there were also screens to show passengers where to go, which is all excellent and often not provided by other bus operators around the world.

    And, information at the bus stop itself. I was worrying at this point that Flixbus would be providing an excellent service.

    The coach pulled in fifteen minutes early and let people board. This is also excellent, as it can be frustrating to have a coach at the stand and no way of boarding it. I didn’t work out what language the driver spoke as he didn’t say very much, but he was efficient and polite. At this stage, I was verging on being distraught that Flixbus were offering such a quality service.

    I sat upstairs in front of the steps, meaning that I didn’t need to have anyone recline into me. Although not one single person did recline, perhaps that’s the politeness of the Poles.

    And, I have to say, the driving of the bus was decent and the journey was comfortable. The temperature was appropriate, there were no disturbances and the driver made regular announcements. For the first time, Flixbus have provided me with a bus service which is comparable to that of Megabus, so I’m slightly surprised to say the least.

    I can’t say that perfection was reached though as the wi-fi didn’t work and nor did the power sockets. But I didn’t need either thanks to a large data allowance and a fully charged power bank.

    And, the coach stopped at a BP petrol station on the Polish border for reasons unknown. I’m sure it was important, but I could have done without the bus being plunged into brightness for fifteen minutes, although a few customers did go and buy snacks from the Wild Bean Cafe.

    The coach having arrived in Opole, around 25 minutes late. I’m not sure why the coach arrived late as it seemed to be on time at all its stops, but the delay was actually useful to me as it meant that dawn had fully broken and I wasn’t in a new city in the dark.

    My ticket for this coach cost £13.99 and I have to say, this was an entirely acceptable service from Flixbus. This is the first time I’ve been able to report that, so either things are picking up or this is just an aberration.

  • Berlin – Buddy Bear 112 – City-Bär

    I wasn’t aware that there were several hundred of these buddy bears located around Berlin, not that I was intending to try and visit them all anyway. The project started in 2001 when 350 of the painted bears were placed around the city, and the organisers have expanded the whole idea out somewhat over the years and there are now nearly 2,000 around the world.

    This is bear number 112, located outside of the Europa Center, designed by Anette Schulz and sponsored by AG City.

  • Berlin – Europa Center

    I’m not sure that I’ve been in many shopping centres that are seen as historically important, but the Europa Center is one such building. It was constructed between 1963 and 1965 and was one of the largest shopping centres of its type in the country when it opened.

    It perhaps feels more 1980s than 1960s, but it still doesn’t really seem that dated.

    The ground floor water feature. The Castle Mall in Norwich had one of these. Well, some buckets to catch leaking water anyway.

    Looking down from the first floor onto the ground floor.

    The shopping centre’s pride and joy, the ‘Clock of Flowing Time’ which shows the time by filling spheres with luminous fluid.

  • Berlin – Pendelobelisk

    This subtle little sculpture is designed to let people try and shift it slightly and then make a wish as they push it. It was designed by the Munich artist and sculptor Karl Schlamminger, who specialises in open space works. It stands twenty-seven metres in height and the ball at the base is three metres wide.

  • Berlin – Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church

    Located on Kurfürstendamm in Berlin, this Protestant church was constructed in the 1890s. It was badly damaged during an air raid on 23 November 1943 and a decision was made later on not to repair it, but to instead let it stand as a memorial.

    The name memorial church doesn’t relate to the Second World War, but was its original name, after Kaiser Wilhelm I who had died in 1888. Reuters news agency wrote in March 1891:

    “The laying of the foundation stone took place with great ceremony. The Emperor and Empress and the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Baden attended, together with a large military retinue, and among the other distinguished persons present were Count von Moltke, General von Caprivi, the Imperial Chancellor and Ministers”.

    There was once a grand rose stained glass window in the centre.

    More of the damaged church. The Nottingham Evening post noted in 1948 that “the spire of the church stands like a protesting finger raised from a mangled body”.

    This photo is from what once the entrance to the nave. The church was left as it was until 1956, more out of indecision than by design, but there were fears that the choir section was going to collapse so action was needed. Many wanted the entire church entirely demolished and replaced, but a compromise was reached so that the tower would remain. Personally, I think it’s a great shame that what was left of the entire church wasn’t allowed to remain, in the way that Coventry Cathedral was.

    Inside the grand foyer, although it took until 1987 to open this area up to the public.

    Steps to the higher part of the church.

    This sculpture is made using Carrara marble from Italy and it was installed here in 1906. The display text reads that it represents “a seated Queen Luise watches as King Friedrich Wilhelm III awards an officer’s sabre to Prince Wilhelm, their 9-year old on, on New Year’s Day 1907”.

    A chair from the lodge for members of ecclesiastical authorities and clergy families.

    There are 330 locations around the world which have these cross of nails, which are nails taken from the roof beams of Coventry Cathedral, which was also destroyed during the Second World War.

    Items found at the church following the bombing.

    The grand ceiling of the foyer area. There are some information boards around the church explaining how it was constructed and also what is left today. It’s a useful reminder to future generations about the futility of war.

  • Berlin – Ibis Berlin City West

    I had a one-night stay in this Ibis hotel, in readiness for my late night bus journey to Poland on the following day. Handily located near to the Fehrbelliner Platz U-Bahn station, not that I had the luxury of arriving that way….

    The view from the hotel’s upstairs foyer area.

    And the view from my room.

    It’s hard to write much about Ibis rooms, as they’re nearly exactly the same throughout the world. There’s no real nod towards the local community, although the consistency of the experience does rather please me. Everything was clean and comfortable, with the room temperature being easy enough to change to my required cold.

    The seating area at the bar, which is open 24 hours a day. The wi-fi in the hotel is fast, but there’s a strange log-in process where details had to be typed in within around six seconds otherwise the screen reset itself.

    The Accor drinks voucher. There was no gift in the room for gold status, although Ibis aren’t renowned for doing this.

    There was a choice between bottle or tap, but I went for beer from the tap. Goodness knows what it was, but it was acceptable for a quick late night drink since it was free of charge.

    The welcome at the hotel was engaging and friendly, always a bonus after a trek from the airport. Although  it wasn’t too onerous a journey to get here from the hotel, eight minutes to clear customs at Tegel Airport, two minutes to find the bus station, two minutes to find the stop, three minutes to find the correct stop as the signage wasn’t great and then a thirty-five minute bus journey to a nearby underground station. And then a twenty minute walk. That’s satisfactorily near enough for me though.

    The hotel was quiet and I had been given my desired room at the end of a corridor. It’s not one of the cheapest hotels, but given that I was staying in a city centre and the pound isn’t at a particularly good rate, it wasn’t too bad.

  • British Airways (Heathrow T5 to Berlin)

    Today’s expedition was to Berlin Tegel airport and, as usual, I arrived hopelessly early in the day to ensconce myself into the BA lounge. It was evident from the volume of rain hitting the roof of Heathrow T5 B Gates building that there were going to be some weather issues, although there were only a few cancellations and relatively minor delays.

    Fortunately, my flight was only delayed by around an hour, although there’s always the fear of a creeping delay where that one hour turns into two or three.

    Boarding was from gate A2 and I fail to understand why BA don’t make this process easier to understand. They did have separate queues for the different boarding groups, with groups 1 and 2 each having their own lane, and groups 3 to 5 were merged into one lane. But, in a piece of design brilliance, the lane for groups 3 to 5 was in front of groups 1 and 2 and so the others couldn’t be easily accessed. I’m not important enough for group 1, but I can sneak into group 2 and it took quite a determined staff member to get me, and some others, to the right place.

    There’s the aircraft at the end of the airbridge, which was registration G-EUOE, an Airbus A319 which British Airways have been using since it was manufactured in 2001.

    The aircraft was clean, although the crew had their usual challenge of trying to fit all the hand baggage into the overhead lockers. It’s the one disadvantage of exit row seats for me, having to engage in this whole overhead baggage game. This is a problem for me as my bag is relatively small, and usually there is someone with a ridiculously sized cabin bag who takes great exception to my small bag being in the lockers. So they try and shove it somewhere else. Always unsuccessfully I’d add.

    Waiting on the tarmac for departure, with the captain sounding professional and fitting the British Airways brand perfectly. I was also pleased to note that there was silence during the safety demonstration, it makes things feel so much calmer. Indeed, the whole flight seemed calm and the crew were efficient and polite.

    We landed around sixty minutes late, with the pilot being able to make up a few minutes of the delay en route. I flew to Berlin Tegel around five years ago and thought it’d likely be the last time there as operations are being moved to Berlin Brandenburg Airport. Unfortunately, this is currently one of the world’s most mocked projects, with an opening expected nearly one decade late. All of which means that Tegel is looking quite rickety and spending more money on it is pointless given that it will all be demolished soon.

    Anyway, this flight was a Reward Flight Saver (RFS) so it cost £17.50 plus 4,000 Avios points.

  • Shoreditch – Brewdog

    Having arrived into London Liverpool railway station, I had no shortage of food and drink options in the Spitalfields and Shoreditch area of the city. I’ve been converted to Brewdog now, after initially taking a slight dislike to them for their corporate practices (which seem to have  now been moderated somewhat), so I thought that the ten-minute walk to their Shoreditch location was worth it.

    Not particularly busy at 16:00 in the afternoon, although it did get busier later on. Lots of different seating styles, including bar stools, tables and booths. All clean as well, with the surfaces not being sticky, which is an irritating feature of some large pubs.

    The Brewdog beer fridge, with choices to take away, or for a premium, drink at the pub.

    The beer choice, but my preferred option of Zombie Cake had run out and the only other dark option was an imperial stout and I didn’t want that strong a beer.

    Half a pint of Dead Pony Club and a sample of Clockwork Tangerine. There are a lot of hops in the Dead Pony Club, which is fruity and citrusy. Not my preferred type of beer, but full of flavour and very drinkable. Incidentally, I didn’t think that the Clockwork Tangerine had quite the strength of tangerine that I was expecting, but it was also light and drinkable.

    The meat feast pizza, which was a slight challenge to eat as the ingredients slid off the base with some ease. But, food should sometimes be messy, so it’s all about the taste. Actually, it’s about the temperature as well, which was very hot and I was a bit too eager to get started so nearly burnt the top of my mouth.

    As a pizza, we’ve established it was served at a hot temperature, but the ingredients were decent, the base was light and the sauce rich and flavoursome.

    The manufacturers of Dalston chillies say that “there is no junk” in their products and I have to say, I liked it. Quite a powerful little kick without being stupidly hot, so this complemented the pizza well. Although I might have got a bit exuberant with the amount of the sauce I put on one piece of the pizza, which required another emergency drink of beer.

    It’s painfully clear from the customers that this is a very on-trend brand and it’s perfectly suited to Shoreditch. There’s a contemporary and modern feel to the whole proceedings, which is also coupled with excellent customer service.

    If I could find fault, it’s one of those locations where some of the staff seem to be doing the majority of the work, whilst some of the others were perhaps preening themselves just a little too much. But, all told, the surroundings are comfortable and everything was as I’d like it to be. Other than they needed more darker beer selections.

  • Camino de Santiago – Summary

    For the last week I’ve been in Spain walking the last 120 kilometres of the Camino de Santiago. We opted to complete the most popular of the routes, the Camino Francés, which as its name suggests actually starts back in France. We started from Sarria and took five days to reach the end, staying in some comfort and avoiding the more traditional option of staying in hostels.

    There were eight of us from Hike Norfolk who took part, and as everyone who reads this can imagine, I was the bravest. We were joined on part of the route by Susanna and Jim, who seemed to spend most of their journey on the train, but I didn’t say anything so as to not cause offence.

    Anyway, this is the summary page that I’ll leave here to link in all the separate blog posts. I’ve posted elsewhere about my final thoughts on this trip.

    GETTING THERE:

    Day Zero

    THE WALK

    Day One : Sarria to Portomarin

    Day Two : Portomarin to Palas de Rei

    Day Three : Palas de Rei to Arzúa

    Day Four : Arzúa to O Pedrouzo

    Day Five : O Pedrouzo to Santiago de Compostela

    DAY IN SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA

    Streets of Santiago de Compostela

    Mercado de Abastos de Santiago

    Cafe Blu

    GOING HOME

    Ryanair Flight

  • Ryanair (Santiago de Compostela Airport to London Stansted)

    I don’t often write up my flights on Ryanair, as there’s a limited amount that can be said about the experience. The boarding process is though becoming slightly farcical as the priority queue has now increased to being around 75% of everyone boarding, although I have to say that it is an organised process.

    The aircraft was EI-FZL, a Boeing 737-800, which Ryanair had purchased in April 2017. The aircraft set off on time and was also back in Stansted on time.

    The seating on board, which was clean and sufficiently spacious given that this is a budget airline. I had been automatically allocated an aisle seat for free (woooo), with the other two passengers on this row arriving soon after I took the photo.

    The safety demonstration was appalling and one of the worst that I can recall on any flight. The crew did nothing to try and quieten the cabin down and I’m not sure that many people were able to hear the safety announcements. I’ve been on British Airways and American Airlines flights where the crew have stopped the demonstration if the cabin wasn’t quiet, which does reassure me somewhat that the crew are focused on safety.

    I couldn’t hear the announcements from the pilots either due to the cabin noise, which is not a problem, but isn’t ideal. The flight was the usual constant process of trying to sell things to customers, which is fine given the price of the flight, but it’s again not conducive to a peaceful flight. And, on this particular flight, there were two crew members who didn’t seem to be entirely nimble on their feet and managed to keep bumping into passengers on the aisle seats.

    I can’t recall how many Ryanair flights I’ve taken, I think it’s something around the eighty sectors mark over the last ten years. I’m now reluctant to book with them again though, primarily because the outbound flight was potentially caught up in the crew strikes. This concerns me because Ryanair’s IRROPS handling is inadequate and although I’ve never had a problem, it’s an additional factor which I’d rather not have to be concerned about. And, frankly, I’ve become too attached to Oneworld airlines (not literally, although British Airways do need to clean their cabins better).