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Tag: Hamburg

  • Flights – London Heathrow T5 to Hamburg (British Airways)

    This is aircraft G-EUPO after it had landed in Hamburg Airport, arriving on time from London Heathrow T5. The aircraft is an A319 which BA have owned and operated since 2000.

    I was able to board in the first group which was fortunate as the flight was nearly full. The aircraft could have been a little cleaner, but it looked well maintained and in good order. I was in an exit row seat which was sufficiently spacious and comfortable.

    There was a crew member who seemed to be new and he was being ultra efficient in term of his security protocol. I’d far rather that he was like that than not caring, but he had a passenger remove a book from the seat pocket as they were in an exit row, which seemed slightly excessive. At the end of the flight the same crew member tried to get the customer in front of me to return his seat to the original position, which confused the seat occupant as he was in a seat which didn’t even recline. The crew member was polite though, and I liked his enthusiasm, with the entire crew seeming to work well together.

    From the in-flight menu, this is the page which brought British Airways to the attention of that media titan, the Daily Mail. The afternoon tea doesn’t include a cup of tea, which is only sort of mentioned in the description.

    The flight was fifteen minutes late in leaving Heathrow T5 due to congestion at the airport. The pilot explained he’d be remaining at the stand, as opposed to waiting in a queue on the runway, in a bid to save fuel. The pilot gave regular updates and fortunately he was able to make up time during the flight so we landed on time.

    This was yet another comfortable flight with British Airways, nothing spectacular, but efficient, well managed and organised.

  • Hamburg – Hamburg Harbour

    Just some photos from around Hamburg Harbour….

  • Hamburg – Stumbling Stones

    I’ve seen projects such as this in other cities in Germany, but Hamburg is the only location where this receives finance and support from the city council. The aim of the project is to mark the location of where people lived or worked until they were deported or killed by the Nazis during the Second World War.

    There’s a marvellous web-site behind this project at http://www.stolpersteine-hamburg.de/ which gives details of each of the plaques. I was surprised when I saw just how many of these plaques there are around Hamburg, it’s now in excess of 5,000 and what a wonderful project this is to remember and commemorate those who died.

    The plaques above are located on Bartelsstraße, although I saw tens of the plaques walking around the city today. The names on the plaques above are:

    Mathel Rosenbaum who lived at Bartelsstraße 76, deported in 1941 to Riga and murdered.

    Max Rosenbaum who lived at Bartelsstraße 76, born in 1882, deported in 1941 to Lodz and murdered on 28 March 1942.

    Edith Rosenbaum who lived at Bartelsstraße 76, born in 1899, deported in 1941 to Riga and murdered.

    Hermann Hauptmann who lived at Bartelsstraße 76, born in 1919, deported in 1941 to Minsk and then Majdanek concentration camp. He survived the war and in 1949 he emigrated to the United States of America. This information seems to have come to light after the plaque was laid (http://www.stolpersteine-hamburg.de/index.php?MAIN_ID=7&BIO_ID=4994).

    Mathel Hauptmann who lived at Bartelsstraße 76, born in 1922, deported on 11 July 1942 to Auschwitz and murdered.

    These plaques are located further down the same street, at Bartelsstraße 76.

  • Hamburg – Window Restrictors

    I’m at my luxury hotel in Hamburg, well, the Ibis Budget which isn’t really luxury, but I can dream. I’m on the fifth floor and I’m delighted to see that the window opens fully and isn’t restricted. I don’t like how hotel rooms in the UK, and it is normally the UK, are either hermetically sealed or allow their windows to open about 2 centimetres. It hardly allows the air to cascade in to keep the room cool.

    I take the view that most adults tend not to fall out of windows, and that it’s ridiculous to try and stop them if they want to. I can see the need for families to want windows that don’t open to prevent children from trying to escape, but in that case, put them on the ground floor and restrict those rooms. So I’m guessing here that the EU hasn’t put some ridiculous law on hotels to force them to restrict windows, primarily since I’ve rarely seen a hotel which has them. But in the UK, the HSE seem to have demanded that hotels ensure no-one can possibly fall out of the window….

    I think I’m with the mainland Europeans on this. Let there be air.

  • British Airways – Reward Flight Saver

    My travels, and also credit card spend, means that I’ve collected a fair chunk of Avios points. There are numerous ways of using these, and I usually just use them for discounts on flights.

    However, British Airways also have a Reward Flight Saver (RFS) scheme which means that for a fixed charge and some Avios, numerous short haul destinations are available. The prices aren’t unreasonable, so for my trip to Hamburg today there is a charge of 8,000 Avios and £35. Depending how you value Avios this isn’t necessarily the cheapest solution, but it suits my needs.

    As an example of what customers can get, a return to Amsterdam is £35 and 8,000 points, as is Paris. Destinations such as Rome, Barcelona and Venice are all also £35, but there’s a charge of 13,000 Avios for the return flight. Most off-peak flights have availability for these fares, which are all in economy.

    One of the downsides is that there are no Avios points granted for the flight and also no tier points. However, since I have enough Avios and I’m nowhere near reaching enough tier points for Gold, this isn’t much of a concern.