Traveling Europe (VIE-ZRH-BCN) on LX J.

[flo]

I know I cannot compete with most folks around here as Vienna is simply a stupid place to be right now if you're into south-east Asian aviation. To keep my motivation with uni up, I thought of making a spontaneous trip to Spain because I've never been there and Spain is after Greece and Turkey one of the standard holiday destinations for Austrians.

Luckily, SWISS had some great offers this winter season that let me fly on Business class without actually paying that much. So basically I had to buy the tickets for me and a friend of mine and enjoy a glimpse of the "high life" everybody around here is talking about and posting pictures of. Champaign, lounges, good service and last but not least traveling somewhere new.

So, on 27/12 my journey finally began ....

We arrived at the airport early in the morning to breakfast before getting on our flight and surprisingly VIE was quite empty and christmas decoration was still up.



After checking in, we had to check out our local lounge (OS Business Lounge situatied between the two terminals) and to our surprise, the lounge looked clean, spaceous, not crowded and had a good selection of food and drinks.





We had some Do&Co breakfast at the lounge: they had grilled tomatos and scrambled egg. The drinking stared off with a cup of darjeeling tea with lemon. Unfortunately i caught a nasty cold a day prior to our departure.



This is me at the lounge:



This is one of the two bars, situated in the reading area:







The lobby:







The corridor between the reading- and the chill-out lounge:

[flo]

Chill-out area seating:



View from the chill-out area. You can spot the LX A321 we took and two OS 767 plane:



After take-off from VIE, we were served chicken pieces with cabbage:



Our cabin:



The alps:



Champaign! They served Heidsieck & Co's Brut Monopole Blue Top which was actually really really good.



Landing at ZRH: This is the plane parking directly next to the one we just took. A SWISS A319.



It was directly off to the SWISS lounge ...





... where we had another drink at the famous long-bar. The lounge was a bit overcrowded, so we decided to check out the LH Star Alliance lounge situated on the very end of the terminal. I've been there 5 years ago when I had PPS status with Singapore Airlines already so I was wondering if it still looked the same.





unfortunately I was so tired, I plugged my iPod in and dozed off while listening to Snow Patrol.

[flo]

The lounge looked the same as 5 years ago!



And I spotted a place I remembered: When I was here last (4 years ago), I remember sleeping on these seating areas while waiting for my SQ flight early in the morning so I took a photo 4 years later



but eventually we switched back to SWISS lounge, where I posed as a model for this photo:



We had to catch our plane:



and took off into the night:



eating time! This menu was actually really really yummy.



---

BARCELONA

We stayed at some little hotel a friend of mine recommended to us: Auto Hogar hotel on Paral.lel. It was actually okay, though it was not even near the standards I normally appreciate when staying somewhere abroad. The hotel had included breakfast and this is what I found there:



Kaboom

Anyway, we went to see Barcelona Uni as I might end up there for my ERASMUS program.

[flo]

Then we visited Sagrada Familia:





and finally we went shopping on Passeig de Gracia where I found a DIESEL store near a TUMI store I also checked out.



and finally we chilled out at the beach under palm-trees.

[flo]

Returning to VIE was a hassle because BCN airport was really pissing me off. First of all, it's such a hassle to even get there with public transportation, then nobody even speaks English or French.

Well, we were on the airport 3 hours earlier and could not check-in because the ground handlers told us the check-in counters open only 2 hours before departure. So were really disappointed and had to wait for another hour. But when we finally checked in, we were invited to Sala Salvador Dalì.






again sleeping a bit: arguing with ground staff is tiring. I had to do that. I really do.



Legroom at SWISS



again a glass of Heidsieck



SWISS lounge again, eating some soup














So now I'm back home and waiting for my next trip to CPH on January 3rd. I hope you enjoyed this little report. If you want to look at bigger photos, I uploaded a galery with the original files. These pictures here are only a small selection...

http://gallery.mac.com/florian.wagner/

Thanks for reading

[phaleesy]

The Sagrada Familia seems to be under permanent renovation. Cranes and scaffolding were there 12 yrs ago when I was there.

Great weather it seems. Oranges at this time of the year.

Thanks for the TR. Reminded me I must go to BCN sometime soon for the galleries.

[flo]

BCN was awesome. A bit cold though! The weather is intriguing: in the morning it's actually quite warm (15°C) while it gets really cold in the evenings (-5°)

I think Sagrada Familia has been under construction for over 100 years it's somehow really fascinating.

[HUGE AL]

Nice pics & TR!

[KeithMEL]

Very nice pics - thanks for sharing! I like the look of that OS lounge.

I too love Snow Patrol!

[jhm]

Thanks for the TR, Flo!

So basically I had to buy the tickets for me and a friend of mine and enjoy a glimpse of the "high life" everybody around here is talking about and posting pictures of. Champaign, lounges, good service and last but not least traveling somewhere new.
[...]
I've been there 5 years ago when I had PPS status with Singapore Airlines already so I was wondering if it still looked the same.

Actually, it sounds like you were enjoying the "high life" many years ago before a number of us around here.

The chill-out area in the OS lounge looks quite the opposite of how I'd imagine it to be - I think of a dark room with couches to ... well, chill out on whilst that in the OS lounge looks like a prison cell (albeit colourful and with port holes)!

PS What's a Do&Co breakfast ? The first thing which comes to my mind is the D in BDSM but presumably not that ? D-something and continental ?

[SQflyergirl]

Great pics, thanks

[lee_apromise]

Thanks for a nice TR. By the way, how come Vienna is a stupid place to be ? haha
Grass always look greener on the other side?? ^^;;

[flo]

jhm: yeah it was Do&Co breakfast. They do the catering fo the VIE lounges.

lee_apromise: thanks but VIE is really a bad place to be since MH and SQ dropped the route. the only viable chance to come to SE Asia is to either pay 200+ more bucks via FRA/ZRH on SQ or directly via China Airlines, EVA (ok, at least they're pretty decent) or Emirates. For me, that sucks because I need to get my Star Alliance miles

[jjpb3]

Enjoyed your TR, Flo. Glad to read that you had a good journey to and from BCN. I myself like the OS VIE Lounge, and find the decor more compatible with my tastes than the LX ZRH Lounge. I like LX the most among the European *A airlines, though.

CPH in January? Why???

[Lobster]

The OS business lounge looks better than their SEN lounge. Whenever I have been through VIE the SEN lounges have been so full that it is standing room only.

BCN is definitely one of my favourite cities. I spent new years eve there a few years ago and had one of the best nights of my life.