An Eating Trip to Spain: Arzak, Etxebarri, Lufthansa 747-8 J, Swiss A220 Y / 777 J

[yflyer]

Breakfast was served over the Bay of Bengal...



By then, it was bright and sunny outside...


My selected breakfast options included yogurt, croissant, juice, coffee and the hot egg dish (The so-called "English Breakfast" on the menu)...



Fruit, pastries and birchenmuesli were also available, but I didn't check those items off on the menu card.

The cabin crew came round to distribute chocolate...



I took another stroll through the cabin just prior to the top of descent...

[yflyer]

A recap of our flight path...



We were now quite close to Singapore, off the West Coast of Malaysia...



A view of the 777-300ER wing, with its huge GE90 engines and raked wingtip...



As we descended we flew over Batam...



...before our final approach to Runway 02L, with excellent views of the Singapore skyline out of the left side windows.



Great views of the East Coast of Singapore, and Bedok Jetty.



An on-time arrival in Changi.



A longish taxi to our gate in T2.



The arrival hall at T2 had been beautifully refurbished...



A bit of a wait for our bags at baggage claim, but thankfully all our bags made it, despite the short connection time.

Overall, a very good flight on Swiss.

[yflyer]

My thoughts on Swiss 777 Business class?

If I were to characterise the overall experience, I would say that the overall service concept was very practical and streamlined, and just about what one would expect in today's business class.

I was quite impressed with the attention to detail, apparent everywhere, from the seat design, to the menu, catering, and service format, with every aspect of product and service thought through.

The Swiss hard product generally checked the right boxes: comfortable seat, lie-flat bed, and decent IFE. For a 2016 business product, this has held up quite well, and would still be considered a comfortable seat today, although it is not the newest seat out there. While the seats recline into very long beds, some may find the cubby holes for the legs slightly narrow, and newer J cabin designs feel more open and spacious. Of course, Swiss has a new J cabin product coming up soon, and that will enable them to level up (or even leapfrog the competition).

I thought the Swiss business catering format to be quite streamlined -- maybe a little too streamlined. It was as if a management consultant re-engineered the whole meal service concept and optimized it to prioritize efficiency over luxury. Starter, main and cheese all served together on a tray? Why not course by course? Breakfast ordered on a room service card? A tad impersonal compared to a cabin crew member coming by to take your order. That said the quality of the F&B was pretty good. Quality over quantity. As this was a late night supper, I did not feel too shortchanged by the abridged meal format.

At first I was surprised there were no international selections on their menu-- everything on the menu was Swiss. But after reflecting a little, I was quite impressed by how much of a showcase this was for their local cuisine.

Some airlines see themselves as global, for example I remember BA's old tagline, "The world's favourite airline", and EK always announces that they have cabin crew onboard from x countries and who speak y languages. By contrast, on Swiss, everything onboard showcased Switzerland and their culture.

I almost felt as if I had a mini-vacation in Switzerland, given how much Swiss cuisine and even culture they managed to infuse into the whole flight experience. Why try to be everything to everyone? If you are a Swiss airline, let your product reflect that.

As for the cabin crew, I thought cabin service on this flight was fine, but perhaps lacking that last bit of warmth. The cabin crew member in my section was courteous and efficient, but kept her distance, and did not attempt to engage pax with chit chat or pleasantries. Cultural differences, maybe?

I was happy with my flight. I had a nice supper (that didn't drag on too long). I very slept well in a comfortable seat, and I arrived on time.

While I would not use the adjective "luxurious" to describe Swiss business class, I would definitely use the word "quality". This was a business class product that was unmistakeably Swiss, and an airline I would definitely fly again if the price was right.

[yflyer]

Final reflections...

We had a great vacation. Northern Spain has a lot to offer to visitors. San Sebastian, Bilbao and Santiago de Compostela were all wonderful places to visit, each with its own character, with unique cuisine, amazing scenery and lots of history. Barcelona had the Sagrada Familia, and Madrid just wowed us with its pace and vitality.

Best meal of the trip? Too many good meals to count, including memorable meals at Arzak, Bar Nestor and Botin, but as an overall experience our lunch at Etxebarri would be hard to top. If planning an eating trip to Spain, it would be important to secure restaurant reservations in advance, possible weeks or even months in advance! Also consider the possibility that you may need to be flexible with dates and plan your trip around restaurant availability.

On this trip we also learnt that while some top restaurants could be pricey, it was very possible to eat super well without paying much. There were so many places where we ate well for extremely reasonable prices. And with Spanish cuisine, often the best dishes showcased the actual ingredient without having to do a lot with it. The ingredient itself, whether meat, seafood or veg, was already so wonderfully tasty, all it needed was the simplest of techniques, such as grilling over charcoal (Although mastering that simplicity probably took a lifetime!).

Best scenery? Much of Northern Spain is beautiful. We could have spent much more time hiking in the Picos de Europa. The Covadonga lakes were a highlight, and Gaztelugatxe was a must-see attraction if one was in the region.

For lovers of the arts, architecture and museums, Spain had so much to offer, Gaudi's creations in Barcelona, the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, and the so many artworks by great artists Picasso, Dali, Goya and others in the Prado and Sofia Reina museums in Madrid.

Most of the hotels we stayed in on this trip were excellent, but two that really stood out were the Ercilla in Bilbao, which was truly excellent in so many ways, including rooms, staff, catering and location, and Mendigoikoa Bekoa, the tavern in Axpe-Atxondo, with its rustic rooms, stunning location, and proximity to Etxebarri.

Most memorable flights? Probably a tie between the Lufthansa 747-8 SIN-FRA flight, and the Swiss A220 flight on the MAD-ZRH sector. The 748 because it was nostalgia for the glory days for the Queen of the Skies, and the A220 because riding on this amazing new jet felt like I was experiencing the future of short haul travel.



Thanks for reading!

[jammed]

Congratulations yflyer for yet another fantastically well written TR! Thanks for transporting us all along with yr journey - your comprehensively detailed accounts immersing us all to travel together with you. I directed my wife, who’s heading to Barcelona later in the year, to reference yr TR rather than Lonely Planet

[yflyer]

Congratulations yflyer for yet another fantastically well written TR! Thanks for transporting us all along with yr journey - your comprehensively detailed accounts immersing us all to travel together with you. I directed my wife, who’s heading to Barcelona later in the year, to reference yr TR rather than Lonely Planet

Thanks very much for reading, jammed! Hope your wife has a great trip to Barcelona!

[MAN Flyer]

Yet another fabulously detailed and enthralling TR, Sir!!.

It is safe to say I wouldn't choose the same dining establishments, but fascinating to read all the same.

And I wish more airlines still flew 747's.....

[yflyer]

Yet another fabulously detailed and enthralling TR, Sir!!.

Thanks for reading, MAN Flyer! Glad you enjoyed it!

t is safe to say I wouldn't choose the same dining establishments, but fascinating to read all the same.

Next time we meet, I'll do my best to pitch those dining establishments to you, and why you should go try them! :-)

And I wish more airlines still flew 747's.....

You have no idea how nostalgic it was for me to head up those 747 stairs!!!

[SQ777]

Amazing trip report, yflyer! Made me really want to
visit Northern Spain!

I have come to look forward to your reports for the food featured. As much as for the running routes!

Also love how you were introducing your daughter to all these experiences. Travelling with parents is always a privilege.

What a shame you missed out on the excellent whiskey bar at the ZRH E Star Gold (Senator) lounge. Probably the best whiskey bar in all of Switzerland, surprisingly!

Next time you fly via Germany, I would recommend Munich as the Senator lounges there beat the Frankfurt ones hands-down (none of these offer champagne which is why they still might be considered worse than SKLs).

Looking forward to your next trip!

[yflyer]

Amazing trip report, yflyer! Made me really want to
visit Northern Spain!

I have come to look forward to your reports for the food featured. As much as for the running routes!

Also love how you were introducing your daughter to all these experiences. Travelling with parents is always a privilege.

Thanks for reading, SQ777! Yes that part of Spain is very beautiful, with a very distinct culture and wonderful food!

For us, sampling the local cuisine is one of the highlights of travelling. It was great to see Miss yflyer no.2 enjoying all the food as well, and even having a go at many of the wines too!

What a shame you missed out on the excellent whiskey bar at the ZRH E Star Gold (Senator) lounge. Probably the best whiskey bar in all of Switzerland, surprisingly!

Next time you fly via Germany, I would recommend Munich as the Senator lounges there beat the Frankfurt ones hands-down (none of these offer champagne which is why they still might be considered worse than SKLs)

Thanks for the heads up! I didn't know about this whiskey bar in ZRH! Will look it up if I everhead to ZRH! I quite like the Senator lounges in FRA -- I've always thought that they had a great F&B and liquor selection. I recall the MUC lounges being pretty good too, though it's been a while since I've been to them.

Looking forward to your next trip!

Thanks again for reading!

[SQfanatic]

I'll be flying LH's Boeing 747-8 in December to Spain via Frankfurt. From Frankfurt it'll be a narrowbody plane.

Definitely looking forward to my trip to Europe after 18 years.

[yflyer]

I'll be flying LH's Boeing 747-8 in December to Spain via Frankfurt. From Frankfurt it'll be a narrowbody plane.

Definitely looking forward to my trip to Europe after 18 years.

Enjoy your 747-8 experience, SQfanatic! Not many opportunities to fly the 747 these days! Enjoy Europe too!

[SQfanatic]

Enjoy your 747-8 experience, SQfanatic! Not many opportunities to fly the 747 these days! Enjoy Europe too!

Thanks yflyer. I agree, not many and LH is probably one of the only few airlines left to enjoy and there's probably not many years left of it. Unfortunately, could not fly a 747-400 one last time to BLR (as my November trip to India will be on Emirates, still good).

It'll be my first time on the -8, but the first time in almost 15 years since riding a 747 itself. Flying all the twin engine jets, I very much prefer the 777-300ER any day,

[SINFJ]

I'll be flying LH's Boeing 747-8 in December to Spain via Frankfurt. From Frankfurt it'll be a narrowbody plane.

Definitely looking forward to my trip to Europe after 18 years.

Why do you need to hijack every opportunity to tell the whole world when you are travelling?