Christmas & New Year's in Spain plus Portugal mid-trip: Lufthansa 747-8 & A321

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Happy Holidays to everyone. I know 2023 has been quite a year and a rollercoaster one for me. But ending it with a few trips is always good.

Because my company is on a Christmas/New Year's shutdown mode, I've decided to take a trip during Christmas as well. For over a year, I've done quite some research on the climate of Spain & also Portugal. It will certainly not be hot weather, but it will be very mild weather (similar to the Bay Area weather, maybe a little warmer). Madrid may be colder on the other hand (but still mild) since that's a highland.

We decided to go to Barcelona for Christmas, spend 3 days, then go to Portugal and bring in the New Year back in Madrid. The trip will start tomorrow, so going to put a few early on posts for the trip.

Also. the last time we went to Europe was back in 2005, when I was in middle school. That time, we went in August 2005 to both UK (London) & France (Paris) and came back to the UK. To go to Paris at the time was by Eurostar. Unfortunately, back then we had no cameras on our phones like today and the pictures we took, probably lost them. My mom has been bugging for the last 10 years hoping to go to Europe again (given we're so used to going to India, Hong Kong, Dubai and Singapore) so we decided to make it happen.

Hope everyone has a great and safe holiday ahead!

[SQfanatic]

Flight: Lufthansa flight LH455
Route: San Francisco - Frankfurt
Aircraft: Boeing 747-8i (D-ABYF), 11.9 years at the time of departure
Livery: Normal
Date of Departure: December 23 (2:40PM), Arrival December 24 (10:30AM)
Seat: 32A (Economy Class)
Configuration: 4-class (First, Business, Premium Economy, Economy)

Starting the afternoon on a beautiful Saturday, just 2 days before Christmas. We found our Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt got delayed 30 min (2:40PM to 3:10PM), so we only left to the airport around 12PM.

Surprisingly, traffic on the San Mateo Bridge from Hayward on the Highway 92 corridor and later US-101 was not crowded compared to going on a Thursday or Friday, since the bulk of the traffic was on Thursday. However, getting to the airport, the domestic terminal side was more packed and not so much on the International side.

Check-in for Lufthansa.

If you compare it to the Emirates line (as well as Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific), now 2 things - The crowd is significantly less since the aircraft capacity is smaller than the A380 (Boeing 747, Airbus A350, Boeing 777-300ER, 787, etc). Also, my second photo shows like Singapore Airlines & Cathay Pacific, Lufthansa has a separate online check-in counter, something that Emirates lacks. They should seriously think about getting that line somehow.


Looks like any airline part of Lufthansa (i.e. Austrian, Air Brussels and Swiss are part of this line)

Check-in took no more than 10 minutes and we got to security and with TSA Pre, took no more than 5 minutes on the G side



It was 1:15PM and we still had plenty of time to spare.

Some pictures of Gate G concourse







With the late arrival of the Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt, our flight got further delayed another 20 minutes to 3:30PM



We noticed past the airside, we could go to the garden area, where you could see planes, and it even had a better view of the Lufthansa 747-8i, more on that coming up





We could see 2 United 777-300ER's, one of them likely heading to Frankfurt (usually departs 1 hour before Lufthansa does)



N2135U - This was the 777-300ER going to Frankfurt



Turkish Airlines Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, which would head to Istanbul shortly. Next to it an Air China 777-300ER that would also head to Beijing.



United Airlines Boeing 777-200ER



Air China Boeing 777-300ER starting up its GE90 engines:



And here she is, the Boeing 747-8i - This beauty only parked at the gate around 1:30PM, which caused a further delayed. Allowed me to have my lunch we bought from home and plenty of time after that.



D-ABYF (Boeing 747-830)







ANA Boeing 777-300ER that came from Tokyo Haneda:



We proceeded around 2:50PM to Gate G12 for our Lufthansa flight





Boarding started a little after 3:10PM by group number. Here's the best part. You didn't need your boarding pass or passport to show so instead it was shown by photo recognition, which worked out quite nicely for us.

Crew gave a very friendly welcome and showed their friendly holiday spirit.



3-4-3 configuration. For a 747, even that was very comfortable. I'll explain more in a bit



Here's my seat (32A) - Looks to be reasonably decent and wide. Pillow and blanket were given



Wing view around 3:30PM, gorgeous Winter late afternoon



The screens were touchscreen but kind of like the 2006 SQ screens that debuted on their 777-300ER and A330's





Our routing to Frankfurt - Pilot did not announce the total flight time rather than making up for the delay but it was a 9.5 hour flight total from take off to landing (but 10 hours if you count gate to gate, not too bad).



Pushback began around 3:40PM, a full hour later than expected



The Boeing 747 engine startup was much quieter than the current smaller Boeing 777-300ER and 787/A350 and (to an extent) the Airbus A380. I know the engine startups on even the 787's and A350's are much louder and somehow almost can clog your ears.









The cabin has a mixture of the Boeing 787 (whole interior plus seatbelt sign and sound) and the 777 (windows and window panel)



Even the Emirates Airbus A380 took off a few minutes before we did. This is A6-EVQ (the one my dad flew back on December 2 on EK225 to San Francisco)



Around 4:05PM, we took off and it was quieter than the 777-300ER, A350 and 787's. The take off sounded a LOT like the Boeing 777-300ER







A lot of sun glare until we flew eastward











Below is the Presidio, but hard to make out that was the Golden Gate Bridge



The crew came with a warm announcement mentioning we'd have dinner and breakfast would be served before arrival in Frankfurt

A few sunset photos













Lufthansa entertainment system - A few things. It's touchscreen, but you have to be a little patient for things to load. A few negatives are that you don't have a good vast selection of music or movies. The first few times, it took some time for the screen to load and even crashed but at least reset itself.



Around 5:30PM Pacific time, the crew came with a dinner service, first starting out with special meals.

Vegetarian lacto-ovo meal - Rice along with some boiled vegetables. I wasn't much of a fan of the boiled vegetables but liked the spinach. My parents had the Indian Vegetarian which consisted of paneer tikka masala & aloo curry





I took some of the paneer because I wasn't a fan of the aloo, and it was delicious. Lufthansa delivered very nicely on food - quality wise and presentation. Crew were super friendly and professional throughout the flight.



Shortly 2 hours later, I got to explore the cabin more in detail and walked too.



The aisles felt probably like the widest I've seen in more than 15 years, now I forget because I'm so used to the Boeing 777-300ER (just as comfortable in 9-abreast) or the A380.



Lavatory which looked very immaculate and clean





Whole interior - 787 based, window/panel - 777 based



The mood lighting changed to orange and darkened for sleeping



The blanket which looked to be really nice



Some pictures of the inflight map
























I was able to sleep a good 2.5 hours at different intervals and the seat for sleeping was very comfortable.

More on the TR on the next meal in just a bit...

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Somehow my iPhone took a cool night shot just before leaving Canada and entering Greenland



Downloaded the LH Entertainment System and found that app to be more responsive than the screen



Around midnight Pacific time like Emirates, the next meal service began with breakfast. The mood lighting



My vegetarian lacto ovo meal - Looked more oriental with eggplant, capsicum and spinach along with bread. The quality was pretty good. My parents had the aloo paratha along with some curry. They really enjoyed it. Thumbs up to Lufthansa on the food.



Sunrise also came along in Ireland while the meal service went on followed by a mostly cloudy day


















See what I mean when the window is like the 777




Around 10AM, our pilot came with an announcement we'd be landing a few minutes after 10:30AM in Frankfurt with reported drizzle in the area

A few views upon landing





























We waited for a bit because the gate was occupied by another aircraft. Lots of drizzle





Disembarking the plane past 11AM

Lufthansa premium economy class seats:





Business class seats:



Entering Frankfurt airport for the next 2.5 hours:





We had to transfer from concourse B to concourse A and I will tell you, it was far from simple, but it wasn't also that bad either.

First off, we would have to take a bus from concourse B to A and once we reached A, we would have to clear customs in Frankfurt itself (NOT collect bags) with our US Passports. Also, there was no security checks at all, to our surprise.

We then proceeded to concourse A gates and went to gate A34 for our flight to Barcelona.





Frankfurt Airport has a large shopping mall looking like appearance.













It was quite drizzling and raining in Frankfurt (cold but not terribly chilly around 50 degrees). We had a cappucino & some almond croissant, which was very delicious. German coffee is very strong but excellent quality.

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Flight: Lufthansa flight LH1128
Route: Frankfurt - Barcelona
Aircraft: Airbus A321 (D-AISB), 24.2 years at the time of departure
Livery: Normal
Date of Departure: December 24 (1:30PM), Arrival December 24 (3:35PM)
Seat: 19F
Configuration: 2-class (Business, Economy)

The fact of the matter is while Frankfurt is a nice airport (it is my first time and mom's first time), my dad quoted from his experience in the 80's that the airport is old and not much has changed. The issue is the further we got to our gate, there were less shops around that. That was a long walk itself.

Our Airbus A321 (D-AISB) that would take us to Barcelona away from the gloomy Frankfurt





The boarding time got delayed because they were waiting for some crew to show up. But we did board and luckily our row was not a bus gate.







3-3 configuration, the aircraft itself looks very dated





PPushback began around 1:45PM & it was a very quick taxi to the runway.







Another Boeing 747-8i, D-ABYT, heading to EWR as LH402, with a retro livery







This was treated like any domestic flight you'd take in the US or India....snacks, coffee you have to pay. Water is free of charge, they even gave that to us before beginning that service







The chocolate from Lufthansa was very nice.



Cruising eventually into sunny skies



I had the coffee & pretzel crackers. The coffee was excellent as always.



Eventually reaching sunny Spain.





Descending around 3:30PM in beautiful sunshine:

























Barcelona Airport looks beautiful - Kind of a mix of Dubai & Singapore Changi Airport













There will be more airport pictures on Wednesday as I will be going to Portugal mid week

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Thoughts on Lufthansa so far?

The delays were unavoidable, it was good to see a 747 perspective before heading to the gate, which offered only a partial but very bad view. Cannot put the blame on Lufthansa for that.

In terms of the crew, they were very friendly with everyone. When going for a walk or getting a snack, they tend to be a little chatty with their passengers (I did not expect to be honest). Crew were excellent, came with drinks first round of service before serving of meals.

The Boeing 747-8i aircraft, compared to the -400 (which I flew last time in 2009) is much quieter in every way. Engine startup was quiet as well as the takeoff (not as loud as the Boeing 777-300ER, 787, or A350). Coming to the entertainment system, I don't know how it's like on their 744, but I can tell you on the 747-8, it works with a good moving map, but no good choice selection for movies & music. Seat was very comfortable and easy to fall asleep in. Aisles while walking were very wide as opposed to the A350 and 787, which were quite narrow for my legs.

Food was very fresh and excellent and they cater to a good European and Indian crowd.

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We got our luggages pretty quick and got out around 4PM and hailed a cab to our hotel. Some pictures of Barcelona after 4PM













Placa de Catalunya, which is right next to our hotel. We would be staying at the Le Meridien, a 5-star hotel located very centrally to shops and restaurants and especially the start/stop point of Hop On and Hop Off bus.



We began check in around 4:30PM and got room 115 initially. The issue with the first room was that the walk in shower did not have a door, so later we got room 137. The room is similar and has a sofa bed.



Sofa bed which was pretty cool. The thing is when you have 3 people, they add the extra person fee.



Slippers and robe:



Bathroom with a walk-in shower as requested:













Some holiday lights walking around Plaza Catalunya on a crowded Christmas Eve night















Around the evening time, we went to an Indian restaurant named Chilli, which was a North Indian restaurant and had some malai kofta, paneer dish and some fried rice with egg & herbs. The wait time was long, took a while to get food but when we got it, it was excellent

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With Christmas Day being an off day for many sight seeing attractions, it still didn't stop the crowds around walking areas of Barcelona. It was a gorgeous and extremely mild day like the Bay Area.

Started off with some good breakfast around the hotel called Cent111Onze, a restaurant inside the hotel around 9AM

A few pictures of the breakfast area:









Loved the ambiance. You had a stand where you could request for an omelette for any kind as you wished to be customized

My breakfast for the first day in Spain - Had the Spanish omelette, some patatas (potatoes that tasted a lot like hash browns), and waffles. One thing I'd like to note about waffles in Europe is that they're sweeter, so I have a feeling those are Belgian waffles.



Around 12:30PM, because of the fact the Hop On and Hop Off buses were not running, we chose to walk around nearby. Here are some pictures of La Rambla, where we were staying around








We went to the Gothic Quarter and later Barcelona Cathedral

Placa Catalunya



Gothic Quarter. Picturesque view of the buildings



Some alley way streets to Barcelona Cathedral





Barcelona Cathedral and around it



















We dropped my dad back at the hotel and my mom & I went on the Barcelona Metro to Barcelona Beach





Barcelona metro (Catalunya) station just a 5 minute walk from our hotel



Very helpful guide especially to get the ticket (we got a 10 journey pass). We had to transfer lines due to the Christmas Day schedule, but it was a nice ride nonetheless.







Inside the metro (very sleek)







Pictures in & around Barcelona Beach

Very sunny & mild 60 degree day, like the Bay Area but the sun makes it feel much warmer. Taken around 4pm











W Hotel in the distance with the palm trees.











Had some tapas around Barcelona beach - Patatas (potato fries) along with some tomato sauce. Really delicious.



More pictures of the boardwalk around sunset (5:30pm)

















We took a metro back and had dinner at the same spot again. The thing I've noticed on Christmas is while many of the main attractions are closed, there's still quite some crowd on Christmas Day everywhere. So the crowd and city don't stop on Christmas like it does in some places in the US (i.e. San Francisco). The beach and many shops are still open with plenty to do. However, all tourist buses do not operate on Christmas Day



A few last bit of Holiday lights in Barcelona including Santa who sang all Christmas songs with Feliz Navidad

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The day after Christmas was the last day of our trip in Barcelona before heading to Portugal for 2 days

Our sleep was a little bit crazy because we slept before 10PM but woke up around 5:30AM. The odd thing about my dad is that he has the tendency to wake up early and expects something like a free coffee. They had such a thing and the coffee was excellent overall. `











As expected, we went to Sagrada Familia for our guided tour (very comprehensive) around 11AM and later Park Guell

Architecture of Sagrada Familia from the outside:









This is an unfinished piece of work. Lots of carvings with a lot of meaning especially with Jesus.



















Mary & Joseph





Baby Jesus being bathed



Inside the cathedral







60 meters long.

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Park Guell was our next stop on the list. The sad part is I made a mistake of thinking we'd booked the timeslot of 1 hour later the previous day. We missed it, lost our money, somehow got another tour at 4PM



Stunning view of Barcelona on a mild day around 4:30PM



The park itself was designed similarly by Anthony Gaudi like Sagrada Familia. There's a lot of history especially revolving along gardens and also architecture





Believe it or not this was Anthony Gaudi's house in his childhood. Now belongs to the Sagrada Familia foundation.













Lots of cool mosaic tiles.















Next to the Spanish steps





















Walking back to catch our bus around 6PM (it gets dark around 5:30PM in Barcelona)



Instead of going to an Indian restaurant this time around, we went to a Mediterranean/European continental restaurant for dinner



Hummus and breadsticks



Pesto & 4 cheese pizza, a little too salty but quality was excellent

[SQfanatic]

On Wednesday, we took a 2 day trip to Portugal as my mom wanted to cover 2 countries during this trip rather than 1. We started out very early around 5:20AM to Barcelona Airport. Little to no traffic but more on the getting to the airport part in just a bit



We'd be taking the 7:20AM flight on Vueling to Lisbon. It was anything but good. The reason I booked the morning flight was to maximize the 2 days in Portugal. `

A couple of things before I get to the bad part - Normal check-in counters do NOT have a person standing in the counter unless something else is wrong that requires an employee's intervention. You basically have to check in and print your luggage tags (we have 3) and scan them in a belt drop. However, that's where the problem started.

Vueling staff told us to go to the counter across which they made us pay 270 EUR overall just to check in bags. Very unfriendly staff except for the first one who guided us.

On the flip side, we got a priority boarding and seat with more legroom. Plus Europe has a Fast Track system, an equivalent of TSA Pre in the US, which was pretty quick overall. You can purchase a ticket with that option, certainly worth it.



Barcelona departure airside. Airport is very nice as I said almost as good as Singapore and Bangalore Airport











Proceeding to gate B44 only to find out boarding DID NOT commence as scheduled at 6:35AM. At 7AM, they said there was a delay due to bad fog and visibility in Lisbon.



Our Vueling plane that would take us to Lisbon.







We boarded the plane around 7:30AM, caught this beautiful sunrise around 8AM but despite everyone turning up for the flight, still there were additional delays for 20-30 minutes because of the fog in Lisbon



These seats had some extra legroom, not too bad overall







Taking off around 8:40AM leaving beautiful sunny and mild Barcelona









Landing in Lisbon in freezing fog





The arrival side in Lisbon was by bus gate and the airport in and of itself looks quite old.







After collecting our bags, we went to have a cappuccino & a Portuguese custard pastry (excellent). Afterwards, we proceeded to our hotel.

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We got to Intercontinental Lisbon around 10:45AM (15 minutes from Lisbon Airport) around City Center. However, the room was not ready till around 12:30PM. So we decided to take an Uber to have a dosa at Indian Dosa at a small shopping mall. Although I didn't take pictures, the food was still good.





We got room 1010 which was a pretty large Queen sized room



Bathroom (walk-in shower):
















View of Marquis de Pombal Square







We went later to Belem Tower & Jeronimos Monastary (the tomb Vasco de Gama).

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Belem Tower on a cold, cloudy afternoon







25 De Abril bridge. It looks a lot like the Golden Gate Bridge, because the same designer who designed the bridge in San Francisco did the same in Portugal.



Inside the Belem Tower















Beautiful architecture



We went later nearby for a crepe snack which was really good quality overall.



Around 5PM, we went to Jeronimos Monastary. A few pictures inside and outside of this place











































A few pictures of Downtown Lisbon at night. We had dinner at a dosa place (Costa do Malabar), which specializes in Kerala style food mostly. Had mostly some comfort food like coconut rice & tamarind rice, both of which were excellent overall.

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We started out Thursday our last day in Portugal going to Sintra, which was recommended by my coworker. I could have also gone to Porto, but obviously that's 3 hours away and no time. Maybe I will look at that in the future

View from the room, eventually sun did come out.





Hotel lobby pictures from the breakfast side



Nice little treat in every table; in fact we were confused that it was a used cupcake but not the case - it wasn't even a real cupcake.



Portuguese rice cake pastry (or muffin if you want to call it that).





Had some of the continental breakfast and left side was both the custard and eggs. My parents had also the vegetable rice, which to a large degree resembles that of pulao, just no masala taste.



Some Nativity decorations around the loby



Not an actual bakery, more of a show piece of gingerbread house. Still nice though.





None of these would be edible otherwise you'd see folks buying them.



Started around 12:30PM to Sintra (30 mins from Lisbon)

Leaving Lisbon



Lush greenery enroute to Sintra







Our first stop was Cabo Da Roca, which was a view point kind of like what you may have in California (i.e. Santa Cruz) to see the Atlantic Ocean (in California, its the Pacific Ocean obviously)



















The lighthouse





We spent briefly close to 30 min here. Next stop was Pena Palace. There, we bought tickets, but standing in line to wait for our timeslot was quite a headache.

As with many parts of Portugal, it's very hilly.



Couple of narrow streets eventually leading up to Pena Palace





Here's Pena Palace





Views of Portugal on a mostly cloudy but milder day





Lots of carvings, that have significant meaning































Going inside the Pena Palace

Nice garden



Lots of tea pots





Many of these rooms surround Kind Carlos & Queen Amelia with a ton of history.



















Going to the very top of the place

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We took the bus back to the starting point and took public transit back (bus) to city center. Had a coffee and a snack.



Christmas tree around the plaza

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As it was our last evening in Portugal, we went to see the Christmas Market from close by. Here are a few pictures of that

Marquis de Pombal statue with Feliz 2024 lit up









Entering the Christmas market. Lots of items and shops around



Wonderland Lisboa

























Afterwards, we had dinner in a South Indian restaurant called Kerala. They had dosa compared to the Malabar restaurant (which claims its not available due to fermentation with the weather). The quality in both were excellent and homely

Last few pictures of Intercontinental before we left the next day early AM

[SQfanatic]

Portugal came to an end for our trip. A few thoughts were that it is of course a very old country/city with plenty of historical landmarks and architecture. It was nice though to see a new country with a lot of cool sights. Like Barcelona it was mild if you had the sun, otherwise cold if cloudy.

Our journey started on Friday at Lisbon Airport heading to Madrid, Spain for the last leg of the Europe trip (which I'm still there even as of now). We had a flight on Iberia around 8:20AM and the check-in while long was still far better than Vueling. Even the flight was better.



Terminal 1 in Lisbon for Iberia







You can tell the airport looks old kind of like how some Indian airports are like.



Security check took around 20 minutes but the lines moved pretty quickly and there's plenty of staff in Lisbon to still keep the lines moving. After which you pass duty free before heading to the gates









We proceeded to our gate 15 for our flight to Madrid. Here is our Iberia A320 Neo plane with the Zorro Mask (EC-NTO)





The cabin and mood lighting were far more welcoming than in Vueling



Flight was delayed about 20 minutes due to the air traffic in Lisbon



Took off around 8:45AM. All of the flight became extremely bumpy and turbulent.





View of Madrid as it was a quick 45 min flight.











Madrid Airport is just as nice as Barcelona









We collected our bags and had a late breakfast - Huevos con fritos. Did not have the ham because we are vegetarian but they did offer to substitute with cheese so very nice of them.





A bit of downtown Madrid



We got to the Radisson Red Madrid hotel around 12:30PM and immediately got the room, 109. Not too bad. I'll put more picture of this later on. This is a pretty central place and reasonably walking distance to many attractions.



Nice bathroom, but small. Reminds me a lot of Raintree in Chennai/Anna Salai





Walk-in shower, which was really nice





Lots of roundabouts and a bull stadium.



Radisson Red hotel itself.



Took a little walk around Retiro Parque



















We will be checking out the metro later but it is very centrally located nearby.





Inside the Radisson Red lobby. Generally very nice and cozy like





One plaza square right across from the hotel which is really nice to walk around. An ice rink and a few coffee shops





Around 5:30PM, we took a walk around Retiro Park and a few neighborhoods around













Lights leading up to Prado Museum. If you go between 6 and 8pm, it's free, but you have to deal with the crowds. Once I have pictures of that, I'll post it up here











We had dinner at Taste of India (egg fried rice, shahi paneer & some curd/tea). Food was good but very spicy.



A busy street on a Friday night. Even Saturday night was just as busy. It's a bad idea to catch an Uber (We did for going to a tour bus stop to see the holiday lights). If you want to catch an Uber, you should go to the main street which is less crowded.

The good news is that the hotel is 20 min walk from here, which is good.