The search for Candy continues! (To Europe and Back, including the SQ A380 in R)

[Leroy and Bubba]

Välkommen till Arlanda

So we've all had a lovely new year - including fireworks and all, which mummy's detailed in these posts but it's time to leave old blighty and head across to Stockholm. Wonder why everyone seems to be going there these days.

Mummy's choice this time again, is BA.

Aunty Sarah has us all bundled off into her T. Wagon and we're off down some small lanes from Aunty JJ's place, then down the M4, followed by a short stint up the M25.






Heat n Row airport! That's where we're going!



Terminal 5 it is this time again! Looks very nice and modern don't you think?


Lots of ramp action as we pull up. You get a great view if arriving by car


Drop off area is pretty modern looking too.

[Leroy and Bubba]

Check in didn't take too long - mummy had OLCI'ed at T-24 and gotten us exit row seats again. Queues were also mercifully short. We used the fast bag drop option


LHR was, is, and will probably always be BA-land





As it turned out, uncle captain VB operated this bird into LHR and we managed to get a snap of it. Dedicated to him, as usual


Our ride today however, is a little bit smaller than his. We get the pleasure of accompanying G-EUUZ, an A320 across the north sea today

[Leroy and Bubba]

Not much to report on this flight out from a food and service perspective. Ham and cheese sarnie half, accompanied by a tuna and pickle other half, capped off with a breakaway bar. Pretty standard, we think!

Taxiing out we spot this aircraft, G-DBCC, belonging to this British Midland airline. Anyone heard of them before? Hope they have a good frequent flyer program!


Take off is via 27R today, so a rather long taxi from stand 511 (A11) - straight out, and then a right turn

Bye bye blighty! See you soon!


Turn continues till we're abeam of the aerodrome. EGLL/LHR - love it, hate it - it's still a fascinating airport. Shame it's a bit hard to make out in this pic!

[Leroy and Bubba]

The one thing we notice different from our previous flights on BA was the inflight map display.

Seems you get a nice NZ style display, which we first noted on our transtasman flight not so long ago.
http://www.sqtalk.com/forums/showpos...0&postcount=69

Looks a bit similar to this one we got yesterday doesn't it?


Just last week, on the way back from Rome, it looked more like this (older style)


Is it because:
1) It's new for 2009? or
2) It's because we're on EUUZ - the last of their A320's, hence has a newer version?

No matter - we think it's very cool!

[Leroy and Bubba]

A scant 2 hours and 15 minutes is a nice length of flight. We're on finals for Rwy 26 at Stockholm Arlanda, so some jiggling around to get lined up yet!

A right turn and we'll be on the downwind leg. 26 is the runway that starts on the left of the screen towards the center.


Tis rather chilly! The de-icing and tarmac shoveling crew will be hard at work!


And a very good job they do too! Look at how nicely "manicured" the taxiways are!


This TG 744 makes a small mess of it though - blowing snow all over the place as she makes a powerful takeoff run heading back towards Krungthep!


And we're here. Seems that banks all seem to like sponsoring jetbridges!


As we get off, we're welcomed by Benny, Bjorn, Anni Frida and Agnetha! Leroy and Bubba say thank you, and thank you for the music!


Quick hop, skip and jump - and we're in the underground train station waiting for the Arlanda Express


20 minutes, 220 swedish Kroners one way (240 SEK for 2 pax holiday special applicable now). Very comfy, and most definitely punctual!

[VC10 Boy]

Taxiing out we spot this aircraft, G-DBCC, belonging to this British Midland airline. Anyone heard of them before? Hope they have a good frequent flyer program!

Excellent TR too

[Leroy and Bubba]

Tis a bit chilly!



So we were in Stockholm for a few days - managed to catch up with a few friends (those who like to drive with their hands in the 2 to 10 position )

We managed to get a hotel very close to the Arlanda Express terminus - the Adlon Hotel. Not as fancy as the Nordic Light, Nordic Sea or Radisson SAS, but still it had a great location.

Needless to say, it was COLD. Here are some sights

Swans and geese and ducks on the water. Beautiful creatures!


Royal Palace






Inside the old town




Very festive feel!


Snow everywhere!

[Leroy and Bubba]

In the city center: a tad more contemporary!








Central Station


Ahlens. Supposedly scandinavia's largest department store


This Ice Cream bar should have opened. It'd have done brisk business in this weather!


Next up: Going home - our ride on SK/TG and LH

[StarG]

Thanks for the update, L & B.

[Leroy and Bubba]

The journey home on SK J/TG F and LH F

One frozen mummy with one frozen DSLR later - she cries enough and we're to go home We don't even wear pants and you don't see US complaining!


So it's off at the crack of dawn* (note, dawn at these latitudes this time of the year is 8ish am), straight down to the Arlanda Express station. We're told that a certain SQTalker might join us in anticipation of his flight but maybe it was too early for him )

Check in Arlanda Terminal 5 is a breeze - and soon enough we're past fast track (which wasn't really necessary) and into departures. Our flight today to Frankfurt is operated by a cute little boeing 737-600, LN-RPY. Mummy's never been on a 736 before so she's excited as this completes the whole 737 series for her - all the way from a -100 to a -900ER.


Load in J today is a light 3 persons and 3 bears. Capacity is 10, and interestingly, for such a small plane, it's sold as 3 classes, Business, Economy extra and Economy. There's a curtain separating J from Y+, but nothing between Y+ and Y except for a placard.

Here's one instance where legroom in a bulkhead isn't always good. This is 2A on the Euro Config 736. Dismal to say the least.


Legroom in 1D and F is not much better (with the exception of the cutout at the feet)


We're plonked in 2B, which isn't sold to humans. It says reserved for Comfort. We don't know who this comfort fellow is, but it should really be reserved for Leroy, Bubba and Blueberry


What you need is a nonbulkhead row, since you can slide your feet under

[Leroy and Bubba]

And we're off up into the grey skies above Sweden.


The matronly crew take really good care of us and we're given some breakfast to eat! It's a warm one, with Bacon and a vegetable quiche. Quite tasty, but the portions were a little small.


A scant 2 hours and 15 minutes later, we're descending into Frankfurt Main, which we we hope has more sunny weather.

Then again, maybe not

Touchdown, and we spot some aircraft. Completely unrelated to this event, we have horrible visions of a "club midland diamond" or something like that (it was vague) being eaten alive and swallowed up by a yellow crane. And the crane was actually being told what to do by a Wolf! We run to mummy for comfort, but we have the feeling she had the same horrible vision too!


Distress aside, we pull into B10 where we see yet another banking jetbridge.


On disembarking, we're greeted by a Fraport representative working on behalf of TG. She escorts us to the "First Class Lounge" ------ drumroll------- Ladies and Gentlemen, we present to you: What SQ/TG and other *A carriers (except LX, and maybe UA who we recall have their own RCC) F passengers use in FRA!

* yes the pic is an exaggeration, but it's not entirely untruthful to say that SEN lounges are overcrowded, horrible and overcrowded and horrible. They're horrible too!

Disgraceful? Yes, but not new news. We've heard all manner of rumours about FCT and FCL usage for other *A carriers - centered around possibly that the other *A carriers didn't want to pay LH for the use of it. Whatever the truth may be... c'mon SQ/TG - you can do better than that!

[Leroy and Bubba]

As the lounges were so overcrowded, mummy troops us off to a quiet waiting area near gate B26 where there's a great tarmac view, and more natural light.


Great view of D-ABVY Nordrhein-Westfalen pushing back and going somewhere far off and exciting. Mummy rode on her in 2005, she says.


Soon enough, we're at gate B46 where we're spotted by the same Fraport representative and she escorts us onto 747-400 HS-TGJ Hariphunchai.

Mummy's in 3K, Aunty P's in 2K, and the rest of us are on the wooden ledge.


Initial impressions are that it's very spacious. Most other carriers fit 12 seats in the A section of the 747-400, TG fits 10.






As expected, good legroom


The inflight manager comes up to us and introduces herself to us, and soon after, the lovely crew come up with the menu (the good), amenity kit (the bad) and pyjamas (the ugly).

First things first! We peruse the menu


The amenity kit was a disappointment, with very basic items, and nowhere near as nice as SQ's. No pics, as it wasn't memorable. Ditto the PJ's which were an ugly lilac. Never seen mummy leave PJ's and amenity kits behind, but she did this time!

[Leroy and Bubba]

We pushback on time, and are told by the nice mr. Pilot (in very good English, we might add) that the flight time was only going to be about 9 hours and 40 minutes or so. Nice and quick!

FRA always provides nice opportunities to look at planes. Here are some of the more interesting visitors that day!


Note: The smoke is not from startup, it's from the pushback tug!




Dunno if this the norm (first time we've noticed this) - crystalvue glass - Do not polish. We have to say they were crispy clear! Maybe these make a difference?


A nice feature of FRA is the sheer abundance of glass. Princess Hariphunchai gets a chance to preen in the mirror before soaring off into the afternoon sky. The 747-400 is still a great looking aircraft!




And we have liftoff! Just before a quarter past 2 on this chilly day.


We notice this lonely Kangaroo on the ground. She's a VERY long way from home that's for sure!

[Leroy and Bubba]

Our initial route takes us over the Czech republic. mmm! Prague and Vienna - maybe mummy will take us there soon to see Uncle Flo, we hope!


Just reaching top of initial cruise at FL330. That headwind will soon turn into a big big tailwind!


We partake of some nuts (cold, not warmed)


The menu for the first meal:

Frankfurt-Bangkok

First Serving (sounds like tennis)

Canapes

Oscietra Caviar with Garnitures

First Course
Lobster Medallion

Vegetable Salad

Wasabi Dip in Tomato Cup

Sesame Tuna Fillet

Duck Liver Pyramid


Soup
Potato Cream Soup with Croutons

Main Course

Roast Duck in Red Curry
Steamed Thai Hom Mali Rice
Braised Pak Choy, Carrot in Oyster Sauce

or

Roast Lamb Fillet, Barolo Gravy
French Beans, Baby Carrots
Potato Gratin

or

Grilled Chicken Breast, Thyme Garlic Gravy
Pineapple Relish, Buttered Fettucine
Oven Roasted Vegetables

or

Fried Fillet of Pangasius, Pizzaiola Sauce
Broccoli, Chicory, Fettucine

Bread Selection/Butter

Assorted Cheese Tray/ Fresh Fruits

Dessert
Cheesecake
Passion Fruit Sauce
Tea, Coffee, Espresso, Cappucino

Mummy chose the chicken and Aunty P the duck, but they didn't have enough of the duck so she had some green curry from J.

[Leroy and Bubba]

The Canapes! (yum)


The bread: They uplifted a stunning foccacia!


Caviar served from the trolley




The first course


The soup: Sensational. Had the right texture and taste!


Main Course:

Green Curry from J. We think that was better than the Chicken mummy had.


Mummy's chicken


As usual, we're too full afterwards so we skipped everything on the menu beyond the main course