by Lufthansa Flyer | Jun 22, 2012 | Trip Reports |
During our visit to London in May, it was by coincidence that we were there on the day that the UK Parliament opens it’s session. By far the highlight of the event is the Queen’s address to the session laying out her policy recommendations and direction that she wishes parliament to pursue during it’s session. This tradition has is roots dating back to the 14th century and according to historical accounts, little has changed in terms of the procedures.
Today, the event is attended by members of the House Lords who come attired in their traditional robes, members of the UK government and ambassadors from countries around the world. Normally Parliament has it’s opening session in November or December, but due to an introduction of 5 year term limits and future elections being scheduled for May of every 5th year, it was decided to moved the 2012 opening of Parliament to May.
Reading up on the history of this event, I discovered two traditions that are in place today that had very unique origins. The first one involves the searching of the cellars in the Palace of Westminster by the Yeoman’s Guard. This tradition goes back to 1605 when the “Gunpowder Plot” was uncovered. This plot’s aim was to blow up the House Of Parliament and King James I who was in attendance for it’s opening. The plot was traced back to English Catholics and to this day the ceremonial search happens each year.
Another interesting tradition based on historical events involves the taking of a hostage. Each year, prior to the King or Queen’s departure for Parliament, they take hostage a member of the House of Commons and keep that person as “prisoner” in Buckingham Palace. The reason behind this is to ensure the safety of the Monarch as they enter the Parliament. Apparently the Monarch may on occasion be faced with a less-than-friendly session when opening Parliament and needed to ensure their safety. Reading up on this tradition, I found that it goes back to the days of Charles I who in 1642 had stormed into the House of Commons seeking to arrest 5 members for treason. Due to his actions, no Monarch has EVER AGAIN been permitted to enter the House of Commons. Today, the Monarch only has the ability to enter the House of Lords.
For this year’s opening of Parliament, Mark Francois was the Member of Parliament (MP) who went to Buckingham Palace as the hostage.
Now that my brief history “lesson” is complete, I can move on the photos. We arrived at Parliament about 90 minutes ahead of the beginning of the session and had ample opportunity to find a great spot from which to watch the procession. The spot we secured was as close as any member of the public could get to the procession and still be behind the security barricades.
When we arrived, the traffic around Parliament had already been diverted, leaving a very unusual and traffic free scene around the area:
Our vantage point would ultimately be right under the red lights you see in the distance. The entire procession would pass within 30 yards of us (Westminster Abbey in the background):
The procession would include representatives from the Military:
Security was obvious:
Who's watching who???
Of course, no procession is complete without a band. In this case the band was very entertaining. Once they positioned themselves by the Sovereign’s Entrance to Parliament, they belted out several big band hits!
The Queen’s guard indicated that she was not far behind:
The Queen’s Carriage:
Once the Queen concluded her speech, her guard prepared to escort her back to Buckingham Palace:
We caught a great glimpse of Prince Philip on their way back to Buckingham Palace:
In all, we spent approximately 3 hours standing by Parliament to take in the event. Typically I’m not one to stand in place for 3 hours waiting for few minutes of excitement. But in this case, to actually see the Queen as up close as we did was worth the wait. Its not everyday that one gets to have a live glimpse at someone who has been so influential and instrumental for her nation and it’s citizenry for 60 years!
This is only part of a much larger trip report covering the trip to Istanbul and London. If you would like to be informed of future trip reports, please follow me on twitter: @lufthansaflyer.
Here is the current “index” of the trip report. The one’s with hyperlinks have already been completed:
Lufthansa First Class Services from Chicago to Frankfurt
Lufthansa First Class Lounge in Frankfurt
Istanbul – Sultan Ahmed (Sultanahmet) Mosque.
Istanbul – The Basilica Cistern.
Istanbul – Spice Market and Grand Bazaar.
Istanbul – Park Hyatt Macka Palas.
Istanbul – Our Day with Ihsan (besttaxidriver.com).
Istanbul – Hagia Sophia.
Istanbul – Other Mosques and Churches.
Istanbul – I find out what Zultanite is….
Istanbul – The Food We Found.
Istanbul – Turkish Airlines’ International CIP Lounge.
London – Hyatt Andaz Liverpool Street.
London – Opening of Parliament – Great pictures of the Queen and procession to Parliament.
London – ‘The Sunshine Boys’ at the Savoy Theater (Danny DeVito and Richard Griffiths)…..BRILLIANT, MUST SEE!
London – Spitalfield’s Antique Market – And the lesson I learned.
London – Churchill War Rooms and Churchill Museum.
London – Photos from around town.
London – Dinner at Petrus
London – St. James Park: Feathers and Fur
London – Covent Gardens.
London – All the other things that I can’t think of at the moment….
Pluckley – They said it was haunted……
by Lufthansa Flyer | Jun 21, 2012 | Trip Reports |
On our recent trip to Istanbul and London, we stayed with Hyatt properties in both cities. For our stay in London, it was the Andaz Liverpool St and for our 4 nights in Istanbul, we stayed with the Park Hyatt-Macka Palas. For the sake of this review, I’ll focus on the Park Hyatt-Macka Palas.
The hotel is located in a very nice part of Istanbul, near high end restaurants and shopping. The area certainly reminded me of typical European cities like Prague, Rome, Brussels, Vienna etc. as far as the look and “feel”. The Macka Palas area is a 10-15 minute taxi ride from the historic districts (Blue Mosque, Grand Bazaar, Topkapi Palace, etc) and with cab fares ranging from 10-15 Turkish Lira ($5-8), it was very reasonable getting around different parts of Istanbul. Another option is to walk or take a short taxi ride to the tram lines, which may reduce your cost by perhaps $2-3. However, whenever I saw one of these trams, it was packed with people, so factor that into your decision as to whether to take a tram around town or just take a taxi! For us the decision was easy. We did not have the desire to impersonate a sardine.
The hotel itself is very nice. It was very clean, well kept and had a fairly attentive staff, though sometimes a small language barrier would exist, but nothing that couldn’t be overcome. Our room was a standard Park King which was very large by European hotel standards. The room was well appointed however some of the furniture had some obvious wear indicating that it’s best days were behind it. The bath area was impressive, with a separate steam shower, a deep bath tub, and large vanity area. Definitely among the better bath areas that I’ve seen in a hotel room.
Overall we were very happy with the room. We had a decent view of one of the bridges crossing the Bosphorus, and the room was very clean and comfortable.
Images from the room:
Large and Comfortable Bed
Sitting Area w/ Desk
Entry way from door
Large Vanity Area
Deep Bath Tub
Steam Shower w/ rain shower head
View from our room (unzoomed)
View with a bit of zoom lens involved
As part of our room rate, breakfast was included each morning and we took full advantage. The Dining Room area is set up with many “self serve” items such as cereals, pastries, fruits, etc. and there is an a-la-carte breakfast menu available as well. The food was excellent and there was a large variety to choose from. Since we were only in Istanbul for a few nights, we did not have much time to experience the restaurants or bars in the hotel since we though it better to be out and about in the city as much as possible.
Overall, we were pleased with the hotel. But not to the extent that I was when I stayed at the Grand Hyatt or Hyatt Regency in Hong Kong. Those properties had that “little extra something” that sets them apart from most of the Hotels I’ve every stayed at. Perhaps it was the city itself and the obvious energy in Hong Kong. However, I would still highly recommend the Park Hyatt in Istanbul to anyone who would ask.
One item of note: If you decide to stay at this hotel, just be prepared that they do not reply very quickly to emails that you send to their main hotel or concierge email addresses. I was trying to arrange a private car transfer from the Airport to the Hotel and wound up having to call the Diamond service center to have them help me take care of it. In the scheme of things, not a major criticism, but just something to be aware of. Enjoy your stay!
This is only part of a much larger trip report covering the trip to Istanbul and London. If you would like to be informed of future trip reports, please follow me on twitter: @lufthansaflyer.
Here is the current “index” of the trip report. The one’s with hyperlinks have already been completed:
Lufthansa First Class Services from Chicago to Frankfurt
Lufthansa First Class Lounge in Frankfurt
Istanbul – Sultan Ahmed (Sultanahmet) Mosque.
Istanbul – The Basilica Cistern.
Istanbul – Spice Market and Grand Bazaar.
Istanbul – Park Hyatt Macka Palas.
Istanbul – Our Day with Ihsan (besttaxidriver.com).
Istanbul – Hagia Sophia.
Istanbul – Other Mosques and Churches.
Istanbul – I find out what Zultanite is….
Istanbul – The Food We Found.
Istanbul – Turkish Airlines’ International CIP Lounge.
London – Hyatt Andaz Liverpool Street.
London – Opening of Parliament – Great pictures of the Queen and procession to Parliament.
London – ‘The Sunshine Boys’ at the Savoy Theater (Danny DeVito and Richard Griffiths)…..BRILLIANT, MUST SEE!
London – Spitalfield’s Antique Market – And the lesson I learned.
London – Churchill War Rooms and Churchill Museum.
London – Photos from around town.
London – Dinner at Petrus
London – St. James Park: Feathers and Fur
London – Covent Gardens.
London – All the other things that I can’t think of at the moment….
Pluckley – They said it was haunted……
by Lufthansa Flyer | Jun 17, 2012 | Airlines, Trip Reports |
On our recent trip to Istanbul and London, we had a chance to visit Turkish Airlines’ CIP Lounge located inside the Ataturk Airport in Istanbul (The CIP stands for Corporate Incentive Program).
We arrived early at the airport for our Lufthansa flight to London (via Munich) specifically to make sure we had ample time to experience the well regarded lounge. The lounge had been through a major renovation and was re-opened on July 19, 2011. What we experienced would not disappoint!
After going through the formalities with the Lounge Attendant and entering the Lounge, the first thing that caught my eye was the Billiards table that was set up for guests to use. I’ve seen pictures of the lounge previously, but it still caught me by surprise. Normally you would not expect that in an airline lounge.
Billiards pass the time before a flight.....
Another feature that I normally do not see when using a lounge (especially in the USA) is an area to securely lock your luggage in a locker. You set your own combination much like the safe in a hotel room and are free of your luggage while in the lounge or if you decide to leave the lounge and explore the airport shopping areas.
Safe and secure storage of your luggage
The architecture is certainly unique within the lounge (I mean that in a very good way!). The 32,000 square foot lounge is segmented into “Spheres” using circular structures that help break up the size of the lounge. At the same time it does lend a sense of warmth to what otherwise would just be one extremely large room.
The circular design lends warmth to the lounge
Much of the Lounge is daylit. I noticed very little artificial light throughout the lounge. This also helped with the warm feel within the lounge. It also allows the lounge to have real flowers and tree throughout!
Plenty of day light allows for live plants and trees
In addtion to the Billiard Table, other forms of entertainment are offered for both young and less young. The lounge offers a dedicated Child’s Play Area, A dedicated Theatre Room, A Media Wall covered with flat screen TVs, a Player Piano as well as a bank of Apple Computers (not pictured)for use by lounge guests.
Let the Lounge entertain your children
As comfortable as a Home Theatre Room
9 Screens.....something for everyone.
Player Piano provides soft music
The food service in the lounge is very good. We were there during breakfast service and had ample options including continental breakfast options as well as options such as Omelettes and Menemen from the kitchen area. Of course, the Coffee and Tea offerings were impressive, but what else would you expect in a Turkish Lounge!
Dining Area adjacent to the Kitchen
Additional Dining Area
Excellent and delicious breakast!
One food related item that stood out to me among all others was the way they “presented” honey. Normally honey is simply in a bowl or some single serve packet. Not here. The honey here is directly from the Hive, including the Hive’s frame. Its set up in such a way that the honey slow drips out of the Hive and into a serving plate. I thought this was spectacular!
Fresh from the Hive.....
Ample beverage choices including Coffee, Tea, Juices, Water and a self-service Wine cart:
Large variety of Coffee and Tea
Well stocked beverage cooler
Self serve wines
As much as I enjoyed our time in this lounge, there is one minor disappointment which has to do with it’s location. There is no decent view from the lounge. All the views look away from the airport, so there is no chance to watch the activity on the tarmac and runway. Some may not care, but being a “closet” plane-spotter, I would have liked to watch the Airplanes move about the airport while enjoying my eggs!
A few other bits and pieces from the Lounge visit:
The Lounge is accessible by passengers flying in Business Class from Istanbul, Star Alliance Gold Level members and Turkish’s Mile & Smiles Elite and Elite Plus members.
The lounge is open daily from 5:00a to 1:00a
To get your wifi password, you need to go back near the rest rooms and Apple Computer bank where an lounge attendant will give you the code.
There are shower facilities available that allow you to wirelessly “sync” your Ipad, Ipod or Smartphone to a speaker system so that you can play your own music in your shower room.
The lounge has private resting rooms available for guests.
The lounge offers separate prayer rooms for Men and Women.
In closing, I have to say that this is one of the best Star Alliance Lounges available for Business Travelers and Star Alliance Gold level members. The suite of amenities are far and above what most other basic lounges offer. The uniqueness of the architecture and activities that are available in the lounge in my mind is what sets it apart from the rest. Mind you, I am not including Lufthansa’s First Class Lounges and First Class Terminal in this comparison! 🙂
But seriously, if you ever find yourself in Istanbul with the credentials to enter the Turkish CIP Lounge, you have to do it!
This is only part of a much larger trip report covering the trip to Istanbul and London. If you would like to be informed of future trip reports, please follow me on twitter: @lufthansaflyer.
Here is the current “index” of the trip report. The one’s with hyperlinks have already been completed:
Lufthansa First Class Services from Chicago to Frankfurt
Lufthansa First Class Lounge in Frankfurt
Istanbul – Sultan Ahmed (Sultanahmet) Mosque.
Istanbul – The Basilica Cistern.
Istanbul – Spice Market and Grand Bazaar.
Istanbul – Park Hyatt Macka Palas.
Istanbul – Our Day with Ihsan (besttaxidriver.com).
Istanbul – Hagia Sophia.
Istanbul – Other Mosques and Churches.
Istanbul – I find out what Zultanite is….
Istanbul – The Food We Found.
Istanbul – Turkish Airlines’ International CIP Lounge.
London – Hyatt Andaz Liverpool Street.
London – Opening of Parliament – Great pictures of the Queen and procession to Parliament.
London – ‘The Sunshine Boys’ at the Savoy Theater (Danny DeVito and Richard Griffiths)…..BRILLIANT, MUST SEE!
London – Spitalfield’s Antique Market – And the lesson I learned.
London – Churchill War Rooms and Churchill Museum.
London – Photos from around town.
London – Dinner at Petrus
London – St. James Park: Feathers and Fur
London – Covent Gardens.
London – All the other things that I can’t think of at the moment….
Pluckley – They said it was haunted……
