by Lufthansa Flyer | Oct 12, 2014 | Featured, Lufthansa, Trip Reports |
You may or may not have noticed, but LufthansaFlyer.com was fairly dormant for most of the last 10 days. It wasn’t for a lack of content or news regarding LH……
What created this vacuum in the blogosphere was the fact that my wife and I spent an unbelievable week on Safari in Africa. With polygraph attach, I can say that it was by far THE……BEST……VACATION…..that I’ve ever been on. What we saw, who we met and what we observed was unlike anything else that either one of us has ever experienced.
I do know that my cameras came back with 10 full memory cards and approximately 6500 photos and 4 hours of video. The prospects of sorting through all of it feels akin to putting a firehose in my mouth and turning the valve.
I’m having trouble where to start my series of trip reports due to the aforementioned statements.
The week on Safari in Africa was framed with 3 long haul flights by Lufthansa and 1 by United. I changed our outbound flight from the USA to UA since LH pilots had announced a long haul strike for the day were flying to FRA. I did not want to jeopardize our trip so was proactive but in hindsight we would have been fine on the LH flights since most long haul flights operated as usual.
As I sort through content and photos, I’ll use this post as an introduction and future installments will go in more details on our experiences. I’ll go into much greater details on the fantastic lodge, our hosts and the wonderful creatures that we saw from sun up to sun down (and later) each day!
So for now, enjoy a small appetizer of what my cameras captured……..
A Lioness guards her pride while they rest after a successful hunt…..
One of the first things we saw, a Leopard guarding his kill from a pack of Hyenas….
A monkey takes a moment…..
Taking a breather before continuing his dinner.
Of all the ‘Big 5’, the buffalo is perhaps the most dangerous.
A rare sighting as Rhinos tend not to lay down.
Kings of the jungle caught having a ‘moment’…..
One of my favorite moments as the Zebras almost appear to pose….Why does the one on the right remind me of Jerry Lewis……
A cheetah ponders her options prior to stalking her prey……
An adolescent Elephant uses our plunge pool as an open bar…….
It wasn’t all ‘claws and paws’, the scenery and sunsets were spectacular.
by Lufthansa Flyer | Jun 25, 2014 | Featured, Trip Reports |
Over the June 19-22 weekend, I traveled to Paine Field for a few days of Plane Spotting as well as to add to the frequent flyer account balance. Over the course of my 3 days I was pleasantly surprised as to how busy the airport was with air traffic. Over the next few days I’ll publish additional stories covering my visit which included some fantastic viewing, including Lufthansa’s newest and Boeing’s 1500th 747 enjoying a customer flight on a perfect day.
For now, I want to share something special as far as rare and important aircraft are concerned.
On Saturday and Sunday (June 21-22) The Historic Flight Foundation hosted a Flying Weekend that showcased their collection of vintage commercial and military aircraft (more on them in a future post). As part of this event, they invited the Commemorative Air Force (CAF) to bring in their B29 Superfortress, affectionately known as ‘Fifi’. What makes Fifi special is that it is the LAST B29 that is still flight worthy. In fact, Fifi tours the country during the summer visiting a variety of airports. She normally is the ‘Guest of Honor’ at these events and draws large crowds where ever she lands.
As I mentioned, Fifi is maintained and operated by the CAF and is based at Addison Airport in Addison, Texas. The CAF is a non-profit organization that for the last 50 years has operated as a “Flying Musuem”, taking their collection of vintage military aircraft to events around the country. The CAF is driven by dedicated volunteers who fly, maintain and otherwise tend to the needs of the fleet. To learn more about this impressive organization, please visit their website at www.airpowersquadron.org.
On their site, you’ll find a complete calendar of events for 2014 that will feature their fleet. The absolutely great thing about these aircraft is the fact that you can buy a ticket and go for a ride. You can sit in the Bombardier’s seat of the B29, or you can go for a high speed run in a P51 Mustang or pick a ride on their other birds.
Regarding ‘Fifi’, I’ll share with you an excerpt from the CAF website that tells the story:
The Boeing B-29 Superfortress, first flown in 1942, began active service in 1944. It was designed as a replacement for the older B-17s and B-24s, having the longer range and greater bomb loads necessary for operations in the World War II Pacific theater. The B-29 was also used in the Korean War in the early 1950s and was a staple of the U.S. Air Force until the late 1950s.
FIFI was acquired by the CAF in the early 1970s when a group of CAF members found her at the U.S. Navy Proving Ground at China Lake, California where she was being used as a missile target. The airplane was rescued and restored and flew for over thirty years until 2006 when the chief pilot made the decision to ground her pending a complete power plant re-fit. What followed was an extensive four year restoration that included replacing all four engines with new custom built hybrid engines.FIFI returned to the sky in 2010 and since that time has traveled coast to coast attracting large crowds at every tour stop. Learn more about FIFI at www.cafB29B24.org.
Fifi is currently staying at the Historic Flight Foundation for the next 2 weeks as she undergoes routine maintenance. She will be taking passengers back to the skies at Paine Field on July 5 and 6.
Here are several photos from a walk around as Fifi sat on the ramp at the Historic Flight Foundation. I took a bit of artistic license and attempted to capture the images in a way that would be ‘period correct’ for Fifi in the prime of her life in the 1940s and 50s.
Flying over Paine Field
The best seat in the house, the Bombardier’s perch.
‘Look Into My Eyes….’
The Upper Gunner’s Turret and seat.
The Tail Gunner’s office
Appreciated by all that visited her.
Another fly-by of Paine Field
by Lufthansa Flyer | Jun 17, 2014 | Featured, Hotel, Trip Reports |
On a recent trip to Europe that took me to Hamburg for ‘Hamburg-DO’ and Istanbul to pick up someone special’s Birthday present, I also built in a 2 day stay in Zurich specifically for Plane Spotting purposes.
Ahead of the trip I was debating on which hotel in Zurich to choose from among the options that were near the airport. I wanted to stay in a hotel on or very near the airport property since I would be spending my entire time at the airport and did not want to spend time commuting back and forth between hotel and airport.
After doing a bit of research, I narrowed it down to the Park Inn and Radisson Blu which are both Radisson properties. The Park Inn is barely off of the airport property and a shuttle bus can have you at the hotel (or back at the airport) within 10 minutes. The Radisson Blu is located on the airport property, across the street from the terminal and is easily accessible via an underground shopping center connected to the airport. You don’t even have to step outside into the elements in order to reach the hotel.
When I compared rates, the Park Inn was about 30-40% less per night compared to the ‘Blu’ which amounted to about a $120-140 a night difference on the dates that I was going to be in ‘ZRH’. This had made the initial decision easy so I made the reservation for the Park Inn. I figure I could ‘tolerate’ a 10 minute shuttle ride to the airport in order to take pictures of airplanes and in the process save $240-280. That buys a lot of film.
However, I did wind up changing my reservation to the Blu after discovering a very useful thread on FlyerTalk that kept track of promotional codes, etc. for Radisson properties. After a quick search, I did find a promotional code that would bring the Blu down to $120/night which beat out the Park Inn rate by about $40/night. This was a no brainer and I pick up the big benefit of being right at the airport and a short walk away from the parking structures and observation deck that I would need for my ‘work’. Not to mention the promotional code included breakfast, which was a fantastic buffet filled with the kind of things you’d want and need in the morning.
By no stretch am I an aficionado of hotels and I never pretend to be. In a busy year, I may spend 20-25 nights staying in hotels which makes me a relative lightweight. However, even on 20-25 nights a year I can start to draw comparisons between hotels that I liked and did not like. The Blu, though convenient and pragmatic, left me a bit disappointed.
Upon entering the hotel, it is very impressive. A very nice and modern lobby awaits guests with lounges and a restaurant. It even sports a multi-story ‘Wine Rack’ which provides entertainment for guests as they watch very acrobatic women scale the structure as they retrieve bottles of wines. My first impressions were positive and I was looking forward to my stay.
Once I checked-in and went to my room is where the bit of disappointment kicked in. I was hoping that the modern look and feel of the lobby would carry through to my room but that was not the case. I walked into a room that was fine in terms of cleanliness, space and a few amenities but was showing its age with decor, wear and tear.
As you’ll see in the photos, the rooms colors and scheme (at least in my humble opinion) looked dated and thrown together almost as an afterthought. The clash between carpets and bedding maybe me wince just a tiny bit when I first walked in.
First glance of the room….
I was not a fan of the Red/Blue combination…..
Now of course, it’s not really important how things look but how they function. I was hoping that things were better than they looked but it did not work out that way. The bed itself was ‘OK’ at best. Good mattress, but the pillows were perhaps the worst that I’ve experienced in a hotel. No structure or support and it took 3 of them to make me feel like I was actually using a pillow.
Good Mattress but the pillows need some serious work……
The bathroom would follow suit and was nothing more than acceptable, and only because it was clean. The fixtures, floor, tub all showed signs of significant use and aging and could use a facelift. Again, it functioned and everything worked the way it was supposed to, but still was a bit of a let down based on my previous hotel experiences.
Functional, just a bit aged and worn.
In summary, if you haven’t figure out my opinion, the room is acceptable. Nothing special, no upside surprises and if you don’t mind a stark color combination then it is perfectly OK!
However, a typical room in this hotel can go from anywhere between $200 and $400 a night and what I DO KNOW from my hotel experiences, when I spent that kind of money, I am usually treated to a fantastic room that I typically love. All I can say is that I was VERY happy that I had a promotional code for this room and only paid about $115/night. I would have been REALLY disappointed had I dropped $250 or more like I’m sure other guests have done for the same experience!
However, I do realize that Zurich and Switzerland at large have very high prices for hotels (and most everything else) and I know that there is a premium to pay for staying on the airport property. I just wished that they took some of this revenue and gave the rooms a bit of a facelift to compliment how great the rest of the hotel looks and feels!
Long story short….Would I stay there again? Yes, but for the right price. Would I recommend it? Yes, but for the right price! 🙂
