2010 was quite a busy year with 12 missions: Brazil (2), Argentina, Peru, Ghana, Namibia, Germany, France, Uganda, Malawi, Canada and Abu Dhabi including also conferences in Morocco, Abu Dhabi, Australia and Canada.
Over the year (for both business and pleasure) I flew 79 sectors on 21 airlines in 25 different types of aircraft.
New airlines used for the first time during the year were :
TAP (Portugal) AA Abaete, (Brazil) Royal Air Maroc, Air Berlin, Air Namibia, Aerolineas Argentinas, Austral (Argentina) and TACA (Brazil/Peru).
Countries visited for the first time were: Morocco, Jordan, Abu Dhabi, Ghana and Uganda.
And so 2010 comes to an end. The travel diary for 2011 can be found at :
http://waggstravels2011.blogspot.com/
Cheers and see you soon......................................
Monday, December 27, 2010
December 27th: Christmas in London and back to Vienna
Christmas shopping in London was a bit limited because it was very cold and the threat of more snow semed to keep a lot of people at home. Still there was areplica German Christmas Market along the South bank of the River Thames near the London Eye. It was a copy of the sort of thing we have in Vienna where there are about 14 markets each with their own character.
The snow was melting fast in London but to the north it was still affecting transport systems. The annual informal Christmas reunion dinner went well with most of the usual crowd attending.
Christmas Day and brother-in-law Michael drive my sister Soo and I to have Christmas lunch with my Sister Ali, her husband Tim, daughter Beth and partner Ruben, and Dadwag. We saw plenty of snow about but the roads were pretty well clear everywhere .
Lunch was very good as always and we all had a great time; plenty of food and drink and lots of fun with the presents.
Sunday 26th was a travel ; preceeded by drinks at the house of an old friend of Soo ans Mike's. Then a train to Heathrow from Paddington as the tube drivers were on strike and check in at Heathrow. The BA staff at the desk were friendly but the flight was late. The gate staff were very bad at telling us what was happening with the delay but we did eventually get away and arrived in Vienna just in time to run the risk of missing the last train; this flight is so often late that I always book a cab nowadays. So that should be the last flight of the year - just New Year's Eve to go.........................
The snow was melting fast in London but to the north it was still affecting transport systems. The annual informal Christmas reunion dinner went well with most of the usual crowd attending.
Christmas Day and brother-in-law Michael drive my sister Soo and I to have Christmas lunch with my Sister Ali, her husband Tim, daughter Beth and partner Ruben, and Dadwag. We saw plenty of snow about but the roads were pretty well clear everywhere .
Lunch was very good as always and we all had a great time; plenty of food and drink and lots of fun with the presents.
Sunday 26th was a travel ; preceeded by drinks at the house of an old friend of Soo ans Mike's. Then a train to Heathrow from Paddington as the tube drivers were on strike and check in at Heathrow. The BA staff at the desk were friendly but the flight was late. The gate staff were very bad at telling us what was happening with the delay but we did eventually get away and arrived in Vienna just in time to run the risk of missing the last train; this flight is so often late that I always book a cab nowadays. So that should be the last flight of the year - just New Year's Eve to go.........................
Thursday, December 23, 2010
December 20: Christmas in London
As has been my habit since living in Vienna I arranged to go to London for the Christmas period to see my two sisters and my father as well as catch up with some good friends. This year the travel plan looked to be in jepordy as Heathrow Airport failed to cope with snow - that is what you get when you sell your main gateway airport to a dodgy firm of spanish builders who prompt;ly lower investmnt in the basic infrastructure and turn it into a shopping mall with no thought for passengers, risk management , etc, emergency weather planning and offer the CEO/MD a bonus which is greater than the amount spent on snow clearing gear for the year. That person finally (too late) said he woudl not accept the bonus ; I wonder why he is being paid all his salary as he appears to have failed at this job let alone done anything to deserve a bonus!
Anyway British Airwas assured me through their website that my flight would be one of the 50% that would leave Vienna. On the day I checked in OK and deposited my bag and went to the gate as advised. At takeoff time weahad no news froim BA except they told all those with connecting flights they would be travelling another way....the rest of us worked ot that this menat we would be leaving late. Fianlly after still no BA announced (or anyone else for that matter) news we were advised that the plane would board shortly - which we did and departed nearly one hour late. En route the pilot flying explained that Heathrow had been closed but as we had a 15 minute hold anyway all would be OK....After 20 minutes in the holding pattern the piot explained that the airporrt would re-open in 20 minutes or so....Finally after over 3 hours in the air for a 2h10m flight we landed to see very few machines clearing snow, one runway closed, deicing equipment that was so odl and inefficient it was verys ad. The place was a shambles and yet when I got to the bagge hall for once at LHR my bag arrived at the same time as me.
The tube to London was the next joy - a train jammed to the rafters as they seemed to be running late and were few and far bewteen. But it ran (which is more than it will do on Sunday when I am due to return- atube drivers' strike) and I finally made it to my sister and brother in law`s flat with time to spare before heading off to a reunion dinner at another flat in West Kensington. The susualcollection of old friends from school and partners was around and we had a great evening.
The weather has been cold and a little more snow at times but it is clearing up.
Tuesday saw me at the Essex workshops of P&A woods as the photgrapher whilst my brother in law helped award certificates to some prize wining coach-building apprentices . The workshop only does RR and bentley cars and is a fabulous place. After the awards we got a quick tour and saw red label and 8 litre bentleys form the 30s, modern (BMW) Bentleys . There was a Rolls from a Maharajah with a matching pair of Lee Enfield rifles clipped to the running board ready for any tigers one might see, and fantastic wooden body work at the rear to hid e the hood. The whole place is incredible and they also told me that they did some aeronautical work includng RRMerlin engines. Plenty of snow on the road away from the motorway but we had no trouble getting anywhere we wanted.
Shopping in London was also on the agenda, but I stayed local to avoid the Oxford Street crowds and slush!
Anyway British Airwas assured me through their website that my flight would be one of the 50% that would leave Vienna. On the day I checked in OK and deposited my bag and went to the gate as advised. At takeoff time weahad no news froim BA except they told all those with connecting flights they would be travelling another way....the rest of us worked ot that this menat we would be leaving late. Fianlly after still no BA announced (or anyone else for that matter) news we were advised that the plane would board shortly - which we did and departed nearly one hour late. En route the pilot flying explained that Heathrow had been closed but as we had a 15 minute hold anyway all would be OK....After 20 minutes in the holding pattern the piot explained that the airporrt would re-open in 20 minutes or so....Finally after over 3 hours in the air for a 2h10m flight we landed to see very few machines clearing snow, one runway closed, deicing equipment that was so odl and inefficient it was verys ad. The place was a shambles and yet when I got to the bagge hall for once at LHR my bag arrived at the same time as me.
The tube to London was the next joy - a train jammed to the rafters as they seemed to be running late and were few and far bewteen. But it ran (which is more than it will do on Sunday when I am due to return- atube drivers' strike) and I finally made it to my sister and brother in law`s flat with time to spare before heading off to a reunion dinner at another flat in West Kensington. The susualcollection of old friends from school and partners was around and we had a great evening.
The weather has been cold and a little more snow at times but it is clearing up.
Tuesday saw me at the Essex workshops of P&A woods as the photgrapher whilst my brother in law helped award certificates to some prize wining coach-building apprentices . The workshop only does RR and bentley cars and is a fabulous place. After the awards we got a quick tour and saw red label and 8 litre bentleys form the 30s, modern (BMW) Bentleys . There was a Rolls from a Maharajah with a matching pair of Lee Enfield rifles clipped to the running board ready for any tigers one might see, and fantastic wooden body work at the rear to hid e the hood. The whole place is incredible and they also told me that they did some aeronautical work includng RRMerlin engines. Plenty of snow on the road away from the motorway but we had no trouble getting anywhere we wanted.
Shopping in London was also on the agenda, but I stayed local to avoid the Oxford Street crowds and slush!
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