Quade's Blog: travel disruptions

As our departure day approached, so too did an unwelcome possibility: an early-March winter storm. For nearly two years we had not had any real measurable snow. Now, just as we were about to head out, it looked as though a significant snowfall would impact our big trip. Ordinarily I wouldn’t have been so concerned, but, given that we were going so far and really needed to get that LAX flight, I was pretty worried.

Four days out from departure I called Delta to ask about getting the outbound DC flight changed; no dice. When I called two days out the airline did agree to move our departure up one day, giving us two full days in LA before we resumed our scheduled itinerary. So, when I went home that night I suddenly had just one night to get ready instead of two. But, it was doable and I managed.

In the end, the snowstorm never materialized, but the threat seemed so certain that our original flight was canceled. So, regardless of the actual weather conditions, we would never have gotten out on our flight that Wednesday. Even though there was no snow; we felt vindicated.

A Conspiracy of Circumstances

I went to work on our new departure day with baggage in-tow. Philip and I met at the airport, about an hour before boarding, relaxed in the lounge a little, then headed to the gate and boarded. We took our seats on the plane, the boarding doors closed, and we thought we’d be on our way and beat the incoming storm.

There we sat for a half hour, which made us both a little nervous, as we were eating quite significantly into our sixty-minute connection time. Eventually the pilot came on to tell us there was a “VIP hold” on the airspace and we were waiting for it to be lifted. Great.

Eventually the hold was lifted. We pushed back and got in line to take-off but were pretty soon told that “damage” was discovered on the runway and there would be no take-offs or landings until it was repaired. Now, I’ve flown a good bit, but a damaged runway? That was a first for me!

The runway repairs were fixed a lot sooner than the pilot originally told us to anticipate (an hour was expected, but it was just ten minutes or so). We were airborne about twenty minutes later. Being about 75 minutes late by this point I just assumed we would not make our connection. We were down to hoping the snowstorm didn’t hit Cincinnati too hard and that we could get out the following day.

In Cincinnati, we pulled up to the gate about ten minutes before our LAX flight was to push back. I didn’t think we’d make it but I was willing to try. At the top of the jet-bridge we were told the flight was waiting, so I took off, just to be waved off partway down the concourse: “Are you going to LAX? Don’t run. The plane has a mechanical.” What?! First Mother Nature is against us, then the VIP hold, then a damaged runway, and now this?! It all seemed a little surreal.

The issue was one of the evacuation slides was not functioning (no clue how they knew this!). We had to wait for a new slide and then for a person to come to inspect the new slide. All of this took about two hours but we had a couple of attentive flight attendants taking care of us, so it wasn’t too bad at all.

We did finally make it do LAX, got our luggage, and then the shuttle to our hotel. After a light snack for dinner in the hotel restaurant, it was off to bed. It was nice to put such a long day behind us and to look forward to smoother travels.

29 March 2013

The Tasmania Trip Report, Part One

Trip Report Contents

Intro & Planning: How planning a trip to Hanoi got us to Tasmania (This Installment)

Getting There, The DC – LA Edition: Mother Nature attacks

Two Days in LA: Interlude before the main event

Getting There, The LA to Tassie Edition: Crossing the globe

Arrival Day: Hello,Hobart, nice to meet you

Day One, The Tasman Peninsula: Seascapes and fog

Day Two, Bruny Island: Vote me off, please

Day Three, Driving Cross-Island: Here comes the sun!

Day Four, Strahan: Cruising the clouds

Day Five, Zeehan and Queenstown: Day of desolation

Day Six, Back to Hobart and MONA: Hugging Tassie’s curves

Departure Day, Heading Home: The two-day day

Introduction & Planning (How planning a trip to Hanoi got us to Tasmania)

Quick Summary: Because Delta points are so difficult to use, we couldn’t use them to get to Hanoi and decided to instead go to Australia; we ended up with a ten-day trip to the southern third of the Island of Tasmania.

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Planning a Special Trip to ~~Vietnam~~ Australia

We began planning for Philip’s [March] birthday the previous September. We wanted to use some of my Delta points to go to Vietnam. Although more people than ever are going from the US to Vietnam for vacations, it’s still a destination that is a bit on the exotic side. But, as we would discover, the real oddity in our plan wasn’t our destination but was trying to use Delta points to get there.

I began calling asking for a date range, which became more flexible with each call. Over the course of a couple of months I began to just ask for “two business class seats from any US gateway anytime during March.” That seemed flexible enough to me; it wasn’t flexible enough for Delta, though. The best they were ever able to do priced out at over 750,000 points for two tickets, and that for an itinerary that was just horrible and didn’t work at all. So, it was back to the drawing board.

More looking and research brought me to the discovery that Delta points are pretty easy to spend to go to Australia on Virgin Australia. Oddly enough, flying using Delta points on Delta to Australia would have cost a fortune, but flying there using Delta points on Virgin Australia, at 150,000 points each, was a relative bargain. (As an aside, Delta points are notoriously difficult to use.)

Philip had never been very interested in going to Australia: he thought it a long way to go to be in cities that we imagined to be very much like American cities. Somehow, during my research, the idea of Tasmania came to me. It was very rural, naturally beautiful, exotic, and about as far away as we could get and still be on the planet. And, when I looked at using points, it was really easy and pretty cheap. (I wrote about this back in November, and you can read that here.)

Before much longer we were booked from Los Angeles to Hobart, through Melbourne, all in business class. Over the next few months I kept calling back and managed to get the flights from DC to LAX added on, but never got the return, so, eventually, we just bought our own tickets back from LA.

Our Itinerary

As we planned things out, our first thought was to see as much of the island as possible. More research showed that we were way too ambitious and that we’d end up seeing nothing but highway as we shuttled from place to place. We eventually came round to a more modest plan that, as it turns out, could have still used more paring back.

Our itinerary as we finally booked it would have taken us out on a Wednesday evening. We’d overnight near LAX that night and spend all day Thursday in LA, before getting a late flight out to Melbourne that night. From Melbourne we’d fly onward to Hobart (Tasmania), arriving mid-day Saturday. We’d fly back home the following Saturday, picking up an American Airlines flight in LA for the trip back from the West Coast.

On Tasmania, we’d spend three nights in Hobart, then drive across the island to Strahan (pronounced “Straw-n,” like “drawn,” but with an “S”), spend three nights there, and then a quick overnight near the Hobart airport before our early morning flight out the following Saturday. But, alas, what is it they say about the best-laid plans? Exactly, and ours were indeed laid to waste.

Our planned flight path: Washington National to Detroit to Los Angles to

Melbourne to Melbourne to Hobart to Melbourne to Los Angeles

to Dallas to Washington National

09 March 2013

Tasmania Update I

We finally made it to Tasmania! But, it wasn't easy.

Tuesday we managed to beat out a snowstorm that never happened (though our original flight for Wednesday was canceled, so we were vindicated), survived a VIP-induced ground-hold and then a damaged runway at DCA, then mechanical issues at Cincinnati, but made it to LA.

We did some light sightseeing in LA Wednesday and also Thursday before we dropped off the rental car and headed to the airport.

The flight Thursday night/Friday/Saturday morning on Virgin Australia was quite nice, with great food and service, and a good bit of sleep. Our onward flight to Hobart was quick and easy, but they still managed a meal-service on the 55-minute flight!

Arrival day on Tasmania was gray with occasional light rain-showers, 70s, and muggy. We went to the famous Salamanca Market and just explored the Hobart City Center. For dinner we celebrated Philip's birthday with a special dinner at an excellent restaurant.

First impressions: very rural in from the airport, with lots of farms, rolling hills and mountains; the people seem very nice; and, it's ridiculously expensive, such as $4.50 for a litre bottle of water at a grocery and a $10 draft beer at a random pub!

Today we'll fetch the rental car and head down to Port Arthur, touring along the way.

19 January 2013

Trying to Get to Sacramento

Getting from one coast to the other seems simple enough. For me day-before-yesterday it wasn't really so.

For some reason, airfares that I've been seeing for the places I need to go have been outrageous. Gone, it seems, are the days of a DC to Sacramento flight for sub-$300. So, I ended up paying almost $600, and even with that ended up having to double-connect, out of National, through Minneapolis and LAX, and into Sacramento.

When I got to the Delta SkyClub Thursday afternoon, my flight to Minnie was already delayed ten minutes. The delay continued to increase, a few minutes here and a few there, and we ended up pushing off the gate almost an hour late. And, we were in "downgraded" aircraft, which means that the configuration had fewer seats and their system had reassigned everyone's seat. Great. The flight was bumpy for about 2/3 of its duration.

We made it to Minnie and I had just twenty minutes to make it, literally, from one end of the airport to the other. But, I did make it, and got to the gate as they were about halfway through boarding. We pushed back about five minutes late and were off to the West Coast.

Deplaning in LAX, I checked the monitor to see the status of my flight to Sac. I had two-plus hours to connect, so there were no worries about not making my connection. The board offered up yet another unwelcome surprise: the flight was delayed two hours. In fact, the aircraft for that flight was just pushing back from its gate at LAX to go to Sac and then come back for us.

At this I threw in the towel and asked to be rebooked for the next day. I had checked and could get a hotel near the airport for less than $100, and I was okay with that. So, what a pleasant surprise when the agent in the SkyClub offered a hotel room and meal vouchers! I stayed at the Westin near the airport, on Delta's dollar, and ate at the Daily Grill in the hotel, also on Delta.

I woke up Friday morning to beautiful, warm sunshine, had breakfast, relaxed, and had a nice breakfast, before heading to the airport for my quick hop up to Sacramento. Sounds easy, right? Wrong: after spending an hour or so in the lounge, I headed to the gate for my flight. Folks deplaning, so the aircraft was there. Good sign. Then, I saw the crew deplane. Okay... So, I'm looking around the boarding area for our crew, but saw none.

I went up to the podium: "Do we have a crew?" It apparently occurred to them about the same time it did to me: "She's on the phone to the tower right now trying to figure out where they are and when they'll be here." This was 12:45; departure should have been 13:15. Our crew was in San Francisco, and wouldn't be in until at least 14:30, so our new departure time was just shy of three o'clock, almost two hours late. We eventually pushed back at nearly half past three, for a smooth, quick, 55-minute flight to Sacramento. And, it only took 25 hours.

14 January 2013

Berlin at Christmastime 2012: Part Two

(Part One of this posting is here. It explains how we decided on our itinerary, how our flight was canceled, how we never got to our destination, and our day of woe at Amsterdam’s Schipol Airport.)

Arriving In Berlin

At the end of a long day of flying, the one thing a weary traveler wants to see if their bag pop up on the baggage belt. Sadly, on this trip, it was not to be: we had arrived into Berlin Tegel but our bags had not. We try not to check a bag if it can be avoided, but, with ten days and the need for heavy winter clothes, it was not an option on this trip. Luckily we both had carry-ons, so we would not be without anything to wear. But, nevertheless, it was a letdown.

There were a fair number of people who did not get their bags, so we headed to the baggage office to file a claim. Since the line was quite long, I offered to let Philip go upstairs and relax in the lounge while I waited. After about a half hour or so he reappeared, just as I was about to be called in to have my claim taken. The person taking my information was nice enough. I hadn’t spoken German for about two years, so I was really pleased that I was able to conduct the whole thing without switching to English. And, after so many mishaps I was happy to score any victory I could, no matter how small.

We left with our paperwork and, after another quick lounge stop, headed to the curbside to get a taxi to our hotel, which we’d managed to book in Amsterdam. Our first three nights would be at the new Hotel Indigo, just a block north of Alexanderplatz, which is pretty much the center of life in eastern Berlin. By the time we arrived to our hotel it was about half past five Friday evening. We checked in, showered, and set about finding something to eat.

The temperature in Berlin statistically should be about 40F in early December. The day we arrived the high had been only around 20F, so it was very cold. We walked south from the hotel and through the Christmas market at Alexanderplatz and strolled to the market on the other side of the train station.

The TV Tower, one of Berlin's most famous sights

At Alexanderplatz

Looking down the street, toward Alexanderplatz, very near our first hotel

At the Christmas Market upon Alexanderplatz

Ferris Wheel and Berliner Dom

For dinner we ate at some mediocre place right at Alex, as our preferred place was packed and had live music. We were up for low-key, so we skipped that. After dinner we were exhausted, so it was back to the room to unwind and go to bed. We’d been awake for about 36 hours, so we were pretty exhausted.

Saturday and Sunday: No Bags. Still.

Saturday and Sunday were filled with us going to stores to get just what we needed to get through. We didn’t buy much because we didn’t know when the bags would arrive, so we did not know how much stuff we would need. And, we made sure to get some Christmas market time in, too, in spite of high temperatures around 19F. (More here, where I wrote about it at the time.)

Weekends are crowded at Berlin's many Christmas Markets

Christmas Market Ferris Wheel

The crowds at Alexanderplatz

Merry-Go-Round and Christmas Market

Vendor stalls at the Christmas Market

It was really too packed to move!

Our first Glühwein: hot wine, mulled with spices, and a shot of amaretto thrown in for good measure. The perfect thing for a cold day!

The Humboldbox, a temporary museum on the former site of the East German parliament, where they are reconstructing a replica of a former Prussian palace that existed on the site

From the terrace atop the Humboldt Box, looking out toward Alexander Platz

Looking out at the Lust Garden, blanketed in fresh snow

Scale model of what the Prussian palace looked like during the time of Frederick the Great

From atop the Humboldt Box, looking west, down Unter den Linden, toward the Brandenburg Gate

Looking east, at the Berlin City Hall

Looking southwest, with the church domes of of Gendarmenmarkt in the distance, the Christmas Market at Opern Palais in the foreground

Another of the TV Tower, with the fog playing with the Christmas lights

The Berliner Dom just at the left

Another of the Lust Garden

Following the crowd to the Opern Palais Christmas Market

Heading into the Christmas Market

Oh, the crowds! We quickly gave up and headed to Prenzlauerberg for dinner at one of our favorite Berlin haunts

Awaiting the U2 train at Alexanderplatz. It was a mob scene!

Ah, time for a nice, tasty dinner

Monday: Changing Hotels & A Reunion

Monday morning we got up, got ready, and packed our things to get over to our second hotel, the one we had booked when we made our plans to arrive into Berlin on Monday. It was snowing again, so we decided on a taxi, versus public transport.

Me in the lobby of our first hotel, awaiting our taxi to hotel number two

At the Hilton, we headed directly to the Executive Lounge to check in. It was not even noon, so I wasn’t sure there would be a room ready for us. The agent thought there was. There were several calls. He was furrowing his brow. “My colleagues are trying to figure out what is going on. It looks like there is somebody already in the room. There are two suitcases there.” They were our suitcases! Finally! He walked us up to the room so that we could say for sure if they were our bags. We were both glad and relieved to see them.

We unpacked a little and headed out again. This day was indeed the worst, weather-wise, of the entire trip. It was in the upper 20s, but with a wind chill of 15F, and snowing sideways. It was harsh!

Me at the Guggenheim in Berlin. It wasn't that great but it got us out of the snow for a few minutes

My favorite thing at the Guggenheim: an unassuming iron cow

The Christmas tree in the main hall of Berlin's Haupbahnhof, the main railway station

Another of the main hall

The Hauptbahnhof's Christmas tree

At the Berlin Haupbahnhof one enters from the main entrance onto the middle level; the trains are both one level below and one level above the middle level. Just so funny to see the train up in the air like that, above the open station. Berlin's station is now the largest in Europe.

Stopping at the Tiergarten Quelle to get out of the weather and have a beer in a nice, warm place

The old-fashioned, cozy atmosphere of the Tiergarten Quelle

The perfect thing for a cold Berlin day: goulash

The Christmas Market near the Kaiser-Wilhelm Church

Shoppers strolling down the Ku'damm, western Berlin's main shopping street

The Christmas Market near the Kaiser-Wilhelm Church

Tuesday through Saturday

We’ve spent enough time in Berlin now that we have seen everything there is to see. Everything. So, when we go we spend our time visiting with friends, shopping, strolling, and just generally being in the city. Early December is an excellent time to visit because the Christmas markets are up. For me, there is no better time to visit Germany than in early- to mid-December.

The weather was record-breaking, with the snowiest December in decades, according to the television. The temperatures were about twenty degrees off their norms. Having lived there before, I was used to a cold day or a few cold days here and there but this long of a spell was unexpected and really something to contend with. But, the weather did not keep us from visiting with friends and thoroughly enjoy doing almost nothing.

Tuesday In Potsdam

Me in Potsdam

Tuesday In Potsdam

On the train back from Potsdam to Berlin

Friedrichstraße sign that they put up at Christmastime

Wednesday morning, out the window of our hotel room

Snow

Gendarmenmarkt, with the Konzerthaus and Dom in the photo

Philip, freezing in front of the Konzerthalle

Upon Pariser Platz, with the Brandenburg Gate in the background

Pariser Platz

The new UBahn station at Brandenburg Gate

The Berlin dancing bear

Another pass through the Berlin Hauptbahnhof. This is from the rear entrance

The railway station from a little further away

Hamburger Bahnhof: once a train station for trains to and from Hamburg, now it's a modern art museum

Hamburger Bahnhof: since it was 12Euro to get in we skipped it, as we're neither very into modern art. At least not $16 worth into it!

Back at the main railway station, looking at the lower level

Next we headed west and to the KaDeWe

...and, then, for lunch: a Döner Kebap. So, so tasty and filling. Excellent!

We also went to the Museum of Photography, which wasn't all that interesting. It's great if you want to see lots of photos of naked women done in very artistic fashion. Otherwise, no thanks

Flopped out in the snow

Even though I've seen this on a regular basis, I am still always amazed at these guys with propane tanks on their back powering grills just below their chests, grilling wurst. It still seems crazy to have a whole sausage stand sitting on one's shoulders. Thank goodness for the umbrella: if he catches fire it'll keep it from spreading!

At Potsdamer Platz

Me at Potsdamer Platz

Philip in the mall at Potsdamer Platz

The mall at Potsdamer Platz

Sledders, with the high-rises of Potsdamer Platz behind

Some idiot on the edge of the building, chipping snow from the room and defying death

No clue even what the shop was but I thought the sign was funny

Back at Alex

Philip at Alexanderplatz

The vendor stalls at Alexanderplatz

The Christmas Market at Gendarmentmarkt: the one most geared to tourists, though with the least character and not at all interesting

A quick bite with friends at the market at the Opern Palais

Friends we visited with are building a house in the countryside outside of Berlin. This is their roof, complete with built-in steel footings for the chimney cleaner. How clever!

One of the few things we've not seen in Berlin: Schloß Schönhausen, in Berlin Pankow. It remains someplace we've not been because it was closed the day we were there

We saw this scene so many times: people dragging Christmas trees behind them on tabaggans

Saturday inside the department store Galleries Lafayette

Back at the Christmas Market near the Kaiser-Wilhelm Church: our last Glühwein

Back at the Christmas Market near the Kaiser-Wilhelm Church: the last Bratwurst

Sunday

No matter how much you dread it, the last day of vacation always comes, and, for this trip, Sunday was time to go home. We were up early and downstairs at the lounge when it opened at 6:30 for breakfast. After a quick bite it was up to fetch our bags and off to Berlin Tegel. I wrote here about how my reservation was all jacked up, so I won’t rehash it other than to say that SkyTeam totally screwed up my reservation.

Our flight went from Berlin to Paris, where our two-hour layover turned into a four-plus-hour layover. Luckily it was just our flight, so the Air France lounge wasn’t too crowded. As the thirty-minute delay turned into sixty, then two hours, we started to worry that we would not be getting out. Finally they announced that our flight was delayed because there was “a security issue” with the plane. Great.

We did eventually get to board. This was our first time to be on the Airbus A-380. As we were in main cabin, I saw no difference between it and any other plane. Our flight was uneventful, as was the trip through immigrations and customs and on into DC.

Trip Conclusions

In spite of a really rocky start, another great trip to Germany! How can you not be in love with Germany at Christmastime?

Quade's Blog

30 March 2013

The Tasmania Trip Report, Part Two