Had a bit of a travel knightmare on Friday

We were in Munich all week whilst southern UK had it’s heaviest snow storms in a couple of decades.  Heathrow and Gatwick have had closures, hundreds of flights have been cancelled/delayed and Munich airport was expecting heavy snow on the day we were travelling.

We woke up in the morning in the hotel and checked BritishAirways.co.uk to find out that our flight had been cancelled After calling American Express travel we found out that all BA flights to Heathrow were cancelled/unknown, so our best option was to fly to Amsterdam with KLM, and then from Amsterdam to Heathrow.  We booked the flights, but decided to head to Munich airport to see whether Serena’s “I’m a gold card member’ line made any difference with BA.

On arrival to Munich airport it became apparent that NONE of the planes which should have come from Heathrow had arrived at Munich, so there was little chance of getting on a BA plane.  Serena did try the BA Gold Card line, but the response was “We can’t change the weather, not even for Gold Card members” – fair enough   Our thoughts were that BA would have been hit worst by the problems, since they have lots of flights from Heathrow and Gatwick, so they are having to cancel/reschedule lots of planes to clear up the mess.  So, we decided to head to Amsterdam using KLM.

KLM flight went well.  The Dutch flight crew were pleasant enough and they served drinks and snacks even though it was a relatively short trip.  Serena did a bit of preparation reading for our unexpected trip to Amsterdam (airport)…

Thankfully on arrival to Amsterdam our KLM connecting flight was on time, although we still had 3 hours to kill.  The British Airways flights from Amsterdam Heathrow were all delayed, so in this instance KLM was definitely the right option.

The airport was enormous.  It is split in to three different sections each of which host many shops, bars and restaurants.  We grabbed some food in a little noodle bar…

…and then split up to do a little shopping.  Well, more accurately…Serena did shopping and I went and sat by the gate, listening to tunes on my iphone and caught up on email/blogs on my netbook.

Travelling is one of my favourite times to read or catch up on work, so I’m not a big shopper.  However if you do prefer to shop in airports, then Amsterdam is a great place to be…

There is even a museum…

After a few hours waiting/shopping in the airport, we finally took off (on time) and got back to the UK at about 5pm.  Unfortunately we landed at Terminal 4, and my car was in the business car park of Terminal 5, so we had to go on mini mission with a couple of buses to get back to the car.  I got a nice pic of a snowy English country side as we made our approach to Heathrow…

Based on the amount of abandoned luggage, I am assuming that there were quite a few disappointed travellers missing their essentials…

Two of my friends were having a leaving party in Reading in the evening, so I got back home as soon as I could (which took a while thanks to the lack of grit on any of the roads in my area), got showered and changed and headed to the train station, where I had to wait for another 45 minutes due to cancelled trains.

I eventually got to Reading at about 9:30pm, missing the buffet, but in time for wine, champagne and plenty of dancing Crazy travel day, but still lots of fun

Flying back to the UK in about an hour, but first just chilling in the BA lounge.  The new Galleries lounge is fairly nice.   As you would expect they have a fully stocked bar, some sandwiches, cakes and cereal (it’s breakfast time), 6 online PCs and free wifi…

There are some nice light airy sections (although no view of the runway disappointingly), as well as some cosier sections with low lighting and comfortable seats…

There is also conveniently a printer/photo copier/scanner available to use for urgent paper based activities…

I am just sitting waiting for plane to Tokyo.  The airport in Pudong has a similar design to Terminal 5, in that it is a long building with a roof shaped a little like a wave.  The airport is fairly new, very clean and at the moment quite quiet.  I am sitting have a drink and a Pain D’Chocolate – 40 minutes until boarding.

There are a bunch of shops down stairs selling mainly Chinese souvenirs, although I was already warned that they are very expensive compared to those sold in Shanghai.  I’ll wait for Japan before doing any more shopping

Here are a few shots of the cool airport building ceiling, enjoy

I was a little peckish when I arrived at Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 yesterday afternoon, so decided to get some lunch before my flight.  Every time I have been to the terminal in the past i have proceeded straight downstairs, browsed the shops and ended up at Weatherspoons for a glass of Rose and some pasta.  Today I noticed a little place called Huxleys which is on the far left, after the security checks, but on the same level.

The staff were friendly, they had a good selection of wine and an equally good choice of food.  I actually arrived just before lunch time, and had not had breakfast, so went for an all day breakfast (just before the 12pm deadline).  I think it is enough to say that the food was great, without describing in detail the texture of the sausages or the volume of baked beans.  Whilst I was eating I saw a selection of other meals being served and they certainly made me want to go back again next time and try something else from the menu.

If you fancy a nice relaxing meal and drink before your flight, I would recommend turning right to Huxleys next time you are in terminal 5

Here is a link to their menu (PDF)…