SIN-LHR-BCN-LHR-SIN on QF Premium Economy and BA Y...and Nancy Bird Walton (PART II)

[yflyer]

This is Part II of a three part TR, which covers London and Barcelona. (Part I can be found here.)

After arriving in London, I stayed for a few days before heading to Barcelona on BA in Y.

In London, I stayed at the Hilton in Bayswater, which overlooks Hyde Park. This is an older Hilton, converted from a fairly old (historic?) building. There is a restaurant in the basement, but minimal other facilities, not even a gym/health club. Rooms are not new, and due for a refurbishment, but comfortable enough for a short stay. On the plus side, it was a lot cheaper than the other Hiltons in London, and is ideally located near two tube stations, and in an area with a lot of eating options (including fabulous Chinese restaurants serving roast duck and other delights), minimarts etc.

I was upgraded on check-in to one of the nicer rooms in the hotel, a spacious room with nice views of Hyde Park.



It was freezing cold when I was there, so I was looking forward to my flight to Barcelona, which began one early morning at T5.

T5 is an impressive terminal. I did not visit during a busy period, but it looks like the kind of terminal that would be able to scale to handle peaks. I particularly like the workflow in the security area, which has ample space for you to prepare your handluggage for inspection. Even so, it did seem as though the driveway could have used extra lanes or extra drop-off space.







You can check in using automated check in machines, which are fairly easy to use.



I was in the back of the bus again, but at least in an aisle seat.



After security, you enter a large airside area, with ample shopping and eating options.



The airside areas and the lounges offer many opportunies for plane spotting. Some fairly unusual ones could be spotted, including this unusual BA paint scheme (and aircraft) which I had not seen before. Anyone know what plane this is, and why the cockpit window looks so unusual?

[yflyer]

As I was fairly early for my flight, I went to the BA Lounge to check it out.



It was a fairly busy lounge, with many travellers grabbing a quick breakfast before heading out for their flights.



My first stop was for coffee.



There was also wine available, and an impressive bar area, but it was too early in the day for that.







I decided to check out the breakfast spread.

[yflyer]

There was ample seating for food and relaxation, and nice runway views.







They also had a small kids play room.



And a work area.



From many locations, you had a great view of one of the runways, where a steady procession of different aircraft, both wide and narrow body, were landing.



The Silver Kris lounge in Singapore may be more elegant and luxurious, but at least you can see what is going on around the airport from the BA lounge.

Wifi access was quick, and time went by quickly.

[yflyer]

It was time for my flight, a BA Airbus A320. I boarded and went straight to the back of the bus. But although I was in Y, I felt little envy, if any, for those in "Business". The aircraft had that strange cabin product known as "European business class", which is in 2-3 format, with seat width and seat pitch not much different from Y.

In business, on the right side, the 3 seats appeared almost indistinguishable from Y seats, and on the left side, the 2 seats had a strange narrow "seat" in between which served no useful purpose that I could discern. There is a picture of this that I will post in a subsequent part of this TR.

The picture below shows Y seating.



I settled into my Y seat, which had slightly worn leather, and watched as the plane filled up completely.

[yflyer]

I was not expecting much in terms of catering on this flight, so I had picked up a sandwich from Pret before boarding. I am really impressed with Pret. They should open in Singapore. They have branches in Hong Kong. Why not Singapore?



In any case, I needn't have worried. A simple but tasty breakfast was served, which comprised of a delicious egg and tomato croissant, juice and coffee/tea.





Less than 2 hours later, we landed on schedule in sunny Barcelona, where it was a pleasant 15 or so degrees.

[yflyer]

I spent several days in Barcelona. It was all work this time. I did not even get to see the Gaudi Sagrada Familia (although I did visit it the last time I was in Barcelona). My hotel was near La Rambla, though, so I had many opportunities to sample the fine food that Barcelona had to offer.

The picture below shows one of the pedestrian streets, Carrer Ferran, just off La Rambla, which had great eating options -- far better than some of the touristy fare along La Rambla itself.



Some of these delights include Jamon Iberico...that incredibly delicious Spanish ham whose price triples or quadruples by the time it appears in shops in Singapore.



There were also great tapas to be had. None of the fancy plating or culinary gymnastics that you get in tapas bars in Asia, but just incredibly flavourful dishes, including anchovies, and the most tender octopus I have eaten.

Sardines...



Anchovies, white anchovies, and octopus...



There was also good seafood to be had at Port Olimpic, by the water, where each night a series of seafood restaurants try to outdo each other with amazing displays of seafood.





You generally will get very good paella anywhere in Barcelona (apart from the most blatantly touristy restaurants along La Rambla -- particularly those with pictures on the menus.), but it would be hard to top this one for shock-and-awe...

[yflyer]

Then it was time to head back to Singapore via London, this time on a chock-full BA A321. On this aircraft, business class stretched halfway down the cabin, right up to the emergency door in the middle.

I settled into my seat in the rear of the bus once again.



Breakfast consisted of a ham and cheese sandwich.





Apart from some turbulence as we passed through a very windy area above the Pyrenees mountains, it was a smooth flight, and we landed at T5 on schedule.

As I left the aircraft, I snapped a picture of the left side of the 2-3 business class cabin.



Why they would design a pair of seats like that is anybody's guess.

At the T5 baggage area, there was a machine selling SIM cards from the various operators. These came in both regular and microSIM sizes. These would have been very handy if I was here for a longer period. You really don't want to incur the hefty data roaming charges that telecom companies charge when you are travelling.



I also caught a glimpse of the BA Arrivals lounge, although I did not go in, as it appeared that Oneworld privileges do not apply for this lounge.

[yflyer]

I had a day in London before my flight back to Singapore. I used the Heathrow Express to get from T5 to T3 (this is free between terminals), and left my luggage at the Left Luggage counter at T3 arrivals (GBP 8.50 per piece for 24 hours), then caught the Heathrow Express train from T3 to Paddington station in the city.

This was my first time on the Heathrow Express train service, and I was quite impressed. The trains appear to be brand new, and it was a very smooth, quick ride into the city.

A view of the trains is shown below





From Paddington station, I bought an offpeak day pass for the London underground, and spent the day wandering around Oxford Street, Regent Street and Covent Garden, as well as a walk across the Thames to the Royal Festival Hall, where I could see both the London Eye and Big Ben in the distance distance. Yes, quite a touristy day out.

I stopped for lunch at Flat Iron, along Beak Street, which is off Regent Street.



This restaurant has a unique concept. It has a limited menu, with exactly ONE main course, which is flat iron steak, at GBP10.



I ordered mine medium rare, together with several side dishes.

While waiting for your food, you get popcorn in a cup, which is complimentary.



The restaurant was empty when I arrived at opening time, at 12pm, but the communal tables rapidly filled up.



As can be expected for a restaurant which specialises in one dish, they do their flat iron steak very well. The sides were also superb.





They have a small but well chosen selection of wines, served in carafes. No fancy wine glasses here. You drink good wine out of plain water glasses, which is probably preferable to sipping lousy wine from Riedel goblets (which does happen!).



And that wraps up Part II. For the concluding section of this TR, Part III, click here!

[9V-SIA]

Again thanks for sharing

Nice pictures of LHR & BA business class.

Pret sandwiches do indeed look yummy.

I refuse to pay for BA business class in Europe.

Seat is not sufficiently different from economy seat

[yflyer]

Thanks for your feedback! I don't get to visit the BA Lounges at LHR often, so I took the opportunity to snap as many pictures as I could.

I like the fact that Pret varies their menu on a daily basis, and most of the food they serve tastes fresh and reasonably unprocessed. They have outlets in Hong Kong. Why not open in Singapore? If they can maintain the same standard, I am sure they will do well here.

I am also scratching my head at why anyone would want to pay to travel business class within Europe, if the product you get is what I saw.

[CarbonMan]

Excellent TR, yflyer! Love the food pics in Barcelona. Dreaming of going back there.

[inkoherent]

I like the fact that Pret varies their menu on a daily basis, and most of the food they serve tastes fresh and reasonably unprocessed. They have outlets in Hong Kong. Why not open in Singapore? If they can maintain the same standard, I am sure they will do well here.

Pret actually had ONE outlet in Singapore some years back, in the building that is being converted into the Sofitel So. But I think the sandwich market was pretty limited then, and I believe they decided to close their Singapore operation to focus on HK. Wish they'd come back too

[yflyer]

CarbonMan: Thanks! Yes, the food in Barcelona is really great. The Jamon Iberico is relatively easy to bring back to Singapore, at least when sliced, although I have always fantasized about bringing back a whole leg of Jamon Iberico...

inkoherent: Thanks for the info...I did not know that! If Pret came back to Singapore now, and picked the right location (say Suntec, or in the new Financial District in Marina Bay), I think they would do very well.

[CarbonMan]

CarbonMan: Thanks! Yes, the food in Barcelona is really great. The Jamon Iberico is relatively easy to bring back to Singapore, at least when sliced, although I have always fantasized about bringing back a whole leg of Jamon Iberico...

LOL! I did bring back a 8 packs of half a dozen paper thin slices each. Yes, it costs a fortune but the Bellota-type is very, very good compared to the cheaper variety. A whole leg is tempting but from my observation, it takes a lot of skill to slice them paper-thin from the bone.

My last 100gms from the last trip:

[Flyerfly]

Excellent TR and thanks so much for posting yfler ... i will need your help to suggest a few places to go for food when i go to Barcelona this year end ...

yeah Pret is indeed very good .. and have many outlets in HK .. i practically buy breakfast from Pret everyday (banana & honey yogurt granola - my favourite) ... but stay away from the coffee there (i think even starbuck taste better) ... haha !