I’m back from a very fast two-day trip to Wiesbaden Germany. I feel like I was in perpetual motion from the time I left the apartment at 8 am on Monday until I arrived back here at 8 pm last night. Since it was a short trip and I didn’t have much time to prepare, I was unable to stay at any of the hotels I would have preferred in Wiesbaden. There was some type of big convention going on and I was lucky to find anyplace in the city. I ended up at a small place called Hotel am Kochbrunnen; right across the street from the, yep you guessed it, Kochbrunnen. The Kochbrunnen, Cooking Spring, is a natural hot water spring used continuously since the Romans soaked their bodies in these springs. The hotel was fine, clean and small but my room on the first floor faced the street and since it was really hot, I had to keep the window open, which made the room very, very noisy from five am until midnight.
I had purchased a last minute coach ticket, which cost about $300 more than it would have if I had been able to purchase it a month earlier. I have to tell you, that $300 was very well spent. I took the train to the airport and then had to spend about thirty minutes getting through the initial security before walking to the Aeroflot section of the airport, the furthest from the train. I stood in line to check in and when I got to the front I was told I had to go to a different check-in counter. NO reasons are ever given for anything in Moscow. I got there to discover that it was where you check in for Business Class, which was surprising. They looked at my ticket and without any hassle gave me a seat in Business Class and an invitation to the lounge, which brightened up my morning considerably.
It turns out that the Russian Schools went on summer vacation last week and there were hordes of children in the airport. Security was very slow since kids being kids didn’t know the drill, so it took another forty minutes to clear security and head for the lounge. I was very happy I had decided to take the earlier train. The lounge was nice although a bit sparse, and had no windows, which made it rather dark. My 11:20 flight was not scheduled to board for another fifty minutes so I had some tea and cookies while writing to Cindy regarding my good fortune. I went back to the coffee/tea area and saw a line of men waiting to pour themselves glasses of cognac to go with their beers. Without them saying a word, I knew they were on one of the SAS flights leaving for either Sweden or Denmark. The lounge had three different types of cognac and three types of vodka, but nothing else other than beer and some indifferent wine.
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| Toilet Kit for a Three Hour Cruise |
For those of you of a certain age who remember the old Aeroflot, you can imagine how I was mightily surprised about the quality of the service in Business Class. I had the luxury of not having anyone next to me, and the leather seats were comfortable in a 2x2 configuration. Each seat had a good-sized pillow with a linen cover and a nice wool blanket wrapped in plastic. The flight attendant took my jacket and returned with a selection of drinks, water, juice or Champagne. The Champagne was Louis Roederer Brut Premier and it was delicious, even though it was served at room temperature. She later came by with toilet kits, which was very surprising to me since it is only a three-hour flight. The kits are in a nice blue bag and have slippers, eyeshades, pen/paper and tissues. We departed on time and were treated to a lovely view of Moscow as we made our swing to head southwest.
As soon as the seatbelt sign went off one attendant came by to take our drink order while the other handed out small personal video players and noise cancelling headphones. These slipped nicely into the seat pocket in front of me, thus freeing up the tray table for lunch. I had ordered Champagne and was surprised when she came by with Cristal. I asked about this and she said it must have been a mistake or a promo since they never had it on board before. What a lovely mistake! I felt bad drinking it with ice, but it too was room temperature and they didn’t have any way to chill it. As I expected, there was no Cristal on the homeward leg.
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| Menu Items |
I started to watch a movie as they began serving lunch. There were lots of choices - the menu is attached - and the food was delicious and in some cases quite innovative. I skipped coffee and desert, opting instead to try a little bit of their excellent cognac, Hine Antique XO Premier Cru, which I’m happy to report, was simply divine. All too soon we were heading into Frankfurt International and the fun and games were over.
I was scheduled to come back today, but since I was done with my work I called to see if I could depart on Wednesday. I was told I could for an additional fee of 400 Euros. I instead made a reservation at the airport hotel for a lot less than that and was resigned to spending a night at the airport. When I woke up on Wednesday, I decided that I would go to the airport to plead my case in person since I knew they had empty seats. I put on my jacket and tie and headed out convinced that the Byxbee charm would carry the day. I was lucky to get a very sympathetic person at the counter who understood that getting home a day early is sometimes like winning the lottery. We negotiated prices until I was able to get her down to about the same price I would have had to pay to stay and eat at the airport and she reissued my ticket, again placing me in Business Class. This was a fine trip.
Now it is back to reality, two loads of laundry cooking and soon I’ll head out to find something for dinner. It is, however, great to be back early.
Best wishes, Cindy and Wm.
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