Travel Seattle to Vienna

Choosing an airline to fly from Seattle to Vienna should not be difficult. You can fly from a number of USA and Canadian cities direct to Vienna but Seattle does not share this convenience. London is still the biggest hub from which to travel to most European destinations but the conditions in the extended waiting areas of Heathrow are terribly congested and unpleasant sometimes. Our friend Boris, Mayor of London, has proposed many solutions to this problem including a new airport in the Thames Estuary. In my opinion this is the only logical way in which London can remain an important hub for Europe but I suspect that it is already too late for it to remain THE main hub for Europe. One suggested ‘band aid’ solution to the “slot” time problem is to build a third runway for Heathrow but I suspect that this would only make transit problems worse. However, London Heathrow Airport is still the best place from which to enter London as the Piccadilly Line “tube” actually starts its journey into the heart of the metropolis from there. 

British Airways runs a daily service between London Heathrow and Seattle using ancient 747 400 series planes in the Winter and sleek 777 Boeings during the Summer. I have travelled on both planes but it is the transit area of London Heathrow which persuades me to look elsewhere for a route.

Perchance to dream, my eye alights on the Lufthansa site wherein I see a nice airbus which runs between Seattle and Frankfurt each day. It leaves early in the afternoon and arrives in Frankfurt around nine o’clock next morning. This allows a relaxed transit to the Vienna connection which arrives at a decent time of day in Vienna. I book this route allowing plenty of time between my arrival in Frankfurt and the departure time of the Vienna flight.

Lufthansa only allow 23 kilos of checked luggage and mine comes to 22.6 kilos, thanks to a portable luggage scale which I discover is thankfully very accurate. But later, when we are waiting in the boarding area, a Lufthansa lady comes round and attempts to lift passengers’ hand luggage. The hand luggage of a nearby passenger weighs 16 kilos!!! Instead of charging a massive amount, the nice Lufthansa lady tells everybody that overweight or oversize hand luggage MUST be checked in but Lufthansa will charge NOTHING for this privilege. Very different from other airlines which we will not mention.

But before this comes the dreaded TSA. As I have arrived very early, I decide to refuse to be checked by a machine, even if the radiation level is very low. The TSA people are very polite and ask me to step aside and they will get a “specialist” to check me over. For this, I do not have to remove my belt or other appurtenances  but I do have to take off my boots as usual. I am frisked very efficiently with no problems or embarrassment then the gloves worn are tested for drugs using the machine we have all seen on a television programme called “Border Protection” or something like that.

Next comes my contact with Homeland Security which is very important to me after the awful warning I received in Hawaii on my arrival, “Make sure you do not overstay this time or we will hound you for the rest of your life!” I somehow find the USA Customs in the bowels of the Airport Building and question a friendly officer on my status. He is appalled at the “hound you for the rest of your life” warning and assures me that, because I have stayed four months and a day in Seattle, they will definitely welcome me back in four months and a day’s time. This is good news because I have already booked my ticket!

The flight from Frankfurt has arrived on time

so, having completed my pre-flight duties, I relax and wait until my flight is called. On my way into the plane, I see piles of almost every German newspaper plus a number of English language newspapers including the FT. As I enter the aircraft I hear all the announcement being made in German!!! For various reasons this has a very emotional effect on me. We are ALREADY in Germany!!! I LIKE this. The aircraft looks brand new and very comfortable. I have reserved a centre aisle seat, knowing that nobody will book the two centre seats.

For some reason, Lufthansa cabin crew love to do the Seattle run. A couple of them told us that they must put their names down up to a year in advance to get this run. Of course we met them at the Seattle outlets where I buy most of my stuff at an average discount of 95% at least. A European visiting the outlets on just one day can save an amount equalling the airfare to the USA. But they also seem to like the city and perhaps the clean air which comes in from the Pacific. But it does mean that they are as sorry to be leaving as I am.

A self defence regime which many of us use on international flights is to order the vegetarian option on the menu. You get served first. But before this come the drinks. I am determined to sleep on this flight so I have three plastic tumblers full of red wine with my delicious huge meal . After the meal, I am offered a nice liquor but I choose to have a large brandy. That should really help, I think. The cabin crew keep plying us with drinks all through the night and even force us to devour delicious chocolates which they hand out in packets of three.

As usual, I hardly sleep at all. As usual I use the latest hi-tech video system to watch the route being followed by the plane. This system uses something like Google Earth prompted by the global position of the plane. This means we get a beautifully clear picture of the land below even when it is completely obscured by cloud. I notice that the pilot is not taking us by the normal route over South Greenland near Iceland but a longer route far South of this. In fact this looks like a straight line on out normal map projection instead of the great circle route with which we are familiar. This results in a very smooth ride with hardly any turbulence and a picturesque ride over the Irish, Welsh and South England countryside before encountering the European mainland. Breakfast is yet another huge incredible meal – more like a dinner than a breakfast but of course in Seattle it IS dinner time.

In contrast to London’s Heathrow, Frankfurt is a vast expanse of countryside. I love it because it has a main DB station through which all the main trains run. You simply walk out from the customs hall down a corridor into the station. It’s that easy. But this time, I am changing on to another flight. I take the precaution of asking an attendant about my flight and he tells me that the departure gate has been changed.

The Vienna flight is fully booked and another nice Lufthansa person is rounding up all those naughty passengers who have exceeded their carry-on allowance but again checking them in with no charge. Passengers have the use of a rather nice coffee machine which makes coffee of various types directly instead of using capsules. I have a few hot chocolates as I wait for the flight to board.

I have travelled on the small 320 airbuses all over Europe and for some reason I love them. We shoot up to cruising height and have a very smooth ride into Vienna. I talk to a group from Texas who work in the IT business. I thought I had escaped from these sorts of people when I left Seattle.

I find my luggage and mosey down to the suburban rail link into the city. You need to know about this line because it is the only train which connects directly with the Vienna underground trains although the CAT airport train now has a covered connection if you walk through a shopping centre.. It’s also a third of the price of the CAT airport train which is advertised all over the place. You also cannot buy tickets before actually arriving on the platform. Luckily, more and more tourists are discovering that this train is actually more convenient, not just cheaper, than the CAT, thanks to the internet. I change at ‘Mitte’ on to the city underground system and must go two stops to Karlsplatz where my apartment is situated.

I dump my stuff and immediately rush to the nearby ALDI for supplies. (ALDI here has taken the name of the great Austrian hero HOFER – his name has been used and misused so much over the centuries – now he is a shop!!!!)

But my real arrival in Vienna comes a little later. I find that the Vienna Ballet is doing ‘Dornröschen’ tonight. They are doing the Peter Wright version of the great Marius Petipa masterpiece. A few weeks ago I had the privilege of seeing the older Ronald Hynd version of this classic

(including some talk)

(some dance)

also completely based on the Petipa choreography. Peter Wright had a very different entry into ballet from that of Ronald Hynd, who had a more traditional background. I will be truly rewarded by also seeing the Peter Wright version here in Vienna.

I also discover that my favourite baritone is singing ‘Wozzeck’ later in the month.

and there are also three performances of Евге́ний Оне́гин ((Yevgeniy Onegin as Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вский’s grand niece taught me to say!!) which should also be marvellous.

I drink two cups of coffee and discover that the performance starts in thirty minutes. Enlivened by the coffee, I take the five minute walk to the Staatsoper. I approach the ‘secret’ side box office and pay my three euros. The box office man grins at me and says, “You’ve got the last one!!”. I reach my seat over the orchestra just in time to hear the beginning of this great work. Now and then I wander to the centre and actually stand to watch the whole stage. I’m home!!!