Hamburg - The "joys" of work travel

Monday 14 January 2008 - Thursday 17 January 2008
I spent most of this week in Hamburg, which was pretty boring because I was by myself, but the hotel was amazing, the bathroom was bigger than the bedroom in my apartment and it had shower jets that massaged your back. I also got to use the hotel facilities...although, I didn't get to use the sauna, as I noticed when I was about to walk in that Europeans have a "no clothes" in sauna rule...a bit of a shock to my system!

I also ate at the one Michelin Star restaurant, Haerlin in the Fairmont hotel. It was a very enjoyable meal...I was a bit sad as well given that this may be my last Michelin Star restaurant in a long time, because there are no Michelin Star restaurants in Australia and I'm not sure my Australian bank account would be able to accommodate it either!

After a relatively successful visit to Hamburg, I headed to the airport on Thursday evening to find out that my British Airways flight had been canceled as a result of a Boeing 777 crash-landing at Heathrow. This meant that a runway had been closed so the plane due to fly to Hamburg and then return to London was unable to take-off from London and therefore the flight was canceled. This left me with a few choices: stay one night at a dodgy hotel paid for by British Airways and take the flight the next day (which was not guaranteed as the plane for that flight might not be able to leave Heathrow either) or catch an Easyjet flight that took off two hours later which arrives at Luton. Regardless of how much I hate Luton Airport, I thought it was better than the first option. So I got on the Easyjet flight, which was packed, and then made the excruciating journey back to London by bus, then train, then tube. I was meant to be back around 9pm, but it was after midnight before I finally walked through the apartment door. I guess you have to take the good with the bad parts of being a frequent traveler!

Friday 18 January 2008
This evening, I headed to the Queens Arms in Pimlico for Nick's and Meg's leaving do. N&M were flying to Nairobi to start their tour of East Africa, but were a bit anxious given the recent violence in Kenya as a result of the elections.

Saturday 19 January 2008
I spent today shopping for presents and unfortunately for Yang's bank account, another handbag caught my eye at Liberty, the Hera Clutch with Liberty's original peacock feather design.

This evening, I headed to the Fluid Bar in Farringdon for Ammy and PU's birthday bash. I got to meet a few new people, but I have a feeling that Melbournians are taking over London, after being surrounded by all Melbournians at the Leaving Drinks last night, and mostly Melbournians this evening. It was a good evening as we had most of the downstairs bar all to ourselves. Finally, the morning was complemented with a bratwurst at Kurz and Lang which was also popular with the people leaving Fabric Nightclub.

Sunday 20 January 2008
I joined Nicole, Dawn, Jane, Thao and Tammy for champagne afternoon tea at The Promenade in The Dorchester, which was awarded the Tea Guild's 2007 Top London Afternoon Tea place. Scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam...so fattening but just so good, I must have scoffed down at least 3!
After tea, I headed to Vibe Bar for drinks with Corrinne and Caroline. Then a quick exit and back to the apartment to change, pick up my suitcase and head to London City Airport to fly to the Hague.