The rumour is either that BA has so many delays that hotels are becoming expensive, or that increasing levels of luxury are being demanded from the expensively suited folks who travel in the various upper this, or executive that classes. Either way it came a no shock to see a BA plane with a small aprtment block built on the top for such reasons.
a splendid idea in fact.
London city airport is in the heart of docklands and the views are impressive both when landing and when landed. On this autumnal evening the light was shining kindly for my i-phone to snap an air France plane waiting at the gate.
Batalha monastery is in Batalha around 130 kms from Lisbon along a nice toll autoroute. In fact it is really the only major thing in Batalha. There is a nice hotel Villa Batalha and some nice restaurants, but without the monastery there is little to entice visitors. You cannot miss the monastery as it towers over the town and is a great landmark to find your way around.
The building took over 100 years to build starting in 1336 and represented the commemoration of a battle. An earthquake in 1775 did some damage and pillaging Napoleonic soldiers did rather more in 1811 but the restoration began in 1840 and was added to UNESCO world heritage sites in 1983. To view all the various segments takes around 2 hours and some degree of internal sat-nav. The Portuguese are not recognised for their signage skills and the first difficulty one has is finding the way in. The second one is to work out that although entrance to the main Nave is free, to get into all the interesting parts costs a mere 6 euros, but no-one actually tells you this. The ticket desk is in fact just that, a desk in the corner. The interior is beautiful. There are many tombs and chapels and there is little point me detailing these as Wikipaedia does a wonderful job. I will only focus on the curious architecture around the monastery. Roads seem unfinished. Piles of sand seem randomly deposited on the road blocking the way for example to the only hotel in the town. The town has great sports complexes, football grounds, swimming pools and even an athletic track. What seemed missing was people. The place other than a few dozen tourists was empty. Cafes and restaurants all with nice smelling foods were essentially empty. Maybe the rain did not help. This is a place worth visiting. A night in the Hotel Villa Batalha. A dinner in a restaurant . A 2 hour visit to the monastery and maybe some coffee and people watching in the squares. I like this place. Even the graffiti is worth looking at.
Woman Sleeping outside a shop. Presumably not dead
Batalha Monastery
Batalha Monastery
Piles of random sand in random roads in Batalha
Batalha Monastery
Soldiers in Batalha Monastery
Batalha Monastery
Batalha Monastery Soldier
Batalha Monastery
Batalha Monastery
Batalha Tree
Batalha Monastery
Batalha Monastery
Batalha Monastery
Just occasionally a flight is interesting. Sometimes the cabaret that some passengers bring, sometimes the crew but also sometimes the view. Flying into Edinburgh yesterday it was fascinating to see the snow. There was a fair amount from the Borders up to south of Edinburgh and then none at all. Edinburgh seemed devoid of its fair share of snow. Today also driving up to Perth and Stirling, there were areas that looked whited out and areas that were luscious green, that seemed to have also missed the snow. I suspect there are complex geographical reasons that will remain hidden from me till eternity.
View from plane
Although I have been to Stockholm a few times I have never truly appreciated what a pleasant city it is. This time snowbound, everything looked cute but everything worked. Trains and planes and cars were all on time, taxi drivers spoke eloquently and engaged passengers in meaningful conversation. The people all looked young. Maybe the old ones get locked away in some sinister plot. As one arrives at Arlanda Airport, they really do play ABBA music to welcome you and photos of famous people like ABBA and Roxette adorn the walls of the luggage reclaim area. T
There is a price to pay and that is literally true. This city is expensive and is best visited when someone is paying the bill. A Croque Monseiour would cost you over 12£. Coffee usually is around 4-5£. Hotels are pleasant places where receptionists are helpful and smile. They are also warm. One of main complaints this last winter has been arriving at Marriott hotels to find that the room heating has been switched off for seemingly the last millennium. On my arrival it happily gets turned on but then takes the length of my stay to warm the room up.
The characters in Stockholm also are straight from the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I could have cast that film many times just by sitting in a cafe and looking around. Lastly the food. It is good. The restaurants have a kind of laid back attitude where service is good but not to the point of being obsequious. Tables have gingham cloth covers and serve you pretty much what you want. I had Meatballs. I could have had massive Steaks. This is a place to come back to, but please someone invite me and pay my bills while I am there. The street names are right out of the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo like Sodermalm.
The jury is out on this one. On the one hand it is easy to reach by train but on the other there are few lounges, highly expensive food and drink and not so many planes in the middle of the day.
The cost of food is frankly startling here. For 16£ they were offering rich souls a take away pack in a hideous bag ( cooler bag I suspect) containing panini, water, popcorn and fruit ( 1 piece). Extraordinary. For almost 20£ one might have a real breakfast served in a restaurant that actually is a walkway, so an easy place to make and meet friends as they will practically be dropping in as you have your breakfast.
Planes tend to be smaller, so space for luggage more limited. So, I really do not know if this a good or bad option.Not a cheap one though.What you see here is the free cabaret of watching the de-icing of planes. Quite like the look of that job!
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Once in a while I look at this photograph and laugh. These really were people, normal people, maybe, travelling from Pisa Airport to Florence. Surely it was the cast of Father Ted, Ab Fab and others? 
Scotland is really not an average place. Expectations of lochs and bagpipes are millions of miles away when one lands at Edinburgh airport. The surrounding areas are industrial if one is being polite. Driving along one finds places like “Ratho” ( is that Rat Ho, or Rath hoe?), that bring one to the worst roundabout in the world. Said roundabout has more traffic lights than the whole of london and all are set perfectly so that only one car can get through. Gridlock is not a possibility but a guaranteed state of affairs.
The motorways are tedious and even though fields are around they are invariably decorated with smoke producing buildings, towers and who knows what else. In short this is not the idyllic part of Scotland as one drives to Dunblane.
In Dunblane what used to be the Dunblane Hydro is now the Doubletree by Hilton………..which is the better? Double is actually not a bad description as they see fit to advertise : “Tea for two for only 31.50£”. Which is actually also the price of breakfast for two…………so one might then see why I chose not to donate money to this institution that wanted 176£ for a room for the night.
Lastly, it is good to see that the Tramway in Edinburgh is getting nearer completion and is being built at the airport. That will be joyful!
Dunblane Hydro or Doubletree by Hilton?
chris1957
Arcticterntalk.org 
