Cyprus
Off to a work trip to the island of Cyprus. I've never been to the Mediterranean area and looking forward to seeing what the fuss is all about. I'm back on Swiss Airlines and in business class for most of the way. There was no real easy way to get to Cyprus at a reasonable cost so I booked my Swiss itinerary to Athens and then on to Cyprus on Aegean Airlines.
On the way to Athens, I did a brief layover in Zurich and visited the Swiss Lounge again. This time I tried the Whiskey Lounge and had some hot items such as meatballs and macaroni cheese. I have to say the American versions are better but it was good to have on hand for the time being. Since my layover was long, I was able to get a shower. There are significant differences between the International Terminal location (Terminal D) and the EU (shengen) side (Terminal A). The lounge was mostly empty. Once I was ready to leave, I had to leave the international terminal and go through passport control to get to terminal A. Once inside (and it can take over an hour to get through passport control), I headed over to the Swiss Lounge. It was a two level lounge but smaller. All the food was the same with a darker ambience. I didn't grab any ricolas but it seems very popular.
The business class is very different from the Boeing 777 and the Boeing 737. In the first leg to Zurich, the plane was a three class plane so the business seats were your typical international business seats. I did not know that the configuration on Swiss planes are different for the seats. Some seats had more storage, some had no neighbors. You can't tell on the seat map, at least I couldn't. It seems they are using some kind of herringbone design to maximize space. I didn't check seatguru.com beforehand but it may be worthwhile to take a look before choosing a seat.
On the leg to Athens, the business class is comparable to an economy plus seat on a United domestic flight. There are times when I don't view the "first class" domestic United flight that elevated but then I sat on this Swiss segment and now know there are worse ways to market business class seats. Luckily, the entire section was mostly empty and I got a row to myself.
The unfortunate part of my trip was I was landing at 1 am in Athens and my flight on Aegean was at 8 am. Given the time duration, I opted to stay inside Athens International Airport. The downside is that there are no lounges open overnight. The airport also dumps you out to the public area so you have to go through passport control to get into the terminal. On the bright side, the public areas of the airport is open 24 hours and I ended up hanging on the second floor where the McDonald's is located. It is a fairly large McDonald's with a counter, self ordering kiosks, and a café. There were a ton of people loitering all over the airport catching some zzz's. I tried to sleep on the plane as much as possible knowing that I would have to be up in the middle of the night. I had hoped I would be able to get into the Lufthansa Lounge but that was not in terminal A which was the terminal I had to go in. I had to wait for the Swiss Executive Lounge to open at 6:30 am. The lounge was small but comfortable. There seems to be a massage therapist but I was too early for the service to be made available.
My flight on Aegean air was full but comfortable for the 90 minutes in air. Once I landed into Larnaca International Airport, my taxi took me to the Atlantica Miramare Beach Hotel in Limasol. There is a very large Russian presence in the city between the residents and the tourists coming through. I was given a one bedroom suite. It was a little worn in some places but the space was appreciated and the amenities were adequate. I did like that their room service menu was fairly reasonable. The hotel sits on the beach and there are two pools (adult and kids). The beach is fairly rocky but there is a small pier to allow you to walk into a protected area of the ocean to jump into the water. A warning - the water is a bit brisk. The salt content must be very high because I was able to float with very little effort while out swimming.
Since my work activities kept me busy most of the time, I can only comment that the hotel seemed nice, food was reasonable (room service), breakfast is given to all guests and it was a pass for me, and that the ocean was very clear and clean despite the coldish temps. There is a restaurant next door, Seville Family Restaurant, which made me think it would be Italian influenced food but it was completely Cypriot. I found the meals tasty and reasonably priced. I love lamb and the lamb in Cyprus does not have the same taste as New Zealand lamb.
On my final day, I did walk around the town a little. Far enough to see some eateries, bars, and gelato places. Walked into a nut house and bought some dates and pistachios before heading out to the airport. Once I arrived into Lanarca Internaional Aiport, I realized the country seems to be investing in the airport infrastructure. The Aegean lounge was under renovation so I wandered around a bit before grabbing a sandwich and drink at one of the airport eateries. On the return home, I had to fly out the night before to catch my 6 am flights back to the US. Since I had to check out at 2 pm, I hopped onto a flight and landed in Athens in the early evening. Given that I had almost 10 hours before my next flight, I opted to stay at the Holiday Inns Athens hotel. The room was nice and fairly spacious. I liked the nautical theme to the hotel.
There was actually a US tools equipment conference ongoing at the hotel which made the local restaurant and pub fairly busy. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Uber was in Athens and grabbed a ride to the McArthurGlen Outlets and SmartPark. Relatively close to the hotel and airport, it looked to be a very popular spot with locals. I grabbed a bite to eat and had a savory crepe at one of the local restaurants in SmartPark. I also bought some pastries to eat. Overall, the food was decent and reasonably priced. It was likely better than my hotel options.
Went to the Athens Airport the next morning and spent time in both the Aegean Lounge and Lufthansa Lounge. The Aegean Lounge was very large but the food options were bland to me. I enjoyed my time in the Lufthansa Lounge more so despite it being smaller in footprint.
Went through Zurich on the way back and this time, I was in business class and went into the "business class" lounge of Swiss Air. Since the business class and regular lounge shared the same area, I found the business side to mirror exactly like the regular side except no whiskey lounge.
On the way to Athens, I did a brief layover in Zurich and visited the Swiss Lounge again. This time I tried the Whiskey Lounge and had some hot items such as meatballs and macaroni cheese. I have to say the American versions are better but it was good to have on hand for the time being. Since my layover was long, I was able to get a shower. There are significant differences between the International Terminal location (Terminal D) and the EU (shengen) side (Terminal A). The lounge was mostly empty. Once I was ready to leave, I had to leave the international terminal and go through passport control to get to terminal A. Once inside (and it can take over an hour to get through passport control), I headed over to the Swiss Lounge. It was a two level lounge but smaller. All the food was the same with a darker ambience. I didn't grab any ricolas but it seems very popular.
The business class is very different from the Boeing 777 and the Boeing 737. In the first leg to Zurich, the plane was a three class plane so the business seats were your typical international business seats. I did not know that the configuration on Swiss planes are different for the seats. Some seats had more storage, some had no neighbors. You can't tell on the seat map, at least I couldn't. It seems they are using some kind of herringbone design to maximize space. I didn't check seatguru.com beforehand but it may be worthwhile to take a look before choosing a seat.
On the leg to Athens, the business class is comparable to an economy plus seat on a United domestic flight. There are times when I don't view the "first class" domestic United flight that elevated but then I sat on this Swiss segment and now know there are worse ways to market business class seats. Luckily, the entire section was mostly empty and I got a row to myself.
The unfortunate part of my trip was I was landing at 1 am in Athens and my flight on Aegean was at 8 am. Given the time duration, I opted to stay inside Athens International Airport. The downside is that there are no lounges open overnight. The airport also dumps you out to the public area so you have to go through passport control to get into the terminal. On the bright side, the public areas of the airport is open 24 hours and I ended up hanging on the second floor where the McDonald's is located. It is a fairly large McDonald's with a counter, self ordering kiosks, and a café. There were a ton of people loitering all over the airport catching some zzz's. I tried to sleep on the plane as much as possible knowing that I would have to be up in the middle of the night. I had hoped I would be able to get into the Lufthansa Lounge but that was not in terminal A which was the terminal I had to go in. I had to wait for the Swiss Executive Lounge to open at 6:30 am. The lounge was small but comfortable. There seems to be a massage therapist but I was too early for the service to be made available.
My flight on Aegean air was full but comfortable for the 90 minutes in air. Once I landed into Larnaca International Airport, my taxi took me to the Atlantica Miramare Beach Hotel in Limasol. There is a very large Russian presence in the city between the residents and the tourists coming through. I was given a one bedroom suite. It was a little worn in some places but the space was appreciated and the amenities were adequate. I did like that their room service menu was fairly reasonable. The hotel sits on the beach and there are two pools (adult and kids). The beach is fairly rocky but there is a small pier to allow you to walk into a protected area of the ocean to jump into the water. A warning - the water is a bit brisk. The salt content must be very high because I was able to float with very little effort while out swimming.
Since my work activities kept me busy most of the time, I can only comment that the hotel seemed nice, food was reasonable (room service), breakfast is given to all guests and it was a pass for me, and that the ocean was very clear and clean despite the coldish temps. There is a restaurant next door, Seville Family Restaurant, which made me think it would be Italian influenced food but it was completely Cypriot. I found the meals tasty and reasonably priced. I love lamb and the lamb in Cyprus does not have the same taste as New Zealand lamb.
On my final day, I did walk around the town a little. Far enough to see some eateries, bars, and gelato places. Walked into a nut house and bought some dates and pistachios before heading out to the airport. Once I arrived into Lanarca Internaional Aiport, I realized the country seems to be investing in the airport infrastructure. The Aegean lounge was under renovation so I wandered around a bit before grabbing a sandwich and drink at one of the airport eateries. On the return home, I had to fly out the night before to catch my 6 am flights back to the US. Since I had to check out at 2 pm, I hopped onto a flight and landed in Athens in the early evening. Given that I had almost 10 hours before my next flight, I opted to stay at the Holiday Inns Athens hotel. The room was nice and fairly spacious. I liked the nautical theme to the hotel.
There was actually a US tools equipment conference ongoing at the hotel which made the local restaurant and pub fairly busy. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Uber was in Athens and grabbed a ride to the McArthurGlen Outlets and SmartPark. Relatively close to the hotel and airport, it looked to be a very popular spot with locals. I grabbed a bite to eat and had a savory crepe at one of the local restaurants in SmartPark. I also bought some pastries to eat. Overall, the food was decent and reasonably priced. It was likely better than my hotel options.
Went to the Athens Airport the next morning and spent time in both the Aegean Lounge and Lufthansa Lounge. The Aegean Lounge was very large but the food options were bland to me. I enjoyed my time in the Lufthansa Lounge more so despite it being smaller in footprint.
Went through Zurich on the way back and this time, I was in business class and went into the "business class" lounge of Swiss Air. Since the business class and regular lounge shared the same area, I found the business side to mirror exactly like the regular side except no whiskey lounge.
Comments