Shanghai - October 2018

Arrived back in HK from my big European trip on Friday 26 October, and headed to Shanghai on Sunday 28 as I wanted to be there for the first day in the new office. I'm really happy with the result...

Pantry...

View from Reception...

Green wall in Reception...

Stayed at the Langham Xintiandi and went to Calix, where I have been many times before...

Walked into this place, thinking it was a gallery. But it's a Nike shop !

Had dinner with one of the partners at Hotel Bulgari. Horrendously expensive and pretentious, but the views were good !

Athens - Larnaca - Doha - Hong Kong - Thursday 25 and Friday 26 October 2018

Got up and packed. Went for a last walk and found a nice Flat White coffee - quite hard to find in Europe. Had a traditional Greek breakfast of yoghurt and fruit. I find the yoghurt too heavy though.

Then caught a taxi to the airport for my short flight to Larnaca. It would have been easier to go direct to Hong Kong from Athens, but as I was travelling on Asia Miles with Qatar Airways, it was too hard to change.

Had an espresso and did some emails.

Got to Larnaca and cleared customs and got my bag. Aegean is a good airline. I couldn't check luggage straight through. The had a very long wait before check-in opened.  I knew this was to be the case, as I didn't want to risk missing my flight home.

Sat in the restaurant and had a caesar salad and killed a few hours doing emails.

Finally checked in. Looking forward to the final 2 legs on Qatar Airways. The lounge at Doha is amazing. Had a sleep in the quiet area and then a shower and some breakfast.

Nice touch...

Nice business class seat in C suite- complete with sliding door for privacy and a large TV screen. Watched a movie called Tag. Not bad. And then some new Modern Family.

The traditional Bloody Mary...

Tasting plate for a mid-flight snack...

Finally home after a lot of travel !

Athens - Wednesday 24 October 2018

Got up and found somewhere close for breakfast. It's cool but lovely blue skies. This is just the first part of breakfast...



Went to the Acropolis (EUR20) and walked around. This is as you walk in...

View of Mount Lycabettus in the distance. I will walk up there later.

Then I walked around the old town for a bit...

Found a cute little church...

It was next to a big one...

Then I walked to Hadrian's Gate. This is from the other side...

Then went right next door to the Temple of Olympian Zeus. Cost EUR6 to get in - not really worth it...

Crossed the road and entered a nice park. This is a nice looking building...

Inside...

Then I decided to walk up Mount Lycabettus. Passed Parliament House on the way.



And just as I was passing, the guard was changing so I stopped to watch. They took themselves very seriously...

Stopped and had a coffee...

Climbed Mount Lycabettus which was a good workout. I had planned to catch the funicular tram but couldn't find where it started. This is the church at the top...

Parliament House on the way back...

Went back to the hotel and did some emails at the rooftop bar (had a coffee)...

Then I walked a couple of kilometres to a rooftop bar I wanted to try - A For Athens Cocktail Bar. Great views of the Acropolis and prices to match. Had one glass of Rose, and some aranchini balls...

The area which I had stumbled on was quite busy, so when I left the bar, I wandered around...

Not sure what this is but it looked nice...

I think this is the Roman Forum...