Previous Trip Notes
A Weekend Jaunt – Part 1: UA950 Business Class: IAD > BRU
A Weekend Jaunt – Part 2: 5 Hours in Brussels
With a five-hour layover, we headed to the Brussels Airlines lounge to see if they had a shower. While they did not, they did partner with the neighboring “Diamond Lounge” to provide shower services. The Diamond Lounge is part of the Priority Pass Lounge Network (granted access by having an American Express Platinum Card) and was quite nice. I was impressed by the shower facilities:
Shower in the Diamond Lounge
Shower in the Diamond Lounge
Shower in the Diamond Lounge
The food spread wasn’t bad in the Diamond Lounge either:
Diamond Lounge at Brussels Airport
Diamond Lounge at Brussels Airport
Diamond Lounge at Brussels Airport
After the quick shower, I headed back to the Brussels Airlines lounge for some breakfast and espresso. While nice, there was nothing spectacular about the lounge:
Brussels Airlines Lounge
Brussels Airlines Lounge Food
Brussels Airlines Lounge Drinks
Brussels Airlines Lounge Drinks
Brussels Airlines Lounge Breakfast
Brussels Airlines Lounge Espresso
At this point I opened my Samsung Galaxy Tab, opened the St. Andrews Links Guestbook – an online guestbook that St. Andrews Links sends to soon-to-be-golfers, and told my dad where we were going. While excited, he was also tired – and wanted to know how long it would be until the next flight.
Five hours.
And by design.
I love stopovers. Stopovers have allowed me to enjoy chili crab & 50-story infiniti pools and climb the Great Wall.
Five hours in Brussels would allow us to store our luggage in the airport lockers, jump on a twenty-minute train ride, and head to the Grand Place. The architecture was gorgeous:
The Grand Place, Brussels
The Grand Place, Brussels
The Grand Place, Brussels
The Grand Place, Brussels
The Grand Place, Brussels
The Grand Place, Brussels
Of course, we had to try a Belgium Waffle (with ice cream):
Belgium Waffle, in Belgium
We then headed back to the airport, picked up our luggage, and then headed straight for our gate. We had business class tickets between Brussels and Edinburgh. I hadn’t done a lot of research on Brussels Airlines Business Class. Had I, I would have learned that the difference between Business Class and Economy was a sign on the back of our seats (in Row 1) that said: “Business Class in Front of this Row.” Really. No difference in seats. What business class did offer, though, was a newspaper upon take-off, and a meal:
Brussels Airlines Business Class Meal
It’s a one-hour-forty-minute flight, so really nothing to complain about. I enjoyed the few complimentary beers, food and ability to get off the plane first.
Once we landed we grabbed our luggage, including my golf clubs, caught a cab, and headed to the Sheraton Grand Hotel & Spa in Edinburgh.
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