Stansted to Gothenburg – Ryanair in Economy

With my trip to Barcelona and Andorra having been a month earlier, and our big trip to the Nordics not for another few weeks, I decided that April was the perfect time for squeeze in an extreme day trip. Having trawled Skyscanner for the best combination of price and flight times, I had settled on a destination that would help build up my excitement for our upcoming Nordics trip. And so, early on a Wednesday morning in April, I was doing my semi-regular drive down the M11 towards Stansted, ready to catch a Ryanair flight to Gothenburg, Sweden.

St Pancras to East Midlands Parkway – EMR ‘Aurora’ in 1st Class

Having arrived back at Heathrow from my trip to Barcelona and Andorra, a last-minute change of plans saw me heading to the East Midlands rather than back home to Peterborough and as such I headed from the airport to St Pancras rather than Kings Cross. This did give me the opportunity to finally try out one of EMR’s new Hitachi class 810 ‘Auroras’, a train that’s introduction into service has been beset by delays and has more recently resulted in strike action by unions over safety concerns. However the Auroras are the future of the Midland Mainline inter-city fleet, so what is all the fuss about?

Barcelona to Heathrow – British Airways in Club Europe

With my time in Barcelona coming to an end, after a successful and enjoyable trip ticking off a new country and exploring Barcelona itself, it was time to head home. Flying from Barcelona’s main El Prat airport, I’d be flying with British Airways back to their home base of London Heathrow and as with the journey out, my flight back to the UK would be in their Club Europe cabin. Flying at a different time of day, and on a flight not originating at their home base, I was looking forward to seeing how the offering would differ on this flight compared to the one at the start of my trip.

Barcelona – Capital of Catalonia

Whilst the main purpose of my trip was to visit and tick off Andorra, for practicality I was staying in Barcelona, Spain’s second largest city and the capital of Catalonia. Whilst the bulk of my full day would be taken up with my trip across the border to Europe’s sixth smallest country, I had chosen flights that would allow me time to explore some of the city on my arrival and departure days, given the last time I visited Barcelona was over nine years earlier in Feb 2017. And so, having arrived in Barcelona mid-afternoon, I made my way to Plaza Espanya to check into my hotel, have a rest and then head out to explore some of the city.

Andorra – A Microstate in the Pyrenees

Having arrived in the capital of Catalonia on a British Airways flight from Heathrow, I had two nights in Barcelona before returning to the UK. However, whilst I would be spending plenty of time exploring the city, the main purpose of my trip was to leave the city, and in fact the country, to visit the one remaining European mainland microstate that I needed to tick off. That country, nestled in the Pyrenees between Spain and France, is Andorra. Without a car, the best way to reach the country and its capital, Andorra la Vella, is to take a coach from Barcelona and so, at a slightly too early time in the morning, I was at Barcelona Sants Coach Station, ready to head to another new country.

Heathrow to Barcelona – British Airways in Club Europe

Back in March, with a few days off work, it was time for another trip. This one would be starting as many do, with a flight from London Heathrow, however, would be slightly different as I was fortunate enough to be flying with British Airways (BA) in Club Europe. Having used some Avios points to upgrade myself to BA’s European business class product, it would be interesting to see how my experience differed compared to my various flights recently with the airline in their economy class Euro Traveller cabin. And so, on a Monday in March, I was at Heathrow once again, ready to fly to Barcelona.