Skip to main content

London Trip Report

As detailed in my last post, I flew to London (LHR) on United Airlines on Friday after work.

 

Once I landed at LHR on Saturday morning (at 6am) I made my way directly to the arrivals lounge that I officially was not supposed to have access to. I talked my way in anyway and enjoyed a hot shower and breakfast and some time on my laptop before it was time to meet the rest of my NoVA Travelers for our transfer to the hotel.

 

The meeting time came and went and no members could be found so I used flight tracking data online to review the logs of their flight. I found that both members I was expected were on planes running at least 30 minutes late so I headed to the hotel by myself to wait for them.

 

Just my luck the tube routes were disrupted to track maintenance and the bus routes were disrupted due to a political march against violence. That left the train as the only viable option to get downtown. First lesson of travel- be prepared to stretch your budget. Tube tickets = something like $10 round trip. Train tickets= $45 round trip.

 

As soon as Jacob and Janice landed they emailed me and we all met up successfully at the hotel and checked in. We had one room on the club floor and another on a standard floor, but the desk clerk was kind enough to provide club/lounge access for both rooms. That would mean free breakfast the next morning.

 

Once we were settled, Jacob wandered off to do some things he had set on his agenda while Janice and I took a cab over to Westminster Abbey to tour the inside of the worship space. I had been in the courtyard of the Westminster last time I came to London but it was after hours and the locked doors barred my entry from my planned tourist trail stop. My second visit would end in just the same sort of disappointment- the Abbey was closed. I threw myself a quick pity party and we headed for our next stop - the Tower of London.

 

The tower (really a palace surrounded by walls with towers) was the home of the royals on and off since the year 1078 up until they were relocated to Buckingham Palace. It's a fascinating piece of history to take in while you walk across the spot where kings and queens have walked during ages before ours or while you sit quietly in the courtyard where state-labeled traitors (including Queen Ann and Queen Catherine) were beheaded.

 

P1000341 Tower of London

 

Like the rest of the Americans we were most drawn to the crown jewels and the instruments of torture exhibit. Oh and the castle toilets were pretty darn cool too. We enjoyed the complimentary guided tour (the Queen's body guard leading the tour looked so much like my father-in-law!) where we learned all about the royals and quite a bit about what it is to be a Queen's guard.

 

Our tour of the Tower of London took us well into the afternoon and then we took a taxi back to the hotel. I really like the taxis in London - they're roomy and sort of remind me of getting into a limo.

We had a relaxing evening at the hotel filled with napping and noshing on canapes in the club lounge (which was useful because I hadn't eaten since being in the arrivals lounge early in the morning).

 

Eventually 10pm rolled around and it was time for our big dinner at Murano. This time I traded event partners in that Jacob and I were pairing up for the dinner while Janice had other plans.

 

P1000359Outfit of the Dinner

 

A quick tax ride over to the restaurant and there we were! Murano is a bit small and simple in its décor. We made our way through ten courses of fine cuisine (not on the level in taste, presentation or service as The French Laundry but more like a high quality restaurant in DC that makes you happy when they discount their prices during restaurant week).

 P1000367 Main Course: Beef

 

 

 

P1000370 Pistachio Souffle

 

 

P1000372 Jenni after dinner

 

 

 

After a long day of flying, sightseeing and great food I was ready to sleep -which is exactly what led to me scrapping my plans to make a second attempt to visit Westminster in the morning when the alarm went off and I couldn't bear to get out of bed. Instead I chose sleep over God, dragging myself out of bed finally an hour later for breakfast in the club.

 

With just a few hours left to spare before we needed to return to the airport for the flight home I filled my time by browsing the stores on Oxford Street. I hit all the shops recommended by the UK fatshionistas I follow in the blogosphere: Evans, Dorothy Perkins and New Look. Then I entered the zoo that was Primark and found a few perfect frilly feminine skirts to remember London by.

 

It was a great trip and I'd be happy to fly to London for dinner again when the chance comes along.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Board Game Review: Hues and Cues

Last week we received Hues and Cues from The Op Games. We recently finished playing through Scooby-Doo Escape from the Haunted Mansion (a fantastic game in The Op Games catalogue designed by Jay Cormier, Sen-Foong Lim, and Kami Mandell that you should absolutely pick up to play with your family) and wanted to give another game from the same publisher a go. I picked Hues and Cues because I’ve been pleasantly surprised by other “test whether our minds think the same way” games such as The Mind   and Wavelength. In Hues and Cues , players gather around a large central board comprised of 480 graduating colors of the rainbow surrounded by an x-y axis and scoring table. White and black (which are technically not colors) are conspicuously absent as are shades (mixtures of color + black; e.g., grey) and tints (mixtures of color + white; e.g., cream).  On each player’s turn, they draw a card with four colors and the x-y axis codes of those colors depicted and they select one. They are in the

Board Game Review: Obsessed with Obsession

I'm completely obsessed with Obsession! I received a review copy of the updated second edition along with all the expansions (Wessex, Useful Man, Upstairs Downstairs) and from the moment I took everything out of the boxes, my excitement was over the top. Actually, that's not even the half of it - I remember I was already quite excited before the game even arrived. I'd wanted to get my hands on a copy as soon as I learned there was a game that brought the lifestyle that we all fell in love with watching Downton Abbey to the gaming table. Back in 2021, I was having a great time at the Dice Tower Summer Retreat and a new friend Bonnie sang the praises of Obsession. She had seen me eyeing the box on the shelf and gave me a summary of the game mechanics as she owned the first edition. She explained that the theme is centered on running an estate in Derbyshire and competing against others to have the best home, reputation, gentry guests, etc. Based on her enthusiasm and descripti

Board Game Review: Anno 1800

Whenever Martin Wallace designs a new game, I am all over it. This is because I absolutely love Brass Birmingham (another MW designed game); in fact Brass Birmingham is my #1 board game of all time. Over the years, his other games I've tried have been pretty good, but not necessarily amazing must-buys. Still, I keep trying each new release of his, searching for that next star performer. That's why I'm excited to report that Anno 1800 is, in fact, a star performer, and an amazing must-buy board game. Anno 1800 was adapted by the publisher (Kosmos) from a Ubisoft video game of the same name. In the board game, players take on the role of industrialists, charged with developing their island economies and exploring other islands. Each player begins the game with a personal industry board with trade & exploration ships, a shipyard, and industrial goods tiles printed on the board. A starting collection of workers (wooden cubes) of various types to produce the goods is a