London 2011 Day 2!

New York to London Day 1 2011

Well, the trip got off to an interesting start. Normally we travel on my sister-in-laws airline passes, which means two things. One, we get to fly first class for practically nothing. And two, it's 'space available' which usually means lots of running around the airport from gate to gate (or terminal to terminal in the case of DFW) trying to actually get ON a flight. In an effort to be less of a basket case ('will we make this flight?', 'dammit!! if we miss this last flight we STILL have to pay for the hotel tonight in London!!', etc...) I bought tickets to London. Unfortunately I booked us on Virgin Atlantic, which some of you may know DOES NOT fly out of DFW. So we were planning on using the passes to fly from DFW - JFK (where our flight was scheduled to depart from to Heathrow [LHR] ). The night before we are to depart, we are out having a good bye dinner with friends when my sister-in-law decides to check the flights. Well, the flight they were planning on taking from DFW-LHR was now oversold, which means NO Stand-bys. And our flight from DFW-JFK was a no-go as well. This sent my sister-in-law into a panicked frenzy. They we not yet packed and needed to orchestrate another way to London, post haste. I was feeling pretty good about buying tickets at that point. Especially leaving out of New York. You see, since NY has three airports I knew we could GET to NY. The airline flies every 30mins from DFW to LaGuardia (LGA) with most flights only about half to three quarters full. This would mean taking a cab from LGA over to JFK, but not a crisis. We decided to grab an early flight from DFW to allow enough time for full planes and cab transfers between airports. Fortunately we got on the first flight we tried for and arrived into LGA at 11:30AM. A cheap cab ride later and we were in JFK. Smooth sailing from here on out!

Or so I thought. It seems that Virgin doesn't open its counters, or the automatic kiosks, until two hours before the first flight of the day. Which isn't until 3:00 in the afternoon. Which means we cant get boarding passes or check bags until at least 1:00PM. Oh well some lunch and some relaxing in the JFK food court should fix that. Of course our flight isn't scheduled to depart until 11:00PM. So sitting in the airport for 12 hours with two young children didn't sound like the most fun in the world. Fortunately once the counters opened at 1:00PM I was able to flirt our way into an earlier flight, at no charge of course, and get us out of JFK by 7:00PM. Yeah!!

By taking an earlier flight we lost the kids meals I had reserved for the later flight. But, the kids can deal, right? The other problem with the earlier flight was with the in-flight entertainment. Or I should say, the lack of entertainment. About 5 mins into the flight, the system (which looked to be very cool. Games, 100+ on-demand movies, TV shows etc...) crashed and they couldn't fix it. Fortunately I had loaded my iPad up with a ton of movies for the kids so they didn't mind. I did mind but let it go as a fluke occurrence.

The rest of the flight was fairly standard. The kids hated the food, the plane was too cold, etc. Finally we land at Heathrow and dis-embark the plane. Prior to landing we were told by the flight attendants that we only needed to fill out one customs card per family. FYI, this is NOT the case when entering the UK. It's one per person, including the kids. So we had to scramble to obtain additional cards and fill them in while trying to get into the customs line. Not fun. The only good thing is the delay allowed us to meet up with the sister-in-law and the rest of the crew travelling with her in customs. They finally made it by traveling to Boston from DFW, then on to London. Ahhh, stand-by travel.

After getting 5 adults, 1 tween and 4 children through customs, I lead everyone to the tube stop, help everyone purchase Oyster cards (best way to pay for the tube!) and we were off for our hotel! Unfortunately we arrived during rush hour and the tube was crammed! We had to squeeze 10 people, plus luggage, into an already overcrowded train. Then we had to switch from the Piccadilly line to the District Line, at Hammersmith. Those familiar with London and the Underground probably are feeling my pain right about now. Alas, we finally make it to Tower Hill where our hotel is located. After a few minutes or orienteering I lead us on to the hotel. We drop off our bags (since the rooms aren't ready) and decide to hit the Tower of London, as it's the closest sight. After about 20mins of walking around the Tower massive jet-lag hits us and we end up heading back to the hotel to crash for the night (yes at about 1:00PM, if that!).

[We did venture out to Piccadilly Circus to find dinner, but that was pretty uneventful, if rather tasty.]

So ended day 1 in London. Day 2 to follow.

Europe 2011!

Well, we made another trip across the pond. This time we visited London and Paris! This trip was very different because we took the kids. We also traveled with my wifes family (sister, her husband, their three girls and the mother-in-law). It made for an interesting experience.

I have a lot to relate, and some photos to share, so stay tuned...

Me at Tower of London

 

London Street Performers...

 
 
 
 

Dublin Redux

After being home for a couple of months I keep finding my thoughts returning to our time spent across the pond. I really think I didn't give Dublin a fair shake because I was grumpy about how much we were spending and I missed my kids terribly. I really miss England and Ireland. Partly this is because of the hellishly hot weather we have in Texas during the summer. I look at the conditions in London and Dublin daily and wish I were basking in their chilly, overcast awesomeness. But a lot has to do with how wonderful everything is there. The scenery is just magical. The rolling hills and forests, the centuries old buildings, the quaint houses. There is just something about it all that just seemed right.

I am eager to return and would love to get a place to spend summers and holidays at. Maybe in Wicklow or someplace in Wales? A guy can dream!

Cheers.

Nothing New

Well, since we returned from our trip there is nothing really exciting going on. Gina's exchange student from high school stayed with us for about a week. Darko is a really nice guy and its always fun when he comes to visit. Also, we finally finished unpacking from our move (and it only took us 9 months!).

Cheers!

Thoughts on Dublin (Baile Átha Cliath)

Let me preface this by saying that it has been a life long dream to visit Ireland. My first visit was a little underwhelming which made Gina a little sad for me I think. The problem was our little side trip to Dublin was kind of a spur of the moment type thing and wasn't really planned out very well, which is my own fault. Also, since we didn't have time to hit the countryside all we saw of the Emerald Isle was Dublin City, which is like going to Seattle and only seeing downtown (which also happened to me recently). It was nice and the people were wonderful, but Dublin doesn't have a 'thing' to go see. In London there were so many landmarks and famous places to visit it seemed as if the whole city was a tourist destination (which it sort of is now that I think about it). With Dublin you just don't get that. At least I didn't.

I do highly recommend the Guiness Storehouse and especially the resturant inside. We had the best meal of our entire trip there. Trust me, you will not regret ordering the Guiness and Beef stew.

We decided to do a hop-on/hop-off bus tour to avoid walking in the freezing cold. This was a pretty good value and saved Gina feet from further damage. We were able to go see Trinity College (founded by Elizabeth I in the 1500's), Christs Church Cathedral, St Patricks Cathedral, Guiness Storehouse and a few other sights during our one day stop in Dublin. The view frome the 'Gravity Bar' atop Guiness is amazing. 360 degree views of Dublin and incl the mountains and the sea. Fantastic.

One final note, Dublin Intl Airport is far superior to Heathrow. Not sure why this is, but Heathrow seems more like Crapville Municipal than a real airport.

Cheers!

Travel Pics

Here are some pictures from our trip!

London Travel Blog

Day 1.

Let me start off by saying that if you ever get the chance to fly business class across the pond by all means do so! It was a wonderful experience. And Gina loved being pampered. Thanks for the passes Amy, you rock! Since we traveled non-rev we ended up arriving into London via Heathrow about 8 hours earlier than originally planned. Fortunately we were able to check into our hotel a day early. So after a long day on flights, we checked into the Novotel London West at 11:00PM. The hotel is in Hammersmith, which is a bit out of the city center, but is a great location! The tube stop here is great. Its in a mall with several great places to grab a quick bite. There is also a Tesco (local chain grocery store) to pick up some snacks or what-nots.

Day 2.

We started the day by taking the tube from Hammersmith to Westminster. As soon as you leave the station you a treated to an amazing view of Big Ben. It was simply amazing. The pictures just don't do it justice. Big Ben is a part of the Houses of Parliament, so we stopped into the House of Lords for a bit. The inside is simply breathtaking. Unfortunately they don't allow pictures inside so all I got was the outside and the main visitors entrance. Next up was Westminster Abbey. This was an amazing church. The place is enormous. Again, only pictures of the outside, but the inside was wonderful. Seeing Elizabeth I tomb was the highlight for me. After the abby we went and got lunch at 'The Abby', a nice restaurant down the street from Westminster.

We spent the rest of the day along the 'Queens Walk'. This is the walking path along the south side of the Thames river. During our stroll we got to see a ton of stuff. First up was London Eye (more on that on Day 4. Then we passed Millennium Bridge and the Tate Modern. Finally our stroll ended at Tower Bridge, which is as impressive as it looks. Tower Bridge is right next to the Tower of London, but by this time it was about 5 in the afternoon and we were pretty beat so we hopped on the tube at Tower Hill and headed back to the hotel.

Day 3.

We decided to pick up where we left off the prior day by hopping the tube straight back to Tower Hill. The great thing about Hammersmith is that it is on the District Line, Piccadilly Line and Hammersmith and City Line which will get you almost anywhere in the city. We started things off at the Tower of London. The tower isn't really a tower it's a castle. It actually has several towers and keeps in one large complex. They also store the crown jewels there. We spent the better part of the day at the tower exploring all that there was to see. It's where Anne Boleyn was executed, and Elizabeth I was held before she was named Queen.

After the tower we took the tube from Tower Hill to Blackfriars for a short walk to St Pauls Cathedral. England just keeps amazing me with the awesomeness of it's churches and St Pauls was no exception. It's almost 400 years old and was where Princess Diana and Prince Charles were married.

We ate ate 'Pizza Express' across from the Cathedral, and I must say it was amazing. The food was good but the view was fantastic.

After dinner we took a stroll across Millennium Bridge to wander around the Tate Modern for a while. I know it wasn't Gina's cup of tea, but I really enjoyed it.

Finally we ended the day by catching the tube from Blackfriars back to Hammersmith,

Day 4.

We decided to go big on day four. We took the tube to Westminster and jumped on the London Eye. The views are definitely not to be missed. I think Gina got a little queasy on the way up however. Next we decided to walk to Buckingham Palace through St James Park. The park was beautiful. The cherry trees were in full bloom and looked wonderful. Buckingham Palace was great, but there were so many people there it was crazy madness. We got some good photos then off we went to catch the tube over to Harrods. Some quick shopping and a bite at a great Italian place and we headed back to the hotel.

Day 5.

We had planned to go out to Kew Gardens, but the snow storm nipped those plans in the bud so to speak. Yes, I said snow. We awoke to a winter wonderland in London. So we kept the day short. A quick trip to Piccadilly Circus and then onto the British Museum. We decided to stay in as much as we could to avoid the winter weather. Afterwards we did a bit of shopping then headed back to the hotel. Tomorrow we head out for a day-ish in Dublin before heading home.

Overall this has been a wonderful trip. Gina has been great. I drug her around to all kinds of places and she has graciously put up with me through it all.

Observations:

First off I have to say I really miss my kids. I don't think I can go away from them for this long again. So any future trips will definitely involve them.

Second, London is expensive,but only because the exchange rate is so bad for us Americans. You can have a good time without breaking the bank, you just need to be careful and plan where you want to spend your money.

And finally, I have enjoyed my time here so much I would definitely consider moving here. Hint hint.

Well, that's it for now. I probably won't get to post again until I get home.

Cheer from London!

Sean + Gina