London Lagniappe - brief trip report
Apr 26th, 2010, 06:43 PM
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London Lagniappe - brief trip report
A planned one week London visit extended to two weeks due to the air space closure. Other than the budget hit, it was great!
<b>Getting there</b> - smooth flight on Continental. Full flight on a 777 so we had someone between us in our coach seats but thank goodness he was slight in build. Great in flight entertainment AVOD (audio video on demand) system. Arrived a few minutes ahead of schedule. Driver arranged through apartment management company (obligatory to use him if arriving on Sunday) was waiting as we exited customs. Little traffic early Sunday morning, made it to Mayfair pretty quickly.
<b>Digs</b> - one bedroom in Berkeley House (on Hay Hill just off the square) booked through London Connections was very well located. Sixth floor with lift. Good size living/dining, nice galley kitchen well fitted with all mod cons including dishwasher. Decent size bedroom with good double bed, adequate storage room for luggage. Bathroom off bedroom not huge but adequate and clean, good water pressure. Agent warned that hot water heater might have a problem keeping up with a couple baths in a row but no issue when we showered. TV with local channels and good high speed WiFi. Combination washer/dryer was nice to have especially when our stay got extended, even if it does take forever. Starbucks and several small eateries half a block away. Easy to get groceries - Sainsbury's a block away and M&S Simply Food at the Green Park tube station another block further on. Some traffic noise at night but not horrendous with the windows closed. Not sure how it would be in summer with windows open, might think twice about that as there are a few popular clubs around the corner on Berkeley Street.
<b>Weather</b> was absolutely great, clear skies and pleasant temperatures. Only rain was the morning of our departure.
<b>Gadding about</b> - Oxford Street was within walking distance. Selfridge's remains an icon, worth a visit even if just to look. Saw so many people carrying bags with Primark logo had to check it out - best described as the Wal Mart of London. Museums are the joy of a London visit, and I hit most of them (V&A, Natural History, Tate, British, National Gallery) while SO was doing his conference thing. We visited the Imperial War museum together and enjoyed it, especially the Holocaust exhibit. Borough Market on Friday lunchtime was a delight to the senses - lots of samples, too. We had a lovely picnic lunch (take away from a shop on Kensington High Street) in Green Park with the scores of locals basking in the delightful weather. Spent a couple hours walking around Regents Park, simply stunning in the Spring. Contributed to the theatre economy by seeing Enron- the Play, Priscilla and Hair. Each definitely worth the price of admission. Lucked out with Hair, got tenth row aisle seats the day of the performance for a reduced cost at the box office. I did one London Walk - the Alleys of the Imperial Court - and thoroughly enjoyed it, will do more in the future.
<b>That damn volcano</b> - Sunday departure first pushed back to Tuesday then to the following Sunday. Decided to just let it go and enjoy the extra time in London since there was no way to change it. We were able to remain in the same apartment as the folks scheduled after us canceled due to the air transport problems.
<b>Practical stuff </b> - picked up local SIM from Lebara with cheap rates for calls and texts in UK and back to the States. Could not get internet to work on our Blackberry devices, so just checked email at the apartment . Gadding is so easy using the Oyster card. We loaded a seven day pass the morning of our arrival, added more for PAYG when our departure was delayed. Used tube and a couple buses.
<b>Food</b> - did not do any really special dining out this trip. Did have a nice meal at a SoHo bistro after a show one evening. Conference dinner was at the Strand Palace,and I joined SO and a group of conferees for a dinner at he Holborn location of La Strada, a reliable if unremarkable place with several locations. Breakfast in the apartment was easy with the full kitchen. Even had dinner there a couple nights, easy stuff like a take and bake pizza and salad from Sainsbury's.
<b>Re-entry</b> - after two weeks we had so settled into a nice rhythm that we really did not wan to leave, but reality prevailed and we reluctantly got in the car for our return. Same driver that met us on arrival, showed up spot on time as arranged. Got to LHR about 0900 for 1140 departure, concerned that there might be mayhem because of the flight disruptions but all went smooth as glass. Bags checked and through security in less than 15 minutes. Relaxed in the pleasant SkyTeam lounge in T4 until boarding time. Expected a packed flight but there were lots of empty seats on the 767. This time we had a row of 3 seas to ourselves which was nice. OK, not as nice as being pampered in the front cabin but quite tolerable. Laughed out loud at the "Chicken Vesuvio" dinner offering - how appropriate to have something named after a volcano. Ice cream served mid fight, then a hot sandwich and chips about an hour prior to arrival. Smooth flight, arrived about 30 minutes ahead of schedule, virtually no line at immigration, bags came out quickly and breezed through customs to recheck bags for our connection. Slight delay but arrived home within 15 minutes of schedule.
All in all, a very pleasant trip even with the unplanned extension. (Though I reserve the right to alter that judgment when the credit card bill arrives.)
<b>Getting there</b> - smooth flight on Continental. Full flight on a 777 so we had someone between us in our coach seats but thank goodness he was slight in build. Great in flight entertainment AVOD (audio video on demand) system. Arrived a few minutes ahead of schedule. Driver arranged through apartment management company (obligatory to use him if arriving on Sunday) was waiting as we exited customs. Little traffic early Sunday morning, made it to Mayfair pretty quickly.
<b>Digs</b> - one bedroom in Berkeley House (on Hay Hill just off the square) booked through London Connections was very well located. Sixth floor with lift. Good size living/dining, nice galley kitchen well fitted with all mod cons including dishwasher. Decent size bedroom with good double bed, adequate storage room for luggage. Bathroom off bedroom not huge but adequate and clean, good water pressure. Agent warned that hot water heater might have a problem keeping up with a couple baths in a row but no issue when we showered. TV with local channels and good high speed WiFi. Combination washer/dryer was nice to have especially when our stay got extended, even if it does take forever. Starbucks and several small eateries half a block away. Easy to get groceries - Sainsbury's a block away and M&S Simply Food at the Green Park tube station another block further on. Some traffic noise at night but not horrendous with the windows closed. Not sure how it would be in summer with windows open, might think twice about that as there are a few popular clubs around the corner on Berkeley Street.
<b>Weather</b> was absolutely great, clear skies and pleasant temperatures. Only rain was the morning of our departure.
<b>Gadding about</b> - Oxford Street was within walking distance. Selfridge's remains an icon, worth a visit even if just to look. Saw so many people carrying bags with Primark logo had to check it out - best described as the Wal Mart of London. Museums are the joy of a London visit, and I hit most of them (V&A, Natural History, Tate, British, National Gallery) while SO was doing his conference thing. We visited the Imperial War museum together and enjoyed it, especially the Holocaust exhibit. Borough Market on Friday lunchtime was a delight to the senses - lots of samples, too. We had a lovely picnic lunch (take away from a shop on Kensington High Street) in Green Park with the scores of locals basking in the delightful weather. Spent a couple hours walking around Regents Park, simply stunning in the Spring. Contributed to the theatre economy by seeing Enron- the Play, Priscilla and Hair. Each definitely worth the price of admission. Lucked out with Hair, got tenth row aisle seats the day of the performance for a reduced cost at the box office. I did one London Walk - the Alleys of the Imperial Court - and thoroughly enjoyed it, will do more in the future.
<b>That damn volcano</b> - Sunday departure first pushed back to Tuesday then to the following Sunday. Decided to just let it go and enjoy the extra time in London since there was no way to change it. We were able to remain in the same apartment as the folks scheduled after us canceled due to the air transport problems.
<b>Practical stuff </b> - picked up local SIM from Lebara with cheap rates for calls and texts in UK and back to the States. Could not get internet to work on our Blackberry devices, so just checked email at the apartment . Gadding is so easy using the Oyster card. We loaded a seven day pass the morning of our arrival, added more for PAYG when our departure was delayed. Used tube and a couple buses.
<b>Food</b> - did not do any really special dining out this trip. Did have a nice meal at a SoHo bistro after a show one evening. Conference dinner was at the Strand Palace,and I joined SO and a group of conferees for a dinner at he Holborn location of La Strada, a reliable if unremarkable place with several locations. Breakfast in the apartment was easy with the full kitchen. Even had dinner there a couple nights, easy stuff like a take and bake pizza and salad from Sainsbury's.
<b>Re-entry</b> - after two weeks we had so settled into a nice rhythm that we really did not wan to leave, but reality prevailed and we reluctantly got in the car for our return. Same driver that met us on arrival, showed up spot on time as arranged. Got to LHR about 0900 for 1140 departure, concerned that there might be mayhem because of the flight disruptions but all went smooth as glass. Bags checked and through security in less than 15 minutes. Relaxed in the pleasant SkyTeam lounge in T4 until boarding time. Expected a packed flight but there were lots of empty seats on the 767. This time we had a row of 3 seas to ourselves which was nice. OK, not as nice as being pampered in the front cabin but quite tolerable. Laughed out loud at the "Chicken Vesuvio" dinner offering - how appropriate to have something named after a volcano. Ice cream served mid fight, then a hot sandwich and chips about an hour prior to arrival. Smooth flight, arrived about 30 minutes ahead of schedule, virtually no line at immigration, bags came out quickly and breezed through customs to recheck bags for our connection. Slight delay but arrived home within 15 minutes of schedule.
All in all, a very pleasant trip even with the unplanned extension. (Though I reserve the right to alter that judgment when the credit card bill arrives.)
May 5th, 2010, 02:24 PM
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Seamus, I have a couple of friends who'll be in London in June and need a reliable car service-one of them had a painful injury that makes it impossible for them to rely on the usual public transport options. Sounds like the one you used came through for you, so could you give me the contact information?
May 5th, 2010, 06:28 PM
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poetess - if you drop me an email to jphinc at grandecom dot net I will be glad to send you the phone number.
The other car service we have used that was quite reliable is justairports.com
The other car service we have used that was quite reliable is justairports.com
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