Travel

Last Day in London

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Today was my last day in London. As I write this i am on my flight home. As with most business trips the last day always seems like I should have gone home the day earlier. It is just because I am tired and home sick but it is still not easier. My 2nd workshop was very worthwhile so i am glad i had the opportunity to stay.

Thankfully the tubes weren’t striking and the workshop ended a bit early so i had plenty of time to take the tubes to Paddington and then catch the Heathrow Express. I traveled to the airport with Mark who was also headed that way. Since we work in two different continents we only get limited amounts of time to meet in person so the travel time was good to catch up on some stuff.

I can’t wait to get home to see MC and the kids. I hope Teagan is feeling better. I just want to give both of them big hugs! Until then I have to be happy that the flight is not packed. It was empty enough that I was able to move up a row to the middle of a bulkhead row. I now have enough leg room to put my feet up and barely touch the bulkhead in front of me. There is only one guy on the aisle and me in a row of 4. Since the aisle arm rests apparently do not move in the bulkhead row to accommodate the tray tables i am in the middle two seats able to sprawl out. Now if this guy in my row would stop coughing and not covering his mouth all would be good.

UK Bank Holiday, aka Cinco De Mayo

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For Cinco De Mayo I meet up with my friend Tom from work. He took me over to Hamstead Heath for a nice walk and to show me the London skyline. After that we hit a local pub for lunch and some afternoon bank holiday drinking. It was good to talk and hang out. We talk all the time at work but always on the phone. It is always good to get some good old fashioned bonding done when you are in the same city with someone you only speak to on the phone.

After leaving the pub with Tom I headed back to the hotel. It was early so I really didn’t know what else to do.  I headed out to forage for dinner.  Maybe it was the alcohol or the fact that there was no line but I ended up eating at the Shake Shack in Covent Gardens. When I told her about it MC made some fun of me for doing that but I maintain if i was on the moon and there was a Shake Shack with no line i would eat there. Seriously that place always has a line. I was just utilizing an opportunity.  It was the perfect after drinks meal for someone who wasn’t keeping track of what they eat while they travel.

After the meal it was back to the hotel and a FaceTime with MC and the kids and now off to bed since it was back to work tomorrow.

My First Free Day By Myself In London

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Since having kids it has been rare that I have not had to get up to do anything. With that in mind and the fact that I was up really early most days this past week I slept till almost 10 today. To pack light I didn’t bring my small messenger bag to carry my iPad. I didn’t want to carry my big laptop bag with me for just my iPad so I was happy to find out that my iPad Mini fits perfectly in the pocket of my North Face Jacket. With my book/research tool/all around time waster in hand I headed out for the day. I had breakfast at an Italian coffee house near the hotel while I planned my day. I had lots of ideas but generally I was going to wing it.

I started off by hopped the tube for Westminster to do a walk from the Rick Steve guide book. I saw Big Ben, London eye, Westminster, Downing Street and then off to Trafalgar Square. It was interesting and a great day for a walk.

After that I headed over to Baker Street to see Sherlock Holmes’ place but didn’t go into the museum since the line was huge. I may try again tomorrow but I am not sure. I was a bit disappointed by not getting in but i really didn’t want to waste what looked like at least an hour or more waiting on line. While on line I got a FaceTime call from MC and Teagan. I was happy to talk to them, and impressed that the video call worked pretty well over 3G.

Instead I headed over to Fortnum and Mason. I wanted to do afternoon Tea. MC and several others suggested it as the best place to go for Tea. I didn’t have a reservation and they couldn’t seat me. My backup location Brown’s Hotel was only a 5 minute walk so I headed over to there. They were able to seat me after a short wait. I like the fact that they brought seconds of the sandwiches. Otherwise I had a good time but was generally underwealmed by the pastry and the service. I don’t regret going but would try to find a new location or get reservations at Fortnum & Mason’s if I ever did Tea in London again.

After tea I walked around all the shops near Piccadilly Circus. I got the girls cuddly gifts at at Hamley’s Toy Store. Was able to do another FaceTime with MC to confer about what to get. I am pretty pleased with what I got!

After walking and shopping I headed back to the hotel to relax a bit before heading out for dinner. At my friend Tony’s suggestion I went to a burger place called Meat Liquor. It was very loud, but I got a seat right away. The drinks were good and the food was also good. I was in the mood for a greasy burger and this place delivered. After dinner I headed back to the hotel hoping to find a desert place nearby. The desk clerk had some ideas so I walked over to Covent Garden. It is about a train station away or 5 minute walk. I checked out the square there. There were tons of shops and restaurants and live entertainment. It was fun, but all the live events just made me a bit home sick since i thought how cool it would have been to have MC and Teagan there. Amelia is of course too young to appreciate it. I didn’t find anywhere i wanted to stop at so i walked back to around my hotel and ended up at the same cafe I started the day off in to have a piece of cake and a cappuccino. Now i am unwinding at the hotel writing and thinking about plans for tomorrow. It was a very active day for me. My Jawbone UP is saying I did 252% of my activity target or 20,161 steps. Not a record. That goes to the day my friend Jenn and I walked around Manhattan. This takes 2nd place for most active day since I started tracking my activity!

Spent the Day at a CIA Listening Post, Well Sort Of

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Today I am in London and I spent my entire day at a CIA listening post. Well that is partly true. It was depicted as a CIA listening post in a James Bond film but in reality it is just a Thomson Reuters Data Center in London. I am not sure of what movie but several people have confirmed it. I can talk about it only because when I pull the area up on a public map the building is labeled.

I was in a workshop all day, but the views from half the building are of the river overlooking the Millennium Dome. I would have loved to take some pictures but I am pretty sure they frown on that. The workshop was very interesting. I have two more days of it but the next two are a bit different than the first one so we shall see how they go. I was just thankful that we got to the office and back without too much drama. The trip was already planned before we found out about the Tube strike. Thankfully we left early enough this morning to get a cab directly to the office. We were able to take the DLR halfway back to the hotel and then got lucky finding a cab. The down side of the morning cab was I went to bed at 11:30 and got up at 5:30 to be out early. Tonight I am aiming to goto bed a bit earlier to get up tomorrow at the same time.  Thankfully the strike is over tomorrow, but I have to deal with it next week if they keep to their plans to strike again

After work I got drinks and dinner with one of the trainers who is staying at my hotel. I was also able to get a pre-pay SIM card so i am a bit more connected for the long trip. WIFI at the hotel is great. Work is more limiting so having additional freedom is nice. Even after all the suggestions from MC, Cathy (thanks Cathy but I am not spending 50 pounds on a Doctor Who tour) and others I still don’t know what to do this weekend while in the city by myself. On that note I am off to bed. I will try to read some travel guides tomorrow night.

Off to London (Aka if this gets posted to my blog I am already there)

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Today I am off to London for a bit for work. My boss is hosting a workshop and then I have a two day training. The trip is longer than originally planned because i am combining the two events.

On one hand I love London and both functions seem very interesting but on the other it is the first trip I have taken since having kids. I started missing T & A while at the airport going through my photostream. I am hoping to catch them and M on Facetime as much as possible but I am not holding out hope i can do that everyday.

The flight has given me the opportunity to at least get in some writing i have wanted to do. This post included.

Our Private Pool Cabana

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On our last full day in Aruba we decided to rent one of the awesome poolside cabana’s and relax in style. It was really nice. The free towel service, water and ice on top of the guaranteed shady chairs made the splurge worth it.  I can’t see spending money on them every day but since we had the cabana we stayed by the pool a lot longer today.  Teagan enjoyed her nap in the shade as well.

It was a fantastic last full day in Aruba.  Sad to have to be going home tomorrow.

 

 

2013-08-09-Aruba

Dinner on the Beach

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Today Teagan took a power nap with me while I walked her in the stroller on the beach. She then took a two hour nap after lunch.  We got lucky.  The weather continues to be fantastic.  For Lunch we walked to the Westin Hotel and grabbed food at their poolside cafe since MC & I  did not think that much of the poolside cafe in our hotel.

For dinner we had reservations for a beachside meal right on the water in the sand at our hotel.  It was one of the two splurge nights we decided to have on our stay.  It was pretty amazing to sit and relax at a table right on the beach.  They timed it so we started to sit down as the sun was going down.

The food was pretty good.  it was the first time i had a lobster bisque soup.  The service was a bit slow but we attribute that to the distance the servers had to travel to get to us!  Teagan was very cooperative also.  She generally is a fantastic baby and she fell asleep in MC’s arm’s after it got dark but not before she was up way past her bedtime.  Overall a perfect day in Aruba.

 

2013-08-07 Dinner on the beach

My Alone Day in London

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Since I headed to London early to get a weekend in seeing the city I had a full day to kill Sunday.  I was originally going to possibly see Tony and hang out a bit but he had to cancel.  I thought about my options and then opted to see the Tower of London.  I slept in a little since i was tired from the flight over Friday night.  I then got advise from the hotel on a place for lunch and found a row of pubs not too far from the hotel.  I picked one and had some fish and chips.  While eating i planned my day and route to the tower.

I headed over to the light rail station and took the DLR to goto the tower.  I paid for the audio tour.  After doing that with MC at Moma i am totally getting those when i can.  so much easier to see historic sights and museums with the audio tour.  The Tower was fun and interesting.  I got some good photos.  i wasn’t however that impressed with the crown jewels.  Sorry England.  I had heard i wouldn’t be by a few people and their expectations were spot on.  Overall it was a good choice for my one day free.