The Monks, The Poets, and Off with Their Heads!

The Showtime series, The Tudors, has peaked my interest in English history tremendously.  So, when we decided to take this Trans-atlantic cruise and spend a couple of days in London, I was so excited to go to some of the sites we missed on our first trip here. 

The Crowne Plaza St. James is located about three blocks from Buckingham Palace, where we were to meet our our Big Bus - a open-air, double-decker English bus - for a hop-on, hop-off tour of London.

We found out today that 26 of the staterooms at Buckingham are open for tours from the last week in July until the first few days of October.  We had done this tour four years ago when we were here, so we opted to head out for Westminster Abbey.  A drive around this amazing city is always so interesting and with 70 degree temperatures and sunny skies, we couldn't resist sitting on the top of the bus enjoying the sites. 

Westminster was originally a monastery.  It is incredibly beautiful.  We couldn't take photos inside, but the history there is amazing.  Henry VIII, Anne of Cleves, Queen Elizabeth I, Queen Mary I, and many, many other monarchs are buried within these walls.  This is also the church where Princess Diana's funeral was held 13 years ago this week.  We used the headsets and did our own directed tour of the Abbey.

One of the final stops is at Poet's Corner in Westminster.  Miss EAU will appreciate this - I saw memorials to Byron, Kelly and Sheats (Byron, Shelley and Keats), as she so often called them when I had her as my English teacher in high school.  We saw the graves of  Rudyard Kipling, Robert Browning, Tennyson, Charles Dickens, and Thomas Hardy and memorials to Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters - Emily, Charlotte and Anne - and William Shakespeare, as well as the grave of George Frederic Handel.  This place was just amazing.

Then, we were off again to the Tower of London. The Tower Bridge is often mistaken for London Bridge.  They are definitely not one in the same.  My fascination with Henry VIII was evident as one of the places I most wanted to see was where Anne Boleyn and Kathryn Howard were both beheaded and are buried in a chapel there.  There is a monument of the chopping block where both lost their heads.

We saw the Crown Jewels which were magnificent.  The jewels were originally housed in Westminster, but were moved to the Tower of London in 1303.  This is an astonishing collection of priceless Coronation jewels - crowns, sceptres, and orbs - filled with diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires and endless semi-precious stones and pearls.

After spending seven hours at these two spots, we reluctantly returned to our hotel for a good night's rest before we head to Southampton tomorrow for the Crown Princess and our grand adventure across the Atlantic.  Stay tuned.

Upper Class Service on Virgin Atlantic

We're in London for our 18-day Trans-atlantic cruise.  And, we got here on Virgin Atlantic in their Upperclass.  For those who don't have an American Express card with Rewards Plus, I can't emphasize enough why you need one.  For every dollar you spend, you get one and a half frequent flyer miles.  That can add up quickly.  Delta wanted 200,000 miles for a one-way Business Class ticket to London; Virgin charged us 50,000 miles for their Upperclass.  And, Upperclass it is!!

Our seats were individual pods that converted to a flat bed for sleeping.  By the way, that's our friends, the Bohans, in this picture.  Charlie, however, quickly found out that the seats when flat were exactly 6 feet long.  When you're 6'2", it can be a bit cramped.  However, we were able to sleep a few hours on the way over.

We are staying at the Crowne Plaza St. James Place.  What a wonderful hotel!  We are about a half mile from Buckingham Palace, right in the heart of London.

After finally getting into our rooms at about 1:00 pm, a quick shower and small nap, we were off to Harrod's and a little shopping.  Dinner tonight was pub grub at Albert's, a quaint little pub about a block from the hotel.

We hit the ground running tomorrow morning with our only full day in London.  More tomorrow.  Stay tuned.

Packing, Packing, Packing!!!

Okay, I admit it.  It's almost impossible to pack for an 18-day trip where we will be leaving 90 degree temperatures and going to 50 and 60 degree temps.  You just can't take lightweight clothes when you're going to be around glaciers in Iceland and Greenland.

However, while on one of those last minute "gotta see what else we must buy from Costco" trips over the weekend, I stumbled on the vacuum travel bags.  Costco has 12 of them (6 large and 6 extra large) for $24.99.  The beauty of these babies is that you can carry twice as much stuff in half the space.  The bad part is that you have to weigh your bags to make sure you're not going over the weight limit for the flight. 

Our puppy, Liesel, was terrified when Charlie vacuumed the air out of the first bag.  We had loaded up a bag, squished as much air out as we could, hooked up the vacuum to it, and vacuumed out the rest.  Now, there are goods and bads about this also.  We had to repack a couple of the bags because they ended up being too wide for our suitcase.  However, after the first two bags, we got the hang of it, and did the rest of the packing in no time.

ONE REALLY IMPORTANT PACKING TIP:  We always pack half of my clothes and half of Charlie's clothes in each bag so that if one of our bags gets lost, we will still have some clothes each.  We came up with this idea after Charlie's bag with all of his pants and shirts was lost when we arrived in New Orleans for a cruise.  He had to rush like crazy at the port to find a pair of pants and couple of shirts he could wear until we got his bag three days later.

Back to the vacuum bags - I've been cautioned to carry extra bags in case one of more of the bags spring a leak and we have clothes exploding everywhere when we open the bags in London.  Let's just hope the security personnel at the airport don't try to open one of these.  They'll never get all of those sweaters and jackets back in the bag.

P.O.S.H.

Today, I have been doing some research on a large mailpiece we are doing with one of our suppliers.  I have been looking for vintage postcards of Europe.  On one of them I saw the word P.O.S.H.

When we opened Just Cruisin' Plus in 1988, I had heard the term P.O.S.H., but didn't know what it meant.  This term for "grand" or "first-rate" originated in the days of ocean steamship travel between England and India.  Wealthy passengers would, at some considerable cost, book round-trip passage as "Port Outward, Starboard Home."  They would book a cabin on the cooler side of the ship while crossing the unbearably hot Indian Ocean under the sun.  Abbreviated as P.O.S.H., the expression soon came to be applied to first-class passengers who could afford that luxury.

However, the reality is that the monsoon winds that blow in and out of the Asian area shift between winter and summer, so that the sheltered side of a ship would change according to the season.  During my research today, I found some old deck plans of ships during that period, and  in looking at them I found that most cabins were located mid-ship with indoor promenades or hallways along each side, so the actual definition of the origin of P.O.S.H. could be said to be taken as artistic license.

Just my bit of trivial information for today.....

A Travel Agent Could Be Your New Best Friend in a Disaster

Charlie and I often get interviewed for articles in trade publications.  This week Charlie was interviewed by Frommer's for an article on why you need a travel agent.  Take a look at this article. You never know when that vacation you booked online could become a disaster.  Who would you call?  Read the article.  You'll be glad you did.

Potter-mania

When the first Harry Potter book was printed, I instantly picked it up thinking I would buy it for my granddaughter to read to her when she was older.  Little did I know that I would be drawn into the wizarding world of Harry Potter, Hogwarts, and Diagon Alley.

When we saw the first movie in the series, I was blown away with how Universal had taken the book and actually brought it to life just as J.K. Rowling had done in my mind.  It was just as I had pictured it, down to Hagrid's cabin and Diagon Alley. 

In June, we were fortunate to be able to visit Universal Studios in Orlando while we were attending the Vacation.com annual Conference.  One week earlier, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter had just opened to record crowds.  Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade have been replicated down to Honeyduke's, Ollivander's, the Owl Post, the Three Broomsticks, the Hogwart Express at Track 9 3/4, and of course, Hogwart's at the end of the street.  Again, I never dreamed it could be done, but Universal has made the books and movies come to life.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter has had to be crowd controlled, and there are certain times during the day when this section of the park is actually closed to additional visitors.  On the day we were there, the line into Honeydukes' was a 45-minute wait.  The Owl Post had another 45-minute wait. 

You can ride the Dragon Challenge, an incredible high-thrills rollercoaster with lots of inversions.  The Flight of the Hippogriff is a family ride that passes Hagrid's Hut and encounters a Hippogriff while aboard the coaster.

The ride that takes you through Hogwarts is called the Forbidden Journey.  This signature attraction uses advanced robotics to send guests on a wild journey alongside Harry, Hermione, and Ron where they experience many scenes from the films. We were told that it is the most advanced, stunning park ride anywhere.  On the day we were there, the wait was 90-minutes. 

Hogwarts Castle, is located at the end of the village and  is everything a muggle could hope for. Walking through the halls of Hogwarts on your way to the Fobidden Journey ride, you'll see all sorts of wizardry, including portraits that, astonishingly, start talking and moving and snow that begins falling from the ceiling. Even without the ride, the tour through Hogwarts is an incredible standalone attraction.


Hogwarts Castle and the Forbidden journey ride have been designed to handle enormous crowds. But the shops are all built to scale--to serve the story, no doubt--and the tight quarters can't comfortably accommodate the hordes of muggles who visit on busy days.

The Three Broomsticks tavern offers Harry Potter-specific foode such as Cornish Pasties (pastry puffs filled with minced beef and vegetables) and strawberry and peanut butter ice cream. Pub grub, such as fish and chips, is also available. The Hog's Head bar features butterbeer (frozen and non-frozen), which has traces of shortbread and butterscotch and is addictive, pumpkin juice, and "real" alcoholic beverages.  There are also Butterbeer stands all around Hogsmeade. 

Ollivanders wand shop has a brief show in which "the wand chooses the wizard" (a lucky kiddo plucked from the crowd). The shop accommodates only about 25 guests at a time, and the line to get in can be huge.  There were almost 700 people in line the day we were there. Wands are for sale next door in an adjacent store and at a small kiosk next to Hogwarts.

Other stores include Zonko's (a joke shop made famous by the Weasley twins) with oddities like Extendable Ears; Dervish and Banges, which sells Quidditch gear; and Honeydukes, a sweets shop with chocolate frogs and Bertie Bott’s Every-Flavour Beans (including--ew!--fish and cheese flavors).


Our suggestion:  Wait until next year or at least in the off-season to go to this incredible reproduction of Hogsmeade, Hogwarts, and Diagon Alley.  Stay on property at Universal and you can enter early and stay late without other guests.  This should definitely be on every muggle's vacation bucket list.

I Admit It...

...I'm a Tennessee Titans junkie.  We are original PSL (private seat license) holders.  We have four seats on the fifty-yard-line.  We attend all of the home games.  We love our boys in blue, and there's no place better to be on a Sunday afternoon in the fall than at LP Field.  We've gotten to know everyone around us who have season tickets.  There's Kenny who sits next to me.  He has about 6 or 7 seats (I'm not really sure which) and brings some of his employees with him to every game.  There's Susie and Don who sit behind us.  There's Sandy and her son who sit in front of us.  We look forward each year to reuniting and cheering on our favorite team.

But there's a bee in my bonnet.  I hate that the NFL requires season ticket holders to purchase pre-season tickets at the same face value as the regular game tickets cost.  I hate that all of the teams must play four pre-season games, risking teams losing some of their best players from injuries they receive in one of these games for part or most of a season.  Two pre-season games are more than sufficient for coaches to see who can do what the best.

But what I do love is hearing The Duke, the voice of the Titans, say "Tennessee, are you ready?  Titans fans, are you ready?"  It's football time in Tennessee, and although we gave away our tickets for tonight's game, we're glued to the TV, eating popcorn and cheering on our boys.

GO TITANS!!!