Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Versaille is Huge!
I was not disappointed. We spent half a day at the Palace of Versaille just outside of Paris. We saw where Marie Antoinette lived and where Napoleon's coronation room was. We saw part of the Hall of Mirrors (half of it was boarded up for renovations). We saw where the King held court and where he slept and ate. We decided to skip the King's Apartments since the line for tickets was about 200 ft long.
Then we went to the gardens. Oh my! It's gianormous! John had the best idea of the day...we rented a golf cart for the tour of the gardens. Does my husband know me or what? We stayed for part of the fountain show - truly amazing. In its heyday, there were 1100 fountains and basins. Now there are about 300 originals remaining.
Yet Another Picture I wasn't Supposed To Take
I honestly didn't know that I wasn't allowed to take pictures here. I looked for signs coming into the British Library, but not seeing any, I snapped a few of The King James Bible and other manuscripts. As I rounded the corner to snap a shot of the Magna Carta, I was caught!
We also saw originals of Alice in Wonderland, Handel's Messiah, some Shakespeare, and lots of other old stuff.
Asian Posers
I don't know what it is...and I'm sorry for picking on this lady, but is this REALLY necessary?? (I couldn't resist.)
Harrods
I had to visit Harrod's in London even though I only had 3 hours to spare one day. It was massive and a bit disorienting. I walked through the huge bakery, display after display of candies and sweets, a butcher's area, several restaurants, a section selling appliances, a bookstore, perfumery, kids floor, electronics, and finally had to stop for lunch at the Planet Cafe.The toy area had these cool life size Lego displays of Harry Potter and one of Jango Fett (did I get that right?)
Bath
Our favorite site during our trip was the town of Bath about 2.5 hours outside of London. We arrived into London Heathrow airport from SF at about 7am. We got to the Paddington Train Station and then took the first train to Bath arriving at around 10am.
Bath is known for...what else...it's Roman Baths dating from about 300B.C. It's continuously fed from an underground spring that bubbles up into a smaller "Sacred Spring" and then diverted to the Bath House. Supposedly the water is full of minerals which makes it green. People used to sit for hours in the water to cure all kinds of illnesses.
Aside from the Roman Baths, the town is just small enough to see in one day.
We took a free and very entertaining and informative 2.5 hour walking tour of the city with a long time resident volunteer named Malcolm (no tips allowed either). It's a beautiful town with lots of history. All the buildings in Bath are required to have their fronts made of the local limestone. The streets are narrow and very quaint. They reminded me of the back lots at Universal Studios cuz they look almost as if they're fake. 
The 3 tenors once sang at a big celebration for the town (i forgot what for) in the grassy area in front of the curved row of adjoining houses called the Crescent.
Bad Toe or Good Toe?
I've always been told that having your 2nd toe longer than your big toe meant you had a "bad" foot, that all the toes your foot should be decreasing in size starting with your big toe. And since my 2nd toe is definitely longer than my big toe, I've not only been embarrassed by my toe, but my feet in general.
But I've discovered after our travels in Europe that having a longer 2nd toe isn't all that bad. For example, I noticed that practically ALL the statues in the Louvre and the Britsh Museum had the infamous longer 2nd toe. And most of those statues are of mythological gods and goddesses, obviously held in some society's high esteem. Even statues of small babies had the longer 2nd toe.
So perhaps we were all meant to have a longer 2nd toe and it's those with toes all in decreasing size that have a "bad" foot...
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
All 5 Star Hotels Are Not Created Equal
We stayed in hotels in Europe ranging from uh...2-stars to 5-stars. When I think 5-star, I think of the Bellagio. When I think of 2-stars, I think of something like Motel 6, or worse, like the place we once stayed in Buena Park that had bars on the reception/check-in window.
Our first hotel was the 5 star Milestone in London's Kensington district. This is b/c John's company paid for it. Rooms were approximately $330/night. Service was top notch. They always called us by our names - even the maids and bellhops. The concierge was friendly and helpful. High tea was available every afternoon in their lounge, furnished to feel like a nice English living room/parlor. Very classy. The room was very elegant and comfortable. The walls were covered with padded silk fabric. 
There was a bidet. They had a nightly turn down service and they always lit a floating candle in the bathroom. They also gave us new loofahs everyday. There was fresh fruit available in the lobby daily and free bottle water in the spa (also free). My only complaint...it was dinky. The room was 14 sq. meters. That translates into roughly 150 sq ft. and that includes the bathroom. That's about the size of our dining room.
Our last night in London before taking the chunnel to Paris we decided to move to a hotel that was closer to the Waterloo Station where we were to catch the chunnel. I found one that was a 5 minute walk to the station at the Premier Travel Inn.
For the low price of $150/night, we got a basic room that looked very much like a dorm room with a private bath. A sign on the bathroom door warned us to keep the door shut at all times so that steam from the shower would not set off the hotel's extremely "sensitive" alarm. There was no concierge. When I asked the front desk to borrow a pair of scissors, they couldn't produce one. The towels were thin and there were no wash cloths.
In Paris, we stayed at Le Meridien Montparnasse. I had gotten our reservation on Priceline. That was quite a disturbing experience in itself. I had read lots of reviews from Tripadvisor about people getting a great deal on Priceline for hotels in Paris, so I decided to go for it. We ended up getting this 4 Star hotel that was way out of the main city center.
I looked it up and found out that they put the Priceline people on the 23rd floor where it's moldy and old. I was dreading this place. When we checked in, we were put into a room on....you guessed it....the 23rd floor. It was old and dreary with 2 twin beds (which reminded me of our honeymoon on the cruise), a dirty orange bathroom and a view of a cemetery out the window.
We went down to the front desk and requested a room change to a double room. The staff were surprisingly accommodating and moved us immediately to a room on the 24th floor. Much nicer. Granite counter and bidet in the bathroom, very clean and nicely updated. The bed was reeaalllllyy comfortable. 
The concierge was helpful, although they always seemed a bit perturbed at having to answer our questions. We ended up really liking the area we stayed in. There was a main train and metro station right across the street. Every morning we got a baguet at this little shop down the street. And every evening, we got a banana nutella crepe from the same little shop. Even nutella tastes better in Paris. And they put lots of it!
I had yet another Priceline fiasco when booking our 4-star hotel in Amsterdam. (I don't learn very quickly or easily, do I?) The SAME thing happened. Saw good ratings on Tripadvisor for Priceline. Most people got the Marriott right in the central Liedesplein Square area. We got Le Meridien Apollo which was WAAAYYY far away from the city center. 
And this time, we had to take a tram, get off and then walk about 10 minutes with our luggage to the hotel. 10 minutes might not sound like a lot, but with luggage, it's no fun. We checked in and got another twin room. But this time they couldn't change it. Since we were only staying 1 night, we decided to just let it go. The room was comfortable. 
Nothing majorly bad or great to remember it by except the terrible view outside our window overlooking a patch of dead grass and the beautiful view from the hotel's dining room looking out over a canal.
Finally, as we headed back to London for our last night before flying home, we stayed at a little place called the London Elizabeth Hotel a few steps from the Lancaster Gate tube station. The elevator in the hotel was about 2 feet by 2 feet. So I got in with our bags, while John had to take the stairs.
For about $165/night, we got a small but cute double room facing the busy street. Unfortunately, it was also a smoking room, but as we had reservations to tour Buckingham Palace right after we checked in, we didn't have time to request a room change. We didn't get back to the hotel that night until about 11:30pm. The smoke was terrible, even with the windows opened all day. I tried my hardest to be a trooper, but when I climbed into bed and got a nose full of smoke, I couldn't stay. I felt really bad for calling the front desk at 2:30am to request a room change, but the girl at the desk was super sweet and said she totally understood and that the same thing happened to her and she had to change rooms as well once. She immediately got us a new room that was a bit nicer and larger too. And it was in the back of the hotel so it was much quieter. 
After all the hotels, from no star to 5-star, my favorite would have to be the pampering we received flying business class to London and back. Ahhh.... stretching out to almost 180 degrees, adjustable headrests, personal video consoles, tea service, warm towel service, filet mignon (decent for airplane food), cheese and crackers, being able to wait for our flight in the executive lounge with it's buffet of drinks and snacks, and being able to plug in the laptop. That beat all the hotels in Europe and then some. I think I've been spoiled.
Our first hotel was the 5 star Milestone in London's Kensington district. This is b/c John's company paid for it. Rooms were approximately $330/night. Service was top notch. They always called us by our names - even the maids and bellhops. The concierge was friendly and helpful. High tea was available every afternoon in their lounge, furnished to feel like a nice English living room/parlor. Very classy. The room was very elegant and comfortable. The walls were covered with padded silk fabric. 
There was a bidet. They had a nightly turn down service and they always lit a floating candle in the bathroom. They also gave us new loofahs everyday. There was fresh fruit available in the lobby daily and free bottle water in the spa (also free). My only complaint...it was dinky. The room was 14 sq. meters. That translates into roughly 150 sq ft. and that includes the bathroom. That's about the size of our dining room.
Our last night in London before taking the chunnel to Paris we decided to move to a hotel that was closer to the Waterloo Station where we were to catch the chunnel. I found one that was a 5 minute walk to the station at the Premier Travel Inn.
For the low price of $150/night, we got a basic room that looked very much like a dorm room with a private bath. A sign on the bathroom door warned us to keep the door shut at all times so that steam from the shower would not set off the hotel's extremely "sensitive" alarm. There was no concierge. When I asked the front desk to borrow a pair of scissors, they couldn't produce one. The towels were thin and there were no wash cloths.In Paris, we stayed at Le Meridien Montparnasse. I had gotten our reservation on Priceline. That was quite a disturbing experience in itself. I had read lots of reviews from Tripadvisor about people getting a great deal on Priceline for hotels in Paris, so I decided to go for it. We ended up getting this 4 Star hotel that was way out of the main city center.
I looked it up and found out that they put the Priceline people on the 23rd floor where it's moldy and old. I was dreading this place. When we checked in, we were put into a room on....you guessed it....the 23rd floor. It was old and dreary with 2 twin beds (which reminded me of our honeymoon on the cruise), a dirty orange bathroom and a view of a cemetery out the window.
We went down to the front desk and requested a room change to a double room. The staff were surprisingly accommodating and moved us immediately to a room on the 24th floor. Much nicer. Granite counter and bidet in the bathroom, very clean and nicely updated. The bed was reeaalllllyy comfortable. 
The concierge was helpful, although they always seemed a bit perturbed at having to answer our questions. We ended up really liking the area we stayed in. There was a main train and metro station right across the street. Every morning we got a baguet at this little shop down the street. And every evening, we got a banana nutella crepe from the same little shop. Even nutella tastes better in Paris. And they put lots of it!
I had yet another Priceline fiasco when booking our 4-star hotel in Amsterdam. (I don't learn very quickly or easily, do I?) The SAME thing happened. Saw good ratings on Tripadvisor for Priceline. Most people got the Marriott right in the central Liedesplein Square area. We got Le Meridien Apollo which was WAAAYYY far away from the city center. 
And this time, we had to take a tram, get off and then walk about 10 minutes with our luggage to the hotel. 10 minutes might not sound like a lot, but with luggage, it's no fun. We checked in and got another twin room. But this time they couldn't change it. Since we were only staying 1 night, we decided to just let it go. The room was comfortable. 
Nothing majorly bad or great to remember it by except the terrible view outside our window overlooking a patch of dead grass and the beautiful view from the hotel's dining room looking out over a canal.Finally, as we headed back to London for our last night before flying home, we stayed at a little place called the London Elizabeth Hotel a few steps from the Lancaster Gate tube station. The elevator in the hotel was about 2 feet by 2 feet. So I got in with our bags, while John had to take the stairs.
For about $165/night, we got a small but cute double room facing the busy street. Unfortunately, it was also a smoking room, but as we had reservations to tour Buckingham Palace right after we checked in, we didn't have time to request a room change. We didn't get back to the hotel that night until about 11:30pm. The smoke was terrible, even with the windows opened all day. I tried my hardest to be a trooper, but when I climbed into bed and got a nose full of smoke, I couldn't stay. I felt really bad for calling the front desk at 2:30am to request a room change, but the girl at the desk was super sweet and said she totally understood and that the same thing happened to her and she had to change rooms as well once. She immediately got us a new room that was a bit nicer and larger too. And it was in the back of the hotel so it was much quieter. 
After all the hotels, from no star to 5-star, my favorite would have to be the pampering we received flying business class to London and back. Ahhh.... stretching out to almost 180 degrees, adjustable headrests, personal video consoles, tea service, warm towel service, filet mignon (decent for airplane food), cheese and crackers, being able to wait for our flight in the executive lounge with it's buffet of drinks and snacks, and being able to plug in the laptop. That beat all the hotels in Europe and then some. I think I've been spoiled.
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
A Day in the Life...
John (and others I've travelled with) can attest to the fact that what I consider a great vacation is when I can wake up at 11am (on a good day), have a leisurely lunch. Maybe go see something of interest for a couple of hours (strolling or shopping), have a nice dinner, go for a walk, or a drive, go watch a movie, then go back to the hotel and order room service (apple pie a la mode or NY cheesecake and some tea). Then stay up late watching movies or reading or surfing the internet and then go to bed around 2 - 3am. Some days, if I don't leave the hotel, I'm totally okay with that.
Well, for our trip to Europe, I pretty much squeezed as much as I could into every single minute we had. (Not to say that this is the best way to travel. It comes with a certain level of stress, which is why I avoid it as much as possible.) I think John is still in shock at how much I had him do everyday. One of our longer and harder days was something like this:
5:45am Wake up and pack up
6:30am Check out of hotel in Paris, take metro to Gard du Nord Station
7:00am Arrive at Gard du Nord
7:25am Train to Brussels
8:50am Arrive in Brussels, get to Grande Place
9:30am Breakfast (Belgian Waffles)
10:30am Do Rick Steve's Grande Place walk
11:30am Go buy chocolate
12:00pm Get back to train station, grab a baguet for lunch
12:40pm Train to Amsterdam
3:45pm Arrive in Amsterdam
4:00pm Catch tram to hotel
4:30pm Check in to hotel
5:00pm Walk to find a computer parts store (cuz John's laptop power supply broke)
6:00pm Not finding anything, catch tram to Anne Frank House
6:15pm Tour Anne Frank House
7:30pm Walk around Leidesplein area
8:15pm Have dinner
9:30pm Do another Rick Steve's walk (Chinatown area)
11:00pm Get back to hotel
12:00am Get ready for bed
12:30am Call the kids
1:00am Go to sleep
I think it's the OCD mentality creeping in when I plan days like that. But you know...now if I never go back to Brussels or Amsterdam ever again, I will feel that I've done what I wanted and I'll be okay with it.
Tuesday, August 09, 2005
Guys and Dolls - London
I know I'm missing the rest of our trip, but that will be coming as soon as John downloads all my pictures from his laptop to mine. I had this one from our last night in London before flying home. We went to see Guys and Dolls at the Picadilly Theatre starring Ewan McGregor as Sky Masterson. It was very surreal to see an actual celebrity performing on stage. He was really good.
I had really wanted to get a picture but the signs said no pictures during the performance. So during intermission, I took a picture of our neighbor's program (we didn't want to pay the 3pounds). One of the ushers promptly came by and rudely told me, "No pictures! Please delete that!" and walked off briskly, apparently to tell someone else in the front of the theatre the same thing.
I was getting really good at taking pictures where not allowed.
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