After Linda’s push to get “Tree” (AKA “A Bug’s Life”) open at Animal Kingdom, we were able to slip away for a transatlantic cruise. On Friday we picked up a rental car at Disney and on Saturday we packed it and headed for Orlando International airport. (This trick saves us cab fare, and is much less…
Category: England
England except for London
Southampton
Eddie Manning’s limo service provided our transfer to Southampton, and despite the skepticism with which we viewed the mountain of luggage for the five of us, it fit easily into the back of the seven-passenger Mercedes van. We were at the pier by 1:30, and onboard ship within minutes. This is our first time cruising…
Natural History and Pied-à-terre
After a lazy morning Linda and I took the tube to Kensington for an Indian lunch at the lovely Bombay Brasserie, then walked to the Natural History Museum to visit the dinosaurs. The Natural History Museum is BIG. It must be bigger than the British Museum. The exhibits were very well done, with lots of…
The Phantom of Westminster Abbey and Clos Maggiore
Linda and I spent today on our own while our friends were off doing other stuff. We slept in and then found a nearby teeny tiny Japanese restaurant, Ichi-Ricki, for lunch. I’m glad the reviews I’d read warned me it was nothing but a door with a paper sign, because otherwise we’d have missed it….
London
We’re off to London for a few days before heading out of Southampton on a twelve night wine cruise. This was Linda’s first experience with the airline beds that recline all the way, and they certainly make a difference; we both got about five hours of sleep, and arrived in London already on schedule (although…
Cornwall
We awoke in the harbor at Fallmouth and tendered over (a slow process because of the small dock) for an hour drive to Lizard, the southernmost point of England. There we took a five-mile two-hour coastal hike along the perilous cliffs of Cornwall. Seeing the caves, smugglers’ lairs, and rocks where hundred of ships have wrecked…
Southampton
Today we bid farewell to London, and its extraordinarily nice weather during this week of gastronomic exploration. We had a painless transfer by private car to Southampton, a 90 minute drive south. The boarding procedures in the new terminal were quite efficient, and soon we were settled into two cabins. Unfortunately, the two cabins are…
L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon
We had lunch at Benares, an Indian restaurant near our hotel. It’s run by a chef with one Michelin star. I was a bit disappointed, as I didn’t really find the food to be the creative twist on Indian cuisine we’d been promised, but Dani and Linda liked theirs. The place is a neat two…
Love Never Dies But This Tooth Did
For the past month I’ve had sinus headaches and jaw aches, but when I went to my dentist at Starbase Dental last week he couldn’t identify a particular tooth that was the problem. He prescribed antibiotics and told me to check back after vacation. But the problem has been getting worse, with hot or cold…
Maze
We tried another Gordon Ramsay restaurant for lunch, Maze. It was a short walk through Mayfair, a really charming part of the city. Maze is near all the embassies that cluster around Grosvenor Square. It’s fairly different from Petrus, more casual, with lots of small plates to graze upon. Same pricing: reasonable at lunch, crazy…
Into The Woods
I was awakened by Linda informing me it was 11:30AM and we were about to miss our lunch reservation! A quick shower and short cab ride took us to Petrus, one of Gordon Ramsay’s restaurants, where we had a leisurely, expensive, pleasant but not remarkable lunch. The room and service were great, and I’m glad…
Fleming’s Mayfair
I wasn’t sure about the place we booked. It sounded good, but you never know in England, where the rooms can be small and tired. But Flemings turned out to be a real gem. Just a couple minute cab ride from Victoria Station, it’s on a quiet side street off of Green Park near Piccadilly….
The Gatwick Express
The Gatwick Express train from Gatwick Airport to Victoria Station runs non-stop and only takes about a half hour. It’s easy to buy tickets at the machines, but less confusing to buy them on the train.
England, Ireland, Iceland, Greenland, New York 2010
By Land and Air and Sea And so we set out for a three week adventure, first to London, then a peculiar repositioning cruise that will take us to odd places on the way back to New York. Our morning flight from Orlando left us a loooong layover in Atlanta, the price to be paid…
Europe 2007
Rome, Switzerland, Paris, London Friday, June 29, 2007 Orlando to London For Dani’s 16th birthday she asked to take her friend Christina, to Europe. This is the journal of that trip. The only time Christina has been out of the country was on Dani’s 13th birthday cruise to Nassau, so this will be an adventure…
Europe 2006
Monaco, Spain, Portugal, France, England Wednesday, June 7, 2006 Orlando to London It was an easy trip. We took off about half and hour late for unexplained reasons, so arrived about the same amount late, shortly after 7am London time. The “premium economy” cabin on Virgin Atlantic was spacious. It occupied the top deck of…
Baltic 2002
England, Estonia, Russia, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, 2002 This summer we decided to explore a completely different part of the world. None of us had ever been to any of the ports on this 12 day cruise around the Baltic.We left Orlando Friday afternoon, August 2, and arrived in London around noon on Saturday. This…
Europe 2001
London, Paris, Rome with Dani Saturday, July 28, 2001 Orlando In the spring Linda informed Danielle and me that she would be too busy to travel this summer. So Danielle and I began looking for something interesting to do, and hit upon this relaxed two-week trip to Europe. Although Danielle lived in France from the time…
Europe 1990
In 1990 I visited Gothenburg, Sweden for a week to install one of the first Iwerks Turbo Tour Theater simulator rides. on the way back I met Linda in Europe, and we spent a week visiting Paris and London. Hotel Bretonnerie, The Moray District, Paris. A good, cheap place to stay, in a charming area….