Well, I'm sitting at Atlanta's airport about 20 minutes until the time I was scheduled to land in Tampa. Due to delays, I missed my flight. I'll now be getting home a little after midnight.
We have 8 more days until we're back in Atlanta for our outbound flight to London. I fly through ATL often. But, its always better when on vacation. :-)
The delay isn't all bad actually. I got to meet Richard Simmons in the Crown Room, which was very Daliesque. "Oh look, Richard Simmons (clad in his prototypically flamboyant workout attire) is empathizing with me about my missed flight." For a moment, I thought I'd stepped off the elevator and entered another dimension. As it happens, he really is just like you see him on TV: chock-a-block with boundless energy. And, unlike many other celebrities, he was actually a very nice, down-to-earth guy. After talking to me for a few moments at the ticket counter, he returned to his seat. I settled in across the room. For the next 30 minutes, I watched him happily interact (hugs, handshakes, smiles, and laughs) with a variety of staff and fellow patrons. Richard Simmons: genuine, nice guy. How often can you say that about a celebrity today?
Friday, May 30, 2008
Thursday, May 29, 2008
9 Days To Go...
I often get questions about the location of the Allen House in London. It’s located in Kensington on Allen Street, which is immediately off of Kensington High Street. The district is one of the more desirable and affluent in London. Rather than repeat facts from elsewhere, here are a few overviews from LondonTown and Wikipedia.
When I’m really missing our “home away from home” in London, I always turn to my favorite Kensington-related site that provides a virtual walking tour of Kensington High Street. For those unfamiliar, Allen Street is located at the intersection of the blue and green segments on the map and is on the southern side of High Street Ken. You’ll also note that Allen Street is flanked by a bookstore (which is immediately adjacent to the Allen House) and a coffee shop on its corners, thereby allowing me to live happily without moving more than 50 yards from our flat! Although should I be in need of more substantial provisions (food and wine, say), Kensington High Street doesn’t disappoint. The rest of the Kensington High Street virtual tour is fairly self-explanatory with its mix of mostly national and multi-national retailers, services, and restaurants.
Unfortunately, the virtual tour fails to highlight the shops inside High Street Kensington Station. This is indeed a pity, as it overlooks Pret a Manger, the West Cornwall Pasty Company, and Ben’s Cookies. These UK establishments all offer tasty, affordable, and convenient takeaway (“fast food”) that represents a refreshing change to most of their American counterparts. Of course, Pret (in New York) and Ben’s (inexplicably in Salt Lake City, Utah) have locations in the United States.
When I’m really missing our “home away from home” in London, I always turn to my favorite Kensington-related site that provides a virtual walking tour of Kensington High Street. For those unfamiliar, Allen Street is located at the intersection of the blue and green segments on the map and is on the southern side of High Street Ken. You’ll also note that Allen Street is flanked by a bookstore (which is immediately adjacent to the Allen House) and a coffee shop on its corners, thereby allowing me to live happily without moving more than 50 yards from our flat! Although should I be in need of more substantial provisions (food and wine, say), Kensington High Street doesn’t disappoint. The rest of the Kensington High Street virtual tour is fairly self-explanatory with its mix of mostly national and multi-national retailers, services, and restaurants.
Unfortunately, the virtual tour fails to highlight the shops inside High Street Kensington Station. This is indeed a pity, as it overlooks Pret a Manger, the West Cornwall Pasty Company, and Ben’s Cookies. These UK establishments all offer tasty, affordable, and convenient takeaway (“fast food”) that represents a refreshing change to most of their American counterparts. Of course, Pret (in New York) and Ben’s (inexplicably in Salt Lake City, Utah) have locations in the United States.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
11 Days To Go...
Well, I’m in Minneapolis now. It’s the last of three weeks worth of back-to-back business travel prior to our trip. I’ll spend next week working from home, during which time I hope to clear off my desk of open items so I can depart with no work-related projects needing my attention. Libby will be spending these weeks winding down the current school year (exams, final grades, and graduation) and completing the initial preparations for next year (scheduling students into classes).
In addition to getting this blog setup, we used the past Memorial Day weekend to prepare for the journey. Unlike most of our vacations that have involved a mad dash of preparation in the last few days (or hours) before departure, we’ve made a conscious effort to start the process of organizing and packing well in advance. Why the change? Our summer trips to Europe have usually lasted 10-12 days. For those, we’ve been able to get by with only carry-on luggage (of actual carry-on size… as opposed to the steamer trunks I often see people trying to squeeze into the overhead bins on airplanes). However, the duration of this trip and limited (okay, non-existent) self-serve laundry facilities on the ship means that we’ll need a bit more storage capacity. At the same time, we still want to travel as light as possible. So, we’ve settled on only two mid-size suitcases, a single small roll-aboard (which may also be worn as a backpack), and two small backpacks (one of which may attach to the roll-aboard). All told, we’ll each have a single piece of luggage to roll and a smaller one to wear, thereby hopefully making the logistics of airport-to-London, London-to-Southampton and reverse via train a snap. We’ve already organized most of our non-clothing items and have even started the process of laying out clothes to pack based on our lists. How very organized of us!
This trip is unusual in that I’m actively looking forward to it. I think that because I travel a fair amount for business and have a pretty hectic schedule, I don’t tend to start enjoying the prospect of a vacation until I’m happily ensconced in the Delta Crown Room in Tampa on my way to our destination. Indeed, I’m somewhat notorious for spending the last 24-48 hours before departure on vacation in a fairly foul mood (well, foul by my standards anyway). So, I’m hoping that all of our advanced preparations will pay off with reduced stress and commotion next week, thereby keeping me sanguine. :-)
In addition to getting this blog setup, we used the past Memorial Day weekend to prepare for the journey. Unlike most of our vacations that have involved a mad dash of preparation in the last few days (or hours) before departure, we’ve made a conscious effort to start the process of organizing and packing well in advance. Why the change? Our summer trips to Europe have usually lasted 10-12 days. For those, we’ve been able to get by with only carry-on luggage (of actual carry-on size… as opposed to the steamer trunks I often see people trying to squeeze into the overhead bins on airplanes). However, the duration of this trip and limited (okay, non-existent) self-serve laundry facilities on the ship means that we’ll need a bit more storage capacity. At the same time, we still want to travel as light as possible. So, we’ve settled on only two mid-size suitcases, a single small roll-aboard (which may also be worn as a backpack), and two small backpacks (one of which may attach to the roll-aboard). All told, we’ll each have a single piece of luggage to roll and a smaller one to wear, thereby hopefully making the logistics of airport-to-London, London-to-Southampton and reverse via train a snap. We’ve already organized most of our non-clothing items and have even started the process of laying out clothes to pack based on our lists. How very organized of us!
This trip is unusual in that I’m actively looking forward to it. I think that because I travel a fair amount for business and have a pretty hectic schedule, I don’t tend to start enjoying the prospect of a vacation until I’m happily ensconced in the Delta Crown Room in Tampa on my way to our destination. Indeed, I’m somewhat notorious for spending the last 24-48 hours before departure on vacation in a fairly foul mood (well, foul by my standards anyway). So, I’m hoping that all of our advanced preparations will pay off with reduced stress and commotion next week, thereby keeping me sanguine. :-)
Monday, May 26, 2008
Another NCL Jade 6/13 Cruise Blog
I found another blog dedicated to the June 13th sailing of the NCL Jade. It might be fun to compare and contrast our posts throughout the cruise, as I suspect we're bound to have different experiences and preferences during our voyage. Indeed, I hope others start a blog for this journey: the more threads, the richer the tapestry.
Itinerary Overview
We’ll be starting our vacation on June 7 with our overnight transatlantic flight on Delta Airlines. The route is Tampa to Atlanta and then Atlanta to London-Gatwick. We’ll arrive in England on Sunday, June 8 around 7am (assuming the flight is on time). Since our timeshare week actually starts on Saturday, we shouldn’t have to wait for our flat to be ready despite the early hour of the arrival.
As usual, we have little planned in advance for our time in London from Monday through Thursday. On Wednesday night, we have tickets to see Hairspray starring Michael Ball (Libby’s all-time favorite musical theatre performer). Other than that, I’m sure we’ll make our usual rounds of the museums, galleries, and exhibitions. Since we visited London during March the past two years, I’m very keen on making my way back to the Royal Academy of Art’s Summer Exhibition.
In addition to art, we’ll probably take a walking tour or two of previously unexplored London neighborhoods. Indeed, London is generally a great city for walking. Of course, a lot of my walks seem to lead me to or through the city’s bookshops… funny that. :-)
On Friday, we’ll depart London a day earlier than usual and head down to Southampton via train to board the Jade for our 14 night Western Mediterranean cruise. Here’s our scheduled itinerary:
Given that we’re experienced travelers in Europe (and have been to some of these locations previously), we’re planning on exploring most of the ports on our own. However, unlike London, we’ve been doing some advanced planning to ensure that we make good use of our limited time on land. The only excursion organized by NCL that we’re currently signed up for is in Vigo for a visit to Santiago de Compostela.
We return to London on Friday, June 27. We’ll be spending 2 free nights are the London Marriott Hotel Kensington before flying home on Sunday. We’re not sure what we’ll do with this extra time, but I do plan to check out the Cy Twombly exhibition that will have just opened at the Tate Modern.
As usual, we have little planned in advance for our time in London from Monday through Thursday. On Wednesday night, we have tickets to see Hairspray starring Michael Ball (Libby’s all-time favorite musical theatre performer). Other than that, I’m sure we’ll make our usual rounds of the museums, galleries, and exhibitions. Since we visited London during March the past two years, I’m very keen on making my way back to the Royal Academy of Art’s Summer Exhibition.
In addition to art, we’ll probably take a walking tour or two of previously unexplored London neighborhoods. Indeed, London is generally a great city for walking. Of course, a lot of my walks seem to lead me to or through the city’s bookshops… funny that. :-)
On Friday, we’ll depart London a day earlier than usual and head down to Southampton via train to board the Jade for our 14 night Western Mediterranean cruise. Here’s our scheduled itinerary:
Given that we’re experienced travelers in Europe (and have been to some of these locations previously), we’re planning on exploring most of the ports on our own. However, unlike London, we’ve been doing some advanced planning to ensure that we make good use of our limited time on land. The only excursion organized by NCL that we’re currently signed up for is in Vigo for a visit to Santiago de Compostela.
We return to London on Friday, June 27. We’ll be spending 2 free nights are the London Marriott Hotel Kensington before flying home on Sunday. We’re not sure what we’ll do with this extra time, but I do plan to check out the Cy Twombly exhibition that will have just opened at the Tate Modern.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Introduction
Welcome to the blog for our Europe 2008 vacation! This is my 16th vacation to Europe and Libby’s 25th (she traveled extensively, especially to England, as a child). What’s unusual about this trip is that it will be our first cruise in Europe… indeed, it's really our first cruise of any sizeable duration.
As usual, we’ll be making our annual visit to the Allen House and spending a week in London. However, this year it will be interrupted by a 14-night roundtrip cruise out of Southampton (the one of Titanic fame) in England to the Western Mediterranean on Norwegian Cruise Line’s Jade. In all, we’ll be traveling 23 days, which is by far the longest single trip of our adult lives.
I setup this blog in about 15 minutes this morning. Because I was lazy, I did a very quick configuration that is bereft of glitz and glam. After all, the blog is just covering a three week period of our lives. Besides, I prefer the minimal to the baroque anyway.
My thought was that the blog would make for an easier—and more universal—way to communicate about our vacation, especially while we’re actually traveling. It’s also something of an experiment for me: seeing how I like the “blogging lifestyle” while chronicling in prose my travel experiences (two activities in which I’ve never seriously engaged). Of course, I’ve enjoyed reading other “real-time” travel narratives (especially those of my good friend, D) and more recently from those onboard cruises (the Jade Virtual Cruise report and the 2008 World Cruise blog). All of these sources—as well as prodding from friends and colleagues—served as inspiration for this endeavor.
Once traveling, I expect the blog will be fairly text heavy with minimal pictures (as I’d like to control my Internet access "donations," especially aboard ship). I will, however, endeavor to post daily updates during the travel period of June 7 - 29, 2008.
As usual, we’ll be making our annual visit to the Allen House and spending a week in London. However, this year it will be interrupted by a 14-night roundtrip cruise out of Southampton (the one of Titanic fame) in England to the Western Mediterranean on Norwegian Cruise Line’s Jade. In all, we’ll be traveling 23 days, which is by far the longest single trip of our adult lives.
I setup this blog in about 15 minutes this morning. Because I was lazy, I did a very quick configuration that is bereft of glitz and glam. After all, the blog is just covering a three week period of our lives. Besides, I prefer the minimal to the baroque anyway.
My thought was that the blog would make for an easier—and more universal—way to communicate about our vacation, especially while we’re actually traveling. It’s also something of an experiment for me: seeing how I like the “blogging lifestyle” while chronicling in prose my travel experiences (two activities in which I’ve never seriously engaged). Of course, I’ve enjoyed reading other “real-time” travel narratives (especially those of my good friend, D) and more recently from those onboard cruises (the Jade Virtual Cruise report and the 2008 World Cruise blog). All of these sources—as well as prodding from friends and colleagues—served as inspiration for this endeavor.
Once traveling, I expect the blog will be fairly text heavy with minimal pictures (as I’d like to control my Internet access "donations," especially aboard ship). I will, however, endeavor to post daily updates during the travel period of June 7 - 29, 2008.
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