Day One: To London
Posted by Max Dunn Thu, 27 Jul 2006 10:52:00 GMT
July 25-26, 2006: Getting to London was amazingly easy. We had a friend drop us off at the San Francisco airport, the flight was non-stop to London, and then we took an Express Train and Underground to the hotel. Easy as pie! The Landmark Hotel was very nice and the service was great. We ate at the Giraffe Restaurant which was very colorful and kid-friendly, then took a swim and went to bed. Here are more details:
Packing, Airport
We did spend all of Tuesday packing, and by “all” I mean starting about 8:30 and going to 4:30, so that we were late leaving. I took my time and spent almost 3 hours doing the basic packing, then doing other misc things including getting another suitcase and some books. Samantha drove us to the airport, which was very easy since we didn’t have to hassle with dropping off the car at a lot and getting a shuttle. Then another miracle – there was no line at the United check-in counter!
We did have a snafu where Suzanne had spent a lot of time on the phone with United on Monday getting some good seats, but then when she went right afterwards to do the electronic check-in, discovered that we were all in the very back row of the plane. When she called them again, they didn’t have any record of this, so we were stuck in the back. I was worried that the seats wouldn’t recline and that we would be looking at the bathroom and line of people the whole flight, but none of these turned out to be a problem. The only drawback to having seats way back there was that there were no windows on the side of us, so we couldn’t see anything. But since the flight was at night, this wasn’t too much of a problem.
Flight
The kids kept entertained on the flight. Claire watched several movies, and Maxie played his game boy. Then we all slept: Maxie very little, I slept the most, about 5 hours, and even Claire slept well. Suzanne didn’t sleep very well and was tired when we landed and really had to fight not to fall asleep all day.
London Transfer
At Heathrow, it took about 20 minutes to get through immigration and then we got our bags. (Yea, no lost bags!) We also changed some money and Maxie got some chips to eat, but Claire couldn’t find anything she liked and was grumpy from being sleepy and hungry. We had the option of taking the underground (cheaper but slower) or the Heathrow Express train (faster and more expensive) and due to Claire’s mood, I decided to take the Express. This cost about $100, but was very convenient.
The Heathrow Express ended up at the Paddington station, and then after asking for help from a guy at a newspaper stand, were able to get on the Bakerloo line going South and in two stops were at the Marylebone station. Outside the station, we weren’t sure exactly where the Landmark Hotel was, but then discovered the back entrance was right across the street.
Landmark Hotel
At the hotel, the doorman took our bags and we wound around to the reception at the front. The check-in person was very nice and even walked us up to the room and showed us around. Our bags arrived a few minutes later. The room was large with two double-beds. I was concerned at first about us sharing a double bed with the kids, but it worked out fine. (Even if we had a bigger bed, the kids would still crowd over to our side anyways.) The room was large (by European standards) and the bathroom had a separate area for the sink, shower and tub, and toilet. There is a smell of fresh paint, and we can’t open the windows to let it out, but it hasn’t been too bothersome. The air conditioning works well, which is very important since the temperature around London is about 30% C (86% F) or more. The hotel overall is very nice.
Giraffe Restaurant
The concierge recommended the Giraffe Restaurant. It was about a 15 minute walk, and Claire struggled with it. The restaurant had some outdoor seating, which would have been nice on this stuffy night, but there were only tables for 2 outside. So we sat inside at a long, shared bench, but there was enough of a breeze so it wasn’t too hot. The waitress was great and took a long time to explain the menu to us and help us pick something out without wheat. We ended up sharing the Mahi-Mahi special and salad. The Mahi-Mahi was some of the best I have had, cooked just right so that it was firm but still moist, with a light topping of onions, oil and seasoning. The salad had a generous amount of avocado along with artichoke hearts and beats (which Suzanne loves.) We also had two of the Mango Daiquiris (on special) and munched on the kid’s chips (french fries) which were surprisingly good. Maxie ordered lemonade which was small but very tasty – not too sweet. Like everything else in London, prices are expensive. If you just think of pounds as being the same as dollars, it doesn’t look too bad, but then when you realize it is almost 2 dollars to the pound, then the it hits you. Dinner ended being almost $90.
Swim and Bed
After dinner, we threaded our way down to the basement to the spa which had a very nice swimming pool, and took a swim. The pool was a lap pool, only about 5 feet deep along its entire length, and the water was a perfect temperature – not too cold but cold enough to be refreshing. We arrived at 8:30 and the pool closes at 9:00, so we didn’t have too much time, but it was enough. We ended up sitting in the jacuzzi for a few minutes, which started to put us to sleep. Back in the room we showered and piddled around and ended up going to bed after 10pm.
Getting on the airplane wasn’t that fun but our seats were kinda fun because there were little TVs in front. But when we were starting to fly, it wasn’t so fun because I got a headache. But the rest of the flight was fun because I just watched TV. And in the night I didn’t get that much sleep.
When we arrived, I was like half-awake. We went on the underground express. It took a little bit of a long time. But it was better than BART.
The hotel is pretty nice. And the rooms were really fancy. And the pool was super big.
Going to dinner was kinda fun. I liked the drinks and the little giraffes they stuck in the drinks. But it wasn’t that fun because we just walked around.
I liked the airplane trip because I got to play a lot of game boy. I liked the Giraffe restaurant, but there was no re-fills. I liked going swimming because there was like nobody there and the pool was giant. The ground was too bricky.
It was hotter than usual from what I recall. The train stations were extraordinary – I felt like I was in a Harry Potter book looking for platform 9 3/4. We walked for miles to eat at Giraffes and didn’t know what to expect. But the food was surprisingly good and expensive. The Mango-Lime daquiries really hit the spot.
Going back to yesterday, the flight coming over was the best we’d ever done with the kids—having your own monitor helps, and I’m sure Claire would have watched movies all night if I hadn’t told her to get some sleep.
Once we arrived, we took the express train to London Paddington Station and then the Tube to the Marylebone station. As I said in my last blog, the train stations are extraordinary. They’re fun to look at (architecturally) and are full of life. These are what train stations should be like.
Our hotel, The Landmark, is right across the street from the Marylebone Station. It is old but very nice—kind of like the Fairmont in SF. It’s probably one of the biggest rooms that we’ve stayed in.
All day we were fighting to stay awake due to the time change. I haven’t felt this tired since pulling all nighters in college. I think I was the worst one out of everybody. I barely had enough energy to walk to dinner at Giraffes (which seemed like miles away). Actually, it could have been with the route that we took! Max and I split a mahi mahi dinner with a side of edamame stir fried in garlic and chili oil. Mmmmmm!
Still fighting to stay awake when we got home. People magazine couldn’t even help so we went swimming. That did wake me up! The water wasn’t too cold, and I got in in record time (less than 30 minutes!). What got me was when Maxie said that the water was a lot warmer than the Cousins’ pool, I was determined to get in.
Max finally let us go to bed after swimming (9p) and boy, did we sleep…