Big Adventure - London, Day 9

Sunday, May 8, 2011

5:30am came very quick. Michele checked her bill and checked out and our taxi was waiting on schedule. We were both half asleep but were able to take in a few more sites on our way to the airport. It was the only day that it rained our whole stay. The hotel arranged the taxi so we were charged a flat fee of 50 pounds. It ended up being cheaper and quicker than the train when we split it.


When we got to the airport there was plenty of time so we checked in and went through customs. Once we were on the terminal side we located the Delta VIP area and ate some breakfast. Our first class seats were amazing. We each had our own seat one behind the other. The seats reclined flat, had their own TV monitor with a remote control, and a built in massage feature. They offered champagne, orange juice, and mimosas as soon as we sat down. Once we got in the air they just kept serving us food. Delta had US Airways beat hands down! I watched about 3 movies, read a little of my book, took a short nap, and began writing this journal about my trip. The flight was so smooth and went a lot faster than I thought it would.

We arrived in Miami around 3pm (8pm body time) and had to go through customs again. We claimed our luggage and rechecked it. One of the benefits of first class is that you get priority handling on your luggage. I was feeling pretty good once we got to Miami but by the time we left I was slowing down. It had been a long day.

We had a quick flight from Miami and landed in Orlando around 6pm(11pm body time). Dad picked me up in his truck and I told him all about my trip. He had been texting me all day letting me know he was tracking my flight, where my baggage claim was, and whether or not my flight was on time. He dropped me off and I felt so relieved to be home but so mixed up on time. I stayed up late to try and make sure I slept in the next day. Thank goodness I took Monday off.

I really had a good time. London was such a great place to visit. The culture there was comfortable and it felt like such an interesting place. Belgium was so pretty but it wasn’t as contemporary in style. It was a nice place to visit but I don’t want to live there. I think I could live in London for a short while but there were certainly some key things missing there that the American way just seems so much better. The flight to and from Europe wasn’t so bad although first class made a huge difference. It is worth the upgrade for that long of a flight so I am going to start saving for next time.

I learned a lot about myself on this trip. I learned that I have a good sense of direction and can probably go anywhere I wanted to with enough research and the right travel buddy. I also learned that I like to travel and with all the excitement happening around you it is possible to live through major time change relying on pure adrenaline. Hope you enjoyed the blog!

Until the next adventure...

Big Adventure - London, Day 8

Saturday, May 7, 2011

We got up early to execute our plans and again grabbed breakfast at a nearby café. This time I had a somewhat traditional English breakfast of eggs and ham. When we got to the bus stop we learned it didn’t get to our stop until 10:30am. Our plan was in jeopardy... so we walked to the next bus stop at Buckingham Palace and it was the same situation. We hadn’t anticipated this wrinkle and we knew we just had to keep moving. We continued to walk until we got to the Kensington area and were finally able to get our bus. We had walked about three quarters of the way there and were already tired. Michele had accidentally spilled her hot chocolate on her shirt so the short bus ride was needed to rest and regroup. We got off and went to the TK Maxx store where we looked around and Michele found a suitcase for the trip home. We still had time to follow our plan as long as the Palace tour went quick. So we walked to the Palace with a giant empty suitcase. Luckily, they let us check it at the front while we walked around.

Michele with her new suitcase

Me not taking a photo inside K.P.

Kensington Palace sat on the edge of Hyde Park and was really beautiful from the outside. It was smaller and older looking and felt like it was in the country. They were refurbishing the landscaping in the front but it still looked like such a quaint place. When we bought our ticket the lady made a major point that the tour wasn’t a memorial to Princess Diana. I don’t think we were expecting it to be but we were shocked at what we found anyway. It reminded me of a whimsical children’s museum. Each room was empty of furniture but had some type of misunderstood carnival haunted mansion set up in it. The place was musty and dark and the room setups were ridiculous and made no sense. It really felt like they had messed up a very historical building with an crazy storyline that was so out there it was inappropriate. It felt like it was disrespectful of any royal family member that had lived there. It was a major disappointment so we didn’t stay long. By the time we exited it was already 11am.

Our bus ticket was expiring and we needed to make up some time so we decided to take a taxi to Westminster Abby. When we got there a huge line of people were waiting to get in. We had wanted to drop the suitcase at the hotel but we didn’t want to miss getting in to the Abby so we just went directly there. Michele and I had been in line for about 40 minutes and were about 40 people from the entrance when an older man who worked at the Abby approached us. He told Michele that she couldn’t enter with the bag because it was too big. Michele was really upset and I felt horrible about it. She got out of the line and sat down with her bag. I got out of line to join her but she insisted that I get back in line and go in without her. I felt awful! She was so angry and so disappointed. I wanted to stay with her and be supportive but I also wanted to go the Abby. I was in London, the royal wedding happened a week ago here, and I didn’t know if I would ever get a chance to see it again. So I went in by myself feeling guilty but excited.

Me not taking photo inside W.A.

The place was so beautiful on the outside and I had seen so much of it on TV just a week ago. As the line entered the building I noticed there were several stone tributes to people on the walls. They were really big with people’s names and stories on them and they seemed to be placed kind of randomly next to each other. I paid for my ticket and proceeded inside. The stain glass windows were gorgeous and the place had ceilings that were so tall. I desperately wanted to take some pictures but there were signs indicating it wasn’t allowed and workers wandering around telling people to turn off their cameras. I was able to take some awkward shots but nothing of significance. As I walked around I couldn’t help but notice that the place was a crypt. There were so many stone boxes full of dead people. Even on the floors there were stone on top of places where people had been buried. It was like the biggest indoor cemetery I had ever seen.

I walked to the area where the main alter was. I couldn’t believe I was standing in the same place where the Queen and the entire royal family was just the week before. The alter area looked so much smaller than it did on TV. It was so ornate with wood and gold. On TV you just didn't get to see the detailed gold. Behind the main alter area was there was an area surrounded by crypts from dead Kings. This is where the couple went to sign their papers. There was a big chapel behind that area with stained glass windows all around it. To the side of the main alter was a walkway and courtyard. The floors and walls were covered with more monuments of dead people. One segment of the walkway had a small gift area and coffee shop. It seemed really out of place. I walked back into the Abby where the main aisle was located.

The main alter area looked really worn and the aisle that Princess Catherine had walked down just a week ago was so narrow. The section closest to the alter area was for the choir. I always thought it was weird that the choir faced each other in rows of three or four and that they were located in the middle of everything. Must have been an old cathedral thing. The main aisle was divided in half with a little room with a gate. The gate was trimmed in ornate figures and shapes including a lot of gold trim. During the wedding the orchestra played on top of the room. I walked out of the back of the Abby where the Prince and Princess had walked out to board their horse carriage. I passed by the Tomb of the unknown soldier and the Coronation Chair. They were in the process of preserving the chair that had been used to coronate so many kings and queens. As I walked out of the building I took a ton of pictures of all the details. It was truly an amazing structure but again it didn’t feel spiritual at all. It was a cemetery for one thing but just like the cathedral in Gent it was just too ornate. It felt like the emphasis was out of whack.

I walked around to the front of the building to find Michele. I tried to reassure her that it wasn’t that big of a deal. I told her it was full of dead people and played down how beautiful it was to try and help her feel better about the situation. She had calmed down and said that she wanted to go back to the hotel. We were both out of cash so we tried to flag down a taxi that took credit cards. We found one at a stop light and hopped in. Luckily the hotel was just a few blocks away.

We returned to our favorite hang out—the hotel lounge, to grab some lunch. Michele had more fish and chips and I had a greasy ham and cheese sandwich. We talked a lot and she had a couple of beers to try and relax. We both grabbed some more money to exchange to prepare for our taxi ride to the airport early the next morning. Feeling rested and refreshed we decided to press on.


We walked to the London Eye taking kind of the long way around so we could get some more sight seeing in. We cross the Jubilee Bridge and walked right into a bunch of street performers. They were really lame. There was a street dancer getting a pretty good sized crowd but everyone else was really bad. There were two people dressed as Mickey and Donald. There was a man dressed in a frog suit peddling a stationary bike and then there were people just dressed up standing around with a bowl for money in front of them. It was kind of sad looking but people were donating so I guess it was working for them. We approached the London Eye and Michele was getting nervous. She was very afraid of heights but one of the respected ladies on our Belgium trip had talked her in to going on it. We bought our tickets, got in line, and about 15 minutes later were hopping on board our bubble. It was moving so slow and was really steady. We didn’t feel any movement at all the whole ride. The scenery was gorgeous and I took a ton of pictures. I felt fine inside the bubble except when I looked at the machine itself. It made me a little woozy. As long as I was looking at the horizon I felt fine. Michele felt so comfy that she stood up and took some photos. I was glad she went on it. I think she would have regretted it later.

After the ride we walked back to the hotel and began to pack up things. Michele had decided we needed to get up at 5am to catch our 6:30am taxi. We didn’t eat dinner because we had had such a late lunch but on our walk back to the room we stopped at this tiny grocery store next to Westminster Station. It was a one aisle narrow room and I bought some yogurt. As the evening went on I began to get more and more hungry but I didn’t want to eat at the lounge again. I ended up eating anything I could get my hands on in the room. We packed everything and watched some TV then went to bed. It had been a whirl-wind day and our time in London was just about over.

View from the top - Parliament & Big Ben

Big Adventure - London, Day 7

Friday, May 6, 2011

We grabbed some breakfast at a coffee shop just down the street from the hotel. We ate it as we walked to Buckingham Palace about 10 blocks away. The streets were so interesting. Such a mix of new and old and you could just feel the history around you. We passed some local pubs, Channel 4 TV station, a private school, a church, and several walk-up town homes. They were so cool. We got to the palace about 10am and began taking lots of pictures. I have seen that place so many times on TV but being there in person was just cool. The royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton had happened exactly a week before and the whole world was watching. There were still some barricades and press boxes on the grounds but that was all that was left from the event.

The famous changing of the guard was scheduled for 11:30am so we headed to the gift shop. Just outside the shop was a bus stop for the double-decker bus tours. We had looked up the details online ahead of time but checked with the man at the bus stop for costs. We bought our tickets right there on the street and then headed back to the front of the palace to watch the Changing of the Guard. The area went from just a few people standing around to a ton of people!

The Victoria Statue was packed with people and there were about 5-6 people deep standing in front of the palace gates. We saw the marching soldiers line up inside the gate, a marching band, and armed soldiers that all walked in front of the palace. It was just like the 3 o’clock parade at Disney! There were so many people waiting and trying to get a photo and it seemed like they just came out of no where. After the armed group came bye a bunch of people on horse were next. They all went inside the palace gates and lined up in silence. Then one of the soldiers that had a bunch of medals on his jacket started yelling information to the rest of the group. A few at a time started moving around. It was interesting but at some point Michele and I decided we had had enough so we went back to the bus stop and waited for it to arrive.

We took the tour bus to the London Eye area on the River Thames.  The walkway along the river had little food shops, the entrance to the London Eye, and a River Cruise. Our bus tour price included a cruise so after we grabbed a bite to eat then boarded a big boat to take a cruise down the river. The River Thames is filthy green. Turns out it has a huge high tide (about 8 ft) and runs right through the middle of London out to the ocean. It was a relaxing ride and we had an entertaining narrator. We got off the boat at the Tower of London. As the boat was turning around to dock we were able to get some great shots of the London Bridge. It was just like I had seen on TV except I hadn’t noticed all the blue trim on the bridge and despite what you have heard... it is not falling down. We didn’t take that tour but instead went inside the Tower of London.

Inside we walked around a lot looking at the old buildings and learned that this was not a happy place back in the day. There was a lot of history around imprisonment, torchure, and death. We toured the Jewel Tower and saw the royal family jewels including crowns, scepters, and tons of gold entertainment and serving pieces. We also toured the Armory Tower where we saw lots of royal armor and gunnery. It was interesting but it was about five or six stories tall with no elevator. It felt like we were never going to reach the bottom on the way out. We were able to catch our double-decker tour bus right outside the Tower complex. We were both really tired from walking so we rode the bus for a long time just taking in the sights. We rode past several memorial and tribute statues, Downing street where the Prime Minister lives, Margaret Thatcher’s house, the very expensive Mayfair neighborhood, through the theater district, and passed the National Gallery. We rode the bus so long that by the time we got off it stopped running for the day.

There are not a lot of places to eat near our hotel so we again ended up eating at the hotel lounge. While we were there we used my iPad to look up theater information and plan our last day in London. After we discovered the tickets were just too expensive for the shows we were interested in, we gave up on that idea. We wanted to go to Kensington Palace, Westminster Abby, and the London Eye for our last day. Michele was really concerned about her bag so we also researched what our options were to replace the bag. Turns out there was a TK Maxx (the UK version of TJ Maxx) right next door to Kensington Palace. We were both shocked and amazed. So our plan was to get going in the morning and catch our tour bus at 9am to get to the Kensington area, buy the bag, go to the Palace, drop the bag at the hotel, then go to Westminster Abby before they closed at 1:30pm. It was aggressive but we felt we could do it.  We called it a night and prepared for a jammed packed day.

Big Adventure - Belgium, Day 6

Thursday, May 5, 2011

First day of Vacation! After Belgium, I had made arrangements with one of the girls at my office, Michele, to spend a little extra time in Europe. I have known Michele for a few years but I really didn't know her that well. I was looking forward to getting to know her and was so happy to have found someone to travel with me. We took a taxi to the Brussels airport to catch our 12:10 flight on British Airways. Our taxi was late because of traffic and we got caught in it on the way there during morning rush hour. During our ride we talked about the last three days and about some work stuff trying to pass the time. Our flight to London was about an hour long and involved us going back through customs. I got a stamp in my passport when I left Brussels and a new one in London when we arrived. We arrived at the London Heathrow airport about 12:10. London is an hour behind Belgium so we left and arrived at the same time. We were still screwed up on time so I didn't even notice the extra hour. The London airport was huge but we found our way to the Express Train on the lower level.

 The Express Train was very comfortable and took us Paddington Station where we needed to switch trains to the Underground to go to Westminster Station near our hotel. We were both so hungry by the time we got to Paddington Station but none of the food options looked appetizing so we just kept moving. The station was really crowded which made traveling with luggage a bit of a challenge. To make it worse, we had to cross over the track we were going on to get to the right side of the platform and there were no elevators. I managed with my luggage but Michele’s suitcase was really big and heavy. There was no way she could get it up the stairs so thank goodness some random guy helped her. Just when we thought it was over it turned out that once we went up the stairs we had to go down them too. Michele was approaching the 'over-it' phase so she just bounced her bag down the stairs one at a time until she got to the bottom. I am sure someone watching us found the whole thing quite amusing but at the time we were not laughing. (Well, at least one of us... )

We finally made it to the train and boarded with a big sigh. It reminded me of a scene from Seinfeld when the whole group was on the subway. As we were riding Michele noticed that she had a hole in the bottom of her big piece of luggage. Nothing had fallen out but it wasn’t going to make it on a plane again with out some attention. Luckily, the train stop at Westminster had elevators. It was just as hard to walk through because of how busy it was but we managed. As we exited the station to get to the street we parked our bags on the sidewalk and a just rested for a moment while we got our barrings. We both looked to the sky at the same time to see the golden face of Big Ben. Bam! It was right there! Welcome to London! It is a moment that I won't forget. We were so crazed with the luggage and train situation to suddenly be greeted with one of the most recognizable buildings in the world was a shocking moment.

Big Ben

We needed to find our hotel and with all our bags we knew we needed a taxi. Every one of them only took cash. We had just gotten into the country and hadn’t have time to exchange our dollars for pounds. I got my iPhone out and looked at where we were and it turned out we were 5 blocks from the hotel so we walked-bags in hand, advertising to the world that we were tourist! 

Mint Hotel

We were tired, hungry, and grumpy by the time we checked in. Not a good combination to test our patience at the front desk. We got the key to the room and went upstairs to see how we did booking online. The room was small but clean. It looked like a super nice Ikea dorm room. The bed appeared to be a king bed so we went back down to the front desk to be reassigned. It turned out that they just push together two twin beds. Housekeeping came to the room and unzipped the twins and remade the beds-viola! The room had an Apple computer in it that served as a TV and computer. I also had free Wi-Fi for my iPad--loved that! We went right to the hotel lounge and got food. Michele got the fish and chips she had been talking about for hours and I got a burger. Once we were hydrated and full we both felt so much better. We were both in disbelief that we were in London. It was "surreal but nice..."

It was too late to go to any of the attractions so our first evening we decided to go to the famous Harrod's Department Store. We were finally able to exchange some money at the front desk for our taxi fair. It was an incredibly heartbreaking experience with the exchange rate. Our taxi ride was about 15 minutes and drove us right by Buckingham Palace on the way to the Kensington area. We couldn't believe how close the palace was to the street. The store was amazing. It was five stories tall with a different department on each floor. We spent a lot of time on the toy, pet, candy, kitchenware floors and the Harrod's Brand area. It was so crowded but so exciting. We both went a little crazy with shopping but Michele got several gifts including a barbie-like doll of Princess Catherine for her mom. We must have been there for hours just wandering around. It was the perfect first evening activity. We returned to the hotel and just got appetizers for dinner. It gave Michele and I a chance to talk and plan the next few days. By the time we got back to the room we were both exhausted and called it a night.

Big Adventure - Belgium, Day 5

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Last day of meetings!  It was my turn to present information about social media. I felt good about my presentation and got lots of questions and comments. The other people from the different countries presented their activities in social media too. It was all very interesting and I liked meeting people who were doing similar work. It was the last day of the bad cafeteria for lunch and then more presentations in the afternoon.

Bruges

       

Burges Canal

We wrapped up the day and traveled by bus to the city of Bruges which was about an hour away from Aalst. It was another little village town with cobblestone streets and old beautiful buildings. Our bus driver dropped us off because of the narrow streets again and we walked a few blocks to the restaurant. There was a chocolate shop about every three buildings and lace and textile shops about every 10 buildings.

The restaurant, Duc De Bourgogne (Duke of Burgandy), was so old and so fancy. It was on a canal. Thank goodness the menu had already been determined because everything was in French. We had more goose liver as an appetizer, salmon and shrimp with mango sauce, and the main course was duck.  I was so full. Dessert was a chocolate mousee. Each dinner I sat with a different group of people. It was nice to get to know everyone and here all their funny stories about work. We also talked a lot about the cultural differences were had each been experiencing on the trip. It was fun to hear everyone's perspective.

Duc De Bourgogne

It was an enjoyable dinner and we walked backed through the low lit streets of Burges to catch our bus.  About half of the people on the bus were asleep when we returned to the hotel late that night.  Everyone stopped in the lobby before going to their room to say our goodbyes.  It had a been such an interesting experience. I was very grateful to have been invited to be a part of the meetings in Belgium but I was so excited to be headed to London on vacation the next day!

Duc De Bourgogne at night 

Big Adventure - Belgium, Day 4

Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Official Day two was another early bus ride and day full of meetings. We ate at the cafeteria again... totally gross! After lunch we all took a tour of the Tupperware plant. It was interesting to see how the products were made, tested, stored, and distributed. I took some photos and video to commemorate the tour. It was an impressive operation. After the tour it was back to the meeting.



We left at 5pm to travel to Brussels to eat dinner.  The bus ride was rough.  We got caught in rush hour traffic in the city and the driver kept up a steady back and forth movement to ensure everyone was car sick.  We finally stopped because the bus couldn't fit on the road we needed to get to.  Everyone got off the bus so relieved to be breathing fresh air and in the process was hit with some pretty cold temperatures! The sun was out but I wore my leather jacket almost the whole time we were there.

We began to walk on some serious cobblestone sidewalks gruffling under our breath about the bus ride.  With my head down watching where I walked, I was totally taken by surprise when I looked up to see the entire group in this large courtyard.  It took my breath away. It is called the Grand Place and it is one of the biggest tourist destinations in Brussels. The courtyard is lined with guildhall buildings from the 13th century and city hall. The buildings were huge and so ornate, so tall, and some trimmed in gold. It was breathtaking and made the horrible bus ride totally worth it.

Restaurant - La Maison du Cygne

Grand Place - Maison du Roi

Grand Place Courtyard

Everard 't Serclaes

We entered the restaurant and climbed a winding staircase to the top floor.  Our restaurant, La Maison du Cygne, was one of the buildings in the courtyard. Just outside the entrance was a famous bronze statue called the Everard 't Serclaes.  Touching the arm of the statue was suppose to bring you good luck.  Since we were headed to dinner I let the other people in the group do all the touching. The interior was wood with enchanting chandeliers and wall treatments. It looked so elegant. The private room where we were seated had four large tables. Our appetizer was thinly sliced beef with a blob of vanilla ice cream and lettuce on top. Turns out the beef was raw and the ice cream was mixed with parmesan cheese. The menu called it L’Incontournable Carpaccio de boeuf Marine’ a’ l’Huile d’ Olive, Basilic et Glace au parmesan. It didn’t taste too bad but I just couldn’t get the raw part out of my head so I kept it to a sample size. The main entrée was lamb and potatoes and it was followed with a sampling of cheeses and crème brulee for dessert.

The food was super fancy but the service was super slow. I was told that slow meals was the European way. I normally would be fine with that but I was so tired by the time we reached 3 hours I could hardly keep my eyes open. After some lively conversation at my table and the need to stretch, I excused myself to go to the restroom. When I got to the hall where the bathrooms were the labels on each room were in French and there was no sign of the little skirt or pants figures. So I guessed! Luckily, I guessed right!  We wrapped things up at the restuarant and began our walk back to our bus. The courtyard was lit up like a palace. It was an amazing scene. We ended up back at the hotel around 11pm but the experience was very memorable and well worth it.

La Maison du Roi at night

Big Adventure - Belgium, Day 3

Monday, May 2, 2011

Aalst

Our first official day started at 8am and the jet lag made it feel like 2am. I just pushed through it. Breakfast was quick. I grabbed an apple yogurt, which I discovered is much more runny than US yogurt, and some cereal and joined the group on the motor coach bus for our journey to Aalst. Aalst was a very small town industrial looking area. There were plenty of homes but a lot of businesses, warehouses, and plants. It was about a 30 minute drive to the Tupperware Plant where our meetings were being held. I loved looking at all the surroundings on our drive. The highway was lined by a very rural looking homes and fields. It was very green and reminded me a lot of Indiana. Each day we would drive by three huge, super-techy windmills. They were so big and so out of place.

Giant Wind Machines

Scenery on our Route

Once we arrived at the plant we would head to our conference room for a full day of meetings. My meeting buddy was Simone from Tupperware Italy. We sat by each other every day and would make funny comments to keep things light throughout the day. Lunch was at the employee cafeteria. It was pitiful but it was free.

That night we traveled back to Gent for dinner at another local restaurant called T Pakhuis. It was an old warehouse that had been converted to a restaurant. We were seated on the second floor and were served a set menu. We had the shrimp appetizer again plus a spoonful of cheesy potatoes which were just plain awesome. The second course was Goose Liver! I tried it but I would never order it. It was gray and tasted like fancy bologna that was almost spoiled. The main entree was cod wrapped in seaweed seasoned with fennel. I was so hungry that I ate it, but I discovered that I am not a fan of fennel. Dessert was a sampling of tiramisu, chocolate cake, mousse, and pistachio ice cream. The evening was full of interesting conversation and I left full and ready for bed.

After dinner, we walked back to the hotel taking in all the buildings and the town at night. The buildings were all lit up and magical looking. It actually looked like a scene from a murder mystery but there wasn't any fear or scary music. It was quite the romantic scene except that I was surrounded by people I barely knew from work!

All the streets we walked on in Gent were cobblestone so walking in heels was a bit of a challenge. Luckily, I was able to do some tip-toe moves and I made it back to the hotel without twisting an ankle.

Gent at night