The Widow & the Spinster Take a Bougie WBTA Cruise That Didn't Suck! - Visiting Harry Potter World Parts 1 & 2 - 11/11

[franandaj]

Sleep didn't last long. Jill was on her way to the airport and my phone kept chirping. She was also flying Business Class on British Airways on miles. She had made it to the airport and was relaxing in the BA Lounge as well.

Around 11PM I gave in to the jet lag that wouldn't let me go back to sleep and texted with Jenny & Jill for a while. Jill had boarded the plane and she sent pics of her seat. She had the better configuration. It was the same as we had on the way home from Egypt last year when we flew out of London.

Around 1:30AM when Jill had to put her phone on airplane mode, I finally fell back asleep. Meanwhile Jill was flying to London.

Here’s what they were offering her for food.

She got the same pack of nuts that I did!

She went with the Burrata, and I’m guessing that she pretty much ate the cheese, and maybe the hazelnuts and honey.

Then for her main she had the Beef Short Ribs. Sounds like a better choice that what I had.

She passed on dessert and ended up trying to sleep on the plane for the rest of the trip.

Day 2

Meanwhile, I was trying to sleep as well after my 1:30AM second bedtime. I did get up a few times for a bio break, but slept pretty steadily until 7:30AM.

Magdalene had seen on social media that I was on my way, and she and I texted in the morning a bit before I got out of bed. I organized my clothes so that everything I planned to wear in London was easily accessible. Then I got dressed and went down to breakfast.

For my last few stays at Hampton Inns, the waffles have not been as good as I remembered. I wonder if they have changed the batter. I was able to fill my ESWB at the breakfast bar, but not easily. They didn't have a spigot where you could just fill it. I kept getting water from the juice dispenser, but they only had 6 oz. glasses. So I kept going back and getting more glasses. Then I finally asked one of the workers if they had any ice. He brought me a tall glass full, so now I had my precious ice water! At least for the morning.

I went back up to the room, and finished catching up on my notes. I also stalked Jill’s plane. She still had an hour to landing. That's OK! I had somewhere to go!

When one of my friends back home heard I was going to be in London, he told me that I MUST visit the Sax Shop. It turns out that the place was only a 15 minute walk from the hotel. Now I really hate measuring distance in walking time, but it really was only about fifteen minutes, even walking at my leisurely pace.

I didn't plan to purchase anything, and I did bring a mouthpiece and some reeds. In the end I just looked around. I talked with one of the guys who worked there for a bit, checked out some of the more unique instruments, and was on my way.

That sax in the middle, the tiny one, that’s a Soprillo sax. I’d never even heard of one of those. Not sure why you would even need (want) one. Unless you just love to collect saxes and have way too much money laying around!

This wooden sax was kind of cool, but I doubt that you could even play it.

I had fun for about half an hour just checking out all the stuff and marveling at the prices. So glad that I really don’t need any new instruments or gear. And then I made my way back to the hotel.

 

[jedijill]

Yes, and she gave me a great explanation for why not to feel guilty for all the fun I'm having as an able bodied person. Because there is nothing that could be done about her not being here. It doesn't change the fact that she is gone physically, so I might as well do what I can. I know it sounds simple, but it's a weird feeling of guilt that she totally understood because Paula was severely disabled as well.

That is a great perspective but I'm sorry that you both have to have it.

I think they just enjoyed being nasty....so glad that I didn't really make any friends via that group or plan any meet ups with any of them.

One of them jumped down my throat when I innocently asked if DCL had banned hiding ducks. They really were know it alls and incredibly rude. I had zero desire to interact onboard...the only thing we did do it donate most of our leftover candy (I had brought a Costco bag of chocolate) to their Trick or Treat.

Yeah, I get it between this trip and our visit to WDW in April, this ate up just about all her PTO.

Come on Powerball! Mama needs to retire!

Sleep didn't last long. Jill was on her way to the airport and my phone kept chirping. She was also flying Business Class on British Airways on miles. She had made it to the airport and was relaxing in the BA Lounge as well.

Sorry! I was excited. I worked a full day and then had a car and driver pick me up to go to the airport. I live 30-45 minutes away from the airport and although the car service sounds bougie (it is!) it works out to be cheaper than parking for the time I was going to be away. I like using the service too on the way home since I'm usually bleary eyed from an overseas trip...this time I was flying back from FL but was still exhausted from not sleeping well due to all the time changes.

Around 11PM I gave in to the jet lag that wouldn't let me go back to sleep and texted with Jenny & Jill for a while. Jill had boarded the plane and she sent pics of her seat. She had the better configuration. It was the same as we had on the way home from Egypt last year when we flew out of London.

My seat was the much nicer configuration but it was filthy! Apparently there is only a couple hour turn around between flights and some spots were definitely missed. I only had two choices for direct flights from Denver. BA and United and I try to avoid United at all costs. I've been quite happy with BA. We have other airlines in DEN but I would have to connect through another city and that would have chewed up an entire day of my precious PTO.

She got the same pack of nuts that I did!

The drink was a Cranberry blush and quite tasty! I ate a few of the nuts...I really enjoyed them. I didn't care for the chick peas though.

She went with the Burrata, and I’m guessing that she pretty much ate the cheese, and maybe the hazelnuts and honey.

Yep, I ate the cheese and a little bread. I don't eat a ton due to some meds I'm on but it was quite good! The "salad" was gross. LOL

Then for her main she had the Beef Short Ribs. Sounds like a better choice that what I had.

The short rib was tasty and a large portion so I nibbled on it and then gave up. I passed on dessert as I was stuffed and wanted to go to sleep. They served dinner late so I finished up my movie "Back to Black" about Amy Winehouse and then went to bed. I didn't sleep great but got some sleep.

I was able to fill my ESWB

Pronounced "Ez Wub"

I also stalked Jill’s plane. She still had an hour to landing. That's OK! I had somewhere to go!

I usually do the stalking!

They have a lotta sax there. And make sure you enunciate correctly or it becomes a whole different kind of shop!

Jill in CO

 

[ACDSNY]

I can't believe we only saw each other on the first and last days of the cruise!



Well at least you slept through the first night! That's better than either Jill or I did for about a week!

I know, I kept looking for both of you. It sure shows how your dining assignment effects the people you run into.

I couldn't believe we slept that long either as our room was really noisy being under the pizza place. Most nights we didn't sleep well at all.

 

[buteraa]

Day 1

So here we are! Departure day had arrived. I was all packed the day before (basically). There were a couple things to toss into the carry-on, but that didn't take much time. In preparation for this trip, I had re-watched some of the Harry Potter movies on my flight home from Germany last spring. While packing I picked up where I left off, I got through all but the last movie, by the day I left. We would be visiting the sets of the movies this trip, so I wanted to be familiar with the movies again.

I got to the airport with plenty of time to spare. Naked Jim, who had knee replacement surgery back in April is back in action again. However, he is getting a bit senile and has been forgetting when to pick me up for my trips. He completely forgot for a trip in August and seems to need constant reminders.

I asked him to pick me up at 3PM, and at 3:07 I started texting and calling him. Finally he picked up the phone and said, “Oh, is it today?” Luckily I had built in quite a time buffer. He was at my house by 3:30 and we were on the way shortly thereafter. Traffic was light and I was waiting in the check-in line nearly 3 ½ hours before my flight was scheduled to leave.

Security was a breeze and pretty soon I was sitting in the lounge with a glass of wine and my Emotional Support Water Bottle (ESWB) waiting until it was time for my flight.

I was flying Business Class on British Airways using Frequent Flyer miles that Fran had left me. Before leaving for the airport, I had eaten some Chicken Fried Rice and wasn't hungry for any of the stuff they had on offer. A couple weeks ago I visited @DnA2010 in Canada and all the Lounges I stopped into were serving Butter Chicken. Now I like Butter Chicken, but I'd had it several times in the past couple weeks, and especially since I wasn't hungry, I wasn't interested in more that day.

So I just sat at a table drinking Sauvignon Blanc. I got out my computer and started trying to finish my German/Austrian TR. I was able to get all but the last update published and hoped to finish it once I got to London. My plane was scheduled to board at 6:45, so I left the lounge at 6:30 and pretty soon we were boarding. I’m not sure if I’ve ever been on a plane that has three separate boarding areas!

This was a huge and fancy plane. The business class passengers boarded on the upper level. Look at all those boarding tunnels!

Soon I found my seat. This was an interesting configuration for business class. Definitely a bit less room and such from previous flights in business class, but it did have basically everything I needed.

I was given a welcome glass of Champagne.

We did the security briefing, and then they turned on the entertainment system. One thing I've learned since Fran's passing is that the two of us kind of lived in our own little bubble. We didn't pay attention to things that we didn't think mattered to us, especially when it came to popular culture.

Take last summer for example. When Deadpool and Wolverine was slated to come out, I'd seen both Deadpool movies, but I had no idea who Wolverine was. Well it just turns out that I caught my first case of covid that week. I had all weekend to lay on the couch watching the X-men movies.

Earlier in the week of my trip, Hugh Jackman announced his one man show in NYC. I wondered how a one man Wolverine show was going to be a hit, and Jill informed me that he has performed In MANY Broadway style musicals, and I really needed to brush up on those. So when I saw The World's Greatest Showman on the movie list. I decided that's what I would watch.

Here's what we had to choose from for dinner and drinks.

They started us off with a bag of nuts. I don't like almonds or chickpeas, so I picked all the cashews out And ate those. By now I was starting to get hungry.

I ordered the Cream of Broccoli Soup for my starter. It was pretty good. I ate all of it.

For my main I ordered the Rosemary Ricotta Cannelloni. I chose that because there was Ratatouille as a side for the other items and I'm allergic to eggplant. It was fine. Nothing special, but edible.

For my dessert I went with the sweet crépe with cinnamon vanilla sauce. It was not what I expected, but it was good.

The steward kept my wine glass topped off. Once the movie ended, I got ready for bed. These business class sleepers really are an ingenious invention! Sure, they take up a bit more room, but the ability to lay flat whilst traveling on a 10 hour flight is magnificent!

I woke around 1AM my time, and I used the potty. I've never seen an airplane bathroom this large! You could have pushed a standard wheelchair in this bathroom! It was crazy!

Knowing that I needed a bit more sleep, I crawled back into my sleeper and caught some Z's for a couple more hours. I woke again at 3:37 by my devices that were still on Pacific time. By my calculations, we would be landing at 6AM California time which was about 2+ hours away. I knew they would be bringing breakfast, and I decided it was time to start doing my morning things, meds, etc.

Here was the breakfast menu for this morning.

Shortly they brought me breakfast and coffee. The first courses of breakfast consisted of fruit, yogurt, and a croissant. The fruit itself was OK. The melon wasn't ripe, the pineapple and berries were good. The yogurt and fruit combo was very sour. The croissant was a little hard.

Next up was blueberry pancakes. Luckily I still had the butter from the croissant to put on them. They weren't bad, but it was just too early for me to eat that much.

The steward had refilled my coffee cup twice when I finally asked him if he had anything stronger. Evidently they make their coffee with something similar to a tea bag on the plane. He said he would leave the bag in longer, and this cup did the trick. I finally got that “zing” from the coffee that I needed.

We were getting closer to our destination.

Landing was smooth and shortly I was off the plane and heading to baggage claim. Or as they call it Baggage Reclaim. It took forever to get my bags and for a time I was fretting that they wouldn't arrive, but they did. While I was waiting, I got a text from my car service that my driver was on his way, and a link where I could track his progress. I exited customs on the “nothing to declare” side, and went out to find my driver. By this time he had arrived.

There was a long line of folks Holding signs with passenger names on them, but none had mine. It turns out I didn't walk far enough down the line. My driver saw me walk out and look, but wasn't sure if I was his fare. Eventually we located each other.

The ride to the hotel was long. Once we hit downtown London, traffic was a nightmare. There was one section where we only went about two blocks in half an hour. That was near Westminster Abbey. I was able to snap this picture from the car window.

Once we got through all that it was much easier. We passed over the Westminster Bridge and things started moving again. I saw the London Eye.

I was at my hotel about 10 minutes later. The entire journey took about 2 hours. Then again I was traveling at rush hour. This evening I was meeting an old friend. Her partner used to be on the DIS before she passed, her name was Paula.

Because the ride took so long, Jo and her new partner (6 years now) were in the lobby of my hotel when I arrived. They sat in the lobby having a drink while I went up to my room, showered and changed.

Several months earlier when Jill and I had booked the hotel, I had scoured the neighborhood on Google Maps looking for a place to go on this night. I wanted someplace close, but that was definitely British. I found The Duke of Sussex pub and thought that would be perfect. The restaurant was just a couple blocks away, and it had traditional pub food. It turns out that Jo had also come to the same conclusion.

They bought me a drink in the hotel lobby as they finished their own, and then we walked over to the pub. It was a very nice pub. We had a nice meal and it was fun!

I had Bangers and Mash.

Jo had the Fish and Chips.

Caz had the crab tacos, which she proclaimed were bland. Oh well two out of three….

Over dinner we talked about all kinds of things, but especially our situation in common, being in relationships for over two decades, and having our partner pass away. She was about 8-9 years ahead of me in the journey, and it was nice to hear her perspective. We made a plan to get together again sooner, probably at WDW.

I told the ladies that I wanted to pick up a bottle of wine “for the room” and as we walked back to the hotel we spied this market across the street from the hotel. The picture is from the next morning, but you get the idea. Prices were pretty high. A bottle of California wine that costs $6 in California was £12.

When I returned to the room I posted a pic of my meal on the Cruise Facebook group, and all the admins started flaming me for my “inauthentic meal”. And calling it “posh”. Jeez people! Give a Yank a break!

I texted with Jenny and Jill for a bit and around 9:30 I was so tired, I just lay down and fell asleep.

Here’s my Google Timeline for this day.

And my fitbit stats:

London is on my bucket list for next year hopefully. The food looked really good, and when you said Paul's name, it made my heart ache a bit. I read her trip reports all the time. Looking forward to hearing more!

 

[juniorbugman]

Sounds like you were having a grand time so far.

I was at my hotel about 10 minutes later. The entire journey took about 2 hours. Then again I was traveling at rush hour. This evening I was meeting an old friend. Her partner used to be on the DIS before she passed, her name was Paula.

I do remember Paula and I enjoyed reading her reports. She had such a chipper attitude.

I had Bangers and Mash.

And I hope you enjoyed them. Who cares what anybody else thinks.

Jo had the Fish and Chips.

That fish almost looks like a whole battered fish.

When one of my friends back home heard I was going to be in London, he told me that I MUST visit the Sax Shop. It turns out that the place was only a 15 minute walk from the hotel. Now I really hate measuring distance in walking time, but it really was only about fifteen minutes, even walking at my leisurely pace.

It is funny that you posted this today as it is National Saxophone Day and I was going to come on here and wish you a happy one and tell you that it was today.

 

[pkondz]

Or packing all night when you have a 6AM flight....

how to make a non-redeye into a redeye

Yes, when he forgot to pick me up when I visited you, I started building in a buffer.

That’d do it.

Well, Fran was very set in her likes and dislikes. Perhaps in the beginning we followed some of the fads and hit movies, etc. But as she got more and more sick and needed more and more care, I stopped paying attention to a lot of stuff except maybe Disney movies. She would pick all the (theater) shows that we saw and we pretty much just stuck to Disney stuff. She didn't like movies with sad endings. She didn't like Rom-Coms cause of the whole straight factor. So we just skipped a lot of movies and things that most of the world saw.

We didn't get into Marvel until it was well established and it was a whole process just to catch up once we decided to get into it. So especially teenage movies were not something she wanted to watch, and especially something called "Mean Girls". So that's another one I totally missed out on. Not sure why we never got into the X-Men. I think she would have actually liked that series.

Thank you for sharing.

Well they showed it on the ship....is it on Disney+?

I’ll have to check.

Well, I think I am. I ate it once and felt like my skin was itching on the inside, so I avoid it.

Yeah, that doesn’t sound good.

Well probably not if you keep putting all your miles into the WestJet credit card.

We used to do that with Tile, but they ran out of charge.

AirTags have replaceable batteries.

Besides I mostly fly Southwest and they have a nifty scanning thing where you can basically see where your bags are at any step of the process. They scan them before tossing them on the conveyor belt to go on the plane, they scan when they come off.....

Ah!

Yes, and she gave me a great explanation for why not to feel guilty for all the fun I'm having as an able bodied person. Because there is nothing that could be done about her not being here. It doesn't change the fact that she is gone physically, so I might as well do what I can. I know it sounds simple, but it's a weird feeling of guilt that she totally understood because Paula was severely disabled as well.

Words of wisdom.

I think they just enjoyed being nasty....so glad that I didn't really make any friends via that group or plan any meet ups with any of them.

I’ll say.

 

[pkondz]

Around 1:30AM when Jill had to put her phone on airplane mode, I finally fell back asleep.

Such a creative way to say “When she finally shut up”


I’m kidding, Jill!

She got the same pack of nuts that I did!

Except for the cashews that you’d picked out.

I did get up a few times for a bio break, but slept pretty steadily until 7:30AM.

Puts you right on London time.

I wonder if they have changed the batter.

Not hitting a home run for you, huh?

When one of my friends back home heard I was going to be in London, he told me that I MUST visit the Sax Shop. It turns out that the place was only a 15 minute walk from the hotel.

Well that’s convenient!

Now I really hate measuring distance in walking time

I’ll have to try to remember this. That’s extremely common up here.

and I did bring a mouthpiece and some reeds.

Ah! So you thought you might play a few?

That sax in the middle, the tiny one, that’s a Soprillo sax. I’d never even heard of one of those.

Huh!

 

[franandaj]

I know, I kept looking for both of you. It sure shows how your dining assignment effects the people you run into.

I spent a good amount of time in the Atrium area taking pictures during the early dining picture times, as you will see. We never spent much time on Deck 11 because the adult area was always packed when we tried to find seats. But the ship was also so big. We met a gal on one of our food tours and shared a cab ride back to the ship. We only saw her one more time throughout the cruise.

I couldn't believe we slept that long either as our room was really noisy being under the pizza place. Most nights we didn't sleep well at all.

As you will also see we struggled a bit with sleep. I'm not sure we really ever got over the jet lag.

 

[franandaj]

That is a great perspective but I'm sorry that you both have to have it.

Yeah, it sucks, but I guess that is part of life. Death happens.

One of them jumped down my throat when I innocently asked if DCL had banned hiding ducks. They really were know it alls and incredibly rude.

Yeah that was crazy! I couldn't believe there were still people hiding ducks on the ship.

I had zero desire to interact onboard...the only thing we did do it donate most of our leftover candy (I had brought a Costco bag of chocolate) to their Trick or Treat.

Yeah, no one on that board (except Angela, and maybe the numbers guy) sounded like people I would hang out with. So many of them were so kid focused.

Come on Powerball! Mama needs to retire!

Yeah! We need to win the lottery!

Sorry! I was excited. I worked a full day and then had a car and driver pick me up to go to the airport. I live 30-45 minutes away from the airport and although the car service sounds bougie (it is!) it works out to be cheaper than parking for the time I was going to be away.

That's OK, I get it. I wasn't going to be able to sleep anyways.

I like using the service too on the way home since I'm usually bleary eyed from an overseas trip...this time I was flying back from FL but was still exhausted from not sleeping well due to all the time changes.

It was a godsend after the Egypt trip.

My seat was the much nicer configuration but it was filthy! Apparently there is only a couple hour turn around between flights and some spots were definitely missed.

Yeah, that was too bad, but nice you got the better seat configuration.

I only had two choices for direct flights from Denver. BA and United and I try to avoid United at all costs. I've been quite happy with BA. We have other airlines in DEN but I would have to connect through another city and that would have chewed up an entire day of my precious PTO.

Yeah, I had a lot of choices, but by the time I finally booked, a couple of them were sold out. This wasn't the flight I initially wanted, but it worked out.

The drink was a Cranberry blush and quite tasty! I ate a few of the nuts...I really enjoyed them. I didn't care for the chick peas though.

Sounds like a tasty drink!

Yep, I ate the cheese and a little bread. I don't eat a ton due to some meds I'm on but it was quite good! The "salad" was gross. LOL

My black quinoa salad was gross too.

The short rib was tasty and a large portion so I nibbled on it and then gave up. I passed on dessert as I was stuffed and wanted to go to sleep. They served dinner late so I finished up my movie "Back to Black" about Amy Winehouse and then went to bed. I didn't sleep great but got some sleep.

I would have liked the short rib, but I ended up eating vegetarian.

Pronounced "Ez Wub"

Thanks for that!

I usually do the stalking!

You have taught me well master!

They have a lotta sax there. And make sure you enunciate correctly or it becomes a whole different kind of shop!

In 45 years of playing the instrument, I haven't heard that one before!

 

[franandaj]

London is on my bucket list for next year hopefully.

I want to go back someday. Three days wasn't enough, but it was at least a taster!

The food looked really good, and when you said Paul's name, it made my heart ache a bit. I read her trip reports all the time. Looking forward to hearing more!

Yes, she was quite a character. I felt lucky to have met up with her a couple times.

 

[franandaj]

Sounds like you were having a grand time so far.

I don't think there really was any bad time on this trip!

I do remember Paula and I enjoyed reading her reports. She had such a chipper attitude.

She had a great attitude and such fun perspective on life!

And I hope you enjoyed them. Who cares what anybody else thinks.

I did! They were very tasty and I ate almost the entire thing, which is rare for me!

That fish almost looks like a whole battered fish.

It was a large portion, I was surprised that Jo could finish it all!

It is funny that you posted this today as it is National Saxophone Day and I was going to come on here and wish you a happy one and tell you that it was today.

Someone at my band rehearsal was mentioning that too. I didn't even realize that it existed!

 

[franandaj]

how to make a non-redeye into a redeye

And that was every single flight that Fran and I took, except for maybe the last couple.

AirTags have replaceable batteries.

That's good to know. But I don't think they work with Android phones.

Such a creative way to say “When she finally shut up”


I’m kidding, Jill!

Puts you right on London time.

You would think.....

I’ll have to try to remember this. That’s extremely common up here.

Well it's just that most people walk faster than me because I got used to walking with Fran. For her a fifteen minute was was......impossible. If you put it in other people's terms.

Ah! So you thought you might play a few?

I did not think I would play a few, but my friend kept telling me that I would regret it if I didn't bring my mouthpiece, etc. I really had no desire to try out new instruments. Especially in front of people.

 

[angel's momma]

We were also on the WBTA. Looking forward to reading your report.

 

[franandaj]

While I was journeying to saxophone land, Jill was probably finishing up her breakfast.

On the way back to the Hotel I deviated from Google Maps directions and explored a street that looked interesting. I found a market where a lot of the wine was £2 cheaper per bottle, and I also found a Starbucks, in case Jill was interested.

There were lots of restaurants, but we probably wouldn't have the opportunity to try any, our dining card was pretty full already. I timed my walk back to the hotel from the market, and it was 6 minutes. Considering we were going to be purchasing 4 bottles of wine total for the ship, that's a savings of over £8! Not a paltry sum!

I went back to the room and tried to work on my TR, but the settings in Photobucket were wonky. It wouldn't give me the icon that allows me to share one photo at a time and create a link for the TR. Well that would have to wait until I return to the states. So I played on my tablet doing jigsaw puzzles, and uploading posts to Instagram.

Jill landed just before 11AM, had her bags by 11:30, and was at the hotel by 1PM. She got herself a bit settled, changed clothes, and we were both feeling a bit peckish. Neither of us wanted to eat a lot cause we had a huge dinner planned, but neither of us wanted to arrive at dinner hangry either.

We decided that we would walk up the street to the Tube/Train station to get something. There were a number of fast food options there and we could get a snack. We thought about our global quest to compare international McDonald's to the one in Cairo which set the bar very high, but Mickey D's was too busy. We ended up choosing Greggs. This is a UK institution. From their website.

Over eighty years ago, John Gregg started out with one goal, to deliver (by pushbike) fresh eggs and yeast to the families of Newcastle. Greggs on legs, if you will…​

Ten years later, he chained up his bike and opened Greggs of Gosforth.​

​

Making, baking and selling fresh bread and tasty treats from his very own shop on Gosforth High Street…there’s still a Greggs there today, although it’s looking a little bit different these days!​

​

Our menu has also changed with Britain’s taste. The long-standing Greggs fans among you may even remember the olden days before the hotly-debated Vegan Sausage Roll, or our freshly ground Fairtrade espresso.​

​

Way back in the sixties, we started with our free ‘pie n peas supper’ for older residents in the North East. every year. Through Greggs Foundation and with support from over 100 partners, we provide 7.5 million free wholesome breakfasts to primary school children every year.​

​

So, here we are today. With over 2,000 Greggs in the UK, the important stuff still matters to us. We're hard-working, but above all else we're family; and it doesn't matter who you are, where you are from or what your favourite bake is, when you come into our shops, you’re part of the family too.​

Jill got the sausage roll. I got a slice of flatbread. In hindsight, Jill chose wisely. My flatbread dough was way to sweet. In the end I ate just over half of it and tossed the rest.

On the way back to the room, we stopped at a grocery store and I got a couple more bottles of wine for the room.

The snack was fine. I had eaten enough to tide me over for dinner. Once back in the room we were both feeling a little tired. It was around 2:30 by this point. So we set the alarm for an hour away.

Our dinner was at 5:30 (because we wanted to take advantage of the early bird special). We determined that we needed to leave by 4PM to get there via the Tube and walking. Jill was also able to get in a quick shower. She never really fell asleep, but I was out for sure. Just before the alarm went off the maid tapped on the door.

We got ready, and made our way to the Tube station. If you haven't been on the London Underground it's way more brutal than any other Underground than I remember. I've only been on DC, Boston, and Nuremberg, so I can't compare a lot. But to get to your train there are tons of escalators like this (if you're lucky). Some stations only have stairs.

We took two different lines before we exited the tube.

This statue of Bela Bartok stood outside Kensington Station. He’s one of my favorite composers so I felt compelled to take a picture of it.

Then we had a fifteen minute walk which had me huffing and puffing. I couldn’t get over the architecture. Everything looked like it came out of Harry Potter! This street totally reminded me of Grimwald Place.

Finally I saw a bench and asked Jill if we could sit down for a bit. She noted that her Apple Watch thought we were exercising. After that brief stop, we finally made it to the restaurant and it was just charming.

This chandelier made of tea cups was so cute.

We were turned on to this restaurant by former DISer Ellen (@podsnel). When she heard that we were going to London she told us that her family had the best time here. This restaurant was featured on Stanley Tucci’s Searching for Italy series. Season Two, Episode Four.

The premise of this restaurant was that a guy from Italy was working in London and he missed his Nonna’s food, so he brought her over and opened up a pop up restaurant. It became so popular that now he “imports” Italian Grandmothers from different regions of Italy. The menu changes seasonally with the grandmother in residence.

A nonna served us Bruscetta. It was delicious! She was from Sardegna, so all the dishes on the menu came from that region. I thought this tea cup chandelier was darling.

Here is where you can watch the nonna at work. Ours was so short you couldn't hardly see her over the counter.

Later in the evening the whole place filled up. Even this bar.

When you do the standard dinner it comes with a glass of prosecco.

And Then the antipasto started. Clockwise from the top you have crispy flatbread and regular bread. He said that it was illegal in Italy to not serve bread. In the square dish was a Caponata (neither of us tried this, I don't do eggplant). Wild boar sausage, and pecorino cheese. In the front was a wild boar ragu (which was amazing on the bread). And then finally mozza frissa con miele e pane carasau. A traditional dish with semolina, milk cooked to a porridge like consistency, rich and savory served with music bread. And topped with honey.

But that wasn't all. Then they brought us eggplant parmesan.

And then they brought us fregola zafferano e salsiccia, Sardinian pasta shaped like giant cous cous with saffron and italian sausage.

We did our best, but this would have been enough food for an entire meal. We had ordered the dinner that came with Antipasto and pasta. There were two other options where you could have Antipasto and a main, or a third option where you could have Antipasto, Pasta, and a Main!

For the pasta we ordered Malloreddus al ragu di cinghiale (Malloreddus typical tiny shellshapesd pasta with 8h slow cooked wild boar ragu.)

And also Malloreddus alla campidanese (Malloreddus typical tiny shellshapesd pasta with Itailan pork sausages, safron, tomato sauce, and pecorino cheese.) This was my favorite of the two.

I had a glass of the house red with the pasta. It was a Primitivo. We didn't even eat half of the pasta in either pan. It was absolutely delicious, but so filling. In hindsight, we probably should have ordered one Antipasto and pasta, and one Antipasto and main, so that we had greater variety, but oh well. It was all delicious!

Dessert was only another £5 so we opted to split a Tiramisu. I ate most of it. While it was good it was nothing special. I washed that down with some Amaretto.

We both decided that we would rather call an Uber than walk 15 minutes in the dark back to the tube station. We had a great driver. When we got into the car it said arrival time at our hotel would be 7:58PM and he had us at the hotel, by 7:43.

My fitbit charger had arrived and I made sure that it worked. Then we both crawled into our respective beds and tried to sleep. Here’s my stats for today.

 

[franandaj]

We were also on the WBTA. Looking forward to reading your report.

It will be very Interesting if you also chime in where you were and what you did during the cruise!

Did you have early or late dining?

 

[Flossbolna]

Sitting on the Nuremberg underground commuting to work I had a good laugh how you tried to compare this with the London Underground! The two do not compare! Yes, both are underground trains with an electric rail. That’s it. Everything else is soooo different!

I love the quirkiness of the Underground. Some stations even have elevators. Really long elevators. Alternatively you could climb 350 stairs…

Dinner looks lovely! But like a meal for four, not two.

 

[angel's momma]

It will be very Interesting if you also chime in where you were and what you did during the cruise!

Did you have early or late dining?

We had late dining.

 

[franandaj]

Sitting on the Nuremberg underground commuting to work I had a good laugh how you tried to compare this with the London Underground! The two do not compare! Yes, both are underground trains with an electric rail. That’s it. Everything else is soooo different!

Well I guess what I was saying was that having only been on those train systems did nothing to prepare me for London's massive train system!

I love the quirkiness of the Underground. Some stations even have elevators. Really long elevators. Alternatively you could climb 350 stairs…

Yes! At Covent Gardens I think there was 15 stories of stairs or the elevators.

Dinner looks lovely! But like a meal for four, not two.

It probably could have fed six or eight people! There was so much food!

 

[jedijill]

The fruit was very good and I ate all of it. I tried the yogurt but it was very tart so I skipped. I nibbled on the blueberry muffin. Heathrow was very easy and I walked right through border control and got my luggage very quickly. My pre-arranged driver was late and I had to turn on my cell phone and pay the $10 to communicate with him since the WIFI was awful. But we found each other and I "enjoyed" the lovely hour drive into Central London

I also found a Starbucks, in case Jill was interested.

Narrator: Jill was interested although we never ended up at that location.

Jill got the sausage roll.

It wasn't fancy but it was cheap and hit the spot.

Dinner was AH-MAZING and so happy Ellen recommended it. We barely put a dent in it but it was so good and honestly not a bad price for London. Service was great. Glad we Ubered back.....we would have gotten lost trying to find the Tube stop again.

I love the quirkiness of the Underground. Some stations even have elevators. Really long elevators. Alternatively you could climb 350 stairs…

Oh yeah, we found one of those stations with the elevators. Last year, the tube stop that was near my hotel was one with the super long elevator so I got very used to it!

By the time we got back to the hotel after dinner, I was super tired. I was proud of myself for making it all day with only a small rest at the hotel. But did I sleep through the night?! Nope! Ugh, jet lag!

Jill in CO

 

[missjackiemcg]

Love that darling teacup chandelier!! What an awesome concept for a restaurant. I've never heard of it before, but I love the idea, and everything sure looked delicious!