Our hotel for our four days in Paris was the Hotel Therese. We do not stay at independent hotels often, so this was a welcome change of pace. It is a small boutique hotel with only 40 rooms which makes for an especially intimate experience with a lot of Parisian charm. We booked using Citi […]
Category: Western Europe Trip
London – Globe Theatre, St Paul’s, and Kensington Gardens
We had our last breakfast at the hotel today where I had over easy eggs and bacon on toast. Even though the options did not change day to day, there were enough different options so as to always find something different to try. We walked over to Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre to begin the day. The […]
Day Trip to Cambridge – King’s College, Punting, and Fitzwilliam Museum
The day started with breakfast at the hotel and I found out they can also make pancakes and waffles. Our train left from London Liverpool station at about 9:30. We managed to get tickets for 10GBP per person for a return trip. Where was that when I was here studying abroad as a poor college student? […]
London – Westminster Abbey, Churchill War Rooms, and the National Gallery
We started out our day with breakfast at the hotel and then took the Underground over to Westminster Abbey. This was another 2-for-1 offer and there was no line to get in. There was a very good audio tour on cellphone like device with additional video showing services and historical footage. We were there close […]
London – Changing of the Guard, Chelsea FC Tour, and the British Museum
We got breakfast at the hotel which was complimentary due to Gold status from the American Express Hilton Ascend credit card. It was a the same everyday, but was a good mix of both British and American options with both hot and cold options. Our first activity of the day was the changing of the guard at […]
London – Tower of London, Tower Bridge, and HMS Belfast
After checking in and settling in, we walked to Waterloo station to purchase 7 day underground passes. We did this in order to have access to the 2-for-1 offers from National Rail. The website for the program is here: 2-for-1 London. You need to buy these tickets from a train station, not an underground station to […]
Hilton London Bankside
Our hotel for the five days in London was the Hilton London Bankside. We booked it using Hilton Honor Points with a fifth night free. We were greeted by the doorman in a tophat who quickly whisked our bags away. Despite our early arrival, we were informed our room was ready and our bags were […]
British Airways B747 Club World – Chicago to London
After a short delay boarding, we were onboard and walked up the steps to the upper deck. This was especially exciting for me as I have always wanted to sit on the upper deck on the Boeing 747. Sure it is just another seat on the plane, but there is something special about having to […]
American Airlines Flagship Lounge Chicago O’Hare
We parked the car at our favorite parking garage at the Loews Hotel and then took the shuttle over to Chicago O’Hare’s T5 to check in. British Airways has the Terraces Lounge in T5 which we visited when we flew on Cathay Pacific on our trip to Southeast Asia. The lounge was dark, cramped, and […]
Introduction – Western Europe Trip
At the beginning of February, we took a trip to London, Paris, and Amsterdam. We were not even sure we would be able to squeeze this in with a baby on the way and job obligations. We originally planned a British Isles cruise in May, but this was just a few weeks after the due […]