Pre-Trip A first, a last, and a galaxy far, far, away... (Now with bonus London TR!)

BEE IS GOING BACK! BEE IS GOING BACK! BEE IS GOING BACK! ​

So, this title might be a bit misleading. There are actually several firsts planned for this trip, and a semi-first. But "A first, another first, yet another first, a sorta first, and a last" doesn't roll off the tongue (or fingertips) so well.

For now, I'll leave you with the cast.

Me (Bee): 30
DW (M): 30
M's mom (MIL)
M's dad (FIL)
M's brother (BIL): 27
My brother (Jay): 24

And a countdown!
Our next trip  

EDIT: Now we're doing a Passholder preview and going down early for two nights, then flying home, then proceeding with our regular trip as planned. So, here's THAT countdown:
CRAZY PEOPLE DO A PASSHOLDER PREVIEW  

 

[bee]

Since several people asked about our London trip last month, I will do a mini report with a few of the photos I took.

Day 1: Tuesday, May 21

We both worked almost a full day because our flight wasn't until 10pm. My last student cancelled so we ended up leaving home almost an hour earlier than we'd planned. We took a Lyft from our place to Newark, and we were literally less than a quarter mile from home when someone rear-ended the car. We weren't even stopped, just someone wasn't paying attention and was driving waaaay too fast behind us. No one was injured, so we got the suitcase out of the car and walked back home to wait for another Lyft.

The next Lyft got us safely to the airport in plenty of time. We got our boarding passes, dropped off our suitcase, and went through security. We shared a sandwich and flatbread at an airport restaurant, then found seats near the gate to wait for boarding. We were among the last on the plane, which we didn't mind.

About an hour into the flight we were served dinner (I guess it was more like second dinner to us?).

M had Tiger beer and I had red wine.

We are not good plane sleepers so we were not surprised that neither of us could sleep at all. I recently acquired a hand-me-down iPad, which we used to watch some movies and shows I had previously downloaded from Netflix.

Day 2: Wednesday, May 22

In the "morning" (it was around 8am UK time but felt like 3am to us) we were served breakfast:

There's a yogurt under the bar

We had to circle a few times due to heavy airport traffic, but we landed close to on time.

We had a great experience with Virgin Atlantic and would definitely fly with them again! The flight attendants were friendly and helpful, the food was decent-to-good, and the flight itself was about as comfortable as an economy flight can be.

 

[bee]

Day 2, cont.

We landed around 10am and found our way through customs. It was a clear, easy process (even though the automatic face scanners didn't recognize either of us from our passport photos...ah, the joys of turning 30!) and we were on our way to the underground by 11am.

We took the Picadilly line to Picadilly Circus, then transferred to the Bakerloo line and got off at Kilburn Park. I had requested an early checkin at noon, and I got a notification from the Marriott app that our room was ready at noon!

The first thing M said when we got off the train and up to ground level was, "It looks just like Epcot!" The neighborhood was suuuuuper cute (more pics of the area later).

Our room at the Marriott Maida Vale:

Look @Darstarr, two buttons!

We had just bought a new adapter, and we didn't even need it because the room had an American outlet!!

We were on the very end of the hallway, AND in a corner, so we had TWO views!

 

[Rista1313]

I'm in like flynn!

 

[Brwneyedgirl72]

London is my favorite city in the world! I lived there for 6 months during college and I’ve gone back several times since. I can’t wait to see more.

 

[bee]

Day 2, cont.

Here are the hallways on our floor:

Since we booked an Executive Room we had access to the Executive Lounge. We checked it out shortly after getting into our room. There was someone actually working in there when we got there so we didn't take photos, except for this one of the view out the window:

The lounge had breakfast, afternoon tea, hors d'oeuvres, and wine and beer at designated times throughout the day. It also had a coffee machine, water machine, and sodas available throughout the day. We each got a latte to help us stay up until a reasonable bed time.

It was now lunch (???) time so we decided to order Chinese food to our room. It arrived exactly when the app said it would, and was delicious!

"Beef" and veggies

"Chicken" and veggies

Mushroom and egg fried rice

It ended up being way too much food so we saved half for another day.

We unpacked and put everything away in the closet and drawers. We also showered to get the plane germs off!

We allowed ourselves to take a 30 minute nap, but we both set the most annoying alarms possible so we wouldn't be able to fall back asleep.

Later we to the lounge for hors d'oeuvres and drinks.

Cheese, bread, hummus, veggies, and pasta salad

Roasted veggies

It was more than enough food for dinner, and the lounge staff kept everything well stocked. I had a couple of glasses of red wine (drinkable but obviously nothing special) and M had a couple of Stellas.

I think we managed to force ourselves to stay awake until about 9pm, after which we went TF to sleep!

 

[93boomer]

Day 2, cont.

We landed around 10am and found our way through customs. It was a clear, easy process (even though the automatic face scanners didn't recognize either of us from our passport photos...ah, the joys of turning 30!) and we were on our way to the underground by 11am.

We took the Picadilly line to Picadilly Circus, then transferred to the Bakerloo line and got off at Kilburn Park. I had requested an early checkin at noon, and I got a notification from the Marriott app that our room was ready at noon!

The first thing M said when we got off the train and up to ground level was, "It looks just like Epcot!" The neighborhood was suuuuuper cute (more pics of the area later).

Our room at the Marriott Maida Vale:

Look @Darstarr, two buttons!

We had just bought a new adapter, and we didn't even need it because the room had an American outlet!!

We were on the very end of the hallway, AND in a corner, so we had TWO views!

Very nice room and love the views!

 

[bee]

Day 3: Thursday, May 23

This was M's actual birthday, and the plan was to go on a self-guided Beatles walking tour to see various places where they performed, recorded, etc.

At breakfast they had the cutest little honey jars:

I didn't take obsessive food photos like I usually do, so I don't have all that many from this trip!

M's coworker works in London over the summer so he had lots of tips for us. One such tip was to ride the bus! They take Oyster Cards (the same card you use for the underground, etc.) and you can ride on the top deck for fabulous views! We decided to try it on our first day (it was was our REAL first day!) because if we waited we might have been too afraid to ever try the bus. We were so glad we did! The bus ride was super pleasant and we got to see so many great views on our way into the city center.

We got off at Victoria Station and walked from there to Buckingham Palace.

Royal Mews?

(I took this through the posts of the gate because you couldn't actually go any closer lol)

As you can see it was a VERY crowded day. It was sunny and warm and there were lots of tour groups there. We overheard multiple tour guides berating their groups for taking too many photos and "wasting time!"

 

[bee]

Day 3, cont.

The next stop on our walking tour was the building where the Beatles played their last live performance.

Of course we passed many other cool things along the way that weren't Beatles-related.

Prince of Wales Theater-where the famous "rattle your jewelry" quote happened

The blue plaque is about David Bowie, but the Beatles also recorded here.

 

[MinnieM123]

Love the pictures of London! (As for the Marriott, couldn't give a "like" for the room. Reason is that I hated the black/white headboard at the bed. Just didn't "get it" and thought it was hideous. The bathroom was very nice though.)

 

[Rista1313]

Love the pictures of London! (As for the Marriott, couldn't give a "like" for the room. Reason is that I hated the black/white headboard at the bed. Just didn't "get it" and thought it was hideous. The bathroom was very nice though.)

I felt that way about the carpet in the long hall..it looked like it was all ripped up because of the color scheme

 

[Darstarr]

Day 2, cont.

We landed around 10am and found our way through customs. It was a clear, easy process (even though the automatic face scanners didn't recognize either of us from our passport photos...ah, the joys of turning 30!) and we were on our way to the underground by 11am.

We took the Picadilly line to Picadilly Circus, then transferred to the Bakerloo line and got off at Kilburn Park. I had requested an early checkin at noon, and I got a notification from the Marriott app that our room was ready at noon!

The first thing M said when we got off the train and up to ground level was, "It looks just like Epcot!" The neighborhood was suuuuuper cute (more pics of the area later).

Our room at the Marriott Maida Vale:

Look @Darstarr, two buttons!

We had just bought a new adapter, and we didn't even need it because the room had an American outlet!!

We were on the very end of the hallway, AND in a corner, so we had TWO views!

Laughing so hard! But it looks like the buttons arent labeled. HMMMM....Which to push, which to push...

 

[bee]

I'm in like flynn!

Welcome!

London is my favorite city in the world! I lived there for 6 months during college and I’ve gone back several times since. I can’t wait to see more.

We ended up loving London too and can't wait to go back!

Very nice room and love the views!

Thank you! We loved having a corner room with two versions of the view!

Love the pictures of London! (As for the Marriott, couldn't give a "like" for the room. Reason is that I hated the black/white headboard at the bed. Just didn't "get it" and thought it was hideous. The bathroom was very nice though.)

I didn't care for the headboard either. I liked the room overall, but it was weird to me to have a fuzzy headboard like that!

I felt that way about the carpet in the long hall..it looked like it was all ripped up because of the color scheme

I can see how it looks that way in the photos. I definitely didn't get that impression in person, though it wouldn't have been my first choice either way!

Laughing so hard! But it looks like the buttons arent labeled. HMMMM....Which to push, which to push...

It's hard to tell from the photos, but one button is much BIGGER than the other.

 

[bee]

Day 3, cont.

The London Palladium:

That's the main entrance. Here is the stage door and wall of fame:

A cool wall across the street from the Palladium:

 

[bee]

Day 3, cont.

Lunch at a modern Indian place:

Funny bathroom things that I couldn't resist taking pics of:

ANGLE TOUCH!

 

[Back!Elbow!Shoulders!]

That tiny cake from your plane ride is adorable. Why are tiny things so adorable?

So glad that your started this pre-TR/TR.

 

[KellBelle]

I'm in! Looking forward to this!

 

[bee]

Day 3, cont.

Some post-lunch pictures:

There were SO MANY Italian restaurants! They were everywhere!

 

[bee]

Day 3, cont.

Next we took the tube to King's Cross Station.

Get it? King's...Cross...

Where's Platform 9 3/4?

There it is!

There was a huuuuge queue of people waiting on line to take a photo here. We did NOT feel the need to do it ourselves.

And, of course, there was a HP-themed store right next to it.

We saw a lot of Starbuckses everywhere. But we often saw no one inside them, like this one!

 

[bee]

Day 3, cont.

We took a train to the London Beatles store.

(We didn't actually try it, though)

We got a souvenir for ourselves and one for my brother.

Saint Espresso: The only saint I pray to!

My shoes are falling apart! I guess I need new ones!

There were Hamilton signs EVERYWHERE!

 

[bee]

Day 3, cont.

We took the train a few stops back to our hotel.

Nearly empty lounge

Afternoon tea (well, coffee). The donut was my favorite!

We were staying very near London's Little Venice neighborhood so we took the bus a few stops and checked out the canals.

CANAL TIME!

We watched as several boats passed by in both directions, then we continued toward our next Beatles tour destination.