Getting There is Half the Fun

Since the trip to London was last minute, I had to fly alone.  I dropped him at the airport at 11:00AM so he could start his journey via Dulles.  I went back home to finish packing and pass the time until I had to leave around 2:30.

Thanks to all of Matt's travel I have become quite an efficient packer.  The main secret to our packing success is the roll.  We roll all of our clothes instead of packing them folded.  For some reason this allows an insane quantity of clothing in a suitcase.  I am guilty of over packing, but this packing system allows for it with room to spare.  I packed two jackets, an extra pair of shoes, five shirts, three pairs of jeans, and all the other necessary accessories for a successful trip.

With room to spare!

So I was on my way to the airport for the second time for the day.  Matt had something up his sleeve when he booked my award ticket - he booked it as business class on British Airways.  That ticket allowed me to hang out in the BA Lounge before taking off.  Snacks, free Wi-Fi, and a small meal before taking off was well appreciated.  What a great experience to fly BA.  First off all the employees have the great polite British/Scottish accent.  How can you not smile when you hear that.  On top of that, the business class seat was a lay flat with video on demand.  Yet again, he is making it hard for future travel.  How can possibly expect me to fly coach after this?

My sleeping pod :)

Cozy to watch The Descendants

Upon arrival at Heathrow, I had to find Matt.  Thankfully I've been to this airport a few times before so I knew what to expect as far as layout until Border Control.  The only thing we did not fully agree upon was where to meet after that.  I saw him before he saw me.  Thanks to the family signal I caught his attention right away.

We rode the Underground out to Holborn station to find our home for the next few days.

Old School Matt & Holly

When we were first married we were notorious for making crazy last minute travel plans.  It would be nothing for us to decide at 6:00 on a Friday night to drive to Minneapolis for the weekend.  Or decide to on a Thursday night to fly to Florida just because Matt found an amazing cheap airfare (and we had a few days left on a multiple day Disney ticket).   Who cared that it was hurricane season? 

We always enjoyed calling our parents once we arrived at our destination to hear their shock of our weekend location.

Fast forward to this past Thursday (just two days ago).  Matt has a client in London that wanted an onsite demonstration.  Since it was the company's dime he booked it straight away.  I jokingly asked if I could go along, but the price of the ticket was well north of  $1700.  I put the thought out of my mind.  Then he said, "you know, I have a lot of miles banked and can see if there are any award tickets for this weekend."  Euphorically I told him to go for it.  Within ten minutes he had an entire round trip booked.  Granted panic did set in since I had approximately 36 hours to plan for a trip that might take me several days to plan out my clothing. 

Old school Matt & Holly back in action.

G was already with Papa because my sitter could not take him on Friday.  Matt had already called his parents earlier in the day to see if they could keep both kids into the beginning of the week.  They graciously agreed to keep the kids.

We're going to London until Wednesday.  Matt is working and I am sightseeing.  A colleague from work is living over there now, and I hope to meet up with her one afternoon to see her favorite (or favourite as the Brits spell it) bits of the city.

Two things I'd like to look into are the Olympic venues.  I have no idea if any of them are close to central London or the Underground stops.  And the Queen's Golden Jubilee is also this year.   I'm sure there is a plethora of trinkets to buy in commemoration.  I also hear Kensington Palace is set to reopen after a renovation, and I hope to go see it.  Especially since William & Kate will move into their 20-room apartment @ Kensington next year.  I have to check to make sure it's a suitable living environment.  Maybe they will be there to check on the renovations, who knows?

City on the Cheap

We decided it was high time to reap some benefits of Matt’s travel.  The kids were with the grandparents for the weekend, and we hit the big city.  Matt has wanted to stay at the Conrad for quite sometime.  They had a promotion going to get a certain style of room for a discounted amount of points.  Free is good, right?

Oh my, is free ever good.  Apparently it was slow in the big city because she upgraded us to a one-bedroom king suite.  Sweet!

We needed some lunch before anything else.  We had a gift card for a restaurant nearby.  Our lunch came to $3 under the value of the gift card.  Not too shabby.

Our goal while childless in the city was to experience a little culture.  We left the Conrad and walked in the blustery wind to The Art Institute.  The six blocks Matt estimated seemed a bit longer. 

We came to the conclusion that we don’t get modern art.  We chuckled at the visitors that stood and pondered the all white canvas with a black frame.  Really?

Originally we planned to go out to dinner; it’s been a long time since we ate at a nice place without the kids.  However, the more we thought about it, we wanted to get the most out of our sweet room.  So the plan for fancy-schmancy turned into a Malnati’s pizza and a Red Box movie.  I have to say, I think I enjoyed that more than the original plan.