Now Amber Puerto Vallarta and Secrets Vallarta Bay!

This is the new resort in Puerto Vallarta. It's really close to downtown. Cabs were like $5 - $7 which was great because I love going into the flea market and walking down the Malecon.

Sand Santa on the Malecon!

This is two resorts in one. When you arrive you are directed to which lobby to enter.

  Both resorts look very similar and sit up high with an amazing view of the ocean. The bell hops greet you with champagne and cold towels. We were in the preferred club tower so as soon as they saw that they took us straight over there so we didn't have to wait in line. You sit down at the desk and the check in process was easy. The longest part was when we realized  my parents were "upgraded" to the Secrets side but we didn't want them all the way over so we upgraded them back to a Master Swim up suite so we could be right next door to each other.

And this is extra why I loved this resort: my room category. Clients make comments all the time like "I'm not in my room very much so it doesn't matter." Oh it does matter! It matters if it sucks (I will hear about it!) and it totally makes it better if it's awesome!  The room had 2 bathrooms with a huge living room and the best part - a huge balcony with a pool! The pool is just for the swim out suites in the preferred club section. I think there was about 8 rooms. There are 2 "garden view" mater swim out suites right next to each other. You could totally still see the ocean from them. This was the balcony. And one of my favorite parts is they have that middle part so you can lay in the water and the waitstaff would walk right up the side of the pool and bring drinks or guacamole. This is vacation to me!

 

 

And check out the mini bar:

 

 

 

The resort is kind of like a cruise where they put a daily activity schedule in your room each night with their turn down service. They had dancing lessons, archery, black jack (which I won a bottle of tequila at BTW), beach volleyball and the list goes on. I love places like this because it gives you options of being involved or not.
The NOW Amber side is the side that allows kids. The week we were there (our anniversary week) is when school is in session so there was probably about 10 kids at the whole resort. They had an awesome kids program (or at least it looked awesome). Big kids camp area with tons of stuff to do.

There are lots of restaurants to choose from. Some of the restaurants are in the main building kind of between Secrets and Now so they share. I was skeptical about all of this esp thinking if I was paying to stay on the Secrets side but I ended up really liking it. It made it so all the restaurants were open every night. I've stayed at several Secrets Resorts and it would be like only the main restaurant and one other option was open each night. They had an Asian teppanyaki style restaurant which was adults only and a Mexican one in the middle. Each resort had a seafood/steak restaurant which was sooo good. I had the mahi mahi and they said they buy it fresh at the docks. Then there was also the main buffet restaurant which was just so/so. As good as buffets come I guess. I'm never a buffet's biggest fan. Seafood restaurant with my parents and husband:

Asian restaurant:

The NOW had live music in the big open air lobby and the waitstaff appeased my husband's interest in having a drink that could be lit on fire:

Lunch at the seafood restaurant and notice the drink! It's called a Bob Marley. So good!

Ok and on to my second favorite part besides my room category:

THE SPA!

A big bonus with being right next to a Secrets is you get the amazing spa. They had lots of plunge pools and water treatments you did before your treatment you bought. There was an attendant that brought you cookies, almonds, cucumber water or hot tea. They had a sauna and steam room.
I did a facial one day and a seaweed wrap the other day. I loved both of them. So professional and my mom kept saying "Lets go back to the spa". We both loved it.
Most of the time when you book you get coupons for the spa too which helps with the price and they really were not that overpriced for everything you get with it. This is a must do.




All in all I'm a huge fan of Now Resorts! It's part of the AM Resort chain so: Zoetry, Secrets, Dreams, Now and Sunscape.

Read more »

Posted in: adults only resort , all inclusive , Mexico

Marival Residence and World Spa Trip

Let me start with saying this all inclusive has the best food of any all inclusive that I have visited and I have been to a ton of them! With that being said here's my full review.......

This resort is "across the street" from the beach. Brochures and online descriptions seem to make it seem like it's just right across the road but it's across the street up on the hill and down from the main resort. You wouldn't be able to walk there but there is golf cart service down there. It runs all the time so ended up not a big deal.
The driver drops you off at the entrance to where you can walk down to their special area on the beach. This wasn't like the "special" areas at other resorts where they just have a rope and it's the same as everyone elses. It was actually really nice. There are nice beach beds and teak wood looking pathways. The waitstaff was eager to help and bring drinks or snacks. The waiters even brought me an ice cream sundae one day. The resort had a basket of sunscreen and magazines which I realized when I forgot my sunscreen one day I had just donated it to the basket. This was one of the days (we went at Christmas time):

 

 

Back at the resort there's a nice pool but no swim up bar. There is a private jacuzzi with a neat waterfall. It was suppose to be adults only but people still had their toddlers over there and no one did anything about it. I'm a rule follower for the most part esp with things like that so that kind of stuff bugs me. There's a restaurant on this island type thing in the middle of the pool with amazing food.

The really popular restaurant was the one on the roof top and they had tapas from all different continents. It was so fun and we ordered a ton and watched the sunset. (and they were sooo good, if you didn't notice they have good food  theme). This was at the main restaurant and Chris said it was like the best grilled cheese ever!

 

I loved this curry mahi mahi:

And I'm a sucker for pretty much any caprese salad but this one was extra good:

Dessert tapas on the rooftop:

 

The rooms were excessively huge. Totally unnecessary but kind of fun. We had a one bedroom ocean view room. It had 2 bathrooms and a huge kitchen which I have always found bizarre at an all inclusive. The bed was super hard. I'm a little spoiled though with my bed at home.

  Pepsi products stocked in the fridge (bleh). Room service was not free. They said the fee was suppose to be like a tip (it wasn't expensive) but then there's always still a line for a tip even when you are on the all inclusive so it makes you feel a little obligated. We only tipped if there was amazing service or they went out of their way.

The spa at this resort is awesome. All the treatment rooms were different countries with the furniture and everything all from that country. The Italy room even had where you smash grapes before you get in the wine barrel looking jacuzzi before your massage. I'm giddy just thinking about it.

 

I dont know if I would do the Thailand lay on the mat and be stretched room:

 

India room (I want to go to India so bad!)

The Turkey room was the couples room complete with "sharing the experience of bathing" (this is what their website says) Kinda weird!

 

All in all this is a really nice resort. Perfect for upscale travelers that like good service and to not be around tons of people. You do have access to the main resort which has a little nightlife. This resort is not action packed. It's good food, service and very read a book by the pool style place.

Read more »

Posted in: all inclusive , Mexico , Puerto Vallarta

Madrid for Easter in the perfect location

We spent the week before Easter in the city of Madrid. We traveled with another couple, Chrissy and David Hammond. It was David's first trip across the Atlantic. The reason for my trip started when my co-worker that has been all over the world and I went to London with said Madrid was her 2nd favorite city in the world, after London. This I had to see.

The hotel to stay at is the Westin Palace Hotel. It has a perfect location right in the heart of the city across the street from the famous Prado Museum. I booked the trip for Chris and I complete with the Palace. Chrissy was in and decided to make the trip a Valentines Day surprise for David.

We flew Delta thru Atlanta to Madrid. The flight over went pretty well. On the long flights Delta has done the same as almost all the other airlines where you pay extra for some extra leg room. We realized it was not just the extra leg room, but they took that extra leg room from regular coach. With it being David's longest flight ever, he was extra uncomfortable. Lucky for him Chrissy paid the extra for the leg room on the return.

Our room at the Westin was very nice. The bathroom was complete with a bidet that Chris found super entertaining. The rooms were older but well kept. It wasn't as fancy schmancy as I thought it would be but I didn't have any complaints.

We did the double decker bus tour that drove all over the city. The main pick up is right across from our hotel so that was super convenient too. They give you head phones and you pick the language and it's all pre-recorded. A little different than if you have done similar ones in London or New York. This first glimpse made me realize I knew nothing about Spain. I had not even really thought about it. I knew they ran with bulls and did flamenco shows but all the past Kings and Queens and history, no clue.

We got off the bus at the Plaza Mayor and it was pretty neat. Lots of restaurants with outside seating and street performers. It reminded me of Venice, without the smell. We sat at one of the little tables for some tapas! The boys tried some local beer, Chrissy had Sangria (I was so jealous! I was pregnant on this trip) and I sipped on an over priced bottle of coke. It was great people watching. It looked like some people had apartments in the square. I reminisced about Matt Lauer who was just in the Plaza Mayor for his Where in the World is Matt Lauer 2011. We didn't have Flamenco dancers performing just for us but it was still pretty cool.

We made a stop at the Hard Rock. Hard Rocks always seem to happen on vacation when there is one. It was only a couple blocks from the hotel so when we pulled up in like 2 minutes I understood why the cab driver looked annoyed when that's where we wanted to go.

Our big adventure was to Segovia. Chris really wanted to ride the train so we bought tickets in advance and it's an easy one to get to. I think the cab to the train station cost more than the train tickets. It was a misty rainy day. When we got off the train I asked Chris to ask the information booth where we go to visit the castle and old town. He came back with "we can walk or take the bus". The bus looked like sardines and I was like "let's walk!" So we started walking. It was foggy so we kept assuming it was right around the corner. Nope! We walked and walked and walked. We finally came to a gas station (and nothing around us looked 2000 years old or castle-ish) and with our combined Spanish figured out we had walked 3 kilometers and we were not even close. A cab finally came for us and we were off!

Segovia is also known for the aqueducts. It was a neat town with lots of shops and hills but after our long walk in the rain, we ended up going to a Italian restaurant and biding our time in the warmth before our train went back to Madrid.

The other little town we visited was Toledo. It was old! We did an escorted tour of Toledo and it was a whirlwind. We should have done the full day tour instead of the half day tour. There was 0 time on your own except at the end where they take you to a tourist trap place where they made jewelry. There are pros and cons of doing it on your own and then taking a tour, obviously!

One highlight of our trip was eating at Botins. It is the oldest restaurant in the world (so they claim and so says the Guiness Book of World Records). All I can say is good thing we had a reservation. It was packed and a total zoo but they had their system down. It kind of annoyed me for the prices you paid it was kind of a cattle call. Chrissy was brave and had the suckling pig that they are known for. We all were shocked when we ordered. The biggest tip for this restaurant is split everything and be specific with your waiter. Like they even charged for bread and like 1 euro for a tablet of butter sooooooo when we said we wanted bread and butter for the table we should have thought, "how many of us are actually going to eat it?" I think we had too much of an American mentality at this place.

We did a flamenco dinner show our last night. Chris loved the guitar playing. It was a fun night. It was a small restaurant with a stage. We sat really close (well everyone does).

As we got ready to go home we realized that hotel was at the start of the parade route. And their parades for Easter are intense. People dressed in these long purple robes and people just pack the streets. We had to get up extra early and just take a cab to the airport to avoid the crowd. This picture was from the lobby of the hotel.

All in all it was a good trip. I wouldn't say it's my new favorite city. It was very clean, the people didn't speak much English (except for the people at the hotel and Starbucks), there was lots of history (that I had never heard of) and the food was just ok to me. I love going to new places though! I just don't know if I need to go back. I have checked it off my list. I do miss the olives and balsamic served at every meal. I even have started buying olives from the olive bars at places like Whole Foods and Sunflower Market. Just thinking about it makes me want to go run to the store right now (but that might be the pregnant girl talking....)

Read more »

Posted in: Europe

Eating and Shopping Our Way thru Texas

My husband decided we hadn't gone on vacation in a looong time (Dec until February really isn't THAT long but whatever) so we decided to spend President's Day weekend in Texas. We dropped our 6 pound yorkie off at Chris's parents house in the Dallas area and continued onto Austin.
This was my first Austin experience. It totally reminded me of Portland, OR. It even rained the whole time we were there. We stayed at at resort right outside of town called the Hyatt Regency Lost Pines. It was not convenient for visiting the city of Austin but it was a really neat resort. When you turn off the main road onto Hyatt Road or something like that it takes about 10 minutes of driving down a tree lined road to get to the resort. They had a golf course and horse stables. The horses weren't out and about because of the rain but it looked really neat. They had trails all thru the woods.
We ate dinner at Sandra Bullock's restaurant, Bess Bistro. It was really good! I had a starter salad and the salmon. Chris went for the shrimp bisque and lamb shepherds pie. I am still anti-lamb since I grew up with neighbors who had sheep and we would play with the babies. It's like eating a cat but I can handle watching someone else do it. Anyway, the atmosphere is great. There were wine bottles everywhere and a big fish tank. You walk down stairs from street level and it's like you are in a cellar or basement. The ceiling wasn't finished and the brick showed thru on the walls. It all added to the ambiance.
After dinner we ventured down to Whole Foods which I guess is the first Whole Foods in the country. It was probably about 9pm and the place was packed. It guess this is the place to be on a Friday night. You park underneath and take a escalator up. It was huge! So many different food stations and a nice wine area where people were sitting around enjoying there in the store. Very impressive. Chris and I bought a bunch of mini desserts from the pastry bar and brought them back to the hotel. Since I was in my first trimester, I pretty much fell asleep when we got back to the hotel and didn't eat them but the next morning they were amazing!
The next day we went to San Marcos, TX and O.M.G. it has the biggest outlet mall I've ever seen (and I am an outlet connoisseur). There were 2 outlet malls right next to each other. The Premium outlets and the traditional outlets. We spent probably 3 hours there and I don't think we hit 10%. My primary goal for this outlet mall was to visit the Pottery Barn outlet which was huge and amazing. Chris said he was surprised I didn't tell him to go rent a U-Haul. I was good though since at this point I don't know exactly where we will be living so it's hard to buy big ticket items without having a spot for them.
We ate at this local restaurant called Garcia's which was rated online as the #1 Mexican restaurant in all of Texas. That's a pretty amazing recommendation. It was very hole in the wall. It was super busy and it was super good. I don't know if I would say "best in all of Texas" but it was really good and cheap! The most expensive thing on the menu (which of course Chris has to get, that's par for the course) was $7.50. I had a chicken fajita salad and the chicken had a really good flavor.
We spent the next 2 nights at the Hyatt Regency Hill Country in San Antonio. It was really similar to the Lost Pines (minus the horses) but you didn't have a 2 mile drive in from the main road. It was very Texas. Everything smelled like mesquite liquid smoke. They even added it to the food. I'm sorry but creamed corn doesn't need to take like mesquite. Gag me. They had a lazy river and a bunch of swimming pools. It would be a good place to come back in the summer.
We did lots of shopping (well more walking around shopping places, than buying things) while in San Antonio. We went down to the Riverwalk one night and ate at Boudro's. It was pricey but it was really good. They made guacamole table side with oranges in it. I've never had it with oranges so that was a yummy twist.
Anyway, all in all I really like Texas as a state but...since I live in Oklahoma, Texas still sucks :)

Read more »

Posted in: USA trip

Le Blanc Resort....Very nice but a tad on the boring side

We spent our first wedding anniversary at the Le Blanc Resort and Spa in Cancun. From the moment you step off the shuttle bus into the lobby, the amazing service starts. You are greeted with a cold towel and a champagne glass full of coconut milk. Check in process was quick and painless. (I did hear from some of the non travel agents that they did push the time share presentation a few times so maybe just painless for me)

They showed us to our room. The butler gives you a tour of the room....how to work the shower, how to request additional services (like you can have an aromatherapy scent going thru your room if you want)...etc etc. The rooms are very nice. I wish they had balconies instead of the Romeo and Juliet railing things. There is only 1 sink in the bathroom. I expected 2 but I'm getting very picky these days. The shower has 2 shower heads and on 1 side it has little spray things coming out from the wall. I like stuff like that. The minibar is awesome. It has beer, different juices, Pepsi and Coke and diets and tonic and club soda. I liked how they tried to appease everyone esp with having Coke and Pepsi. That's a  big deal to some people! They also stocked the room with snacks. I haven't had this before in a non-concierge level room. They had chips, spicy peanuts, tic tacs, Snickers, M&Ms and more. I just kept putting them in my suitcase each day and they kept restocking. (I sound like a crazy person. I can't believe I just admitted this)

The restaurants at the resort were very nice and the food was very good. Probably the best all inclusive food I have had. At lunch they had this bar full of different cuts of meat - NY Strip, Rib Eye, Pork Chops, Hamburgers...and more and then they had one of fish and they even had octopus on it. You picked what raw thing you wanted and the got some veggies and took it over to the grill and they grilled it for you. Amazing. I had shrimp and veggies for lunch everyday. For dinner, they had an Italian restaurant, an Asian one and a french one. The Asian one was really good. It was probably my favorite. They had spring rolls with a pineapple salsa and these Vietnamese rolls with a mango sauce. mmmmmmmm.......
The French restaurant was very fancy schmancy. It took almost 3 hours to eat. It was course after course and they would bring you sorbet to cleanse your palate. French is not really my favorite. There are too many weird things on the menu and fancy words that I don't know what they mean. I need to do a Julia and Julia and work thru my Art of French Cooking and maybe I would appreciate it more. I'm just not a duck or frog leg  fan or anything that says "foam" in the description with a meat. Gag me. I wish I had a fancier palate.

So as far as what I said for the "tad on the boring side" .....this is not the resort for anyone wanting any nightlife. They had like a guy making Spanish coffee in the lobby. One night they had a DJ but he played stuff like the YMCA and weird girls got up and danced. I did the electric slide when he played that. It bugged me that no one was doing it right so I had to. ha!
By the pool, they play classical type music. I'm more use to more upbeat music by the pool with maybe an entertainment team. At Secrets Maroma Beach they even had floating blackjack! Le Blanc was more just lay by the pool and read a book. I don't tan and I have a hard time sitting still so it just wasn't my cup of tea but Chrissy was like "I love this!" so it's to each his own.

Anyway, super nice resort, really good food, really good service.....it's just "happening". I don't need hard core entertainment and but some peppy music would have gone a long way with me :)

Read more »

Posted in: adults only resort , all inclusive , Mexico

Maui, Hawaii with a group

We are back from quite the group trip to Hawaii. If I counted correctly there was a total of 33 people plus an American Girl doll (who participated in a lot of the activities). Everyone had their own agenda and we did have a few things that a majority of the group participated in. 

Here's my personal experience.

We flew United all the way. We got in on this crazy good air special that we couldn't pass up. Chris and I shared a 3 bedroom ocean view condo at Honua Kai with Chrissy and David and their 3 kids - Kelsey, Madison and Kelson. It was placed right next to the Tindalls and Byrds who had the same type.  Honua Kai was very nice. I loved the kitchen that had all Viking appliances, granite, an extra sink on the island, wine cooler, All-Clad cookware....the list goes on. I was all excited about this but we did end up only make a couple breakfasts in there but still!  The condo had 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. It was perfect for our group. The resort had 1 full service restaurant called Dukes which was tropical style food (amazing mahi mahi sandwiches) and then a coffee shop with paninis and salads.

The resort is located on North Kaanapali Beach. According to my phone it was 1.7 miles from Whalers Village which we visited several times. The beach at the resort had waves the first day I guess due to the weather and then it was really calm. Their was a reef really close to shore and the resort rented snorkel equipment for $35/week and the snorkeling was really good. One member of our group said they saw a sea turtle!

Chris did the Maui Downhill bike tour. They had to be there at 3am but said it was totally worth it. He said they were very glad I booked the one without a guide that would ride along with you. He said they go really slow. I think we could have just rented the bikes and put them in the back of the Jeep we rented. The downhill bike tour includes having to do this whole tour and all that which if you just want to ride the bikes it's a bunch of unnecessary stuff.

While Chris and David did the Maui Downhill, Chrissy and I headed to the spa at the Westin Villas next door to Honua Kai. It was a nice spa but they don't go all out or anything. They had a nice outdoor waiting area and a steam room but there weren't different plunge pools and hot tubs which I have experienced before. They didn't have the little almonds and it was lime water instead of cucumber water. (I know I sound overly picky) We both did the Hawaiian Lomi Lomi massage. It was pretty good. I think I'm still a traditional Sweedish massage person. Each time I try a new one I always wish I would have just gone with the traditional Sweedish. At the Westin Villas they add a 20% service charge which was $27 and then they still had a line for gratuity. Since this wasn't my first rodeo I asked if the service charge was gratuity and they said yes. I think this was misleading. Chrissy said she was glad I asked because she would have wrote in a gratuity. I kinda thought $27 for a tip seemed kinda high. I guess I dont normally tip that much for a 50 minute massage.

Saturday night we did an adults only dinner night while Kelsey and Madison baby sat the little kids. We went to Pacifico in Lahaina. Chris had eaten here before and was excited to go back. I guess they use to have live jazz music but that is no more. I was surprised the town of Lahaina was kind of dead at night. It didn't really seem like Hawaii has much nightlife, at least not in the touristy areas. I guess everyone falls asleep so early because of the time difference from the mainland. Anyway, Pacifico was pretty good. We sat outside and the sunset was beautiful. We got some really good pictures. I had the Ceviche and then a coconut crusted mahi mahi. Chris ordered some sort of curry fish and we were going to share with each other but then he liked his so much he said he no longer wanted to trade plates. The service was just so-so at Pacifico. They were pre-warned that we would all be paying "per couple" and they messed it up on almost every ticket. It was annoying.

A large percentage of the group did the Old Lahaina Luau on Sunday night.

I’ve done a luau before and this one was by far superior. You get the fresh flower leis when you arrive. The wait staff was very attentive. The food was pretty good. (way better than I expected it to be) The show was very entertaining and it didn’t go on and on like I’ve experienced before where you are ready for it to be over. They did the history of Hawaii and explained different stuff. They didn’t have the fire dancers because that is Polynesian. It was all about the history of Hawaii. The group all said they were really glad we all did it.

My favorite was Mama’s Fish House. We did this with the Hammonds on our last night. It’s about 45 minutes from the resort on the North Shore. For sure go to this one. Probably the best food I’ve ever had. The atmosphere reminded us of Swiss Family Robinson and then it was set on the beach with huge waves coming in. We went right before sunset and it was perfect for pictures. I had their signature dish which is lobster and crab stuffed mahi mahi which was macadamian crusted and then it had some sort of pineapple glaze. Wow! They said it had been on their menu for 25 years. As an appetizer we had beef tenderloin that inside of a grilled papaya. It was all very Maui  and had the wow factor with each course that came out. I loved it. as we ate and then Chrissy was like "If the regular menu was that good, what do think dessert is going to be like?" We ordered dessert too. I then had to have one of their mai tai glasses to take home. It looked like a round tiki man.

It was a really good trip. Everyone seemed to get to do what they wanted and then we had good group time. The resort was really set up for groups and families so that worked out. Hawaii was expensive just like everyone warned us but it's not like anywhere else.

Read more »

Posted in: family vacation

LONDON......our trip and my tips

I am back from my girls trip to the amazing city of London. We did a whirlwind 4 day tour of London. I felt the last minute need to go to London because they put Kate's wedding dress on display at Buckingham Palace. They announced it in July and we headed over there in September. The weather was perfect and what I was not aware of - the perfect time to go! They only open places like Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle certain times of year and that's exactly when we were traveling.
We stayed at a hotel called the Mercure London Bloomsbury. It was very contemporary and was just recently re-done. So, it was clean and new feeling. I chose this one because there were 3 of us in the room and they have a room category with 3 twin beds. Yay no one has to share and no one is stuck on the dreaded sleeper sofa. It was kind of out of the way from most of the places we wanted to go. I'm not sure if there would have been a perfect spot. We wanted to do things all over the city so everywhere we went meant getting on the underground (Mind the Gap! haha) or taking a cab. The underground was pretty close - about 3 blocks or so. It wasn't too bad.
We were delayed flying out of DC several hours which meant that we landed late...which meant we were late getting to Gordon Ramsey's. I was scared they would yell at us or tell us we couldn't have lunch or something and I was really looking forward to it. They didn't do either. They were super nice and accommodating and let us delay the reservations by an hour so we had time to change. The restaurant is really small. Only 14 tables I think I read. It's a French restaurant and has 3 Michelin stars so thus it is amazing. The portions are small but with the "basic" lunch you get 3 courses with a couple surprises from the chef so it was more than enough. We had about 5 waiters for the 4 of us. They brought us out caviar to start and these ice cream strawberry balls sitting in dry ice at the end. It was all very impressive. Totally a splurge and totally worth it. Make your reservations in advance! It was hard to get in and it was the only slot available during our trip. When we told the front desk where we were having lunch she exclaimed "Oh wow! How did you get a reservation?!" I told her my travel agent :)
On Friday it was the wedding day. We arrived right when Westminster Abbey opened (after looking at Westminster Cathedral and me going "this doesn't look the same as what I remember" Duh Lia!) and we did a semi quick walk thru of the church where William and Kate were married. It's also where Kings and Queens and lots of important people are buried. They had the head sets where you can listen to all that but I have a short attention span so I only could handle listening to that for about 5 minutes. It was totally beautiful. One of our traveling companions Donna went on Sunday to a service and listened to the choir. She said it was great.
Next we headed to Buckingham Palace. It wasn't too far but we still took a cab which ended up being fun because the cabby told us all about things as we drove along and we drove down the The Mall to get there to which I kept telling everything that it was exactly how Prince William and Kate did it.
We saw people gathering for what I thought was going to be the changing of the guards. We sat outside for a good 45 minutes waiting for it and it just never seemed to happen. Now looking at the website, it was only on even numbered days in September and we were there on the 9th. (So check this if you go!) We eventually gave up and went on our Palace Tour which we had pre-ordered the tickets. I'm glad we did because it was sold out.
They didn't allow pictures inside which was kind of a bummer. You got to see more than just her dress. They had a whole Faberge exhibit too which was gorgeous. For part of the wedding stuff, they walked you thru the room that they took their official wedding pictures (lots of red!) and then the dress was displayed in the room that the Queen held the reception. Her shoes, her earrings, the tiara and the cake were all there. The cake was huge! It was like a normal 3 tiered cake but that was each corner holding up the cake. It was huge. I guess they replaced the stuff people ate and it said they saved the top layer for their anniversary. (It's like they are real people! Crazy huh!). Well I was in total Royal Wedding heaven and it was worth the trip for me. I bought a Faberge picture frame and Chrissy got Faberge tea cups. We had them shipped back.
On Saturday we visited Windsor Castle. It was perfect that we picked Saturday. The train station sold us a "Group" rate for the 4 of us and since it was off peak it was only 18 pounds for all 4 of us to Windsor round trip! I thought it was a steal. It left from Paddington Station and they had a stand with Paddington Bear stuff. Super cute.
The town of Windsor was really neat. Lots of little shops and restaurants. I would go back and stay there for a couple days in a second. We pre-bought Kitchen Tour tickets. It was now the highlight of my trip. They took us down back corridors of the castle. They showed us backrooms that the Queens grand kids (William and Harry! Omg...) had their 21st birthday parties. It was crazy. The room didnt look anything more than a banquet room at an old church. Like one you would never want to have your wedding reception in because you would have no idea how to not make it look dumpy.
The kitchen is the oldest working kitchen (like from 1200 or something) They have guest chefs come in so it was not furnished with utensils. I wish they would have let us take a picture. There was a shelf up around the huge room with copper pots from all different castles and palaces. The lady joked that they were all marked and it was a bummer that Windsor's were marked "WC". haha.
We had a traditional English meal our on a side street in the town of Windsor. It tasted like cafeteria food to me. Potatoes and ground beef with a beef gravy over it and peas. It was fun to try it though.
On Sunday we did the traditional high tea and at no where else but The Ritz. The cabby told us that it was the original place. We had tea and little sandwiches and cake and scones with clotted cream (which was biscuits, strawberry jam and whip cream). It was fun and fancy. Kind of a check of my list thing.
We also visited The Tower of London. This is where the Crown Jewels are. America's Hope Diamond does not have anything on this. Wow. I really felt like I was looking at pretend stuff. It was over the top.
We did even more than what I have typed here. We did a cruise down the Thames and tried some different restaurants. I am impressed on how much we squeezed in. Last minute I had to a Harrods run. I could go back and spend a day at Harrods. They even let you pay in dollars. :D
Overall here are my top tips:
1 - Wear comfortable shoes (pain is not beauty here people)
2 - Plan out what is going to be open and when
3 - Buy important tickets in advance (like Buckingham Palace, Windsor, ....)
4 - Make dinner and High Tea reservations in advance (I know alot of people like to just wing it but if you do that you wont get to do these things - I promise!)
5 - Bring snacks (my pop tarts in the morning while we road the underground saved time!)
6 - Make sure your hotel is near the underground (I liked being by the Piccadilly line because it ran diagonally across the city)
7 - Ship the breakable stuff home......
8 - Plan on spending more than an average vacation. Everything is more expensive. 1 pound is going to cost you $1.63 plus an exchange fee if you are using your credit/debit card. So plan on double to be safe.
9 - Look up what kind of adaptor to bring. We just trusted the Best Buy employee and we arrived with the wrong one.
10 - Always use a travel agent! :)

Read more »

Posted in: Europe