Back Going and Back in London

Life has come full circle.  I started writing these blogs when the kids were little, then they took over.  Now as the empty nest lies right in front of us (actually 3 weeks away) I am taking back over again as they are more interested in sharing their travels via snaps or stories.

Today we landed in London.  For Andy and I it was merely a cheap way to get to Europe directly from SFO.  For Alec though this is another country and place he has not been.  Well, let me back-up...we thought it was merely a cheap way, but what we have found in the 12 hours since we arrived is WOW London has changed in the 25 years since we were here last.  Really 25 years?  Seems like yesterday.

Back in 1999 there was not Uber so we trained in from Heathrow.  Now, at least for 3 people, it is more economical to Uber.  You pick-up the "Hail Rides" on the 4th floor outside the terminal.  Very well-marked and easy.  About an hour later and we had weaved our way to our first lodging.

To save money we have opted for hostels for stop #1 and #2.  We chose Wombats on Dock Street for its close proximity to a few major sites.  We were 2 hours before check-in so our room was not ready, but they had luggage lockers, so we quicky grabbed a few things, locked everything else away, and were off.

Only 15 minutes from the Tower of London and Tower Bridge we had grabbed tour tickets on-line at the airport and asked the front desk for a recommendation for lunch enroute there.  They suggested we check out St. Katherines Docks only a 10 minute stroll from the hotel.

Andy certainly enjoyed the walk as the docks were lined with beautiful boats as well as artworks and restaurants.  Once there we opted for this amazing building, The Dickens Inn, perched right on the water and 3 stories high.  "The Dickens Inn is an original warehouse building near Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, and The Shard. Dating back to the 18th century, it is thought to have been built in the early 1700s as a tea factory or a local brewery. Years later, it was converted into a local tavern, with sawdust strewn floors and no bottled or canned beer would have been stocked. Diners also enjoyed candlelit meals on the balconies; this practice has been phased out due to modern fire safety regulations! In May 1976, The Dickens Inn was opened by the grandson of Charles Dickens, Cedric Charles Dickens.Charles Dickens was particularly fond of Thameside and East London with his work being stocked with characters and scenes memorably linked with the area." Here Andy and Alec would have their first pints and I opted for a Pimms Spritz.  I love Pimms and will be recreating this one back home.  Andy also got his first fish and chips, while Alec opted for a burger and myself a salad.  It is an overcast day with showers off and on, but we managed to dine outside without a drop.

Next we followed the water to London Bridge and after a few pictures made our way to the Tower for our 2:30 entry time.  We got our tickets straight through the Historic Royal Palaces website versus all the 3rd party travel vendors like Viator, etc.. Once inside as grabbed our audio tour and were off.  The showers have now made it a little muggy, so we sped through our 2 hour highlight tour in 90 minutes.  We saw the Crown Jewels, alongside torture chambers, the famous ravens, and more.  The humidity and our jet-lagged state caught up to us and we called it quits after listening to a few funny tales by one of the Yaomen Warders.  These soldiers and lengthy and decorated service are now charged to guard the Tower and all of its prized possessions.  We loved seeing the mix of soldiers present that day...including women which we had not seen in 1999 as well as representatives of various ethnicites, also not seen 25 years ago.

A quick 15 minute walk back to the hostel we gave into a 1 hr power nap, then we went to the basement of our hostel to this amazing little place, the WomBar, which was bustling with people and affordable drinks.  We would catch up with family via wifi, play cards, and manage to stay awake until nearly 10PM.  We might have also enjoyed when the gal running the trivia night shut down a group of young Americans from the south when they attempted to chant USA when we were introducing where we were all from. We and another group from Cali were a little more subdued.  And you wonder why Americans get a bad rap as tourists.  Really!?!? That's how you introduce yourself to a hostel bar full of people from all around the world. After a quick exit from trivia we onboarded some melatonin on board and crawled into our bunk beds...yep that's how you get a private with ensuite bathroom in a hostel for a family...and are ready to crash out and awaken tomorrow to cramming as much of London as possible into one day.

Paris .... Slowing It Down

We slept in on Monday and enjoyed our mediocre breakfast at the hostel.  Andy spent the morning geting the City Mapper app set-up on my phone, so Ally and I could navigate our morning without him.  You see I've always been the driver and Andy the navigator.  Even on trips I plan the destinations whether a hotel, restaurant, or other and Andy figures out how to get us there.  City Mapper was awesome.  You set your city and then put in where you want to go and it gives you ALL of your options.  I mean all from walking to scooter rental to moped rental to bike to cab to buses to the metro.  The part I was most frightened about was getting on the metro going to wrong direction, but it even told you that.

So with that about 9:30AM we were off and actually got to ride the first train together and the boys got off a couple of stops in front of us as they were headed to Musée de l'Armée while we girls were headed to the shopping district with our first stop being the iconic Galeries Lafayette.

The boys gave the Museum high marks and totally wished they had more time.  But loved what they saw, but really wanted to make it around the back to Napoleon's Tomb.  The exhibits range from arms and armor of the 13th century all the way up to modern day and the World Wars.  It's definitely a place they want to return as their 2.5hours only scratched the surface.

Ally and I explored the floors of the Galeries with most being way to expensive for us.  There was an entire floor with major designers that the pieces did not even have price tags and there were salons for you to view things with your personal shopper.  We opted for the more affordable floor and even found a top on sale in orange (GO BEAVS) in the Diesel section.  Then we scooted across the street to H&M, which mind you this is H&M Paris.  So this Mom was very happy to see the more classy looks versus ripped jeans.  Ally found a "going out" top as well as two pairs of pants for school.  Then we agreed it was caffeine time, but there were not any traditional cafes in the area so yes, we went to Starbucks, but they had tables outside set-up like a normal cafe so we could watch the passers-by and even more important....a bathroom.

We were both pretty tired so we opted to walk to meet the boys at the Louvre for our 1PM entry.  We got a little nervous as the boys metro'ed in and got lost in the labrynth that is a shopping mall and food court under the Louvre.  But they made their way out and we approched the lines which wrapped and wrapped themselves around the glass pyramid entrance.  After we found out which line we were to be in I almost threw in the towel, but we agreed we would give it 15 minutes to see how fast it moved.  And it flew...and we were in quickly.  We had a reservation and pre-bought tickets.  Most of the scarey lines were people who were trying their luck at getting in without a reservation.  

Once in though it was still packed and today the temps outside had finally increased to more summer-like and the a/c was struggling to keep up with the throngs of people packed inside.  So we went on a mission...in 2 hours we would see the majors...Venus de Milo, Winged Mercury, and the Mona Lisa, and whatever else we happened upon while taking this path.  And we did it...at the end of our two hours we followed the hundred of people to the room with the Mona Lisa.  Andy more wanted the kids to see the craziness around it...this massive room and hung on a massive wall with tons of traffic control for the masses of people hung a painting that is only 30inches x 20 inches.  Yep, that's it!

We wound our way out of the Louvre and back underground for Alec to secure his McRoyal with Cheese from McDonalds so he could send a pic to his friends.  This is something to only be done once...our order took 45minutes.  Ouch!  But it gave us time to relax and discuss our evening.

Back to the hostel the kids were done!  So we ordered pizza to be delivered to the hotel along with soda and they could chillax, take showers, and pack for our early morning flight.  Andy would research and find us a wonderful French resturant close-by to go have a couple's dinner and we would bring the kids macaroons for dessert.

I love all the walking in Paris.  We ventured down to the area of our first dinner and settled into outside seats and went all in on a French cuisine at La villa des abbesses.  Andy started with French Onion Soup and I had mussels in escagot butter (I had escargot the previous night) for starters.  For an entree I had duck and Andy had a pork loin.  We both had traditional french wines with Andy having a Bourdeux and myself a Chablis (we had visited the Chablis region on our last trip).  A couple of hours later and we were stuffed and ready for that walk and re-visited Dolce Pepone from our first night as they also had macaroons.  

We now knew our flight was already a couple of hours delayed the next day, so we would get to sleep in, so after getting videos of our view we all settled in for a pleasant last night snooze in Paris.  Tomorrow we were headed home and another amazing trip would come to an end.

Paris at Warp Speed

Our travel companions, the Jarnac, family had not been to Paris where this was our family's second visit and Andy and my third visit.  So we opted to spend the day hitting the highlights and making sure they got a taste to return.

They started their morning with a tour of the Eiffel.  They booked early which was smart and ubered down to the site and we slept in a bit.  We would metro down to the Place de Concord and then get on our major source of transportation for the day, The Big Bus Tour, a hop on hop off bus, and we took it around to the Eiffel Tower to meet them when they came down.

One of my bucket list items was seeing the city from the Seine, so this time we added that with Beataux Parisiens to our ticket and after grabbing expensive snacks we made our way to the terminal and were one of the first in line for seats for the 12:30.  Most opted to be outside on the upper deck.  Ally and I opted for inside.  This boat uses a app which recognizes your location and plays audio accordningly.  It was a beautiful vantage point plus we got to see all the wonderful boat homes as well as folks lounging and just enjoying the river.  The most shocking moment for us was seeing Notre Dame.  We had watched it burn on TV while visiting my Dad in Ohio in 2019.  We were all so sad.  It was incredible to see the scaffolding and the work going into reconstructing it.

After our tour, time to snack again.  All the eating in Greece had definitely caused our stomachs to grow and require more food.  So we sat and the kids ordered all kinds of stuff - pizza, crepes, slushies...and the adults... a bottle of wine.  We were hanging out and awaiting a neat moment for Ally.  One of her sorority sisters from OSU was in the city and close by and she and her family were going to stop and say hello.  It was a fun moment.

Then we hit the bus and decided to stop at some of the larger stops...Notre Dame, Louvre, and finally we thought the Champs.  However, the city has taken to closing it off on Sundays to pedestrian traffic which is cool, but it meant the bus dropped you off pretty far away..actually back where we started our morning.  So the Jollys opted to head back to the hotel to rest and the Jarnacs would stay out.

Then we would all meet up at 8:30 for dinner at the same place we had taken our kids 8 years earlier.  Cafe De Trocadero. We remembered it as a bit of a tourist trap, but we were there for the location and they took reservations.  We could see the sparkle without the crush of the crowds.  Dinner was actually very good and our waiter was amazing.  We totally remember having a very rude waiter last time, but we were younger with kids definitely on a budget and probably picky.  Timing was perfect.  The lights went off at 10PM and I would hold down the table while everyone else ran to the grass round in the middle of the street and had an unobstructed view without the crowds (See the other side of the street?  There are probably a couple thousand people there.) and during the 5 minutes dinner arrived.  It was such a nice evening.

After dinner we parted way...the Jarnacs off to find one of the best hot choloate places in Paris and we were off to sleep as we had one more day and they would be flying back to Cali in the morning.

Evening 1 Paris: Walking the Montemarte

Last time we were in Paris we stayed at a Cross Pollinate property in the Montemarte but out at the Jules Joffrin Metro station.  This time we wanted to be walking distance to more, so we did Caulincourt Hotel & Hostel.  We've stayed at a hostel in San Francisco now a couple of times and we like the extra exposure it gives the kids to other people and cultures.  Where hotels in Paris go for $500+ US a night this was less than $200 and included breakfast...albeit meager it was something.  It was the only real downside we read in the reviews.  It still included coffee, juice, tea, a basket with one criossant and one small bread loaf, jam, butter, cereal, and milk.  It was an easy walk to the Lamark-Caulicourt Metro station.

We opted to Uber into town from the airport versus the train to the Metro and were there in half the time which gave us time to clean up before meeting our guide at the Abesses Station for a walking tour I had secured through Get Your Guide.  The weather was a shock.  We had prepared a bit with rain coats, but given the heatwave that was gripping the majority of the world we expected a warm rain.  Paris was CHILLY...in the mid 60's with rain, wind, and just brrrr....  But we made a quick pit stop at our first Boulangerie, Alexine, in route for a little sugar/pastry pick us up.  Our guide, Hannah, was this cute short lady who's English was quite good, and with her energy and our sugar and carbs we were off. She showed us everything I had on my list...the Wall of Love, the vineyard, the places Picasso, Van Gough, and others frequented, oldest operational cabaret (Au Lapine Agile), the running man in a wall (stuck there supposedly busted escaping the house of his mistress)...and yes Alec touched the bust of Dalida a famous singer who lived and is buried here and touching her bust supposedly gives you luck with females.  And much more.  She would leave us after 90 minutes at the Basilica/Sacre Couer, the famed monument of the neighborhood.

I had first tried for a reservation at a famous French restaurant, but couldn't get a table for our group of 9.  So I went for Al Caratello, an Italian restaurant within 10 minutes from the hotel.  It was in the top 150 of over 14K resteraunts (according to Trip Advisor) in the city, so we figured it has to be good.  A charming place off a little side street we entered the place at 7PM and there were only two other tables.  By the time we left it was packed and people were waiting and locals were getting take-out.  It was scrumptious with massive portions.  I would leave a little early with several of the kids to get gelato at Dolce Pepone while others stayed behind to finish wine and enjoy the company of some friends who happen to also be in Paris and joined us.

Time for rest because the next day was getting the Jarnac family as much of Paris as we could cram in a day before they would head home because this was their first visit.

Interested in our Greece Trip/Ship

Nearly everyone we have shared the Greece trip with has asked how I found it.  I honestly am not really sure.  I know I wanted a cruise, after getting Andy to abandon the notion of a chartered sailboat trip with a captain and cook.  And then I know I wanted a small ship as we are spoiled on other low ratio trips where we get to know staff and staff us.  I wanted some inclusive aspects, again me not cooking was part of my argument for not doing the charter.  I think I just Googled and Goggled and stumbled across ....

We flipped through their trips.  And wound up reaching out to them regarding three:

• Best of Bali
• Signature Greece Small Ship Cruise
• And another Greek Cruise I don't currently see on their list currently, but it was a large double masted sailboat with about 20 rooms if I recall correctly.

The kids and we quickly dismissed Bali after having spent the last sabbatical in Thailand, Cambobia, & Vietnam.  And after speaking with the agents we decided the second Greek cruise fellow passenger demographics might pose to too large of an age gap to our kids.  So we settled on the Signature Greece Cruise.

We were nervous as we didn't know much about the company, so we read reviews, read through all their policies, and placed our deposit.  We felt a little better when we received a big glossy magazine filled with all their trips and I was able to reach out several times to Nora, who is the travel specialist for this trip to work through cabin selections and ask other questions about amenities.

The trip would include wonderfully appointed rooms (ok they could be a little more generous on the bath shampoo and conditioner, but that is truly our only "even better if")), 2 meals a day on board (generally buffet, except the special ones), lots of free on-board amenities (samba lessons, pilates, cooking lessons as well as hot tub, kayaks, snorkel gear, and more), and transfers.  Additional out of pocket included of course the bar (pricing published upfront), spa (yes there were services on board), guided excusions (but our activities crew was always ready to recommend do it ourself instructions), and gratuity (also recommendations made upfront and really quite affordable).  We added an additional transfer and hotel on for when we landed in Greece before boarding the ship that they booked as well.

We would spend the months ahead researching photos of the ship, passenger reviews, and down right getting excited.  We would find later that Unforgettable Travel was a middle man for The Elysium, the Ship of Elixir Luxury Cruises  The pictures are pretty spot on of the ship.  Here's their Facebook too with videos and more.  The only thing perhaps slightly askew of all their claims was the gym....was very tiny and minimally appointed (notice there are not pictures of it), but Alec still used it a few times and didn't complain.

In regards to service again everything was pretty spot on.  Only two things to note... 1) GMT (Greece Mean Time) means things may or may not happen per the schedule.  Be flexible.  And us being used to "Island Time" in Jamaica this was no problem.  And 2) was the beach party beverages.  We really should have known they were not included, but there were two meals where a cocktail or two were included that were more special set-ups, so we thought this was the same.  Our bartender was usually very diligent about getting our charges right, but on this day our 6 beers became 11 on our tab, but really in the grand scheme of things it wasn't a big deal.

We loved the vibe and energy on the ship.  Our fellow shipmates were a big part of this and this is not always the case as the staff remarked time and time again how we were the best energy all year.  With 6 teens on board and a total of 8 nearly life-long fraternity friends and wives (our two from Purdue and the other 6 from ASU) well we brought the party for sure.  And the staff was incredibly friendly, on it, and always, I mean always, making sure we were taken care of...

We were super happy with this trip.  It was a chunk of change, but felt very much worth it.  Would we recommend it to others - YES!  We might suggest you look into booking straight with Elixir as it appears they give discounts for your 3rd and 4th persons.  I haven't done the math exactly, but it appears at first glance it would save some money.

Here's links to two videos we did of a "ship tour."

• Our Floor and Our Room
• Main Deck of Ship

And after our 7AM pick-up including the same driver we had when we arrived we were off with the Jarnac family to the Athens Airport and our next adventure - a couple day layover in Paris

Sifnos & Farewell Party

Last day…it started slow, but the last days had flown.  This morning we pulled into Sifnos as the sun was rising.  This morning the humidity was fully on, and it was hot.  Alec slept straight through several wake ups after the long day yesterday, so he opted to stay on board and sleep.  The rest of us headed on land and decided it was our last day so time to take a Greek bus.  2 euros for the bus versus a 25-euro taxi ride we reminded Ally this was the way to go for a traveling college student.  It was easy and clean, and the AC was even working well.  

The Chora was beautiful 25 minutes up on a hill overlooking the harbor.  Lovely little shops, beautiful buildings, but the heat got to us and we popped into a local café where the owner did not speak English and had our first freddo (cold) cappuccinos.  Back on the bus and back to the harbor we settled into Takis for lunch right on the water again.  Something for everyone it worked out well.  We have been eating so much I have converted over to salads on land the last few days.  

Ally still having a few more items to look for for friends we stayed on land and Andy returned to the ship to Alec who we had gotten his massage rescheduled and was relaxing after.  We thought we had a tender back at 2:15pm but walking there it pulled away 5 minutes early as they had staff who needed to get back ASAP for preparations for the night.  Mikel felt bad so he invited Ally and I to sit with him at a café and got me another freddo coffee while Ally enjoyed gelato.  It was wonderful to sit and talk with him.  38 years old with a bachelors and masters in Spanish from Cuba, the oldest of 4, he’s been working for a few years saving money for a home and is returning home this fall.  He misses his family and talks to them and his friends there almost daily.  He talked to Ally a lot about life and family.  The nicest guy!

Back on board we decided to wear all our new Greek clothes for our farewell dinner.  A beautiful evening that started with group photos on the back deck and drinks.  Then course upon course upon course of Greek food.  We heard there was a surprise and noticed staff gathering on the lower back deck in dress uniform. After dessert Mark took the wireless microphone, he’s been using all week and we finally got to see and meet ALL the staff.  The captain, chief engineer, engineering team, housekeeping, and then of course everyone we had seen day in and day out all week wait staff, tender trio, activities, and of course the bartender.  There are about 25 crew and when the boat is full capacity, 50, that means a 1:2 ratio.  And we definitely felt the personal attention and care.  So nice to know nearly everyone by name.

Next thing we knew confetti guns went off showering the entire back deck in color and we would dance for the next hour plus, including the limbo and Greek dance we had been taught.  The best part was the staff danced too.  In fact, someone won a bet with the activities director to take $50 off their bar bill because they got the captain to dance.  Mikel, also our Samba teacher, got his moves on too.  So much fun under a beautiful night sky.  Can’t believe it was coming to an end…an overnight trek back to the mainland and we were off the ship at 7AM to the airport and the next adventure.

Delos, Secluded Beach #2 PARTY, & Mykonos

This morning we arrived at Delos.  This island is completed uninhabited, but instead has archeological park. Andy and Alec took the tender very early into the island…partially to beat the crowds, but also the heat.  Completely exposed with pretty much no greenery it was going to getting scorching hot fast.  In Greek mythology, this is precisely why Leto, escaping the wrath of Hera, was able to find sanctuary here in order to give birth to Apollo and Artemis. In some versions of the myth, Zeus (Leto's lover) called on his brother Poseidon to create the island with a thrust of his trident, hence the name Delos, which signifies 'appearance' or 'apparent' in ancient Greek.  The boys found the site very good.  Ally and I opted not to do it as, and this will sound a bit snobbish, but through our living in Israel, we have seen a lot of ruins.  But they saw a lot of pieces still with amazing mosaic tile work and an entire row of lions.

We knew we had a swim stop in the afternoon before heading to Mykonos, so I scheduled massages for Ally, myself, and Alec.  Ally went first and while she was in getting a very good Balinese massage, they moved the boat to a secluded beach and proceeded to load the tenders with umbrellas, pillows, and large grass mats.  The boys arrived back I sent them and Ally to the beach and it was my turn for some relaxation/massage.  After getting out I found one of our activities directors and told him I needed to get Alec back from the beach for his massage.  He said food was being sent over to the beach for lunch and I could go over and swap with him.  Once on land, Mark, the lead activities coordinator said Alec is having too much fun.  You can get a massage any day, but you can’t have a party on a secluded beach in Greece any day.  So, he sent word back to the ship he would be staying.  And we proceeded to have one of the best afternoons of our trip.  Food, beverages, music, dancing, snorkeling, and that beautiful Cycladic blue water. Amazing!!!

Back on board we all cleaned up for Mykonos.  As we pulled in the only “big box” was leaving, and our ship was the only one anchored in the harbor.  We tendered in and had about 45 minutes until our dinner reservation, so after dragging the boys through the insanity of shopping in Santorini (and all other islands) we decided to split up.  Scared of the labyrinth of streets we opted to go straight up the first alley and back down.  We would return here later in the night as it had some great shops and was the most affordable…well except the $2K, on sale for $500, skin care regimen I got sucked in for.  Let’s just say it was only a cream and it really did work removing all the lines under my eyes, but it was the most unnatural crazy feeling sensation.

After escaping the eye cream trap by throwing Andy under the bus - “I can’t spend that kind of money without his permission” – we headed back to the waterfront for our reservation at Vegera.  I had picked this restaurant because they had online reservations, a great view, fresh seafood, and burgers, fries, and pasta for the kids. Turned out another great choice as we met the boys who were already at the bar being offered welcome shots.  Another amazing meal that ended with another freebie of beautiful platters of Greek yogurt topped with a cherry sauce.  Light, refreshing, and delicious. 

After dinner we opted to try to walk to the iconic windmills along the water like our crew had told us.  We tried but didn’t have a lot of luck.  So instead, we ducked into stores again and even a bar with all the kids playing ABBA.  We even danced in the street.  Ally really wanted to shop, so we split up again and headed back to the harbor and started up into the alleys.  They were right…it was insane…and expensive.  Chanel, Gucci, and other labels where no piece, even a little tube top, was less than 225 euros.  Now hopelessly lost I turned the navigation over to Ally and she got us out and even walked us right by the windmills.  We made it safely back to the first alley and did our shopping.

We all met at the tender pick-up spot and I was done, but Ally wanted to try the Mykonos nightlife.  So Andy, Alec, and she stayed on land…along with the rest of the Jarnac crew and they went to a couple of bars and got taste she was looking for.  I think they rolled back on the boat after 1AM and we would move through the night arriving for our last day, a full day, at Sifnos.