Rubyfisch

My flight was at 8:10. Around 6:45, I noticed that Boston wasn't on the board at all, even though much later flights were. I checked Flightaware, and it had me leaving out of A10. I went to check with the staff, as you take a train from A to B, but you have to walk back, and I had no idea how long they would take. The attendant assured me that we would not be leaving out of A, and to check back at 7:10. In an unsurprising turn of events, we were, in fact, leaving from A, so I and a couple of passengers wandered back through the tunnel. The walk is really not a big deal ... It's maybe 10 minutes. Once we got our gate, it turned out we were bussing to our plane. I was highly amused that the bus listed Boston as the destination - like it was taking us there: And then up the stairs to the plane: And a preflight drink:

So, almost all BA long haul flights leave from Terminal 5B, so I headed to the B lounge, which according to the boards is way less crowded than the the other ones. I got there around 5:30 and the food options were kind of starting to dwindle. I got a broccoli and blue cheese tart, some beets, and some pakora and inhaled it. I then went on a confusing quest to take a shower. I asked three separate people, who all told me talk to someone else, until someone finally just told me to use any of them that had fresh towels. I kind of felt like I was doing something I was supposed to, but the shower (and changing into comfy clothes) was worth it. The shower does have all the charm of a YMCA gym shower, but there was plenty of hot water and it seemed clean. I don't understand why BA springs for Elemis products, and yet doesn't provide conditioner (just soap and body wash). Also, would it kill them to have more hooks or a shelf .... After that, I was still hungry and it was a while until my flight, so I got what might be my favorite British comfort food that I don't think gets discussed enough in the US - jacket potatoes with beans and cheese.

I really like Heathrow, so I walked around a bit and took pictures of cute stuff ..

Now that I have gushed over London and fangirled over my favorite shows, on to my travel fun. My flight to Boston started with navigating Liverpool Street Station with my suitcase - something I've gotten much better at. At some point last week I happened upon a functioning escalator down from street level, which was an improvement over last time where I carried my suitcase down the stairs. It's a 45 minutes to Terminal 5, and then an elevator ride up to the the check in counters. Checking in on BA always seems to take forever (which is not aided by the flaky app).

It's cruise day minus one! I'm in my embarkation port. And dining so much laundry. I just put the first load in, didn't even seen to make a dent in the pile ....

Made it to Boston - apparently the E terminal is not always a nightmare (just usually).

So I can't complain to much about my work travel. Within reason, I can pick what flights I take and what hotels I stay at. As a result, I'll be platinum on American and have enough Marriott points to buy a Marriott (and maybe enough nights to hit Titanium by the end of the year). I've taken BA for both trips, and I generally like it (as the guy behind me and I said as we were getting on, it's really hard to complain about sitting in Club World when you aren't paying for it). I loved the cabin crew on my flight out - I was brought endless tea and the inflight manager referred to me as "my lovely" in Scottish accent. The cabin crew tonight has been ... Lacking. I never got the drink I asked for with dinner. They never came around after dinner until the really half hearted second service - and no one wants the crappy sandwiches they serve.

Travel tip: if you are staying near an Elizabeth Line stop in London, that is the best way to get to the airport. It only runs every half hour to Terminal 5, but it is a pretty smooth experience with new trains that are reasonable comfortable (and air conditioned).

Okay - I think that catches me up to pretending this is a normal pre cruise flight. And I've just re-entered US airspace, so that is promising.

So my favorite show. You have to understand that I am not one to be particularly excited (particularly publicly) about anything. I'm in my late thirties. I'm boring. I like tea and books and bird watching and taking pictures. I was never really obsessed with any show or band or movie, and didn't really understand those who were. I am totally obsessed with one of the shows I saw, and I'm going to share my ridiculously fangirl embarrassment about it. If you have the chance - go see Choir of Man. It's playing in London, it's one two Norwegian ships, it's finishing its run in Chicago but is coming back in the fall. Go see it. It's magic. There is so much power in it and so much fun. And so much energy. So one of the amazing parts of it is that it is set in a pub, and the stage is an actual, functioning pub. You can go up on stage before the show and buy a pint of beer if stand on a West End stage, which is unreal. So here is the stage and said pint of beer. Even more amazing and meaningful is the actors come out and interact with the audience beforehand. I don't know what possessed me, but I decided I wanted a selfie with one of the actors. I hate having my picture taken. I don't think I've taken a selfie that wasn't for getting into a country or getting on to a cruise ship, but I decided I would ask. I was dying of embarrassment but pushed forward by the liquid courage of Carlsberg. I ran up to him and asked, and he of course said yes, because this is an eight times a week moment for him. And then I realized he had to be 6'6. I'm 5'5. I was trying to figure out how to work this out, and he basically got his knees to be on the same level. This is almost certainly the only picture me that will be in this review. But I wanted to share it because it meant the world to me. I also may have very awkwardly told the lead actor how much the show meant to me separately .... And they do let you take pictures and videos during the show, so here are a few more shots:

Unsolicited London Tip # 9: see a show. Any show. I didn't have evening meetings a lot of nights, so I got a bunch of cheap single tickets to see different shows. If you don't care what you see or where you sit, and you are willing to walk up about a million stairs, you can get some good deals. My hot takes on what I saw (I'm going to save my favorite for it's own post). The pictures are from either before the cast took the state or during the finales when they allowed pictures. Back to the Future - if you want a big, Broadway productions with singing and dancing and special effects, this would probably be my choice. I went to see it twice because I really liked it (and I could get £20 tickets ...). Sister Act - this one was fun, and the crowd was pretty lively. Frozen - this was very Disney - amazing costumes and sets, high production value, etc. But I really don't get the story. I didn't get when I saw the movie, but it was on a plane, so I thought I was missing something. After seeing the musical, I think I just don't get it. But if you are Disney person, I can see it being a good time. And the tickets are a lot less expensive than The Lion King. Mamma Mia - it's a lot of fun. But the cheap seats are really, really high up.

Unsolicited London Tip # 8: St. James's Park. Somehow, I had never been here despite being in London twice before on vacation. It's glorious in the forever dusk of a British spring day (some of these pictures are from the walking tour and some are from when I went back later).

Unsolicited London Tip # 7: super touristy, but do a walking tour of Westminster on a day they are doing a changing of the guard. It's quintessentially London. I went this past Sunday morning with London with a Local. Trafalgar Square (with Canada House in the background ... I told you I'd get to some Canadian content eventually): Royal Mall: Changing of Guard at St. James's Palace (by the Royal Air Force): Buckingham Palace: Big Ben: Westminster Abbey:

I am looking forward to the T ride for embarkation. I was looking forward to the easy, breezy pre-embarkation not needing to fly anywhere, but the best laid plans of mice and men, you know ....

Unsolicited London Tip # 6: leave London. One of the Saturdays I was in London, I did a small group tour of the Cotwolds with Go Tours. It was about £85, and left from Kensington. It was a small group tour (16 people), where the bus driver told us some information on the bus, and then we were free to wander around the three villages we stopped in.

Unsolicited London Tip # 5: eat Indian food. That's it, that is the whole tip. This is from two different nights from a place off Bishopsgate in the City:

London prices can be eye watering. The exchange right was quite favorable (it was £1.26 to the dollar). But things cost in pounds what I think the high end should be in dollars ....

Unsolicited London Tip # 4: I love the museums in London. All of them. But if your time is limited (or your attention or your desire to deal with crowds, etc.), book a docent led tour. Some you have to pay for, some are free. I've done a bunch on previous trips to London. This time, I did the free tour at the British Museum that focused on LGBTQ themes. It was really delightful. But I've done bunch at the V&A in the past and those are great as well.

And here are some pictures from Skye Garden that aren't what I ate for breakfast on a Sunday morning (well, two separate Sundays, but still).

Unsolicited London Tip # 3: this one is really specific to Sky Garden. You can get free tickets to visit it - I believe the release on Mondays at noon London time, three weeks in advance. And if you check them, you can get tickets. But there are a couple of non-free options I recommend if you'd like a quieter experience. Both involve breakfast. You can't get on the outdoor decks, but I didn't find that to be a great sacrifice. First, for about £10, you can book a ticket that includes a coffee and a pastry. The coffee included lattes and the pastries were fine (like you'd get a Starbucks). For probably two to three times as much, you can book breakfast at one of the restaurants there (Darwin's). The view is amazing - the food was decent. Note, this is a cheaper option than their brunch, and you can get in when the Garden is basically empty if you make the earliest reservations.

Unsolicited London Tip # 2: Explore a less touristy neighborhood. I did a Sunday morning walking tour with London Walks in Hampstead Heathe. I don't really remember what any of these are pictures of, but I'm sure I was told.

Unsolicited London Tip # 1: while I can't really recommend staying in the City of London (aka the glass and chrome land of banks and office buildings between St. Paul's and the Tower of London), I highly recommend doing a walking tour of it. I did two - one through London Walks (which cost £20) and one with London with a Local (which is a pay-what-you-wish tour). Frankly, I preferred the second one. Both were good, I'd recommend either, but for me, I prefer energy of the tours that are pay at the end. I could definitely people preferring the London Walks one though. Tower of London: St. Paul's: I think this might be St. Mary-le-Bow, but I'm not 100% sure: St. Dunstan in the East (a beautiful garden in the shell of a church destroyed during the Blitz): The Lloyd's building: The monument to the great fire:

Volendam's current position: My current position:

Now, you may be asking yourself, why am I on a plane from Heathrow. Well, I've spent 27 of the last 45 days traveling for work, including two ten plus day trips to London. I figured I'd start my live earlier than I normally do both because I've got like four more hours home, and I because I spent a long time alone in London and kind of want to ramble about the handful of non-work things I did there, in case anyone has trips to London/Southampton any time soon. If you are only here for Canadian content - I'll get there shortly.

So we booked this cruise not that long ago - maybe February or so. I'm just finishing up a very intense period at work (as is my partner, although she finished last week and I finished today), and really wanted to go on vacation. We live in Boston, and at first I was thinking of booking a Celebrity cruise out of Port Liberty, but my partner wasn't all that interested in Bermuda, so we ended up on Volendam.