Tag: Bassoon Bar

If You Blinked, You Might Have Missed It

Or: 8 Hours in London, including travel time!

So, it’s Friday morning and we’re just about to embark on our Etihad fantasy, and I thought I’d give you the details of our sprint through London yesterday. In a word, it was “perfect”.

Our flight from JFK arrived right on time and, because we were fast-tracked through border control, we sped down to baggage claim and, unlike all US baggage systems, our luggage was already on the carousel and ready for us to pickup. We were on the street moments later.

We had intended to take a taxi from Terminal 5/Heathrow to the Hilton London Heathrow, which is located at Terminal 4. As it turned out, our intrepid AAC, CPA saw a shuttle bus which would do the very same thing. Ten minutes later, we were dropped off at the hotel.

Hilton Exterior
AAC, CPA does the Hilton and does it well

We had requested an early check-in (for a nominal surcharge), so our room was ready upon arrival, rather than the usual 3:00 PM check-in. We chose a king junior suite to give us some extra room and it was more than adequate. And the bed was SENSATIONAL!

We got settled in, checked out the hotel – there are several different dining venues down at the lobby level and a nice bar. 

And then we were off to London. Remember how I mentioned that there is a 10-minute covered walkway directly from the hotel to Terminal 4, getting us to both the Piccadilly line for our trip into London and, also, to Etihad check-in for our flight to Abu Dhabi? Well, I wasn’t misinformed.

Hilton - Walkway
Follow the walkway!

We hopped onto the Piccadilly line and – an hour later – we were exiting at the Green Park Station. You may think that’s a long time to get from Point A to Point B, but with London traffic as heavy as it is, we arrived in London possibly faster than if we’d taken a taxi. All for 3.10GPB each!!

AAC Puts on The Ritz
AAC, CPA puttin’ on the Ritz

Strolling along Piccadilly towards the theatre, AAC CPA was a bit peckish, and we all know how he gets when that happens. So we stopped into one of our favorite casual spots, Paul, and picked up some sustenance.

Paul - pre-matinee snack
Dee-lish!

From there, it was a hop, skip and a jump to the Theatre Royal Haymarket, where we had tickets to see Damian Lewis and Sophie Okonedo in Edward Albee’s The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? What better way to spend a lovely afternoon that with Mr. Albee and his twisted characters?

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AAC, CPA in the theatre throng

AAC Damian & Sophie
AAC, CPA and Damian and Sophie

Haymarket Interior
The beautiful interior of the Haymarket 

The Set
The dimly lit set

Verdict on the play? Let’s just say that it was a very intense 1 hour and 50 minutes. Due to a bit of jet lag on both our parts, AAC, CPA and I may have had a few long blinks during the show….. But we enjoyed it nevertheless. (BTW, this play is not for the feint of heart!)

From the theatre, we shimmied over to our favorite hotel, the Corinthia in Whitehall Place, so that we could have a pre-dinner cocktail at the trendy Bassoon Bar. It’s a beautiful and low-key space with excellent cocktails. We know the manager there and he always takes wonderful care of us. They also have yummy nibbles.

Bassoon Bar Negronis
No, No, Negroni!

Corinthia Tulips
AAC, CPA tiptoes through the tulips as we leave the Corinthia

After lazing around the Bassoon Bar for an hour or so, it was time to get back on the road and head over to Hawksmoor Air Street, one of several Hawksmoor establishments throughout London. It’s basically a steak house, but really well done. We shared a couple of apps, a beauty of a beef fillet, yummy sides, a lovely Malbec and, for dessert, a very special Sticky Toffee Pudding.

Sticky Toffee Pudding
The aforesaid Sticky Toffee Pudding at Hawksmoor Air Street

By then, it was time to tube it back to the Hilton. Piccadilly Station was just 2 minutes from the restaurant and, within an hour, we were back at our digs.

Hilton - Walkway - Night
AAC, CPA retraces his steps after our 8-hour London adventure

By the time we got back to our room, the combination of not sleeping too much the night before and all of the day’s activities conspired to send us right to bed. We set a 6:00 AM wakeup call, slept fitfully and, now, here we are awaiting our flight, which we will board in about 30 minutes.

Etihad Lounge Entry

AAC orders breakfast
AAC, CPA fortifies himself before boarding our flight.

Etihad Flight Board
The flight board

So now it’s time to pack it in for awhile. Barring any surprises – both your’s and mine – the next time you’ll hear from me will be when we get to Dubai.

That’s all, folks!!

 

 

On the Road Again – Part One

Greetings from a slightly sunny and cool Sunday morning in New York City. Spring is trying to arrive in fits and starts. I suppose one must be patient.

I know we’ve been away a long time. We’ve missed you, but we’ve had a very productive winter, attending lots of theatre and opera and the like, dining out at establishments both new and familiar.

But now it’s time to get out of town and our upcoming trip will take us to some fabulous places and, perhaps, just a bit out of our comfort zones. 

The main event of this trip will be a 19-day cruise from Dubai to Piraeus (Athens). We’ll sail through the Middle East and the Suez Canal, to Israel and through the Greek Islands. It’s going to be quite the big deal, I think.

Our ship will be the 3 months old Seabourn Encore. As you know, we’re very loyal to Crystal Cruises, and this will be our first time aboard a Seabourn vessel, but everything we’ve heard augers well and we’re looking forward to trying something new. 

Seabourn Encore
The beautiful new Seabourn Encore

Spoiler Alert: If you look at the 2nd deck up from the jacuzzi at the front of the ship, the outdoor area on the right is the balcony for our cabin. We’re literally under the bridge.

More about the cruise later.

But first, we must get to Dubai to board the ship. And therein lies a tale and a bit of an adventure. 

It’ll be no surprise to you that we like to travel well and, most importantly, we like to get the best bargains wherever we find them.

We also like to tick off our “bucket list” items, one of which is to fly on Etihad Airways in the first class Apartments.

Oh – and we want to do it on miles, ie., for cheap!

So, for the past year, I’ve been looking to score 2 award flights from JFK to AUH (a/k/a Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates). There are 2 flights daily but, in order to fly in the Apartments, you must fly the A-380, which service is currently offered only on 1 flight daily. Awards in first class on this aircraft are impossible to obtain. The other daily flight is on a smaller aircraft and, therefore, doesn’t offer the Apartment. It’s always something, right?

(Wouldn’t you know – starting on June 1st, Etihad will offer A380 service on both daily flights from New York and, at that point, it’s possible to find award availability if you can book about 3 months in advance. Sigh!)

To cover ourselves, we booked flights on British Airways through Heathrow (London) with a connecting flight to Dubai. We were able to do it all on miles, but BA charges hefty taxes on awards flights. Even so, for a few hundred dollars each, we booked first class for both segments. These flights were booked last May and, ever since, I checked and rechecked award availability on Etihad, just in case.

BA 1st - 777
Our British Airways chariot from New York to London

BTW, we love taking the BA overnight flights to London Heathrow. If you’re lucky enough to be flying in first class, you’ll have access to the Concorde Room at JFK, which features a proper restaurant, so you can have dinner there (no charge for food and/or drinks) and, then, once your flight has taken off, you can climb under the covers and sleep for most of the light. Delovely!

Concorde Room JFK - 01
The Concorde Room at JFK

Concorde Room JFK - 02
You can enjoy a proper meal in the Concorde Room before your flight.

After months of frustration being unable to get that elusive Etihad award, I had – what Dorothy Kilgallen on What’s My Line used to call – a wienie! I remembered that Etihad has service to Abu Dhabi from London Heathrow. Would it be possible to find an award on that route?

The Etihad website has a very useful tool that allows you to find available awards and I hit the jackpot in finding exactly what I needed! Now, I wondered, would American Airlines allow me to rebook the 2nd segment (London – Dubai) over to Etihad (London – Abu Dhabi)? Only one way to find out.

The American AAdvantage rep couldn’t have been nicer: Not only was it possible, but we ended up saving several hundreds of dollars on the 2nd segment, because there were virtually no taxes! The whole thing took about 15 minutes and we were done! Woo-Hoo!

Etihad 380
The Etihad A380 – a beautiful piece of engineering

Etihad Apartment 3A and 4A
Our Etihad “Apartments”: mine on the left and AAC CPA’s on the right

Etihad Bar
If you want to be social, drop by the bar at 36,000 feet!

There was one small glitch, however: Because the Etihad flight departs London at 9:30 AM, we will end up having a 22-hour layover in London. Well, folks, I certainly know how to put a layover to good use!

Within 30 minutes of booking the Etihad flight, I’d arranged for matinee tickets to see Edward Albee’s The Goat, or Who is Sylvia? at Theatre Royal Haymarket, and made an early dinner reservation at one of our favorite London restaurants, Hawksmoor in Air Street. In between, we’ll swan over to one of our favorite hotels, The Corinthia in Whitehall Place, where we’ll enjoy a cocktail at the lovely Bassoon Bar.

Theatre Royal Haymarket
The historic Theatre Royal Haymarket

The Goat
Hey – recognize the guy on the left? He was Brody on Homeland!

Bassoon Bar - 02
The trendy Bassoon Bar at the Corinthia

Hawksmoor Air Street
Great steakhouse and more: Hawksmoor in Air Street

Oh, and as we needed a place for the night, I booked accommodations at the Hilton London Heathrow. It was recommended to us by friends who know. And get this: the hotel is a 10-minute walk to Terminal 4/Heathrow, from which our Etihad flight will depart the next morning.

Hilton Exterior
The Hilton is a 10-minute covered walk to Terminal 4 at Heathrow

Hilton Room
Cool accommodations at the Hilton

Walkway LHR - Hilton
Hotel to airport – quick walk – how great is that?

So, our layover will be filled with fun things to do: culture, liquid refreshment, grub.

Oh, and from Terminal 4/Heathrow to Piccadilly Circus in Central London, we can take the Piccadilly line in just about an hour. How great is that?

Tube Map to London
How to get from here to there.

The flight from London to Abu Dhabi take about 7½ hours (wish it were LONGER!), so we’ll arrive in Abu Dhabi at about 8:00 PM local time. For the transfer to Dubai (about a 90 minute drive), we’ve arranged for our hotel – Raffles Dubai – to pick us up at the airport.

Dubai
Iconic Image – Dubai

Raffles Dubai
Our digs in Dubai – cute, right?

We’ll have 3 nights and 2 full days in Dubai before boarding Encore on Monday, the 17th.

There, in a nutshell, is the first 5 days of our trip. Another preview on the cruise will follow in a couple of days.

Enjoy!

Leavin’ On A Jet Plane

Greetings from a beautifully sunny Thursday morning in New York City.

Packing is well-underway and we’re now less than 24 hours from lift-off to London. We’ve checked in for our flight (isn’t it great how we can load our boarding passes into our mobiles? I just LOVE that.), and we’re taking care of this ‘n that. Have to be up at 5:00 AM tomorrow to get ourselves out to the airport. But it’s great to be able to take an AM flight to London so that we arrive in the evening, have a light dinner, hit the sheets and then hit the streets first thing on Saturday (our only day there, as it turns out).

Speaking of which, remember how I said that we’re going to be in London for only about 36 hours before motoring to Southampton to board Queen Mary 2? And that our “dance card” is full, as they say? I thought it might be interesting to share our London itinerary with you for Saturday. Here goes:

Following a lovely (and included) breakfast at the Shangri-La at the Shard (courtesy of AmEx FHR Program) here’s how our day unfolds:

11:00 AM – We’re off and running to the National Portrait Gallery to see the “Audrey Hepburn: Portraits of an Icon” exhibit. For those of you who might be able to make it, the exhibit is on until October 18th.

Hepburn

CULTURE TIP:  Audrey Hepburn: Portraits of an Icon

After a leisurely stroll through the exhibit, we’re hoping to have time to drop by Anya Hindmarch (the bespoke store only a stone’s throw from Harrods), where we did some shopping last May. I needed a new travel portfolio (long story short: we got the referral from the Concierge at the Peninsula Hotel in Paris, and he was SO right), and got a beautiful one there. This store is amazing, even just to walk through to see their merchandise.

IMG_0911
AAC shops at Anya Hindmarch

SHOPPING TIP:  Anya Hindmarch

1:30 PM – Lunch back at the hotel – Ting – with our dear friends, Lynne & Garry. They are a lovely couple we’ve sailed with aboard the Crystal ships on several occasions. We have so much fun with them and it’s always a pleasure to be in their company.

Ting
Ting at the Shangri-La

3:45 – Nap!!!!!! (Is there anything better than an afternoon nappy?)

IMG_0750
From last May aboard Crystal Serenity

6:30 – Pre-Theatre cocktails at the Corinthia. The Bassoon Bar there is a must. I mentioned the other day that we’ve stayed at that property several times over the past few years. The hotel is perfectly placed: just 5 minutes from Trafalgar Square and the Strand and, in just a few minutes more, you’re on the West End. The bar is very snazzy. Last time we were there, the manager (who always makes sure we have a really good time), waltzed over to our table, and said (in a very low tone of voice): “Don’t look, but to your left – – – – – OPRAH!” And indeed, there she was.

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The Bassoon Bar at the Corinthia

TRAVEL TIP: Bassoon Bar at the Corinthia

7:30 PM – Farinelli and the King, now in previews at the Duke of York’s Theatre. This is the West End engagement of a production which started at Shakespeare’s Globe and stars Mark Rylance as King Philip V of Spain. Mark Rylance is such a sensation that tickets to this production are impossible to obtain. I tried for months before getting lucky. (Persistance pays off.) This play is a cinch to transfer to Broadway, so keep an eye out for it.

Rylance
Mark Rylance in Farinelli and the King

CULTURE TIP:  Farinelli and the King

10:15 PM – Post supper at The Ivy. Who doesn’t love the Ivy, I ask? It’s been around for over 30 years and never fails to impress. The place closed down earlier this year for a complete renovation and we were there last Spring for its soft opening. The place is gorgeous, the service impeccable, and the food delicious, whether you’re enjoying a burger, a steak, or fish ‘n chips. I’d say it’s the go-to place in London for your post-theatre supper. And you never know who’s going to turn up. We’ll never forget the night many years ago when Princess Margaret was two tables away and having a “really good time”. Then there’s the time in 2012 when AAC CPA and I were shown to our table, and who turned up at the next table but the cast of Sweeney Todd, which we’d just seen. The Ivy is a place you should try at least once.

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AAC enjoys his fish and chips at the Ivy

The Ivy
The Ivy refurbished and renewed

FOOD TIP:  The Ivy

And that’s our planned whirlwind day in London on Saturday. I figured that I should post it now as I may not have time when we’re actually there and doing it.

Bon voyage to us?