SkiAdcock

8th Annual London Presidents (US) Weekend Do: February 12-15, 2010

Coming off the high of the best-ever FT Do - the StarMegaDo - am in the mood to get back to Europe & see some more of my fellow FTers in a fun setting, so yup - announcing the 8th Annual London Presidents (US) Weekend Do.

History

Feb '03 was the first-ever FT event I attended. I was going to London for my Annual Birthday/Presidents Weekend (Prez Weekend ia 3-day bank holiday in America) get-away, and noticed that there was a London Do that weekend organized by wingnut. Having really only discovered/started reading FT threads the month before, I was quite excited about meeting some other people who travelled.

I remember arriving at Wagamama's a bit nervous about meeting other FTers, and the hostess saying - 'oh you're with the group that doesn't know each other'. LOL... Not quite so nervous after that.

I had the pleasure that night of meeting wingnut, sweetwillie & mrssweetwillie (aka judi), letiole, techgirl, lala, amongst others, and a tradition was born.

It's also a nice weekend to start racking up re-qualification of status on airlines/hotels & take advantage of cheaper winter airfares.

Date: Feb 12-15, 2010

Location: London England

Happenings:

FRIDAY, FEB 12th

Day free for shopping, museums, sleeping, etc, for those who are in town. Those flying to the UK that night will eat, drink & be merry on the planes.

5:00pm-9:00ish Slug&Lettuce Soho for drinkies & nibbles; 80-82 Wardour Street, Tel: 020 7437 1400


Options for those who want to grab a bite to eat/dinner,here are other 'FT-recommended' options for Friday that are within 5 minutes walk of Slug&Lettuce. Cafe LaZeez (anyone who was at London MegaDo 2006, this was the Sat night place); Marsala Zone (I like Cafe LZ better, but MZ has been a FT staple); Pizza Express (no they don't just serve pizza & they actually have decent wine); Wagamama's (if by chance it doesn't get chosen for Sat). Busabi eathai (Thai; similar to Waga's) & Y Ming (Chinese).

SATURDAY, FEB 13th

Day open to sleep in, go to museums, shopping, restaurants, matinee theatre.

1:00pm redbeard911 is willing to do an Olympic 2012 walk/talk on Sat since he's involved w/ building the structures. Meet at Pudding Mill Lane DLR (Docklands Light Rail) station at 1pm. We will walk along the newly reconstructed Greenway with views of the Olympic Statium, Aquatics Centre. Hopefully the viewtube will be open for a more elevated view.


4:00-6:00pmish Ye Grapes Pub in Shepherds Market (5-minute walk from Green Park tube stop on the Picadilly line)

6:30ish Wagamamas, 10a lexington street, london W1F OLD, t: +44 207 292 0990

After dinner - pubs, clubs, casinos, or back to hotels to drink and/or sleep; to each their own.

SUNDAY, FEB 14th

Day open to sleep in, go to museums, shopping, restaurants, matinee theatre if any are open. It's also Valentine's Day for those who want to make a special day/evening of it.

* If someone would like to organize something for those still in town, please post on the thread. Could be a meal, drinks, museum, London walk, etc.

[U]Lunch[U] Dim-sum lunch in Soho area

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15th

For those still in London, day open to sleep in, go to museums, shopping, restaurants, pubs, bars, afternoon tea, etc. Possibly meet up for lunch, drinks, and/or dinner.

Attending:

* SkiAdcock: Arr 2/12; Dep 2/17; Staying Grosvenor House
* caspritz78: Arr 2/14; LH4788 from CGN 6:40pm; Dep 2/14; Park Inn Hyde Park
* lili
* the_happiness_store; Arr 2/12 UA928; Crowne Plaza
* payam81
* tom911; Andez
* carlbryant2: Arrive 2/12; (Sat events)
* redbeard911 (Sat)
* Efrem; Arrive: UA 924, 2/11; Grand Royale London Hyde Park, Inverness Terrace (rate too good to pass up!) Depart: UA 919, 2/16
* ac777
* BingoSF
* thebagman+1
* asya99
* baclubflyer+1
* bseller; arrive 2/12 UA928; Sheraton Park Lane
* techgirl
* Melville
* KMA
* thegrailer+1; arr 2/13; Hyatt Churchill
* Skye1
* Accurate+1
* 7E7 (Fri night; 9pm on)
* rcs85551; Sat dinner
* TuxTraveller
* newbierunner+1
* f0zzyNUE; arr 2/12; dep 2/14



Maybe:

* chanp+1
* drinian
* keruin
* Matthew Vandamm
* 2kind

Will update the thread as people respond & as the weekend gets closer.

Cheers.

cordelli

Maybe plus one here to be sure.

tom911

Maybe for now depending if winter airfares ever come out.

Tom in Honolulu

techgirl

I'm probable. For whatever reason, this is a week earlier than I had on my calendar but I'll see what I can move around!

KathyWdrf

Don't you mean a year earlier?

(I.e., 2009 rather than 2010.)

I'm a maybe also, depending on fares and other as-yet-unknown factors.

SkiAdcock

Yup, it dawned on me flying back from StarMegaDo that I wrote the wrong year; the mods fixed the title for me, and I'll adjust it in the body. Look forward to seeing everyone assuming winter fares work out. Cheers.

flyingfkb

Put me on the maybe list. Never made it to London. So this might be a good oportunity. Will there be prefered hotel where people will stay?

SkiAdcock

Will put you on the maybe list. There isn't a preferred hotel. Most people stay at the hotel chain they have status with, and most of the hotel chains are represented in London, so it's more a, is it relatively close to do activities or a i can get a good rate and get stay credit kind of decision.

Cheers.

flyingfkb

I just booked the flight :-). So I'm a definite. Will arrive with LH4788 from CGN at 6:40pm on Friday the 12th and stay until sunday.

SkiAdcock

Moved you to the definite list! Cheers.

techgirl

Well, I WAS there last year so that would be true as well.

But I had the dates marked on my work calendar as 2/19 - 2/22... so no, I meant that this was a week earlier than I thought it was. Good thing I hadn't bought a ticket yet!

SkiAdcock

I don't blame you techgirl. It seems like it's normally around then, but I googled the date before posting. And it also mentioned that Pres Day is always the 3rd Monday in Feb, so something for us to keep in mind for future years.

Cheers.

KathyWdrf

Sadly, with the cuts in capacity (at least on UA and probably other carriers as well), I don't know how the winter fares are going to look. Of course, award tix MIGHT be a possiblity, but again, those capacity cuts could reduce availability there too.

We shall see...

SkiAdcock

I'm holding off on booking the flight, although I've already booked the hotel award. Since I lost my 1K status & no more SWUs, I'll be in E+ anyway, so don't have to worry about confirming upgrades (sigh-at least it's a relatively short flight now that I live in the Midwest). I'm at my beloved Grosvenor House again. Part of the reason I'm holding off on the airline ticket is I haven't decided if I'm doing 2 trips or staying 10 days.

For a few years the London Do & the BAFTA Awards (British Ocsars) were the same weekend, so it was 2 birds/1 stone for me. Lately they've been a week apart because Oscar moved its date. I'd like to attend the BAFTAs again, so haven't decided if I'll head back to US & return the following weekend (more miles) or just stay over, depending on exchange rate, hotel rate, bunking w/ friends for part of the time so I'm not doing 10 days of hotels at UK/US rate, etc.

Cheers.

airoli

I'll be in London that weekend but I have private commitments. But maybe there is a chance to meet some FTers at the airport? I'll be on a 9.30am LH flight ex LHR on Sunday morning...