Housesitting in Holland Park (AA F JFK-LHR, LGW-DFW-DCA)
Aug 20, 2004, 1:47 pm
#1
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Join Date: Apr 2002
Programs: AA EXP, BA GLD, FT < 30 y
Posts: 2,106
Housesitting in Holland Park (AA F JFK-LHR, LGW-DFW-DCA) [Updated 8-23]
Two of my good friends from Cambridge, recently married, went sailing in France for a week and asked me to housesit for them in London. I gladly volunteered to watch, feed, and walk their three dogs, Princess (Chihuahua), Chop-Chop (minature pincer), and Flippy (mini-boxer (?)) in exchange for one week in their beautiful townhouse with garden in the Holland Park/Notting Hill area of London.
JFK-LHR
I booked the ticket from NYC as I was already in town for a conference and took a week off to stay in London, leaving directly from JFK. Usually I like to fly to LGW via DFW or RDU to avoid the mess that is Heathrow, but looked forward to flying between two of American's premium cities.
This 777 aircraft had the flagship suites, and all cabins were about 70% full which was a surprisingly light load for summer. During taxi we were offered predeparture drinks and I enjoyed reading Gerard Arpey's column about fuel and didn't know that 30% of an aircraft's fuel is needed just to carry the actual weight of the fuel. He is such a good writer! I really liked the new Temple Spa AA amenity kits, which had a pretty cool case, better quality socks and eye shades. But the kits came wrapped in plastic which said "made in China", although the actual spa products were made in London. Contrast this to BA's beautifully presented Anya Hindmarch BAgs.
Flying time was about 6h at 37,000 feet due to an 80 mph tailwind, and I wanted to get to bed as quickly as possible. The F dinner service was much improved compared to my recent flights from DFW and RDU, although this might be market specific as I hadn't flown out of JFK in years. For example, on the DFW/RDU-LGW flights the menus in F had J entrees plus a salad cart with lobster/chicken and a smoked salmon appetizer. See for example, the menu .pdfs in my AA food and menu thread. But on this flight, the F entrees and appetizer were completely different from anything in J. AA has supposedly improved its F catering though at the expense of the infamous Bistro Bag, and it seemed like these efforts are focused on the international rather than domestic F product.
Menu- Late night supper
In order to allow you as much time as possible to rest, we shall be serving you Supper very shortly after takeoff. We wish you a pleasant flight.
To start
Warm roasted nuts and fresh vegetables in a Pesto Ranch Dressing
Seafood Appetizer
Smoked salmon, Maine Lobster, and herb marinated shrimp
(Absolutely generous portions, a big chunk of lobster claw and several pieces of smoked salmon served with lemon and garnishes. In J the appetizer was proscuitto/mozarella)
Soup: Mushroom Leek
A creamy soup with Shiitake and Cremini Mushrooms and leeks garnished with sourdough croutons
Main Course
Herb Crusted Beef filet
Grilled fillet of beef with a rosmary demi-glace
(I had this, was more like filet mignon, very tender and juicy, a cut above the AA domestic steaks, also noticed there was no AA serves Brazillian Beef on the menu).
Grilled Salmon
Dill and Pepper-crusted Salmon Fillet
(I had this as well-- fish was a bit dry, but fish is really hard to pull off at 37,000 ft).
Grilled Chicken
Thyme-marinated grilled breast of Chicken
(Sorry I've had enough of AA's chicken, especially the macadamia encrusted variety!).
Served with:
Mixed greens: Fresh seasonal greens with red and yellow teardrop tomatoes, haricots verts and shaved carrots with olive oil and balsamic vinegar
OR
Vegetables: Brocolli with basil butter, pan roasted potato wedges with paprika and oven toasted tomato
(What do you mean OR-- this is F and we should be able to have both!)
The soup and salad were available as a "lighter fare"
(In J the entrees were the usual suspects: Veal Otto Busco/Cannelloni/Hunter Chicken/Vegetable plate/Shrimp risotto).
Sorry, I don't drink and had club soda, but I'm sure the wines were expensive.
Cheese and fruit
Fresh fruit and cheese including basil caciotta cheese and black diamond white cheddar, served with grapes and selected crackers (sorry don't know much about cheese, but it tasted OK).
Dessert
Ice cream sundae: Vanilla Ice Cream with a choice of hot fudge, butterscotch, or seasonal berry toppings, whipped cream and pecans. (AA's legendary sundae, I had two-- my favorite dessert in the sky, it is just so cool to eat an ice cream sundae at 37,000 feet while you fly over the southern tip of Greenland at 600 mph!).
Grand Mariner fruit salad presented with raspberry sorbet
The dinner service was quick and efficient, I was done about 1:15 after takeoff and ready for bed. FAs on the flight were superb, so friendly. I asked them what they thought about having to turn around the same day and apparently this is becoming more common in the AA system-- SFO-HNL, DFW-S. America.
I went to brush my teeth and caused a minor commotion when another passenger thought my loud, electric Crest toothbrush was being used to commit and act of terrorism. The purser came over and asked what was in my carryon bag so I opened it up. Thinking this lady needed to chill, I surrendered a stack of National Enquirers that I had been reading and gave them to the FAs to read. I recommended the story about celeb cellulite and how Bill Clinton's latest mistress had supposedly run over some lady in Harlem. This seemed to convince her that I wasn't an Al Qaeda! Sorry if you were on this flight as the FAs were sitting around in the galley devouring them once the food service was done. If you really want to endear yourself to cabin crew give them magazines to read on a long flight. My gf is always getting on my case for reading the National Enquirer-- she was an English major after all. But ever since 9/11 and with the Iraq disaster I kind of tune out the news-- war and terror to the nth degree! The NE is my guilty pleasure.
I told the FA not to bother waking me for any kind of breakfast since I had just had two entrees and two sundaes and this was a short flight. Also, I had already had the American breakfast flying in Nov. 2002 from MIA-LHR in J, and it wasn't worth waking up early for. But in case you were wondering the breakfast was:
American Breakfast
Seasonal fruit
Pepper Jack Omelette accompanied by a sun-dried tomato and basil Turkey Sausage and a Cheddar Cheese Sour Cream potato timbale
Yogurt
Cereal
European breakfast
Seasonal fruit
Yogurt
Cold cuts sampler featuring Genoa salami, smoked turkey and queso blanco
Express breakfast
Served 45 min prior to landing to allow you to sleep as long as possible
Assorted warm breakfast breads and your choice of beverage
I was awoken by the captain announcing that cumulus clouds were causing delays at LHR and we were going to have to circle Bovington (?) for about 15 min. Well maybe he meant 15 min times four, because we were going around and around for about an hour. I was getting dizzy, and could see the "stack" of planes above and below us. This captain was a bit on the chatty side, and I'd wish the crew would stay off the PAs on late night flights. Still not as bad as BA, though, where the crew insist on translating everything in all 400 languages that they speak, including Swahili.
Eventually we landed at LHR to a beautiful summer afternoon, but then were delayed for another hour waiting for an aircraft to clear our gate (of course blamed on the BAA). Now you see why I prefer Gatwick!
I caught the HEX to Paddington and then taxied over to my friend's house. They let me unpack and shower in their guestroom and then introduced me to their dogs. Now I thought my brother spoiled our dog at home by giving him only Brita filtered water. These dogs have the high life! They only drink sparkling water and will yap and yap if it goes flat. One of them suffers from arthritis and will only take its pills if they are in gobs of smoked salmon cream cheese. After the dogs and I were acclimatized, my friends and I went and had an early dinner in the garden and headed off to bed, me because I was sleepy from flying and them because they had an early flight.
I woke up to a quiet three story house, and three little doggies cuddled next to me in one big ball-- my friends had let me sleep in. I went and had breakfast in the garden and gave Princess her cream cheese pill. Usually when I'm paying to stay in London I feel compelled to either work or do something. But since my accomodation in this case was free, I could just lie in bed and watch British television or the Olympics, read my NEJMs in the garden, or wander aimlessly around London.
Every day I take the dogs to a different park for their walk and we've been to Holland Park, Regent Park, and Hyde Park, where the dogs loved running along in the Princess Diana water sculpture. I think this weekend I'll take them to Cambridge when I go to visit some friends who have advanced to fellows and we can all go punting or walk to Granchester.
In my spare time I visited the National Gallery and my favorite paintings. There's an exhibit called Making Faces about portraiture that's really good. In Trafalgar Square there's a big Jumbotron with live Olympic coverage. When I was walking around I heard the most beautiful music coming out of St. Maartens in the Field Church and stepped in for the Belmont Ensemble practicing for their Friday concert. Now you don't see that too often in the US!
To be continued...
JFK-LHR
I booked the ticket from NYC as I was already in town for a conference and took a week off to stay in London, leaving directly from JFK. Usually I like to fly to LGW via DFW or RDU to avoid the mess that is Heathrow, but looked forward to flying between two of American's premium cities.
This 777 aircraft had the flagship suites, and all cabins were about 70% full which was a surprisingly light load for summer. During taxi we were offered predeparture drinks and I enjoyed reading Gerard Arpey's column about fuel and didn't know that 30% of an aircraft's fuel is needed just to carry the actual weight of the fuel. He is such a good writer! I really liked the new Temple Spa AA amenity kits, which had a pretty cool case, better quality socks and eye shades. But the kits came wrapped in plastic which said "made in China", although the actual spa products were made in London. Contrast this to BA's beautifully presented Anya Hindmarch BAgs.
Flying time was about 6h at 37,000 feet due to an 80 mph tailwind, and I wanted to get to bed as quickly as possible. The F dinner service was much improved compared to my recent flights from DFW and RDU, although this might be market specific as I hadn't flown out of JFK in years. For example, on the DFW/RDU-LGW flights the menus in F had J entrees plus a salad cart with lobster/chicken and a smoked salmon appetizer. See for example, the menu .pdfs in my AA food and menu thread. But on this flight, the F entrees and appetizer were completely different from anything in J. AA has supposedly improved its F catering though at the expense of the infamous Bistro Bag, and it seemed like these efforts are focused on the international rather than domestic F product.
Menu- Late night supper
In order to allow you as much time as possible to rest, we shall be serving you Supper very shortly after takeoff. We wish you a pleasant flight.
To start
Warm roasted nuts and fresh vegetables in a Pesto Ranch Dressing
Seafood Appetizer
Smoked salmon, Maine Lobster, and herb marinated shrimp
(Absolutely generous portions, a big chunk of lobster claw and several pieces of smoked salmon served with lemon and garnishes. In J the appetizer was proscuitto/mozarella)
Soup: Mushroom Leek
A creamy soup with Shiitake and Cremini Mushrooms and leeks garnished with sourdough croutons
Main Course
Herb Crusted Beef filet
Grilled fillet of beef with a rosmary demi-glace
(I had this, was more like filet mignon, very tender and juicy, a cut above the AA domestic steaks, also noticed there was no AA serves Brazillian Beef on the menu).
Grilled Salmon
Dill and Pepper-crusted Salmon Fillet
(I had this as well-- fish was a bit dry, but fish is really hard to pull off at 37,000 ft).
Grilled Chicken
Thyme-marinated grilled breast of Chicken
(Sorry I've had enough of AA's chicken, especially the macadamia encrusted variety!).
Served with:
Mixed greens: Fresh seasonal greens with red and yellow teardrop tomatoes, haricots verts and shaved carrots with olive oil and balsamic vinegar
OR
Vegetables: Brocolli with basil butter, pan roasted potato wedges with paprika and oven toasted tomato
(What do you mean OR-- this is F and we should be able to have both!)
The soup and salad were available as a "lighter fare"
(In J the entrees were the usual suspects: Veal Otto Busco/Cannelloni/Hunter Chicken/Vegetable plate/Shrimp risotto).
Sorry, I don't drink and had club soda, but I'm sure the wines were expensive.
Cheese and fruit
Fresh fruit and cheese including basil caciotta cheese and black diamond white cheddar, served with grapes and selected crackers (sorry don't know much about cheese, but it tasted OK).
Dessert
Ice cream sundae: Vanilla Ice Cream with a choice of hot fudge, butterscotch, or seasonal berry toppings, whipped cream and pecans. (AA's legendary sundae, I had two-- my favorite dessert in the sky, it is just so cool to eat an ice cream sundae at 37,000 feet while you fly over the southern tip of Greenland at 600 mph!).
Grand Mariner fruit salad presented with raspberry sorbet
The dinner service was quick and efficient, I was done about 1:15 after takeoff and ready for bed. FAs on the flight were superb, so friendly. I asked them what they thought about having to turn around the same day and apparently this is becoming more common in the AA system-- SFO-HNL, DFW-S. America.
I went to brush my teeth and caused a minor commotion when another passenger thought my loud, electric Crest toothbrush was being used to commit and act of terrorism. The purser came over and asked what was in my carryon bag so I opened it up. Thinking this lady needed to chill, I surrendered a stack of National Enquirers that I had been reading and gave them to the FAs to read. I recommended the story about celeb cellulite and how Bill Clinton's latest mistress had supposedly run over some lady in Harlem. This seemed to convince her that I wasn't an Al Qaeda! Sorry if you were on this flight as the FAs were sitting around in the galley devouring them once the food service was done. If you really want to endear yourself to cabin crew give them magazines to read on a long flight. My gf is always getting on my case for reading the National Enquirer-- she was an English major after all. But ever since 9/11 and with the Iraq disaster I kind of tune out the news-- war and terror to the nth degree! The NE is my guilty pleasure.
I told the FA not to bother waking me for any kind of breakfast since I had just had two entrees and two sundaes and this was a short flight. Also, I had already had the American breakfast flying in Nov. 2002 from MIA-LHR in J, and it wasn't worth waking up early for. But in case you were wondering the breakfast was:
American Breakfast
Seasonal fruit
Pepper Jack Omelette accompanied by a sun-dried tomato and basil Turkey Sausage and a Cheddar Cheese Sour Cream potato timbale
Yogurt
Cereal
European breakfast
Seasonal fruit
Yogurt
Cold cuts sampler featuring Genoa salami, smoked turkey and queso blanco
Express breakfast
Served 45 min prior to landing to allow you to sleep as long as possible
Assorted warm breakfast breads and your choice of beverage
I was awoken by the captain announcing that cumulus clouds were causing delays at LHR and we were going to have to circle Bovington (?) for about 15 min. Well maybe he meant 15 min times four, because we were going around and around for about an hour. I was getting dizzy, and could see the "stack" of planes above and below us. This captain was a bit on the chatty side, and I'd wish the crew would stay off the PAs on late night flights. Still not as bad as BA, though, where the crew insist on translating everything in all 400 languages that they speak, including Swahili.
Eventually we landed at LHR to a beautiful summer afternoon, but then were delayed for another hour waiting for an aircraft to clear our gate (of course blamed on the BAA). Now you see why I prefer Gatwick!
I caught the HEX to Paddington and then taxied over to my friend's house. They let me unpack and shower in their guestroom and then introduced me to their dogs. Now I thought my brother spoiled our dog at home by giving him only Brita filtered water. These dogs have the high life! They only drink sparkling water and will yap and yap if it goes flat. One of them suffers from arthritis and will only take its pills if they are in gobs of smoked salmon cream cheese. After the dogs and I were acclimatized, my friends and I went and had an early dinner in the garden and headed off to bed, me because I was sleepy from flying and them because they had an early flight.
I woke up to a quiet three story house, and three little doggies cuddled next to me in one big ball-- my friends had let me sleep in. I went and had breakfast in the garden and gave Princess her cream cheese pill. Usually when I'm paying to stay in London I feel compelled to either work or do something. But since my accomodation in this case was free, I could just lie in bed and watch British television or the Olympics, read my NEJMs in the garden, or wander aimlessly around London.
Every day I take the dogs to a different park for their walk and we've been to Holland Park, Regent Park, and Hyde Park, where the dogs loved running along in the Princess Diana water sculpture. I think this weekend I'll take them to Cambridge when I go to visit some friends who have advanced to fellows and we can all go punting or walk to Granchester.
In my spare time I visited the National Gallery and my favorite paintings. There's an exhibit called Making Faces about portraiture that's really good. In Trafalgar Square there's a big Jumbotron with live Olympic coverage. When I was walking around I heard the most beautiful music coming out of St. Maartens in the Field Church and stepped in for the Belmont Ensemble practicing for their Friday concert. Now you don't see that too often in the US!
To be continued...
Last edited by CharlesMD; Aug 23, 2004 at 7:10 pm
Aug 23, 2004, 7:10 pm
#3
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Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2002
Programs: AA EXP, BA GLD, FT < 30 y
Posts: 2,106
On Saturday I took the dogs to Regent Park and disaster struck. This ten year old punk thought it'd be a good idea to kick his soccer ball full blast right into Princess' face, knocking her out. The boy's mother, dressed in a black burkha (?), comes over and starts slapping him, screaming in some foreign language and I don't really know what to do. I pick up Princess, and take the other dogs and go find a cab. So I was in the cab with an unconscious chihuahua, on the verge of tears, begging the driver to take us to the nearest animal hospital. Fortunately, Princess wakes up on the ride and seems OK, but I take her to the vet "just to be sure." Well, three hours, one CT scan (a CAT scan for a dog) and less £250 later we're back home and Princess is running around as usual. Well, at least I got miles for the vet bill! If this had been the US, I'd seriously have sued that kid's family. With Princess recovered, I decided it was best for me to have some retail therapy, so I headed to Knightsbridge to visit Zara, Benneton, and Massimo Dutti, one of my favorite stores (think European Banana Republic). I also stopped by the BP portrait awards at the National Gallery and was surprised to see my supervisor from Cambridge's portrait hanging in the science gallery.
Today I woke up early to go to the National Gallery and was the first in line to see my favorite painting, Landscape with a man killed by a snake by Poussin. Just when I thought I had the gallery all to myself the fire alarm starts ringing and we have to evacuate.
Then I took the Eurostar to Paris to meet up with my friend Sophie for tea/dinner. The travel time was much faster as the track between Waterloo and the tunnel is now up to high speed standards. Sophie took me to the Bistro Romain on the Champs Elysee (well we didn't want to get too French). Then we went for a walk to the Louvre and it was my time to go back to London, so we said goodbye with a kiss on each cheek.
Safely back in London, the dogs jumped into bed with me all quickly fell asleep.
Will be back to the US on Wednesday.
Today I woke up early to go to the National Gallery and was the first in line to see my favorite painting, Landscape with a man killed by a snake by Poussin. Just when I thought I had the gallery all to myself the fire alarm starts ringing and we have to evacuate.
Then I took the Eurostar to Paris to meet up with my friend Sophie for tea/dinner. The travel time was much faster as the track between Waterloo and the tunnel is now up to high speed standards. Sophie took me to the Bistro Romain on the Champs Elysee (well we didn't want to get too French). Then we went for a walk to the Louvre and it was my time to go back to London, so we said goodbye with a kiss on each cheek.
Safely back in London, the dogs jumped into bed with me all quickly fell asleep.
Will be back to the US on Wednesday.
Aug 27, 2004, 3:23 pm
#7
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Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: Benicia CA
Programs: Alaska MVP Gold 75K, AA 3.8MM, UA 1.1MM, enjoying the retired life
Posts: 31,849
Charles-
Did you end up going punting? I've only done that once (it was either at Oxford or Cambridge with friends...can't recall which one as I've toured both).
When you took the dogs out to Holland Park, did you take the walkway that comes out on High Street Kensington? I've stayed over on that end of the park before at a YHA. They seem to get a lot of dog owners with their dogs on that walkway.
Did you end up going punting? I've only done that once (it was either at Oxford or Cambridge with friends...can't recall which one as I've toured both).
When you took the dogs out to Holland Park, did you take the walkway that comes out on High Street Kensington? I've stayed over on that end of the park before at a YHA. They seem to get a lot of dog owners with their dogs on that walkway.
Aug 27, 2004, 4:58 pm
#8
In Memoriam, FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Durham, NC (RDU/GSO/CLT)
Programs: AA EXP/MM, DL GM, UA Platinum, HH DIA, Hyatt Explorist, IHG Platinum, Marriott Titanium, Hertz PC
Posts: 33,857
I have to disagree with the two above posters, I always find Charles's reports to be entertaining and if one is flying JFK-LHR in F on a three class plane, then he can be a little self-serving.
Aug 28, 2004, 1:55 pm
#10
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: MEL
Programs: BA Gold; VA Velocity Gold; LH FTL; Marriott Gold; ICHG Platinum AMB; Hilton Gold
Posts: 5,393
Originally Posted by CA Platinum
How do you people stomach this self-indulgent gibberish? 
I have to say I'm enjoying reading CharlesMD's account.
Aug 28, 2004, 7:44 pm
#12
Join Date: Dec 2001
Posts: 3,181
>>it is just so cool to eat an ice cream sundae at 37,000 <<
If one likes ice cream. I am amazed that AA in F do not offer an alternative like CO or most airlines do. I realise ice cream is very popular in the USA though. Anyway I never fly F nor C so it's not an issue.
If one likes ice cream. I am amazed that AA in F do not offer an alternative like CO or most airlines do. I realise ice cream is very popular in the USA though. Anyway I never fly F nor C so it's not an issue.
Sep 4, 2004, 11:45 am
#14
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Palm Springs ca
Programs: aa lifetime platinum
Posts: 747
Originally Posted by Bretteee
>>it is just so cool to eat an ice cream sundae at 37,000 <<
If one likes ice cream. I am amazed that AA in F do not offer an alternative like CO or most airlines do. I realise ice cream is very popular in the USA though. Anyway I never fly F nor C so it's not an issue.
If one likes ice cream. I am amazed that AA in F do not offer an alternative like CO or most airlines do. I realise ice cream is very popular in the USA though. Anyway I never fly F nor C so it's not an issue.
I agree,Bretteee, ice cream seems to be an easy way out. I mean, I could prepare that at home myself. in first or business class some imaginative dessert would be called for like in a fine restaurant- profiterolles, a new york cheesecake with raspberry sauce, freshly baked apple tart , etc.- a memorable dessert with which to remember a very expensive flight.
Brettee, if you want to fly f of c you can, there is one word, upgrades.
if you want to indulge in this time- consuming rather crazy hobby they are yours for the asking. thats the purpose of this board as if your didnt already know,. but you already live in a beautiful place that everyone wants to visit.
cheers.
Sep 4, 2004, 4:16 pm
#15
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Chicago,IL.
Posts: 3,022
Originally Posted by CharlesMD
If this had been the US, I'd seriously have sued that kid's family.
I hope you remember the above statement the next time you see one of your fellow MD's closing his/her practice because they can't afford to pay the malpractice insurance anymore.
Thank god the rest of the world is still sane when it comes to lawsuits and other countries have not followed down the ridiculous road legal action has taken in this country. I.e. did you feel bloated/overweight after two main courses and two sundaes on your flight over ? Take AA to court immidiately !!!!
An interesting report apart from that
