worldtraveller73

London, United Kingdom
Day 4

Today’s adventures would lead us to many famous landmarks; Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guard and St Paul’s Cathedral. The Buckingham Palace Changing of the Guard doesn’t take place every day and we checked the schedule in order to find a day with good weather to align with our time in this wonderful city.

We took the Underground Earls Court to Green Park. We had a short walk through the park to Buckingham Palace.





I had previously seen the changing of the guard right up against the Palace fence but this time, we decided to watch the changing of the guard from the Victoria Monument which was actually a nice place to watch. Unfortunately, couldn’t hear much of the drill commands but were able to get a good vantage point of the whole area. This included seeing the parade marching in, the actual changing of the guard ceremony, and the parade being moved off the palace grounds.









worldtraveller73, on Flickr



The march off… and color guard…













The Changing of the Guard is probably one of the most impressive free tourist attractions in London. It's a great way to remember and experience British pageantry.

After the Changing of the Guard, we headed across the street over to the Canada Gate. The Canada Gate was presented to London by Canada as a memorial for Queen Victoria in 1901.







We then headed nearby to the Canada Memorial for all the war veterans from Canada who lost their lines in the Allied war efforts.







From there we walked through the park past the pilot’s memorial.







We eventually made it over to The Hard Rock Café. It’s the inaugural location for this worldwide brand. The main attraction here, aside from souvenir T Shirts, is a free tour of the Vault. This was a must see for WT73Jr, the opportunity to see stuff from all the great British rock legends.







The Vault, is actually in a Vault. The Vault offers a free tour of its rock memorabilia every twenty minutes. The items included John Lennon’s jackets, and Jimmy Hendrix’ guitars.



Not to mention a close look at Jimmy’ Page’s guitars from Led Zeppelin.





After The Hard Rock Café, we had a down past Hyde Park Corner through Piccadilly over to Harrods. We had a quick look at the famous Egyptian Staircase inside Harrods. The Princess Diana candelight memorial from the basement is long gone, as is the Al Fayed family that previously owned this retail giant. WT73Jr was less than impressed with the whole Harrod’s concept, and didn’t quite understand why people would want to shop in a luxury store when they could easily “order things online”.





From there, we hopped the old Underground from Knightsbridge to Holborn then a change on the Central line over St Pauls. The Underground has so much personality to it, it’s an interesting if not a dark place to travel in.







St Paul’s is a most impressive and regal building. It’s one of my favourite church’s in London and a must see attraction for those into London’s churches.









The main hall of St Paul’s cathedral is most impressive and has one of the highest ceilings among many of the European churches that I have visited. Most impressive are the mosaic’s on the roof of the structure that have incredible attention to detail.













We took a climb up to the roof top spire. Unfortunately, the Whispering Gallery is semi permanently closed as a result of several “accidental” deaths down to the floor of the cathedral. The view at the top St Paul’s was absolutely terrific and among the best in London. Several landmarks could be spotted, including Tate Modern museum, the Monument,











The sign of a teenager that’s not happy with heights…



… with that look, we got out of St Paul’s and headed over to Tate Modern museum. From St Paul’s, we walked over the Millennium Bridge.







We took a spirited but detailed tour through the Tate Modern Gallery. It was an interesting collection of Modern Art, although I wasn’t all too blown away by the exhibits. I was happy to have been through and made a mental note for myself for a future visit.

After that it was back to the hotel, another day concluded.

worldtraveller73

London, United Kingdom
Day 5

On our last day of sightseeing in London, it was time to tie up a few loose ends. There were still a few major attractions we had not had the opportunity to see, so we made the most of the day by taking in all the last attractions we had missed.

We started out taking the Underground to the famous for kids Kings’ Cross Station in search of Platform 9 ľ from Harry Potters. The King's Cross Pancras hotel / station is most impressive from the street.









The platform used to be actually hidden on one of the platforms, but it seems that the world has descended onto Kings Cross station so it’s been moved conveniently and artificially to a location next to a retail storefront.





We could have joined the line for an official photograph but otherwise quite expensive at 9.50 pounds sterling when everyone has a camera phone. After a tour through the Harry Potter gift shop we set out on a short walk for the British Museum.

We walked through towards Russell Square Park. It was a gorgeous day with everyone out and about.







The British Museum is quite impressive. It was my first visit and there was plenty there to keep us interested and entertained.







Among the most famous exhibits here are the Rosetta Stone, the first decoder that had two versions of Egyptian hieroglyphics, and Greek scripts. It allowed the world to understand for the first time the key behind Egyptian hieroglyphics.

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There was also a very well preserved, (and creepy) mummified corpse that had been discovered. It’s one of the more famous exhibits. Needless to say, it fascinated me and creeped Jr out.



We had a quick sandwich at the Pret a Manger near the British Museum and took the Tube from funky Russell Square station up to Camden Town.









Camden Town is a punk and gothic hip area. I’d never been before and it was neat to finally get to this part of London. For some reason, all the cool kids were sitting in lines on the sidewalk.









We ended up wandering through the local market, which was a combination of food stands and souvenirs. It was perfect to get away from the usual touristy spots. Although this neighbourhood is probably considered to be a bit kitschy for real London regulars.









We checked out the souvenir stalls. I ended up purchasing MrsWT73 a kitty cat magnet. We eventually started to head back to the Camden Town station through this eclectic neighbourhood that reminded me of Haight Asbury in San Franciso, California, USA.









We took the train back to Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery. Since its free to take in Galleries in London, we took a quick peek through.

The National Gallery is all about paintings and there are lots of impressive ones here. Monet, Rembrant and Van Gogh make their home here.

After a busy day of walking around, we took a final rest and relax at Trafalgar Square, just to take in the view. It’s probably one of my favorite places in London.















From Traflagar Square, after that quick Ribena hydrating drink, we headed over to Covent Garden Wagamana for a bowl of noodles and ramen. Although it's a chain franchise, it also happens to be a chain franchise that isn't available in Vancouver, Canada. We arrived just at 5:40 PM and thankfully just avoided the pre theatre supper evening line. After lots of European food for the last week and a half, WT73Jr was happy to get a little Pacific Rim food.







After dinner, we walked and lingered through Covent Gardens on the way back to the Underground station.





We headed back down through the Covert Garden underground station. On a snap decision, junior decided he wanted to take the circular stairs instead of waiting for the lifts. It happens to be a lift only station; there are no escalators here. It was about 13 floors down, as one of London’s deepest underground stations. I was pretty glad I wasn’t climbing it back up!



We headed back to the room from Covert Garden to Earl Court on the Underground. We spent the evening packing up to prepare for our departure the next day.

I had forgotten what a wonderful city London is to spend time in. I had passed over London several times recently, having traveled further afield and to different locations. These 5 days reminded me of what a terrific city it is to spend time in. It's an ideal place to explore with a teenager. There is easily enough here to keep you entertained for a week or more.

worldtraveller73

Stonehenge, United Kingdom.

Today’s adventures led us to Stonehenge, along with dinner at a friend’s house in Henley on Thames. Given that we were on a bit of a tighter schedule fitting in both attractions and social commitments, we ended up deciding to hire a car for the day instead of taking the train. There are lots of train for the day and other public transit options involving buses or trains and cars and I might consider the train option the next time to allow for a variety of returns.



We were up at the Residence Inn London at 6 AM for a shower. We were out the door with our luggage at 7:15 AM for tube to Heathrow. We arrived to Heathrow at about 8:20 AM. I didn’t know whether there was any advantage to any particular terminal at Heathrow for getting over to Hertz, so we just elected for the familiar Terminal Two where we had landed 6 days earlier. The Hertz depot is off site from the terminals, so we'd be taking a bus no matter which terminal we went to.



We hopped the shuttle bus over to Hertz’s lot on the North end of the field. We located our car and a Honda Civic, as booked, was waiting for us in stall 16. I was parked next to a nice Mercedes C200 but no free Ulitmate Choice upgrades were available, even for a Hertz 5 Star today. After a courtesy check of the car, we were out on the M3 towards Stonehenge.



We had quite a bit of weekend traffic as we got towards Stonehenge. We eventually got to the lot, which had free parking. WT73Jr had a good time picking out the various European Licence plates from the various countries throughout Europe in the parking lot as we walked towards admissions. Once at admissions, we were encouraged to download the Stonehenge App to listen to the “offline” audio tour. It was a great way instead of handing out the usual headphones audio tours.





First off was the museum that featured a bit of history on the site. IT had the usual historical references, along with the multi media displays.





Immediately outside the museum was a theoretical display of how the stones made it to Stonehenge. WT73JR attempted to pull the cart with limited results (laughing).





The Stonehenge facility itself is located a short 30 – 45 minute walk away down a private road from the reception and museum center. Although there were shuttle busses, being a beautiful day, we ended up walking.











Eventually, we got onto the site, slowly appearing on the horizon. The site is set up where you can walk around the entire stones. It is super impressive site and neat to visit and wonder. Thanks to over a million visitors a year, they don’t allow direct access to the stones anymore.















As we continued around the site, we took in the free audio tour via the Stonehenge App that provided information. It was a smart, modern way to educate visitors instead of the old fashioned way of providing headphones.









We also came across the signage and alignment of the stones as it led towards the winter solstice.



Instead of taking the usual road back (or the shuttle bus), we opted for the walk through the fields through the remnants of what would have likely been the settlements around Stonehenge. It was a pleasant walk through Englands’ rolling hills; a far contrast to the usual Pacific Northwest Mountains of Vancouver.













All in, we spent about 3 hours at the site.

From there, we went onto Henley on Thames via the back roads. WT73Jr was interested and curious that the roads were not based on any logical grid like back home as the paths twisted and turned around farms and lanes that have likely existed for centuries.

We had a lovely Salmon, green beans and roasted potatoes, along with a peach mascarpone desert with our friends who accommodated us and our busy schedules. After a wonderful evening of socializing, it was back down to Heathrow via the M4. I filled up the car at Shell; with 120 miles on the odometer at 1.39 Ł a litre (1.85 USD) or 24.01 Ł (31.65 USD).

The Stonehenge day visit was well worth our time. Although I would probably include Stonehenge as part of a larger tour around London the next time around, greater opportunities awaited, along with the main focus of the trip for WT73Jr; Ireland!

worldtraveller73

Moxy London Heathrow Airport
Moxy Double Sleeper, Guest Room, 2 Single Beds

After filling up the car, we headed for the hotel. I thought it was easier (and cheaper) to stay at one of the London airport hotels instead of in Metropolitan London. As a result, we headed to Moxy London Heathrow. At a paid rate of 50 Ł ($65 USD) a night, I couldn’t help the great rate. Some exterior photographs from the next morning









We headed over to locate the check in desk at the bar. We were checked in by a hipster millennial and assigned our room. We took the elevator up to the room and found our way down to our assigned area for the night. Our room was off in the corner, and it was several turns and twists before we got to the room.





The rooms here are pretty compact and tiny. I would almost describe them as “child like” rooms. Having said that, the property was new and fresh. The newer and fresh was something unique to the London Heathrow airport hotels since many of them are quite worn with substantial traffic through them.









The bathroom was on the smaller side but it had everything that a bathroom needs. The toiletries were “Muk” branded, something that I’d never seen before.







There was a sign near the main elevator bank that highlighted the methods of getting to the airport. The property does not offer a complimentary shuttle, despite being an airport property.





There isn’t too much around the property in terms of restaurants. There is a Tesco Express immediately next to the hotel.

The next morning, we were able to check out the view from the room. It wasn’t too inspiring, but it was better than looking immediately into another building.



Moxy (Marriott) offers a $10 USD per person credit for breakfast for it’s Platinum + Titanium members. The credit was converted at this property into 7 Ł. Of course, the breakfast was strategically priced at 10 Ł so we ended up paying a little extra for breakfast. It was a bit cheap on Marriott’s part but at the same time, we weren’t paying much on the room rate. Breakfast was in a pleasant modern space that was more interesting than my last Aloft experience…











The buffet was fairly straightforward. There was a selection of pastries, the usual orange and apple juices, drip coffee along with yoghurt and some tinned fruits.

There was also a lobby bar off the breakfast area. It was deserted in the morning, but it looked like it might have some potential with the right group of friends.







Check out was handled ok. There were no issues and the points posted without any issues. We loaded up our bags into our small Honda Civic and paid the parking ticket machine separately.



The Moxy London Heathrow was a reasonable spot for the night. It wasn’t much more than a crash pad that was well priced. I might not be so enthusiastic if I didn’t have my own way to and from the property as you’d pretty much be stuck here without any transport. At the very least, the property is new and crisp and you'll be getting a newer room when you stay here.

worldtraveller73

Plaza Premium Lounge
London Heathrow Terminal 2


We drove the rental car back to hertz and it was returned at the quick return aisle relatively easily. It was a quick ride on the bus up to Terminal 2, along with almost all other passengers riding the bus today.

We got off where we started and took the lifts up to the 5th floor which was the departure level. Heathrow Terminal 2 is a beautiful building and is the newest terminal at London. It’s called the Queen’s Terminal, although I doubt she’s ever going to fly out of here.





We located the check in banks for Aer Lingus at the C wing. It was a completely automated check in process. We used the kiosk for a paper boarding card reprint, followed by an automated bag drop with the scale, self tagging and baggage acceptance.







After the bag drop and photographs, we wandered onwards for the security check. The arrangement is much better set up in Terminal 2 than it is in Terminal 3 thanks to active line management and balancing of the crowds over different security queues. The security area seems to actually be set up with the recognition that the UK will always have a strong security focus and it was nice not to be too crowded in this zone unlike in the other terminals.











After the security was completed, we wandered down to the ground gate level. We didn’t purchase the optional lounge access for Aer Lingus, so we headed for the usual standby of Priority Pass and the Plaza Premium London Heathrow Terminal 2 lounge.



The lounge is known for its heavily marketed Skytrax 2018 Worlds Best Independent Lounge of the year. Plaza Premium has been quite effective in its marketing of this, as reviews for this lounge often mention this award.

The lounge is located in a far away corner of the basement of Terminal 2, immediately adjacent to the airline passenger reconnections channel. If you weren’t looking for the lounge, you’d never have a reason to be down here. As indicated, access today was granted courtesy of Priority Pass.







Despite the award, I found this to be a rather typical Plaza Premium Lounge experience. The lounge was very busy when we arrived; coupled with the morning rush. It was a bit challenging to locate seats together, but we eventually located a pair at a table.













The food in the lounge was just average; overcooked scrambled eggs, the usual British slab bacon, oversized sausages and baked beans.

Surprisingly, in a low rent touch, all the alcohol on offer was for payment starting at about 3 Ł. Even some certain mixers were pay, making a standard gin and tonic 6 Ł. As a result, hardly in a festive mood, I passed on having a cocktail. Drinks were offered from the bar, which was manned.







All in all, like many other Plaza Premium Lounges, it was a place to briefly recharge but not all that nice of a place to seek out in advance. Consistent with other Plaza Premium Lounges, the food wasn’t all to impressive or tasty.

worldtraveller73

Aer Lingus.
EI – 0159 W – Economy Class
LHR – DUB (London Heathrow Terminal 2 – Dublin Terminal 2)
August 24, 2019
12:00 PM – 1:30 PM (scheduled)
Booked: Airbus 320 neo
Flown: Airbus 320 neo


While we were in the lounge, we kept an eye on the lounge board to see the gate assignment information. When we arrived at the airport, no gate was posted on the boards. “Gate posted at 11:10 AM”. We had electronic boarding cards on the Apple Wallet that indicated that boarding was to start at 11:30AM

I missed the fact that our printed cards had (in fine print) gate closing at 11:30 AM; as opposed to the boarding time as printed on the boarding pass. As a result, when we left the lounge at T-50, boarding had already started.



We had a short walk to the gate. Boarding was underway when we started.



At the gate, we were ushered into the empty priority boarding queue, which simply deposited us at the front of the queue that was only about 8 persons long at that time.



Directly onto a jet bridge that had about 40 people in line…



The bin space was gone already by the time we got on board at T-40, I ended up stowing my rollie two rows behind my seat.

Aer Lingus offered the usual 3-3 configuration on this A320. Lessening the standards for trip reporting around here, this is the first trip report that I’ve completed without a photo of the overall seat. It’s the usual economy version and quite cramped in leg room.



The captain announced a flight time of approximately 50 minutes over a blocked time of 1 hr and 30 minutes. As we departed, we had some great views over Heathrow.





The most interesting part of the flight, was the in flight map from the magazine showing all the international routes of Aer Lingus. Aside from Seattle, there isn't much Aer Lingus in my neighbourhood.



In another surprisingly cheap move; or perhaps I’m less accustomed to flying intra Europe in economy, is that all beverages, including soft drinks, were for purchase. As a result, I didn’t bother to spend any money since we’d be on the ground before we knew it.

We had some views over Liverpool as we tracked towards Dublin.

We landed at Dublin airport with out any delays or weights. Our final approach into Dublin was over several green fields. Very picturesque!



We landed into the as expected Aer Lingus stronghold with shamrocks all around, although there were a few jets by American among other low cost carriers.







We were stamped into Ireland at the airport, having a received a green passport stamp. We collected our bags promptly, which concluded our Aer Lingus experience.

I wish I had more exciting things to say about Aer Lingus. Part of me was expecting a more memorable Irish experience for a flag carrier. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much to report on other than basic transportation from island to island with a pay for everything model.

Babaduck

That's not the Aer Lingus Bia menu card... and they've been buy on board for quite a few years now (along with most European airlines excepting AF, KLM & LH)

nequine

It looks like you both had a blast in London. Ouch at how much you got fleeced though for your petrol for returning the hire car!!! Thanks too for the info at the Moxy on how to get to/from LHR/London itself - I'm currently booked in there for a stay in a couple of months and wondered exactly how to get from there to LHR for my flight home.

757

Wow, awesome London pics. It looks like you had a great time there and saw a ton! I love London so much; I took my wife there a few years ago as she hadn't been, and we had a blast. So much to see and do, always!

Thanks for sharing.

mentor of monty

Brilliant report; you really did justice to Lisbon and London! Just a shame you weren't at Stonehenge the weekend the clocks change. The biannual stone movement is a spectacle not to be missed...

worldtraveller73

Good catch babaduck; especially since the photo was in the last post!! Thanks for keeping me honest. I think that was an iPhone photo in the wrong section of the photo stream.


Thanks nequine. The petrol price was indeed the street price, not the rental facility refill price. Driving in the UK is expensive in comparison to North American standards!!

The Moxy was reasonable if you had your own way to and from the airport. I don't know if I'd be as keen on the property if I was completely on my own.

Thanks for your continued support 757. The City of London is a great city. Hopefully one day I can do a long stay.

Thanks mentor of monty; we packed in a good strong visit to both places. With so much to see and do, it's hard to take it easy and relax in places like that.

worldtraveller73

Aloft Dublin
Urban Double Double
Larger Guest Room
2 Double

I decided that we’d stay at the Aloft Dublin during our stay in the city. The paid rate for this “bank” holiday weekend in the United Kingdom put rates up to 268€ per night. As a result I decided that points were a better value. At a category 4 property, I redeemed 25,000 Marriott Bonvoy points, per night. We had two nights here on arrival into Ireland, and one night on departure with our last night in Europe. The property is located a short 10 minute walk from town in a more residential area of Dublin. This was actually welcomed to be situated just out of the noise and partying of Temple Bar District, where staying would have been a louder experience.

After we collected our bags, we ended up taking the group bus into town. The original plan was to take a taxi from the airport into town, but the effective marketing around the arrivals area for the tourist bus won us over and we opted for a 7€ per person trip into town. We ended up getting off at Christchurch Cathedral.



We took a 15 minute walk with our luggage through the city streets down to the Aloft. After a few back alleys, we made it to the Aloft.







The aLoft appears to be a reconstructed building on top of an older pub, which can be seen in white below. On arrival, we were informed at ground level by the bell captain that check in was on the 7th floor. We took the elevators up where we checked ourselves in.









The lobby was a cool space situated on the 7th floor. The lobby had great windows and the bar had a nice view over the surrounding area. It was a nice change from the usual dark Aloft lobbies that I have previously experienced.





Great view from this space…









There were also iMac computers off the lobby available to guests.



We then led ourselves down to #514, an Urban Double Double. This was a soft Platinum upgrade to best available room. It was a nice larger room and a nice room for an upgrade as far as Alofts’ go; by far the largest Aloft room I’ve ever stayed in.









There was a work space desk that overlooked the student building complex next door.



There were also the usual simple coffee services in the room.



Like other Aloft’s, the room featured art of a local feature. This feature was of the center piece at Trinity College.



We had a very nice large shower and bathroom.





Our stay was comfortable and quiet. It was nice to be away from the hollering and shenanigans and freeways.

At the check in counter, I opted for the Platinum breakfast option and we got our 4 coupons for breakfasts. Breakfast here was a full continental breakfast option.













Overall, I enjoyed the stay here. Although it was not right in the middle of town, the Aloft met our needs for everything that we could have asked for. Using points here was a great option during the days of our stay an the soft upgrade to the larger room was greatly appreciated.

worldtraveller73

Dublin, Ireland
Day 1

On arrival day, we headed out for a walk around Dublin. We started from the hotel and headed back into town.





We headed past the impressive Christchurch Catherdral down towards Temple Bar area.









We walked to the Temple Bar neighborhood. WT73Jr, having viewed that the Temple Bar was a tourist trap area (on You Tube) had banned us from going to the place. It actually looked like a lot of fun, despite his limiting parameters. All in all, It appeared to be quite a lively place, even in the afternoon.





















We followed the Temple Bar area with a walk down to the Grafton Neighborhood. I found it to be much more pleasant and it appeared there were more locals and british tourists in this zone, instead of the constant debauchery of the temple area.









We started getting hungry at this point, so we headed to every teenagers’ favorite international chain; the Hard Rock Café Dublin. We had a quick run through the souvenir shop for things to take home.





After researching sights to see “old school style” through dad’s paperback Lonely Planet Ireland, WT73Jr set his eyes on a giant half pound burger with a fried egg. He actually finished most of it and I helped him out with his fries.





After the massive feed, we had a walk down past the River Liffey. Since it was summertime, at latitude 50, even at 8:30 PM it’s still quite light out.











We eventually headed back towards the hotel, having made the most of our part travel day and first day in Ireland!

worldtraveller73

Dublin, Ireland
Day 2.

We had a relaxed wake up today. After a surprisingly substantial Aloft breakfast that was much better than my last Aloft breakfast in Munich, we headed out to the Guinness Storehouse.

We wandered through the traditional neighborhood that was set apart by some of the others as it wasn’t owned by the King.







We eventually arrived to the Guinness Warehouse. As a teenager, WT73Jr was super interested to see this place. I was expecting a bit of a cross between a wine tasting room along with a short walk through of the basic history. It ended up being a lesson in mass marketing as the brand is everywhere and there are lessor Irish beers (like Harp) that are equally as good, but don’t command the same local or worldwide presence as Guinness. After 41€ admission for the two of us, we entered into the Disney-esque experience. The first impression on arrival is like arriving into an airport duty free shop.





We then took in a walking multi media experience through the ingredients, water, coopering and casking process. It also had a several levels of atasting experience.











The tour price also included a pint of Guinness, which could be enjoyed on the top floor. Being a teenager, WT73Jr was curious about it “Do you think they’ll serve me?” After the whole introduction to retail liquor license talk, he was a little disappointed but I promised him I’d make it up to him at some other time.









WT73Jr spent a bit of time cautiously collecting souvenirs from the shop. After that was done, it was back to the hotel to drop some items. After the drop off, we headed over to Trinity College for a walk around. Although the Book of Heles was available to view for 1€, we didn’t bother going in.

















From there we took a walk around the outside of the Dublin Castle. Some of it was covered in scaffolding, which didn’t make the visit all to impressive.





From there, we wandered around for some general souvenir shopping. This was something that Ireland was famous for; there seemed to be one on every corner.









We eventually wandered back through the river. It was a nicer day and we were to hit the road tomorrow so we took in a last look of the river and city.







We eventually came along to several that were jumping into the water from the bridge decks. It was only about 16 degrees Celcius so it wasn’t all to warm. Nothing like youth to keep you joyful and full of vigorous...







We eventually wandered down to a pub in the Temple Bar area for dinner. They weren’t serving food in the pub itself, so instead we went upstairs to the restaurant. I had an Irish burger whereas Jr had Irish Stew whom he pronounced as exceptionally tasty, despite teenage jokes about British cuisine throughout our stay in London.





We had a walk around the river then back to the hotel for a rest.



All in all, Ireland was a surprisingly entertaining city. Much like Lisbon, it was a great weekend stopover of which I'd easily visit again.

nequine

Tell me about it!

I've got it currently booked as its half the price of any other Marriott round about Heathrow and its just literally for an overnight stay.

The Aloft looked nice in Dublin but still overpriced at what you were quoted! I cashed in points too for our stay at the Westin (which I am glad on as it so wasn't worth the €1199 I was going to be) but your room looked a lot better than our one did!

I enjoyed our visit to the Guinness Storeroom and I can now add a pint of the black stuff to the limited amount of drinks I drink! LOL