Further London report & take-off

5/15/15
On Monday night, we met up with a friend from Rancho Mirage (Palm Springs) who happened to be in London on the same dates as us.  We had dinner at Le Caprice (click here to visit the restaurant), and I can highly recommend it!

Tuesday was moving day, so we packed it in; and with bitter sweet farewells to our charming staff at the Radisson Blu Portman Square, caught one of those cute, boxy looking London cabs and headed over to the Four Seasons Park Lane (click here to visit the hotel).  What an elegant place that is.  Although I must say that for my personal taste, I prefer a more down-to-earth staff rather than all of that bowing and scraping they do at the ultra fancy hotels.  However, some of the amenities and room appointments are plush, and it was located walking distance from the famous Harrod's Department Store (click here to visit the store).  So while Jack paid a visit to the National Portrait Gallery (click here to visit the gallery), I took a stroll to and through Harrod's.  First stop was the food halls for a bowl of soup at the Bentley's counter.  It was delicious, but a little heavy on the booze flavor for my taste.  But y'all know me; definitely not a boozer!  The funniest part about Harrod's is how they call everything "luxury": luxury linens, luxury sportswear, luxury ice cream (okay, that one is an exaggeration).  But I did have a $20 sundae (seriously, zoom in on the menu); and must confess, it is not the best ice cream (so spoiled in SF!):

Then I went to the luxury mens department and was immediately approached with the old British, "Are you being served".  I was in fact looking for something in particular, and they couldn't have been more helpful scouring the inventory for a plethora of versions of the mid-layer I was after.  I settled on a Hugo Boss snap-front sweater with ample pockets in dark blue.  In the process, I also found an Armani bright blue, light weight rain jacket that folds into its own pocket.  Nice piece.  Stay tuned for pics of these new wardrobe items in various locations along our journey...

Back at the Four Seasons, I reunited with Jack for the welcome reception and dinner with our group.  They put on a nice cocktail party with delicious passed hors d'oeuvres.  We met, mixed, and mingled until the ballroom was opened and we took a seat with new friends Mame and Dan from Wisconsin.  I also sat next to Bill and Elaine Bugg from Virginia and learned all about what he did in his career as an actuary.  Very interesting indeed.  The highlight, though, was an introduction by the man who inspired our participation in this trip: Spencer Wells:

Later in the evening, before dessert was served, I noticed him chatting with Greg Anderson (click here for his (minimalist) Wikipedia page), and jumped at my chance to introduce myself.  I shared that he was the sole reason for my booking this trip and he asked if I was a geneticist.  lol  After brief introductions, I revealed that I had prepared some CDs, paperwork, and had a book for him, with he seemed interested to receive when they were presented, which was reassuring.  But, alas, it was time to rest for the long journey ahead the following day.

After a lavish buffet breakfast with the group back in the ballroom, we boarded coaches headed for Stanstead airport, where we "enjoyed" a VIP waiting lobby and security checkpoint on our way directly to the tarmac, where our private jet awaited:

Turns out it was literally the Rolls Royce of jet airplanes:

On board, the captain and co-captain greeted us personally:

And our wonderful Hungarian tour manager Eszter made the announcements:

And it turns out we keep our flight crew the entire trip.  Boy are they wonderful.  Best flight crew I've ever experienced.  The "boys" are campy as all get out, and the girls are pretty, sweet, and couldn't be more accommodating (pics later perhaps; we've got 'em for over three weeks and six or so flights):

And believe it or not, on this flight we all get our own pair of Bose noise canceling headphones to use for the duration and take home when it's over:

So that set us off on our way to Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia.  This is now our last night here.  We board the plane again tomorrow heading for Samarkand, Uzbekistan, where I plan to blog our three day experience in this enchanting and historic land.  Stay tuned...   ;-)