{"id":2866,"date":"2023-09-21T10:46:36","date_gmt":"2023-09-21T14:46:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/?p=2866"},"modified":"2024-07-13T09:27:27","modified_gmt":"2024-07-13T13:27:27","slug":"london-here-we-are-again-years-later","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/?p=2866","title":{"rendered":"London, here we are again, years later"},"content":{"rendered":"

London is a special place to us. The last time we were in London was 1998 when pregnant with our first son, we knew travel was going to be on hold for a while as family responsibilities was about to grow. Gina went to college on a semester abroad in Kensington, so she has always had a special love for London.\u00a0 We even honeymooned 5 days in London which was my first\u00a0venture to a foreign country and loved every west end show and site. So, here we are back this very special place.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"Our Hotel was the Royal Lancaster around the corner from Paddington station and in the middle\/northside of Hyde Park – an exemplary hotel that caters to travelers – perfect choice Viking cruises! Quiet area centrally located on top of a tube stop, we would definitely stay here again. It did not take long for us to drop our bags and head out on an adventure – as we re-acquainted ourselves with the London subway system – first choice – some old stomping grounds of Kensington.<\/p>\n

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We made our way over to see where Gina went to school and lived over 40 years ago – very cool to hear her recant some stories of life of a student attending a international college, living in a foreign country, with little money, making new friends, taking in pubs, shows and traveling to other countries on weekends.<\/p>\n

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\"\"We took a brisk walk from South Kensington to Knightsbridge to reach the shopping district which included Harrod’s of course.\u00a0 Harrods is so cool but most importantly, it has a section off the shopping area dedicated to food – and a few fine restaurants to boot – our choice was the Italian restaurant – which we were seated at the chef’s station with the chefs preparing meals in front of us – entertaining and delicious!\u00a0 \u00a0We concluded our afternoon making our way back to the hotel to get our room and prepare ourselves for the evening dinning reservation.\"\"\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

That evening, based upon the suggestion of our son who was in London the past December, we made reservations at the sky garden – in the downtown financial district, top floor a 38th story tower that gives awesome views of the city below. The Sky Garden is a combination of Lounge\/bar\/restaurant and event space with floor to ceiling windows in a multi-level space – the restaurant was nice, more informal and accommodates families – the menu had choices you would find in an American eateries. The price you do pay for is the views.\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

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The\u00a0 next day, our last full day of our Trip before traveling back to home, we spent soaking our truly favorite part of London we could in a day that our legs would allow.\u00a0 \u00a0Covent gardens, Trafalgar square,\u00a0 Leicester Square, and finally, Chinatown for a classic Chinese meal.<\/p>\n

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It was a misty\/rainy day – but we did enjoy walking and riding the London tube.\u00a0 We were amazed how we were able to manage our directions. London tube with your credit card entry was awesome. But alas, we need to be back at the room for a decent time to pack, place our bags outside our room, then dress ourselves to go to an elegant dinner – for tonight, we were going to Ting, at the Chard – the glass tower near London bridge. \"\"<\/p>\n

Again, another restaurant towering over London – at the 38th floor views of Tower bridge and all of London is spectacular – We had a window table even better. We even could see the Viking Mars ship still docked in a distance near Greenwich. Ting is actually part of a Shangri-La hotel and offers exceptional dinning.\u00a0 As the sun set, the lights of the city glistened, we felt the relaxing sense of what travel can be all about.\u00a0 We had a 5 course pre-set menu that covered all the taste senses a restaurant can offer – paired with wine, we had a meal that capped off a wonderful trip.\u00a0 Oh yeah, what a view from the urinal.<\/p>\n

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Our trip back home was on time and had no issues – we got up very early (4 AM) took the Viking furnished transfer bus to London\/Heathrow, managed our way through check in and while it was early, we did have time in a airport lounge waiting for our gate instructions. Arrived in Miami after a 9 hour flight, passed through customs (after a long walk)\u00a0 and my son Matthew with\u00a0 Sydney picked us up to be home before 5PM… A great return to home.<\/p>\n

Where is our next adventure? Stay tuned – as I will practice and improve this whole blogging thing – but we will post our next itinerary soon.\u00a0 A hint, this will require a long flight and we plan to celebrate New Years Eve with special fireworks over a world know structure many hours before anyone in US.<\/p>\n

If you got this far, please leave a like or post a message, certainly like to hear from you.<\/p>\n

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London is a special place to us. The last time we were in London was 1998 when pregnant with our first son, we knew travel was going to be on hold for a while as family responsibilities was about to grow. Gina went to college on a semester abroad in Kensington, so she has always […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":230351823,"featured_media":2867,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[50518552,200],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2866","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-norway-scotland","category-travel"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/IMG_9169-rotated.jpg?fit=3024%2C4032&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/peuwlC-Ke","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2730,"url":"https:\/\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/?p=2730","url_meta":{"origin":2866,"position":0},"title":"Edinburgh! We have returned!","author":"Jim and Gina Sumislaski","date":"September 8, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Well it took 37 years, but we finally returned to one of our favorite cities from our Honeymoon.\u00a0 Boy things have changed but then, some things were the same as we recalled.As mentioned in our previous post, Kirkwall had us a bit under the weather and medicine had helped but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Travel"","block_context":{"text":"Travel","link":"https:\/\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/?cat=200"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/IMG_8969-rotated.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/IMG_8969-rotated.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/IMG_8969-rotated.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/IMG_8969-rotated.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8316,"url":"https:\/\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/?p=8316","url_meta":{"origin":2866,"position":1},"title":"World Cruise – Post Cruise – One week in London","author":"Jim and Gina Sumislaski","date":"May 20, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Disembarking the Viking Sun and Exploring LondonAfter 138 unforgettable days aboard the Viking Sun\u2014our home away from home\u2014we finally disembarked. Our \"dorm\" cabin had just enough space to hold all our \u201cstuff\u201d and, more importantly, a married couple of 39 years still very much in love (and not filing for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Travel"","block_context":{"text":"Travel","link":"https:\/\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/?cat=200"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/img_8420.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/img_8420.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/img_8420.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/img_8420.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5288,"url":"https:\/\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/?p=5288","url_meta":{"origin":2866,"position":2},"title":"100 days until Viking’s World Cruise","author":"Jim and Gina Sumislaski","date":"September 25, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"100 days to go until we board the Viking Sky in Fort Lauderdale and embark on a 138-day journey to London, England.\u00a0 \u00a0It\u2019s been a busy time for us as we prepare for this adventure. \u00a0Here are some of the major steps we\u2019ve taken so far:Trip Preparation: Finances are finalized,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Travel"","block_context":{"text":"Travel","link":"https:\/\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/?cat=200"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG_0706-4.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG_0706-4.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG_0706-4.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/IMG_0706-4.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1337,"url":"https:\/\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/?p=1337","url_meta":{"origin":2866,"position":3},"title":"We arrive – Oslo Norway","author":"Jim and Gina Sumislaski","date":"August 7, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"First Stop - Oslo Norway Sorry for the delay as I learned a few things about blogging - photos are the main reason for this blog, so when I did our final preparation on packing, I removed an item from my camera arsenal which happened to contain the device to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Norway-Scotland"","block_context":{"text":"Norway-Scotland","link":"https:\/\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/?cat=50518552"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/img_8650.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/img_8650.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/img_8650.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/img_8650.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8408,"url":"https:\/\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/?p=8408","url_meta":{"origin":2866,"position":4},"title":"World Cruise – Post Cruise – Scotland","author":"Jim and Gina Sumislaski","date":"May 28, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"We checked out of the Hyatt Regency Churchill and made our way to King's Cross Station to catch the LNER express train to Edinburgh, Scotland. The four-hour train ride was absolutely stunning\u2014just three quick stops before we rolled into the heart of Edinburgh at Waverley Station.Our Hilton hotel was right\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Travel"","block_context":{"text":"Travel","link":"https:\/\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/?cat=200"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/img_8824.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/img_8824.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/img_8824.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/img_8824.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1332,"url":"https:\/\/chasing-sunsets.blog\/?p=1332","url_meta":{"origin":2866,"position":5},"title":"Preparing for a Long-Haul Flight","author":"Jim and Gina Sumislaski","date":"November 14, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"A long-haul flights (say, flights greater than 6 hours) in the estimation of an engineer are just mind-blowing and facinating. 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