My White Christmas attempt

[amaroo]

For a minute there I thought those photos of Chester was York... looks like a town worth visiting.

 

[VPS]

Having started this trip report I am seriously impressed with others that actually manage to do while they are away. Sorting out the photos, compressing them and uploading them takes time but I'll keep ploughing on through

 

[VPS]

So then it was back to London (sadly got on the wrong train in Crewe - got the 15.01 instead of the 15.02 and it was a different train company but they were very nice to me but I had to change back to the other company at Birmingham - so this is first class in Virgin trains - a couple of times I've chosen first class if it's not much more and you get free drinks and nibbles.

 

[VPS]

Back to London and a tour of the Christmas Lights at Kew Gardens – I love Kew Gardens and was really looking forward to this but although it was good I wouldn’t rave about it. The tickets meant you could only enter at your allotted time and it was really crowded even with the controls.

 

[VPS]

 

[VPS]

Next day out to dinner at a Polish restaurant Ognisko Restaurant in Kensington serves the finest Polish cuisine in London with friends. We had the pre theatre dinner of entrée and main for 18 pounds – food and service was excellent and would strongly recommend it.

Then off to the Royal Albert Hall for Classic Carols hosted by Alan Titchmarsh (not the best commentator but the Brits love him). I love the Royal Albert Hall and it was a very enjoyable evening.

Walked past the skating rink at the Royal Albert Hall on the way home

 

[VPS]

The next day it was time to head off to Italy for my attempt at a White Christmas.

I flew BA 2596 Seat 12D from LGW to VRN which code shared with Vueling.

Caught the train to Gatwick and went into the BA lounge – Lounge 1 - I had two friends with me and I could take in one guest and was able to use my Priority Pass for the other.

It wasn’t too bad – there was a menu and table service – nothing that exciting but certainly a lot nicer than sitting outside. We were given a survey at the end to review our experience.

BA flight was Airbus A320 and there was no priority boarding. We were a bit late leaving. We all got a sandwich and a drink and the sandwich was pretty good.

I had an exit row so plenty of legroom but had a seat rest hogger - how do you deal with them?

My friends who have no status were allocated seats and it was 11 pounds to change them although one of them had trouble with a boarding pass and when they went to the BA desk they were able to change without a fee.

It was an uneventful flight but I underestimated the number of screaming children who would be on that flight.

The FA’s pulled curtains across for the business class and turned people away who wanted to use toilet at front.

A few photos of the lounge

 

[VPS]

 

[Irishbazz]

Love the photos of Nantwich, cool looking town.

 

[mmchow]

What a great TR. Looking forward to the snow.

 

[Pushka]

I know if I don't do a TR on the run then it won't get done.
It's pretty easy with technology to upload from the phone but I do have the Old app and not the new one. Just have to snip the bottom of each photo.
Enjoying your TR.

 

[VPS]

Love the photos of Nantwich, cool looking town.

It's lovely and they have a great wine shop so I can get Aussie wines to show off

 

[amaroo]

Having started this trip report I am seriously impressed with others that actually manage to do while they are away. Sorting out the photos, compressing them and uploading them takes time but I'll keep ploughing on through

When I started doing TR's I would do them post trip on the desktop.... then I noticed people filing TR's on the run or live. That's when I got the AFF app and started posting from the get go. I'm one of the lucky ones with access to the "old app" so posting is completely seamless with photos uploaded direct from the phone without the need for compressing or anything else. When the app dies .... my trip reports will too.

 

[OATEK]

I know if I don't do a TR on the run then it won't get done.
It's pretty easy with technology to upload from the phone but I do have the Old app and not the new one. Just have to snip the bottom of each photo.
Enjoying your TR.

When I started doing TR's I would do them post trip on the desktop.... then I noticed people filing TR's on the run or live. That's when I got the AFF app and started posting from the get go. I'm one of the lucky ones with access to the "old app" so posting is completely seamless with photos uploaded direct from the phone without the need for compressing or anything else. When the app dies .... my trip reports will too.

Thanks VPS for putting this together, and I really enjoyed the photos of Chester. I have done trip reports, but because I use a camera they are very difficult to compile on the run. All my photos have to be transferred to a laptop, reduced in size to fit the upload size limits, and then the posting can begin. I found it easier doing post-trip reports, and last year I really only posted in the "Todays Office" thread with one or two pics, and didn't do a TR at all. So I really appreciate the trouble VPS is going to, and like everyone else I am looking forward to the snow (which I hope to see up close and personal at Poorvu in Finland in early April).

 

[VPS]

I've worked out that I can actually write things as I go in a Word Document on my phone and it is amazing the number of things I forgot until I referred back to this - could do with some snow in Adelaide today

the other problem is that I take LOTS AND LOTS of photos so deciding what would be interesting to others is always a challenge

The other thing that I deliberately did is start this TR so now I have to finish it - I can't just leave people hanging and wait until you see my photos of the food on Christmas Day

 

[JessicaTam]

I've worked out that I can actually write things as I go in a Word Document on my phone and it is amazing the number of things I forgot until I referred back to this - could do with some snow in Adelaide today

the other problem is that I take LOTS AND LOTS of photos so deciding what would be interesting to others is always a challenge

The other thing that I deliberately did is start this TR so now I have to finish it - I can't just leave people hanging and wait until you see my photos of the food on Christmas Day

Food on Christmas Day? Forget that - what about the snow!

Oh, I write my TRs on my laptop as I go, and each couple of days sync my phone and then upload the text and photos.

 

[Sprucegoose]

Hi I really enjoyed reading this TR!!

 

[VPS]

OK time to keep going

So we arrived in Verona - all hand luggage so no waiting for bags

We caught the shuttle to the train station and then walked to our apartment – it was an AirBNB and was absolutely amazing – the host was excellent with suggestions and it was very well fitted out.

https://www.airbnb.com.au/rooms/4484051?guests=1&s=aevjeYld

And even better was this bar about 25 metres away from our apartment.

https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Rest...nte_Lab-Verona_Province_of_Verona_Veneto.html

We had two nights here and probably two nights in Verona is enough but the apartment and the bar was so lovely I’d go back just to stay there.

We had a coughtail (or maybe two) at the FRZ bar and then dinner at La Vecia Mescola
trattorieverona.it | Ristorante La Mescola – Centro storico Verona – Italia - good food and great friendly service.

Maybe the guy taking a photo at the airport was another AFFer writing a TR

 

[VPS]

Next day we wandered around Verona and caught the little train that winds its way around – it took about 30 minutes and cost 5 Euro so was a good way to see a bit of Verona.

Verona is a lovely walkable city so after the train ride we went to visit Juliet’s balcony (yawn) and the Erb Plaza and spent a few hours wandering around.

Back to the apartment then off to FRZ bar for another drink or two and then dinner at Trattoria Verona - i Masenini - again good food and service.

 

[VPS]

More Verona - great markets