The Widow & the Spinster Take a Bougie WBTA Cruise That Didn't Suck! - Lookout Cay, a One and Done 3/31

[pkondz]

That's good to know. But I don't think they work with Android phones.

Ah. And probably not… but I really don’t know.

You would think.....

not so much, judging from the next chapter.

Well it's just that most people walk faster than me because I got used to walking with Fran. For her a fifteen minute was was......impossible. If you put it in other people's terms.

Ohhhh. Of course. I was thinking more driving time anyways.

I did not think I would play a few, but my friend kept telling me that I would regret it if I didn't bring my mouthpiece, etc. I really had no desire to try out new instruments. Especially in front of people.

I don’t see why not? I know you can play.

I deviated from Google Maps directions and explored a street that looked interesting. I found a market where a lot of the wine was £2 cheaper per bottle, and I also found a Starbucks, in case Jill was interested.

Fortuitous deviation.

It wouldn't give me the icon that allows me to share one photo at a time and create a link for the TR.

Been so long I don’t even remember how to do it.

Jill landed just before 11AM, had her bags by 11:30, and was at the hotel by 1PM.

Not bad!

We thought about our global quest to compare international McDonald's to the one in Cairo which set the bar very high, but Mickey D's was too busy.

Darn. Hopefully you got another chance.

She never really fell asleep, but I was out for sure.

If you haven't been on the London Underground

I have not

it's way more brutal than any other Underground than I remember.

Then we had a fifteen minute walk which had me huffing and puffing.

Sloooooow down!

I couldn’t get over the architecture. Everything looked like it came out of Harry Potter! This street totally reminded me of Grimwald Place.

This chandelier made of tea cups was so cute.

The premise of this restaurant was that a guy from Italy was working in London and he missed his Nonna’s food, so he brought her over and opened up a pop up restaurant. It became so popular that now he “imports” Italian Grandmothers from different regions of Italy. The menu changes seasonally with the grandmother in residence.

I absolutely love this.

He said that it was illegal in Italy to not serve bread.

In the front was a wild boar ragu (which was amazing on the bread).

Mmmmmmm…

Then they brought us eggplant parmesan.

Of which you had none.

There were two other options where you could have Antipasto and a main, or a third option where you could have Antipasto, Pasta, and a Main!

When we got into the car it said arrival time at our hotel would be 7:58PM and he had us at the hotel, by 7:43.

Did the driver go through some buildings???

 

[franandaj]

We had late dining.

So did we!

 

[franandaj]

The fruit was very good and I ate all of it. I tried the yogurt but it was very tart so I skipped.

Something we would learn about most all the yogurt we had on this trip.

Heathrow was very easy and I walked right through border control and got my luggage very quickly. My pre-arranged driver was late and I had to turn on my cell phone and pay the $10 to communicate with him since the WIFI was awful. But we found each other and I "enjoyed" the lovely hour drive into Central London

I'm glad you had a quick trip to the hotel!

Narrator: Jill was interested although we never ended up at that location.

Did we end up at any Starbucks? Oh yeah! Now I remember.

It wasn't fancy but it was cheap and hit the spot.

You chose......wisely.

Dinner was AH-MAZING and so happy Ellen recommended it. We barely put a dent in it but it was so good and honestly not a bad price for London. Service was great. Glad we Ubered back.....we would have gotten lost trying to find the Tube stop again.

Yeah, I wouldn't have made it as far as the train station.

Oh yeah, we found one of those stations with the elevators. Last year, the tube stop that was near my hotel was one with the super long elevator so I got very used to it!

Yes, we did find one of those......

By the time we got back to the hotel after dinner, I was super tired. I was proud of myself for making it all day with only a small rest at the hotel. But did I sleep through the night?! Nope! Ugh, jet lag!

Yup, but that's a story for the next update!

 

[franandaj]

Love that darling teacup chandelier!!

Wasn't it so cute????

What an awesome concept for a restaurant. I've never heard of it before, but I love the idea, and everything sure looked delicious!

I'm so glad that Ellen recommended it!

 

[franandaj]

not so much, judging from the next chapter.

Yeah, and guess what? It doesn't get much better the whole trip.

Ohhhh. Of course. I was thinking more driving time anyways.

Yeah, that especially because, well you know driving in LA. What could take someone 45 minutes could take 4 hours at another time of day.

I don’t see why not? I know you can play.

It's weird. I'm not a great jazz player. Licks just don't come out the end of my horn. I need music to really play. I'm getting better about that, but it's a whole learning process. I don't mind playing in front of people if I have the music in front of me, but in a situation like that I'm very self conscious.

Darn. Hopefully you got another chance.

Spoiler alert. We don't! We spend the next few days eating much better food.

I have not

It is quite the experience! So much more massive than any other underground system I've ever been on.

Did the driver go through some buildings???

I don't know what he did, but I think he knew some shortcuts that Google didn't!

 

[franandaj]

Day 3

I made it all the way to 11PM again before the insomnia hit. I started looking at my phone and noticed that the tenant who pays rent bi-weekly via Venmo had sent his installment. So I pulled up the Venmo app, and got an error message.

I did it several times before I finally googled, “Does venmo work outside the USA?” And the universal answer I got was “no.”

So I began to panic because I needed to transfer that money to my bank account this week to pay some bills on the Cruise. By this point Jill noticed that I was awake, and asked what was going on. She told me go ahead and take care of it....she had not slept one wink since we went to sleep.

I texted Jim on WhatsApp hoping he would text me back. Then it turned into a comedy of errors. I tried to go back to sleep, and my phone was on Do Not Disturb. But he called back instead of texting and it went to voicemail, finally we got in touch. I told him to grab Fran's phone when he went over to feed the cats and I'd contact him in the morning as to what to do.

Well just as I was falling back asleep, he calls to tell me has the phone and wants instructions. I tell him it's way too late and I'm way too jet lagged to talk him through the process, but in the meantime he can download the Venmo app.

I fell back asleep, and I think I woke up briefly a couple times in the night for a bio break, but both Jill and I slept until 7:30 just before the alarm went off.

We were eating breakfast at 8AM in the dining area, and on our way to catch the tube by just before 9AM.

We took the tube a couple stops to the train station in Euston. Our train was supposed to leave at 9:23AM to take us up to the station for the Harry Potter sets. It ended up being delayed by 15 minutes.

The folks we were meeting for the day (Wendy & Alan) were also running late. Their original train was completely canceled so they had to scramble to catch other trains to meet up with us. They told us to just go ahead to the studios and wait for them at the café inside.

We got to Watford Junction just around 10AM. Our timed entry tickets weren't until 10:30, so we had time to kill. They had these buses that went back and forth between the train station. As long as you had a confirmed ticket to the Studio tour, you could ride the bus. We bought our tickets back in February. Folks on the FB cruise group who didn't purchase their tickets in advance were complaining that they were all sold out for today.

Along the walkway from the bus stop to the entrance.

These wands were a nice touch to line the walkway to the entrance.

The chess pieces greeted you at the entrance.

For the Halloween season they had this overlay of the Dark Arts which was fun. They change up the tour periodically, add new things to keep it fresh.

Jill ordered a Chai Latte and I got an Americano with milk at the Starbucks while we sat in the lobby waiting for Wendy and Alan. Sorry, forgot pictures! There was a bit of drama involved. I believe what happened is that they either mislabeled the drinks or told me the wrong ones when they handed them to me. Jill had gone to fetch us a table. I gave her what I thought was her drink, and took mine back to add the milk. Evidently they couldn't do that behind the counter.

I took a sip of what I thought was my drink, and it tasted weird! It had this odd cinnamon flavor to it and I thought "I didn't ask them to put cinnamon in my coffee...." So I took it back to the counter and removed the lid, and asked, "Is this an Americano?" The girl behind the counter, picked up the cup, and I'm not sure how she did it, but she immediately spilled it all over the pick up counter.

Somehow I realized that the two drinks were switched, and I think I saved Jill before she ended up taking a swig of my coffee. They offered to make her another, especially since they spilled it. I put the milk in my coffee and Jill had to wait for her drink. That's why I didn't end up getting a picture of our drinks!

No pictures were allowed during the pre-show, but it was incredibly well done. Disney may have taken a page from Harry Potter's pre-show at MMRR where the cinema turns into the attraction and you walk through the stage to this entrance.

And when the doors open you are let into the great hall.

You have a limited amount of time in here, but there is so much to see! The pumpkins were added for the Dark Arts overlay. I suppose that normally it would be candles.

They had traditional snacks on the table. Most were plastic, but they said there were some real ones as well, and asked if we could tell them apart. I was too busy trying to take all the snaps.

Here’s what I assume that the tables would look like if the Dark Arts overlay wasn’t in place.

Costumes from all the houses are on display.

Because of the Dark Arts overlay they also had the ghosts who roamed the castle. There was the Bloody Baron, Nearly Headless Nick, the Fat Friar and the Gray Lady.

Where the headmasters table was located they had costumes from the various professors and other staff.

I received good advice that if I hung around long enough until they really started to kick us out of the room then I could get some good shots without many people.

Next up! The rest of the exhibit!

 

[jedijill]

We bought our tickets back in February. Folks on the FB cruise group who didn't purchase their tickets in advance were complaining that they were all sold out for today.

I was glad I bought them when I did! I knew they sold out early and I didn't want to leave it to chance. We found out about the Dark Arts overlay much later but it was a really cool addition!

Jill ordered a Chai Latte and I got an Americano with milk at the Starbucks while we sat in the lobby waiting for Wendy and Alan. Sorry, forgot pictures! But I think you know what a Starbucks cup looks like. It’s not that different in the UK.

You forgot the drink drama! I grabbed a table and you went to get the drinks...they didn't have them labeled and you ended up starting to drink mine and then it got spilled somehow...I don't remember the details...but I had to wait for them to make a new one.

You have a limited amount of time in here, but there is so much to see! The pumpkins were added for the Dark Arts overlay. I suppose that normally it would be candles.

This was so cool and yes, its usually the floating candles.

Here’s what I assume that the tables would look like if the Dark Arts overlay wasn’t in place.

You assumed correctly or at least what it looked like in 2019!

Jill in CO

 

[franandaj]

I was glad I bought them when I did! I knew they sold out early and I didn't want to leave it to chance. We found out about the Dark Arts overlay much later but it was a really cool addition!

Yes, you were smart to book everything well in advance!

You forgot the drink drama!

Thanks for reminding me. That's why I didn't get pictures.

I grabbed a table and you went to get the drinks...they didn't have them labeled and you ended up starting to drink mine and then it got spilled somehow...I don't remember the details...but I had to wait for them to make a new one.

Story has been updated!

This was so cool and yes, its usually the floating candles.

You assumed correctly or at least what it looked like in 2019!

It wasn't a big stretch of the imagination!

 

[franandaj]

Once we left the Great Hall we could move at our own pace. This statue is the architect of Hogwarts and appeared in the Entrance Hall. (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.)

Next we came to this scene with costumes from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the Ball night when Hermione attends with Crumb.

Just look how tiny Hermione’s dress is!

I loved how Ron was the one from the big family that always got the “hand-me-downs” and he wore this god awful robe.



Since the rest of the tour was at our leisure, I'm sure that we took it much more leisurely than most everyone else. There were lots of people who were annoying me in the Great Hall and most I never saw again after the first 20-30 minutes. Other annoying people popped up as well, but they moved on quickly as I was willing to wait them out.

The floating candles were actually candles suspended by wires in the initial scenes, but the candles burnt through the wires and fell on the tables. A decision was made early on to add the candles digitally for the safety of the actors. You can read about that in this sign.

Here is a very cool effect from the Leaky Cauldron where forced perspective was used.

There were lots of cool outfits, wigs. I’m sure you potter fans recognize them.

Then the Death Eaters came out for our first time seeing them. We would see them several more times throughout the day.

All the petitions that they put on the walls of Hogwarts by Dolores Umbridge in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

Here is the set of the moving staircase.

The boys dormitory. If you watch the later movies you'll notice that the actors became too large for the beds, so they had to film them sitting up as opposed to laying down.

Costumes from the Terrific Trio (I just made that up).

The Slitherin common room was also there, but neither Jill nor I got particularly riveting pictures of it. Here is the Gryffindor common room.

The clock

This is the griffin that guards Dumbledore's office. You have to give him the password to enter.

Dumbledore's office.

Here he is with Fawkes the Phoenix.

The Tri-wizard cup

The potions room

Some portraits

Hagrid's Hut

If you remember from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1. Draco Malfoy is given the task of bewitching the cabinet in the Room of Requirement. His job is to link that cabinet to the one in Bourgin and Bourke’s in Diagon Alley. Later the Death Eaters use those linked cabinets to enter Hogwarts.

Here is the Door from the Chamber of Secrets.

And first Lupin’s then Mooney's trunks.

I’m going to take a break here. I hate to tell you but we’re not even halfway through yet!

 

[DnA2010]

This looks perfect to me! Couple bits of cheese, a lemon bar which I love, little eclair like job, a bit of fruit, nice pics @jedijill !

And some bubbles, yum!

She went with the Burrata, and I’m guessing that she pretty much ate the cheese, and maybe the hazelnuts and honey.

I think that's what I would do...I'd eat a few bites of the tomatoes...maybe...I'm working on liking raw tomato more...

she and I texted in the morning a bit before I got out of bed.

Geez if your friends would just stop texting at all hours, I tell ya!

Then I finally asked one of the workers if they had any ice. He brought me a tall glass full, so now I had my precious ice water! At least for the morning.

Heck, with that bottle, it was lasting days!

Wowzas! what a perfect little stop for you!

Such a creative way to say “When she finally shut up”

Considering we were going to be purchasing 4 bottles of wine total for the ship, that's a savings of over £8! Not a paltry sum!

not in pounds it's not! that's a decent savings!

I got a slice of flatbread

From my experience (now this is like 20 years ago though, the UK does not do pizza well

Ohh Kensington! My mom's cousin lived near Kensington station (not sure if it's this one, depends if there is more than 1 station in Kensington) and I stayed with her a couple of times when I was in the UK for a semester of University...so I possibly went through this station a bunch of times...(well that was long-winded)

Well isn't that just darling!

Ours was so short you couldn't hardly see her over the counter.

I feel ya Nonna...it's like me at wine tasting counters...they are always soooo tall

When you do the standard dinner it comes with a glass of prosecco.

Perfect!

Wild boar sausage, and pecorino cheese. In the front was a wild boar ragu

There seems to be a theme here!

Sardinian pasta shaped like giant cous cous with saffron and italian sausage.

this sounds delish! I like Italian sausage

8h slow cooked wild boar ragu.)

Theme returns...



Great updates, brings back memories of my UK time!

 

[jedijill]

I loved how Ron was the one from the big family that always got the “hand-me-downs” and he wore this god awful robe.

Poor Ron!

All the petitions that they put on the walls of Hogwarts by Dolores Umbridge in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

I'm pretty sure they had Delores Umbridge's office on display when I went in 2019 but I didn't see it this time. Proof that they are always changing things!

Fang!


Jill in CO

 

[franandaj]

This looks perfect to me! Couple bits of cheese, a lemon bar which I love, little eclair like job, a bit of fruit, nice pics @jedijill !

Perfect little snicky snack!

And some bubbles, yum!

I prefer flat.......

I think that's what I would do...I'd eat a few bites of the tomatoes...maybe...I'm working on liking raw tomato more...

I forget that you still have things in your palate that you're "working on". Jill doesn't do tomatoes unless they're in sauce.

Geez if your friends would just stop texting at all hours, I tell ya!

I know, and I've got friends in different time zones all around the world, so someone is always awake!

Heck, with that bottle, it was lasting days!

Unfortunately no....the ice was always short lived.....until the cruise!

Wowzas! what a perfect little stop for you!

It was a fun little diversion while I was waiting for Jill to arrive.

not in pounds it's not! that's a decent savings!

From my experience (now this is like 20 years ago though, the UK does not do pizza well

I wished I realized that!

Ohh Kensington! My mom's cousin lived near Kensington station (not sure if it's this one, depends if there is more than 1 station in Kensington) and I stayed with her a couple of times when I was in the UK for a semester of University...so I possibly went through this station a bunch of times...(well that was long-winded)

Who knows? I didn't have a lot of time to catch up on London geography.

Well isn't that just darling!

I feel ya Nonna...it's like me at wine tasting counters...they are always soooo tall

There seems to be a theme here!

Yes there is! I think they eat a lot of Wild Boar in Sardegna.

Great updates, brings back memories of my UK time!

 

[franandaj]

Poor Ron!

I'm pretty sure they had Delores Umbridge's office on display when I went in 2019 but I didn't see it this time. Proof that they are always changing things!

I'm sure I would have remembered that one if they had it! All the little kittens running around in the pictures and clock and such!

 

[pkondz]

Yeah, and guess what? It doesn't get much better the whole trip.

Oh dear.

Yeah, that especially because, well you know driving in LA. What could take someone 45 minutes could take 4 hours at another time of day.

Oh I know!

It's weird. I'm not a great jazz player. Licks just don't come out the end of my horn. I need music to really play. I'm getting better about that, but it's a whole learning process. I don't mind playing in front of people if I have the music in front of me, but in a situation like that I'm very self conscious.

I completely get this. I could play a simple tune on a couple instruments given some time to practice… but to just riff??? Yeah… no.

Spoiler alert. We don't! We spend the next few days eating much better food.

Opportunity lost.

So I pulled up the Venmo app, and got an error message.

A chill went down your spine.

So I began to panic because I needed to transfer that money to my bank account this week to pay some bills on the Cruise.

I told him to grab Fran's phone when he went over to feed the cats and I'd contact him in the morning as to what to do.

Good thing you figured out a backup plan.

Their original train was completely canceled so they had to scramble to catch other trains to meet up with us.

Good thing that didn’t happen the other way around. Would’ve been harder for you to figure out alternative trains.

Folks on the FB cruise group who didn't purchase their tickets in advance were complaining that they were all sold out for today.

Whoa! Good call.

For the Halloween season they had this overlay of the Dark Arts which was fun. They change up the tour periodically, add new things to keep it fresh.

Nice.

The girl behind the counter, picked up the cup, and I'm not sure how she did it, but she immediately spilled it all over the pick up counter.

Yikes.

No pictures were allowed during the pre-show, but it was incredibly well done. Disney may have taken a page from Harry Potter's pre-show at MMRR where the cinema turns into the attraction and you walk through the stage to this entrance.

Huh!

And when the doors open you are let into the great hall.

oooooohhhh

They had traditional snacks on the table. Most were plastic, but they said there were some real ones as well, and asked if we could tell them apart.

Take a bite.

Just look how tiny Hermione’s dress is!

Imagine Hagrid’s might have been bigger.

loved how Ron was the one from the big family that always got the “hand-me-downs” and he wore this god awful robe.

There were lots of people who were annoying me in the Great Hall

How so?

The floating candles were actually candles suspended by wires in the initial scenes, but the candles burnt through the wires and fell on the tables. A decision was made early on to add the candles digitally for the safety of the actors.

Makes sense.

Then the Death Eaters came out for our first time seeing them.

Brrrrr

I’m going to take a break here. I hate to tell you but we’re not even halfway through yet!

 

[DnA2010]

That bacon doesn't look like British bacon rashers, was it more like north american bacon?

We got to Watford Junction just around 10AM. Our timed entry tickets weren't until 10:30, so we had time to kill.

good thing you had that buffer built in!

These wands were a nice touch to line the walkway to the entrance.

Wow, very cool! I don't know how many I could name now

The pumpkins were added for the Dark Arts overlay. I suppose that normally it would be candles.

how fun! I I guess someone will change them overnight a la Disney

cute! did you see much which didn't look real?

Costumes from all the houses are on display.

Have you ever done one of those quiz things that shows what house you should be? I just looked up the characteristics, Maria we always thought was a Hufflepuff, and I think Dorian would be Ravenclaw, I always came out Gryffindor and I think Makenna probably would be Gryffindor as well

It's great how they had everyone there, but makes sense of course

I received good advice that if I hung around long enough until they really started to kick us out of the room then I could get some good shots without many people.

Great advise indeed! This is a super shot!


Onwards!

 

[missjackiemcg]

Folks on the FB cruise group who didn't purchase their tickets in advance were complaining that they were all sold out for today.

Well, that's what they get for not being very nice in the first place!

This is just so cool! I'm really loving all of the pictures and fun facts!

The boys dormitory. If you watch the later movies you'll notice that the actors became too large for the beds, so they had to film them sitting up as opposed to laying down.

I had never thought about that before!!! As a mom of a 6 foot tall 15 year old, I get it though!

 

[franandaj]

I completely get this. I could play a simple tune on a couple instruments given some time to practice… but to just riff??? Yeah… no.

Yeah, and that's basically going to be what you're doing standing in the middle of a store like that. It's not like you can say, "Do you have a copy of the Creston Sonata hanging around that I could look at?"

A chill went down your spine.

More like a flash of terror.

Good thing you figured out a backup plan.

Well.......

Good thing that didn’t happen the other way around. Would’ve been harder for you to figure out alternative trains.

That is very true!

Take a bite.

I'm sure I would have been reprimanded had I attempted that!

Imagine Hagrid’s might have been bigger.

Most likely.

How so?

Just they would stand in front of what I wanted to take pictures of, but I didn't want them in the picture. The really annoying ones, were not quick about it. They just stood around getting every angle. But I was patient enough to wait them out.

 

[pkondz]

Yeah, and that's basically going to be what you're doing standing in the middle of a store like that. It's not like you can say, "Do you have a copy of the Creston Sonata hanging around that I could look at?"

I’m more of a “Do you have a copy of Chopsticks hanging around that I could look at?"

More like a flash of terror.

Yup

I'm sure I would have been reprimanded had I attempted that!

Just they would stand in front of what I wanted to take pictures of, but I didn't want them in the picture. The really annoying ones, were not quick about it. They just stood around getting every angle. But I was patient enough to wait them out.

Ahh. Okay, I get that.

 

[franandaj]

That bacon doesn't look like British bacon rashers, was it more like north american bacon?

It was real British Bacon, I just chose the crispiest parts that I could find.

good thing you had that buffer built in!

Well we could have entered any time after 10:30, just not before.

Wow, very cool! I don't know how many I could name now

I don't think I would have known any of them.

how fun! I I guess someone will change them overnight a la Disney

I'm sure they will!

cute! did you see much which didn't look real?

I just assumed it was all fake.

Have you ever done one of those quiz things that shows what house you should be?

I think so, I think I got Gryffindor.

It's great how they had everyone there, but makes sense of course

And they had them in different outfits in different scenes later on too.

Great advise indeed! This is a super shot!

Thanks!

 

[franandaj]

Well, that's what they get for not being very nice in the first place!

Good one!

This is just so cool! I'm really loving all of the pictures and fun facts!

thanks!

I had never thought about that before!!! As a mom of a 6 foot tall 15 year old, I get it though!

I guess they didn't have a lot of forethought when building the original sets.