IT`S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE...COCKTAILS, STEAKS AND CAKES..11 JOLLY HOLIDAY NIGHTS @ RPR-DEC 2019

[schumigirl]

Yay! So happy to see this starting! And with Kyle there we get pictures of you and Tom together! Boy Kyle looks so grown up...I mean, he is, but like all moms I don't ever think of sons growing up!

I starting pre-ordering meals earlier this year after a miserable trip from Hamburg where I had no choices left by the time they got to my row...Never again!

crabbymom.........


It’s a little overdue......but on the way now!

Yes, I sometimes look over the dining room or kitchen table and think...when did you grow up!!! And yes, they’re always your child regardless of age.......

Virgin never offered this service before, so we’ll use it again. We’ve always been lucky in Premium as we usually get our first choice of the three hot dishes on offer, but some haven’t been as lucky as it was one of their biggest complaints.

It must be annoying though when there is only the least fav dish left, it’s usually the vegetarian option on our flights.

Good to see you here again.....look forward to chatting.......

 

[schumigirl]

Yay! It's started!!!

Kyle looks the same but different...his hair is a bit longer isn't it? I think he'll be one of those who looks young forever, a curse when you're young but it sure is nice when you're older!! The fish and chips looked yummy, the other food looks good but just not my cup of tea...

Yes, his hair was longer there.......that’s the longest he ever has it, so it was quite unusual for us to see it as long. It’s back to normal short now......when he’s clean shaven he does look so young......so he usually has some stubble.....as his mum I love him clean shaven of course.....lol......he prefers looking a little older of course.

The fish and chips were gorgeous.......

 

[SCDizFan]

Yay! Awesome travel day so far!

Yes, Leland is a really great guy and by far his official NASA photo is the coolest! He and his two rescue dogs!

 

[AprilDreamsOfDisney]

Hooray! Yay! I'm so glad it's begun!

I've been looking forward to your trip report and am thrilled to read about your travel day. How wonderful it must be to travel with Kyle, and you must enjoy him in a totally new way now that he's all grown up.

I got a laugh out of this line and could almost picture it! lol

Two sleepy heads nodding off while watching Top Gear.

My husband has been known to do this exact thing!

 

[schumigirl]

Yay! Awesome travel day so far!

Yes, Leland is a really great guy and by far his official NASA photo is the coolest! He and his two rescue dogs!

Thanks!! We did have a fun day......

Oh my, yep, that picture is so cool! And those were rescue dogs! I have an even higher opinion of the guy now.......what an amazing life he has had so far.......

 

[schumigirl]

Hooray! Yay! I'm so glad it's begun!

I've been looking forward to your trip report and am thrilled to read about your travel day. How wonderful it must be to travel with Kyle, and you must enjoy him in a totally new way now that he's all grown up.

I got a laugh out of this line and could almost picture it! lol


My husband has been known to do this exact thing!

Thanks April......glad you’re still here! Seems to be ages since I last posted an update!

lol......Tom could nod off professionally!!! I lose count how many times he puts something on and then drops off for a nap! Usually something I have no interest in..... I do have a picture of them laying on either side of the bed, eyes closed and arms folded exactly the same way.....but I promised not to use it......lol......

We get on so well together, so it’s fabulous when he comes with us, and yes, it’s a different trip when they’re adults......still wonderful though.....

 

[luvdisdogs]

So excited to see you have started this already! Looking forward to reading it and seeing pictures of Kyle with you!!!

 

[Worfiedoodles]

And you are off to a fabulous start! So nice and relaxing as you get ready for your flight the next day. Your new pre-flight hotel seems bright and cozy. It’s so fun to have all the promise of a trip ahead! Already loving your report, I can feel your building excitement

 

[Minnie17]

So happy to see my notification bell lit up! I was hoping it was for schumigirl. I just love your reports.

 

[macraven]

Woot!
I Schumi’s trip reports ....

 

[jump00]

Woohoo- the fun begins with Carole’s trip report
Love the lead up to Orlando.

Merry Christmas to you and your family☃
Brenda

 

[disneyAndi14]

The day leading up to the trip is always full of excitement and anticipation
The hotel does look lovely and I love how happy you are having Kyle along for this one!
Sounds like my husband and Jack, they love watching Top Gear and drifting off for a nap, haha!

 

[schumigirl]

So excited to see you have started this already! Looking forward to reading it and seeing pictures of Kyle with you!!!

Ah, thank you.....we loved having him there and he was very patient with the amount of picture taking we do......

 

[schumigirl]

And you are off to a fabulous start! So nice and relaxing as you get ready for your flight the next day. Your new pre-flight hotel seems bright and cozy. It’s so fun to have all the promise of a trip ahead! Already loving your report, I can feel your building excitement

Thanks Maria.....it was the most relaxing day and we do love the excitement of the day before flying......it`s a mix of wishing it was tomorrow and wishing we could make this day last longer......

 

[schumigirl]

So happy to see my notification bell lit up! I was hoping it was for schumigirl. I just love your reports.

woohoo...….good to see you!!!

Thanks so much, so kind of you to say......I hope you enjoy this one too.....we loved this trip!!!

 

[schumigirl]

Woot!
I ♥ Schumi’s trip reports ....

Awww.....thanks so much mac...….I appreciate that a lot......

And again, hope you like this one as much as the others.......

 

[schumigirl]

Woohoo- the fun begins with Carole’s trip report
Love the lead up to Orlando.

Merry Christmas to you and you family☃
Brenda

Thanks!!! Yes, the build up before the trip is one of the best times.....everything is front of you and it is so exciting!!!!

Hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas too, and always good to see you here.....

 

[schumigirl]

The day leading up to the trip is always full of excitement and anticipation
The hotel does look lovely and I love how happy you are having Kyle along for this one!
Sounds like my husband and Jack, they love watching Top Gear and drifting off for a nap, haha!

lol.....I think it`s a man thing......predominantly anyway!!

Yes, we love the day before as much as any other trip day....and yes, having Kyle along was fabulous!! This is absolutely our new favourite airport hotel.....can`t find fault with it at all

 

[schumigirl]

Dragging them away from Top Gear is never easy, especially when it`s some of the older classic episodes, where it was actually brilliant to watch. Now, not so much, we don't even watch it anymore and haven't for a long time......but we began our three mile hike to the lobby area where the Executive Lounge was situated. Most places have such a lounge close to their rooms, but this is completely different but we quite liked it where it was.

It is a pretty lounge, very understated and quiet for the times we`ve been so far. During the day we seemed to be almost the only ones in for most of the day. At one point the manager had a meeting with someone from an airline, we believe (through overhearing completely by accident ) negotiating a deal for their CC to stay there, that was interesting to listen to and I`m guessing it wasn't a completely private meeting as it was in an open lounge.

As expected it was deserted when we went in.

During the day it does seem incredibly quiet, we asked the staff and yes, this was normal, and usually got busier in the evenings once the wines and beers were available along with the appetisers on offer. The lounge was refurbished just over 18 months ago, I`m not sure if this was where it was always located, but we liked the location as it was close to the reception and restaurant areas.

The wines and beers were available from 5.30pm till 7.30 and the food was available from 5.30 till 9pm, during the day you had access to the usual variety of teas coffee, and assorted soft drinks including pepsi which I was going to have one of right now.

Kyle had a J20 drink which is orange and passion fruit flavoured and Tom had a coffee before he fancied a J20 too....then we just sat and chatted for a while. And Tom of course, took some pictures.

Even I borrowed the camera for one or two pictures...….I had brought my two ipads of which Kyle was using one, and Tom had my old ipad......so we filled our time easily as we all had internet...….keeps everyone happy!!!

The news was on the TV, and no remote control, so eventually we got fed up with the same news again and again......so I asked one of the staff if we could turn the channel.....he said he was new and would go and find someone who knew how it worked...…...

​

We never saw him again!!!!

A little later I asked another employee and said we had asked someone earlier.....he seemed to not have a clue who we meant......we began to think we had all imagined him!!!

Eventually, this second guy came back with a remote and said to put on what we liked...….well, this time of day tv sucks. There really is nothing worth watching and of course with very few channels to choose from we put on a game show that was at least a little more amusing than constant news. But, we did wonder what happened to the first guy.......

Our afternoon went quickly. Internet and chatter, before we knew where we were it was going on 5.30 and we saw the food being served.

Although we had a dinner reservation in the restaurant for 7.30 and didn't plan to use the lounge for our meal, we still fancied a nibble or two to keep us going.....so we were excited to see what was on offer.

The cheese and crackers were nice......it didn't look too overwhelming a serving and there was a fair little selection including a rather nice Brie that I did only take a tiny bit to try......I don't eat a lot of cheese, but Brie is one I do have a bit of a soft spot for.

And the main dish today in honour of it being Thanksgiving was a beautiful looking Turkey, with roast potatoes and roast parsnips which are one of my favourite veg.....no one else likes them, so I don't make them very often...….so we had to try this dish as it looked so nice.

Kyle had a piece of chocolate cake...….lol....he was starting this trip as he meant to go on........and why not, this was his vacation. And he ended up having two slices as he said it was gorgeous.....it did look incredibly rich.

The Turkey Tom and I had a little sample of was indeed beautiful......so much so we were tempted to cancel our reservation and have dinner here.....Kyle loves Turkey too, but he had been promised the lovely filet they do here and he was keeping us to that......the boy likes his steaks!!!

The potato salad however, wasn't as nice. So, we left that alone.

They do a good old spread and they had a vegetarian offering that no one seemed to touch......but I guess they have to.

The desserts apart from the chocolate cake were kind of average. We did try the pumpkin pie and a tiny bit of the cheesecake, but they weren`t for us. One bite of each was enough. But, Kyle more than made up for it with the chocolate cake!!!

We had a couple of glasses of wine of which they have the basic red and white, and it`s alright.....you just help yourself as they have the white in the fridge along with the beers, and the red choices sit on top.

A few more people joined us as we sat chatting, but it was never busy so it always felt very pleasant.

Just before 7.30 we headed through the lobby area and saw beside the tree they had set up a hot chocolate and cake stand where you could just help yourself........nice little touch.

We had liked the table last time so much we asked for it again......I did like seeing the kitchen function and I`m always amazed at the organisation in a busy kitchen...….I wouldn't have clue where to start.....how they keep track of everything I`ll never know!

Me and my boy...…..

This being his first time at this restaurant and hotel, we were very curious to hear his verdict on which place he preferred, but wouldn`t ask him just yet. We knew he loved the Radisson but hoped this would become his favourite, but he is a creature of habit!!!

As we looked over the menu we asked for some olives to pick over and ordered a bottle of wine to share, Kyle decided to stay with water.

Our waitress was the same one who looked after us in September, she was very efficient and we did like her.

We do like this restaurant, it has a little more atmosphere and is prettier than the Radisson restaurant too. We much prefer the menu here too which offers excellent steaks and a good variety of food options. We did find the other place a little limiting menu wise.

Kyle did order the filet, served medium and he got regular fries to go with it and a little peppercorn sauce which wasn`t nice at all. But he loved everything else.....and it was cooked just as he asked.

We ordered Chateaubriand between Tom and I, served medium rare...….it is 16oz and this picture makes it looks like a good sized filet!!! But, it was decent and cooked more or less as we asked......I could have had it a little more underdone, but for Tom it was perfect.

All carved for us tableside...….

It was beautiful. Ignoring the nasty peppercorn sauce of course....it seems it had brandy in it too which we had missed seeing on the menu. I usually don't mind that, but this one just wasn't good.

The chateaubriand however was delicious and I enjoyed the sweet potato fries and Tom had regular fries too......

And the bottle of wine was lovely too!!!

We all loved the meal, we were especially glad Kyle enjoyed his meal as it might affect his opinion of the hotel overall.......we so wanted him to love this hotel.....

After a little gap, we ordered dessert...…..there was no chocolate dessert, well, there was one but it had orange flavours through it so as Kyle is a purist with chocolate, that was a big no no.......so he opted for chocolate ice cream, while we went for the blackcurrant pavlova...….

He enjoyed the ice cream, and I think after two slices of cake in the lounge, it was enough I guess. We enjoyed the pavlova as it wasn`t too large, so perfect for us........

After thanking Kasia and paying our check, we headed back to the lounge where we had some tea and coffee and there were around another 8 or 9 people in by now. So, nowhere near busy.

It was nice just sitting and the lady who was I guess kind of running the lounge was very nice and did a good job of making everyone feel welcome.

I ended up having three cups of tea and Tom two coffees.....hope that wouldn't keep us awake!!! I know we were all yawning by around 10.30 so we headed up to our rooms....Kyle came into ours for a quick chat and then we said goodnight and he went next door. He sent me a txt when he arrived to look out the window......it was pure white with a hard frost!!!!! It was only the end of November!!!! It looked to be completely freezing outside.

My next task was to set alarms......I arranged a wake up call by phone, set my phone alarm and my ipad alarm......can`t remember which was going to go off first......but with them all set up we shouldn't really sleep in...…..Kyle asked me to call his room when I had gotten up, so I said I would do that. He`s such an early riser anyway, he doesn't have any issues getting out of bed.

Into bed, we watched some tv and we both rather disappointingly said we weren't tired. This didn't bode well for a good sleep.

Between being awake and excitement...….well, who needs sleep anyway......

​

Tomorrow.......we fly!!!!!

 

[NancyLuvsMickey]

What a great start to your trip!!! And I'm going to keep track of how many pieces of chocolate cake Kyle has... So far he's had 2 and he hasn't even gotten on the plane yet!!! Gotta love a kid that loves his chocolate cake!!!