Category Archives: 2) Frequent Destinations

Wow and Norwegian airlines flights to london – cheaper?

This from airfarewatchdog on cheaper flight options to london:

How to Save: The big trick that will help in 2014 is finding affordable airfare; other than accommodations, this is going to be your largest expense. With new low-cost transatlantic airlines like Norwegian and WOW promising to undercut major carriers’ prices in the coming year, it will likely be easier to pick up an affordable plane ticket to the British capital this spring and summer.

WOW Air, the new Icelandic low-fare airline, announced it would start flying between Boston and London/Gatwick this spring. Similar to Icelandair’s long-term flying pattern, flights will be via Reykjavik: leaving Boston in the evening and arriving in London the following morning, with the morning departure, afternoon arrival reverse pattern.

So far, WOW hasn’t announced anything about Iceland stopovers, but I’ll be very surprised if the line doesn’t offer stopover packages.

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Flights will be in A320s, at a slightly below-average 30- to 31-inch pitch but average or better width. Although the airline is single class, you can reserve the extra-room exit-row seats and even guarantee an empty middle seat by paying extra.

Fares aren’t available yet, but the fare pattern will almost surely continue the carrier’s policy of offering very low fares to early buyers on at least some dates. Currently, for example, fares from London to Reykjavik are as low as £98 each way (about $157), including the onerous British passenger duty and a £6 “payment fee.” The only surprise is a very stiff charge of £19 for one checked bag.

Whether WOW flights will appeal to U.S. and Canadian travelers depends on one main factor: Will the fares be low enough to offset the increased flight time (compared to nonstops) and the hassle of an overnight stop? Back in the regulated days, low fares on Loftledir, the precursor to Icelandic, got a lot of budget travelers to accept those conditions, and many of them opted for a quick Iceland stopover. WOW seems to be hoping to replicate that formula.

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Filed under airline fees, England and U.K.

Check out the Drake University Chamber Choir – in Des Moines and England!

The Drake University Chamber Choir performs at St. Martin-in-the-Fields in 2010.

The Drake University Chamber Choir performs at St. Martin-in-the-Fields in 2010.

For my music-loving friends in London, here’s a treat from Des Moines – Drake University’s Chamber Choir will perform free concerts at St. Paul’s Cathedral at 5 p.m. Jan. 20 and at St. Martin-in-the-fields (Trafalgar Square) at 1 p.m. Jan. 21,  as well as at Oxford and Cambridge during a 12-day concert tour January 10-22. These are some of the talented vocal students that my choir, the Drake University Community Chorus, sings with during our semester concerts. Closer to home (in Des Moines) the chamber choir will perform a free concert on Thursday Jan. 9 at 7:30 at Grace United Methodist Church. Here’s the scoop on the England tour from the Register: Drake choir to kick off series

While in England, the choir will to sing in the cathedrals of Gloucester, Coventry, and Ely, at both Cambridge and Oxford (St. John’s College Chapel, Cambridge; Merton College Chapel, Oxford), St. Martin-in-the-Fields and St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, and at Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon, and St. Nicholas Church in Witham.  The Chamber Choir was selected by the American Embassy in London to inaugurate its new series at St. Martin-in-the-Fields.

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Filed under Des Moines, England and U.K., music

Super duper super 8 in Le Claire

My husband warns that we haven’t yet heard the truck drivers likely to be partying here tonight, but so far I am liking this Super 8 in this eastern Iowa Mississippi River town. I do have to admit that my thumbs up may be colored by the relief I feel at no longer being on Interstate 80 driving in the dark through a “wintery mix,” with trucks zooming past us, their tires flinging rain, ice, snow onto our windshield. This Super 8 seems pretty new. It’s clean, the bed is firm with ok linens, there’s s big flat screen tv (we are watching a Seinfeld episode so old that George has hair. sort of.)

Anyway, we didn’t hit bad weather until after our delicious middle eastern dinner at Oasis in Iowa City and with any luck we won’t encounter much more during the duration of our trip to Chicago.

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Filed under Iowa, Iowa City

Spectacular photos by Howard Buffett – visit World Food Prize hdqters in Des Moines

I’ve heard great things about Buffett’s photos and about this building, which I last visited when it was the Des Moines Public Library! I’ll be there Dec. 21!

You Are Invited…

You are invited to join us at the World Food Prize Hall of Laureates on Saturday, Dec. 14, and Saturday, Dec. 21, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. for our Holiday Open House. Come and hear the spectacular acoustics in this historic building, and explore our world through photos.

There will be a live performance of seasonal Christmas music by the Grace Church Ensemble, as well as the opportunity to tour our new 40 Chances: Finding Hope in a Hungry World international photography exhibit by Howard G. Buffett. These two elements will bring us together around an important theme at this time of year, to unite us all in the spirit of alleviating hunger that is still experienced by so many in the world.

Please share this invitation with all of your friends, colleagues, family members, and other community members and encourage them to join us. There is no admission charge and it is a wonderful opportunity to experience our beautiful building during this special time of year. We hope to see you there.

Please visit www.worldfoodprize.org/visit for directions and more details.

The World Food Prize
100 Locust Street
Des Moines, Iowa 50309

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Filed under Des Moines

A good Vietnamese restaurant in Des Moines

Cover Photo
TNT Vietnamese Restaurant - Des Moines, IA

TNT Vietnamese Restaurant

Be still my beating heart – I think I may have found a good Vietnamese restaurant in Des Moines!! I tried the TNT Vietnamese Restaurant in the Harding Hills Shopping Center off  MLK Parkway and my main gauge – a dish I try at every Vietnamese restaurant, a noodle and lettuce salad called Bun with eggroll and sliced pork – was excellent. The eggroll was crispy and nicely seasoned. The meat tasted like real meat, had the texture of real meat and was crispy and juicy at the same time, if that’s possible. Nice lightly BBQ flavor too. A nice touch that I’ve never seen before on this dish (and trust me, I’ve tried it at a half dozen Vietnamese restaurants) was a little pile of what appeared to be crispy toasted onion bits. Sweet! My companion’s Pho (a traditional broth with noodle and meat) also had a good flavor and beef that tasted like real beef. Bravo! Alas, the atmosphere of the place is pretty spartan – making it more a lunch than a dinner or festive occasion option.

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Filed under Des Moines, DINING

Visiting famous Forest Hills (Queens NY) – a sentimental favorite for me!

A black and white image of four men are standing in front of a crowd of people at the bottom of an aeroplane staircase.

[The Beatles arrive at John F. Kennedy International Airport, 7 February 1964]

I have a particular soft spot for the Queens (NY) neighborhood of Forest Hills because 1) My dear college friend Myra grew up there and I visited her family’s apartment often, spending time with her warm generous parents and sibs 2) My parents spent the first night of their honeymoon at the Forest Hills Inn (see photo below).

[A view down Queens Boulevard, near its intersection with Yellowstone Boulevard in Forest Hills.]

So it was fun to return briefly last Sunday with Myra as well as my son and husband who were relative newcomers to Forest Hills. (Once a fan of the HBO show “Entourage,” my son did wear a “Queens Boulevard” t-shirt inspired by the show until it was in tatters.) We did a quick tour of the fancy part of town with its English-village Tudor-style brick buildings (my friend lived elsewhere, in a high-rise overlooking 12-lane Queens Boulevard, although she admits she didn’t always correct people who assumed she lived in the fancy part) including the Inn and the famous West Side Tennis Club where the U.S. Open was held between 1915-1920 and 1924-1978 (As a kid, I attended a few times there…in the 1970’s, not the early 1900’s.) I also found out for the first time that Myra SAW THE BEATLES !!! at the tennis club when she was all of 7 years old with her older brother. Her biggest memory is of swarms of girls crying outside the venue. When she asked her mother why they were crying, her wise mum replied “Because the Beatles have to go back to England.”

The main characters of Entourage.

We also ate some good appetizers at Agora, a local Greek restaurant, that got a shout out in a recent travel story about Forest Hills. See: Forest Hills is a Gorgeous Queens Neighborhoodnoahthanksgivingphoto2013toprint

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Filed under New York City

NYLO NYC a real find

NYLO Hotels - 4300 Marsh Ridge Road, Suite 110 Carrollton, TX 75010I knew the NYLO hotel on NYC’s Upper West Side passed muster when I got a thumbs up email from my brother, who also decided to stay there and had arrived at his room before we did. The hotel turned out to be a real find, especially for $120 a night ($151 with tax). The room was small, as expected, but well appointed, huge bed, comfortable linens, edgy but not  too edgy furniture, art, light fixtures, clean and streamlined bathroom. Not too noisy at night even though we ended up with a room overlooking Broadway when I had asked for a presumably quieter interior room (my brother’s room got no traffic noise). I found out NYLO stands for New York Loft and the Texas-based hotel chain has outposts in Texas, Warwick (near Providence) (RI) and soon Nyack (NY). Good to know!

Catering

Remarkably, the restaurant my uncle had chosen for dinner turned out to be connected to the hotel. It’s called Serefina and it had good affordable Italian food (I had good bolognese, pizza etc). Monday morning we went for coffee and pastries to Irving Farm, a little basement cafe on 79th just south of Broadway (there are several other Manhattan locations). After a quick visit to Zabars for bagels to take home to Iowa (I still miss H&H bagels) we walked across the park to meet my aunt at PJ Bernstein, a good deli on third ave near 71st street (that’s their cheese/meat plate above).

Our flight home from Newark went well despite a few stressful moments when we inadvertently left the subway station at 34th street and had to figure out where Penn Station was – above ground – and drag our suitcases through throngs of people at 5 p.m. At the airport, we somehow ended up again in the TSA pre-screened category but it didn’t make much difference this time around. We still had to stand in the same long line and take out our stuff and even take off our shoes (hrrummphhh). A guy in line ahead of me said that TSA pre-screened only really produces perks at Newark if you’re passing through  Terminal C (we were in Terminal A). Whatever…I was just happy we made it to Newark with ample time to catch our flight – and it left on time and we got home on time! Love that direct flight!

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Filed under air security, DINING, New York City, Rhode Island, Texas

Obligatory movie star sighting already accomplished and not yet in NYC

CAught sight of Naomi watts, Lieb Schreiber and their two tow headed boys looking about as harried as we did this morning in the Newark airport. Keeping it real! Our direct flight from Des Moines went without a hitch. For some reason, d and I were given “TSA preselect” status so we jumped the queue at security, didn’t even have to take off our shoes or take out our liquids. Woohoo. I am usually the person randomly selected for a pat down so nice change. So far so good traveling on thanksgiving day.

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Filed under New York City, Uncategorized

Last minute scramble for a hotel room in NYC – argh

NYLO Hotels - 4300 Marsh Ridge Road, Suite 110 Carrollton, TX 75010So my carefully laid plans have collapsed (twice….long story) and I’m now scrambling to find a hotel room in NYC’s Upper West side the Sunday after thanksgiving – as in this Sunday night. Not my favorite position to be in but at least it’s not the Thursday of Thanksgiving (let’s hope that plan doesn’t collapse…) I’ve stumbled upon the NYLO hotel at 77th and Broadway which is surprisingly affordable ($150 including tax) but the affordability has me a little suspicious. I’ve looked it up on Trip advisor and Yelp, for what that’s worth and I’ve tried to find out if it’s listed on any recent bed bug reports and so far nothing alarming has cropped up so guess we’ll give it a go. It’s only for one night (famous last words)…. (What does NYLO stand for?)

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Filed under LODGING, New York City

when next in Omaha/council bluffs …where to eat

State of Nebraska
Flag of Nebraska State seal of Nebraska
Flag Seal
Nickname(s): Cornhusker State
Motto(s): Equality Before the Law
Map of the United States with Nebraska highlighted
Official language English
Demonym Nebraskan

Will Forte, a star of the new film “Nebraska” had some interesting restaurant suggestions  after shooting the film in Omaha. So for the record, he told the NYTimes he liked The Boiler Room in Omaha and Dixie Quicks for breakfast in Council Bluffs. He liked staying at the Magnolia Hotel in Omaha and also recommended the Occidental Hotel in buffalo, Wyoming which we also liked when we stayed there (it is supposedly where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid stayed when in town…Will didn’t mention another good place in Buffalo…Tom’s Main Street Diner on, you guessed it, Main Street.

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Filed under DINING, Iowa, LODGING, Omaha, Wyoming