RTW in F/J - Hand Carry Only - Iceland, Finland, Washington and a few other places

[WilsonM]

A quick update before brekkie:

Dinner last night was at Sketch: The Lecture Room, a 3 Michelin Star restaurant in London. Menu and wine pairing below:
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View attachment 408897

The food and pairings were delicious and the service exactly what you'd expect from a 3* restaurant. I do have pictures but AFF doesn't make it easy to upload and manipulate them to make them presentable so I might have to come back to that one. By the end of it though I was starting to hit a bit of a wall, largely due to fatigue - I think I'd been up at this point for almost 24hrs, having effectively gone back in time since leaving Singapore.

Plan for today is a Full English Breakfast in the dining room at the VSC, followed by a tube trip to the Imperial War Museum. Then, at 1400 I've booked in for a package tour of Buckingham Palace which includes the Royal Portraits: A Century of Photography at the King's Gallery, a tour of the Royal Mews and a tour of the Palace itself. This is apparently the last day that the tour runs as it is only available seasonally - so very fortuitous timing!

After that is a good old fashioned pub crawl with some UK people I've worked with - they very kindly have offered to train it into London from across the UK. I need to make sure I don't get too sauced, as it's an earlyish (0800) flight to Reykjavik tomorrow morning to kick off the Iceland part of my trip - and I might meet a few familiar faces on the way!

Enjoy the IWM of course, but honestly apart from the BL15's out the front I found it a bit light on detail - I reckon it focused on the general public compared to something as in depth as the British Museum - keen to hear your thoughts!

Nothing like a full english to get going - you might be better off getting breakfast prior to your flight - I haven't heard steller things about the dining at BA's T5 lounges

 

[Sprucegoose]

Plan for today is a Full English Breakfast in the dining room at the VSC,

That's a rite of passage there; they take it very seriously. Did you get the Black Pudding?

Royal Portraits: A Century of Photography at the King's Gallery, a tour of the Royal Mews and a tour of the Palace itself.

A brilliant day for all monarchists!

Do you recommend accommodation at the VSC?

 

[Sprucegoose]

Enjoy the IWM of course, but honestly apart from the BL15's out the front I found it a bit light on detail - I reckon it focused on the general public compared to something as in depth as the British Museum

That is most probably the case. The narrators I have spoken to focus on personal stories and broader narratives for wider general appeal. You can't beat the IWM for oral history and as an excellent research platform.

 

[DC3]

That's a rite of passage there; they take it very seriously. Did you get the Black Pudding?

And make sure it contains plenty of pig’s blood for authenticity.

 

[PrezRegan]

Enjoy the IWM of course, but honestly apart from the BL15's out the front I found it a bit light on detail - I reckon it focused on the general public compared to something as in depth as the British Museum - keen to hear your thoughts!

Nothing like a full english to get going - you might be better off getting breakfast prior to your flight - I haven't heard steller things about the dining at BA's T5 lounges

The IWM was definitely interesting but i agree that it seems to be a bit light on detail, which I suppose it has to be given it tries to cover the entire sweep of WWII. It does have some interesting mementos like the pen used to sign the armistice imposed between Germany and France, and a few other things. Basically a large part of the museum seems dedicated to WWII and a little on WWI but doesn't touch on anything before such as the Boer War or earlier.

There's also a holocaust exhibition which seemed a bit odd as it doesn't have much to do with Britain. It had an interesting coverage of the road to war from Germany's point of view, detailing the rise of Hitler, naz_sm etc., and it did cover the ghettos, the SS, the concentration camps and so forth. It was good content but again, not sure of its relevance to British military history.

The "psychology of war" exhibition was a bit average, seemed to go over a lot of the generic road to WWII stuff and not as much on the in depth psychology part such as mirall injury, psychology of violence, coping with returning home, propaganda etc. there were a few individual exhibits that touched on that topic but not very detailed. There is a new exhibition coming on drone warfare which would've been very cool to see. It seems pitched at high school level and a bit 2D in its examination.

My biggest gripe is that the museum seems to gloss over the more recent conflicts. There's only a few items on the Falkland War and the Troubles, which are two very interesting periods I wanted to know more about as they are uniquely British. There was also not much on Afghanistan or Iraq, besides a few individual things in the psychology of war. I honestly think the AWM back home does a better job but it's got a lot more space to play with.

There is a hall of valour similar to the AWM's VC Display but is again a little limited with not much info on the individuals. Admittedly they have a lot more history and people to cover.

Overall, it was worth going to and definitely lots to see but a bit disappointed it didn't cover more contemporary stuff like the AWM does.

 

[PrezRegan]

That's a rite of passage there; they take it very seriously. Did you get the Black Pudding?


A brilliant day for all monarchists!

Do you recommend accommodation at the VSC?

I did get black pudding! I do like it. The fried bread was... interesting, it's literally just toast that's fried. Can't see the appeal tbh, it's just greasy.


I would stay at the VSC again but a caveat to the general audience that accommodation or even access is only available for members and their guests. Given the location and price it's excellent value for a solo traveller and they do have nicer rooms I'd you're not travelling solo.

 

[PrezRegan]

@Sprucegoose I can confirm the gift store at the portrait gallery is a monarchists wet dream, I've never seen so much monarch related memorabilia in my life

 

[VPS]

I did get black pudding! I do like it. The fried bread was... interesting, it's literally just toast that's fried. Can't see the appeal tbh, it's just greasy.


I would stay at the VSC again but a caveat to the general audience that accommodation or even access is only available for members and their guests. Given the location and price it's excellent value for a solo traveller and they do have nicer rooms I'd you're not travelling solo.

Can a member book it for someone else or does it have to be the member travelling

 

[PrezRegan]

Can a member book it for someone else or does it have to be the member travelling

Yes a member can book for someone else without having to be travelling with them.

 

[PrezRegan]

After the visit to the IWM I went to Buckingham Palace for a ‘behind the scenes’ tour of the Royal Mews (where the stables are), the portrait gallery and the palace. Except in the mews and in the Palace gardens, photography was prohibited so unfortunately I don’t have anything except for pictures of some state carriages.

Overall, the tour was alright, you’re provided audio guides at location and the info provided is quite good. The portrait gallery is ok, with photographs of members of the royal family over the last century or so, and explanations about the photographers, their work, and a bit of history on some of the more famous photos. The Mews were interesting to visit, they do offer guided tours on the hour and it is interesting to learn more about the carriages, their history and design. By far the most interesting and also the busiest location was the Palace. The tour takes you through all the staterooms which are used day-to-day and the audio guide highlights some of the more interesting pieces of art and design.

After the tour, I caught up with a few UK mates for a pub tour. It was a lot of fun and we wandered throughout a large part of London and passed a few tourist attractions such as Big Ben and the London Eye.

A pint is about $12, but apparently that’s pretty normal for London. I had a Scotch egg at the first pub we went to and it was delicious! Definitely something I wish was easier to find back in Australia.


This morning started at 0500 with check out from the VSC. A wet and dreary morning, I was still sad to go because there was still so much left to see in London. Ah well, looks like I’ll have to go back again! To save time getting to the airport I used a rideshare app – Uber was 85 GBP and Bolt was 38 GBP but that’s a pretty big (and expensive) price difference! I imagine a taxi would have been even more.

On arrival at LHR Terminal 5, I made use of the First Class check-in as a OWE member at the end of the terminal. On check-in I was reminded that I’d have to get a train to where my plane was departing from, which was good to know because I would not have expected that at all! Gate B39 was in its own separate area, with another lounge as well. The LHR First check-in area also It has its own security checkpoint which leads straight to the Galleries First Lounge, so its super convenient. Despite the early hour, the lounge was quite busy and I wasn’t able to get many photos, but I did find a quiet room which was quite well hidden and out of the way.


In terms of dining, there was a buffet which does a full English breakfast (including black pudding), as well as machine coffee, fruit, juice etc. I did notice a champagne bar but didn’t have enough time to check it out as I wanted to leave ample time to get the train to the other concourse.


The process of transferring across was smooth and straightforward. On arrival, I went straight to the gate and discovered it hadn’t opened yet, so I backtracked and went to check out the business lounge there. It was much quieter, and quite spacious with views of the apron on both sides. I only had enough time to grab a quick drink before the signs indicated that boarding had commenced so I went back.

Behind me in this picture is what I think is a Rosé bar. There definitely seemed to be a Rosé theme going on here with lots of random pink furniture and centrepieces like the one in front. There is actually a magnum of Rosé in this picture between the two bouquets.

 

[PrezRegan]

BA800
LHR-KEF
07:48-09:52 dur 3h 4m
A320neo, seat 2F

BA ruthlessly enforces group boarding (yay), and I saw some people turned back when they were still only boarding groups 1-4. Qantas take heed!

The A320neo has heaps of space in the storage bins, which is excellent for me. As many of you are probably aware, BA short-haul J is what is colloquially referred to as “Euro-Business” and features standard economy seats with the middle seat blocked, as well as Business style catering. Honestly, the only potential gripe I had was the seat pitch was quite tight, particularly when the person in front of me reclined his seat back. However, the food was surprisingly good, better than QF. Service was prompt and the attendants moved up and down the business cabin regularly.



I had the omelet and it was quite nice. The egg was moist, the croissant was warm and fluffy. Probably one of the nicer aeroplane breakfasts I've had! Otherwise, it was a short and quite uneventful flight. I had a nap after the meal service but I don’t think any snacks were offered later.


We approached KEF from the south and got some stunning views of Iceland.


Touchdown and disembarkation was smooth and there was no line at all at immigration. KEF airport is quite busy, largely I think because of its small size. Whereas most airports try and segregate arrivals and departures, going straight from immigration to baggage collection, here immigration leads back on to the general terminal so you could then board another flight straight away or turn around immediately. You then have to go all the way through the terminal, past all the gates and the queueing passengers, to then get to baggage collection and the exit.

Despite this, it was still a quick process and I was out of the airport by 1000. Unfortunately, the tour company I had booked the next 4 days of activities informed me that my transfer from the airport to the Blue Lagoon wasn’t until 1230 and there were only 2 transfers a day from the airport – 1230 and 1630. So with nothing else to do, I turned around and went back into the airport where I located the one café in the departures hall (which is packed) and parked myself in anticipation of 2 hrs to kill.

And that, dear reader, is what I am still currently doing as you read this. Only 50 minutes left!

 

[Lat34]

BA800
LHR-KEF
07:48-09:52 dur 3h 4m
A320neo, seat 2F

BA ruthlessly enforces group boarding (yay), and I saw some people turned back when they were still only boarding groups 1-4. Qantas take heed!

The A320neo has heaps of space in the storage bins, which is excellent for me. As many of you are probably aware, BA short-haul J is what is colloquially referred to as “Euro-Business” and features standard economy seats with the middle seat blocked, as well as Business style catering. Honestly, the only potential gripe I had was the seat pitch was quite tight, particularly when the person in front of me reclined his seat back. However, the food was surprisingly good, better than QF. Service was prompt and the attendants moved up and down the business cabin regularly.
View attachment 409045View attachment 409048


I had the omelet and it was quite nice. The egg was moist, the croissant was warm and fluffy. Probably one of the nicer aeroplane breakfasts I've had! Otherwise, it was a short and quite uneventful flight. I had a nap after the meal service but I don’t think any snacks were offered later.
View attachment 409047

We approached KEF from the south and got some stunning views of Iceland.
View attachment 409046

Touchdown and disembarkation was smooth and there was no line at all at immigration. KEF airport is quite busy, largely I think because of its small size. Whereas most airports try and segregate arrivals and departures, going straight from immigration to baggage collection, here immigration leads back on to the general terminal so you could then board another flight straight away or turn around immediately. You then have to go all the way through the terminal, past all the gates and the queueing passengers, to then get to baggage collection and the exit.

Despite this, it was still a quick process and I was out of the airport by 1000. Unfortunately, the tour company I had booked the next 4 days of activities informed me that my transfer from the airport to the Blue Lagoon wasn’t until 1230 and there were only 2 transfers a day from the airport – 1230 and 1630. So with nothing else to do, I turned around and went back into the airport where I located the one café in the departures hall (which is packed) and parked myself in anticipation of 2 hrs to kill.

And that, dear reader, is what I am still currently doing as you read this. Only 50 minutes left!

If you like playing golf… Iceland has more than 60 courses (15 are 18 hole courses) and all are available to visitors. "Funnest" course we saw was on Heimaey island in the Westman Islands group.

 

[Happy Dude]

Hope you are playing golf in Iceland… more than 60 courses (15 are 18 hole courses) and all are available to visitors. "Funnest" course we saw was on Heimaey island in the Westman Islands group.

Never thought of Iceland as a golf destination. Any info, intel etc? Some of us add a few notes here for interesting courses, golf-related travel/chat etc.

Golf and golf equipment

Hello fellow golfers. I know that @JohnK and @theblank are other keen golfers on AFF and I’m sure there are more. I thought the idea of a thread which can contain consolidated golf travel related information might be useful. Things such as: - any recommendations for playing in city xx_ -...

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