Castles, Cake, and Open Road

Despite my fears of ten hours of screaming en route from New York City to Athens, Elowen was a champ on the plane! She fussed a little taking off and when it got close to landing time, but in between she passed out on either Taylor or myself. We got business class seats because they lay flat, and while pricey it turned out to be an excellent idea as far as getting some rest (for her, not for me...it was a tight squeeze).    We got our bags quick and then it was off in a taxi to the King George Hotel! We stayed there last time we were in Greece, so no pictures to share, but it's an amazing little oasis in that hot sweaty city.  Since we were going to hit Athens again at the end of the trip, we decided just to eat and rest--I had fried feta in a spicy honey sauce, a truffle mushroom risotto, and a lovely sweet syrupy-thick blackberry liquor.  Elowen also was a mini celebrity because Greeks love babies! So many people on the street stopped to coo ove...

Coming to London this year was such a different experience than last year's--since we were coming from Dublin and not from Madrid, we got to walk straight to the baggage claim and NOT stand in a three-hour customs line. It was amazing. Also much better than last year? The hotel! This year we stayed at the Sheraton Park Lane, which was on the same road as the Park Tower Knightsbridge, so it was still near all the shopping and across from Hyde Park. However, it is not a communist-style hunk of dated carpet with no noise insulation, so our room was spacious, clean, and very quiet. It was built in the 1920s and has lovely Art Deco decor. I really wanted to steal those ceramic dogs, but I restrained myself.  We also had access to the Club Lounge with its snacks--scones and clotted cream all day every day! The hotel was also very child friendly, with a whimsical Arctic-themed playroom set up. It even had video games inside.  During high tea, wh...