Can you cross the street?

Tag: airbnb

Trains, Snow and Hot Springs!
One of our favorite winter weekend trips is a train trip to Glenwood Springs!

The train conductors are always happy to pose with you. This one kept threatening to throw the kids off the train if they couldn’t produce a ticket!

The Denver train station has been recently remodeled and is gorgeous. We spent a while trying to figure out what the chandeliers must weigh but all we got was that there are 3 of them and they are 8 feet across.

Denver Train Station

Freight trains have priority so it is likely your train will be delayed at some point. Along the way you have a lot of time for playing games, drinking wine and watching the scenery. We saw big horn sheep, elk, deer and cattle. I never saw the mountain lions but the girl in front of me said she did.

Looking for mountain lions

You have a reserved seat and it’s much, much roomier than an airplane seat. It reclines and has tons of leg room. You can also get up and walk around any time, look for a seat in the observation car or grab a snack from the snack car. You can also have meals in the dining car. You need to make a reservation and it’s a bit pricey. The woman in front of us was a bit annoyed at her little kids for not eating their $45 macaroni and cheese meal. I assume the price was for all 3 of them!

Observation car – first come, first serve

On Saturday afternoon the observation car got a bit rowdy. Lots of drinking going on and lots of happy people saying lots of “bad words” as the kids pointed out.

The hot springs at Glenwood are gorgeous in the winter. We went at night with lots of steam and big snow flakes falling on our head. The big pool is 91 degrees and the smaller (but still huge) pool is 104 degrees.

Glenwood Hot Springs at night

There are lots of hotels in Glenwood Springs. Several very nice, historic hotels are right in town by the hot springs. We stayed at an Airbnb. It was nice (with a wild boar skin on the wall!) and would have been great for one family. A bit crowded with two families.

The kitchen in our Airbnb.

Last time we went up, we also took advantage of the snow to get in some sledding.

It was a long walk up but the ride down was worth it!

Sometimes you couldn’t tell if it was laughter or tears …

But everyone had a blast! A chilly blast.

If you go:
- Book your tickets in advance at Amtrak.com. You want upper level tickets. The sooner you book, the better. Amtrak offers 100% refunds up until departure (so you can change your mind any time) and the tickets get more expensive as the train fills up. If you book enough in advance, tickets are $86 roundtrip. Kids are 50% off. The ride is about 6 hours each way, depends on the freight trains.
- Book your housing.
  - The hotels nearby are the Glenwood Springs Lodge (which comes with free entry to the hot springs), Hotel Denver (right in town, great location) and Hotel Colorado.
  - Or you can book an Airbnb.
  - If you don’t mind walking a bit, there are several more hotels within a decent walk, like the Best Western and the Hampton Inn.
- The morning of, drive to the Denver Amtrak station. You can park your car in the garage just to the north of the station. We paid $15 for the weekend.
- Be sure to visit the Glenwood Hot Springs. It’s $16 for adults in the winter. $12 for kids.
- What to take:
  - Drinks and snacks for the train. (You can buy food on the train and you can drink alcohol on the train.)
  - Books & games to play on the train.
  - Swim suit for the hot springs.
  - Lots of warm clothing!
Except for The Hotel Denver, the hotels are all across the river from the town and most of the restaurants.
by
November 21, 2014
Life in the Big Smoke

I just spent a week in London, nicknamed the Big Smoke. In the 1950’s, the smog would make visibility so bad that cars couldn’t even drive, as Jennifer Worth describes in Call the Midwife. But London these days is beautiful, sunny and clear. The city made a big effort to clean things up and the Thames is thriving with fish, birds and other wildlife as the city thrives with people!

I stayed right in Covent Garden in a cute studio that I rented through Airbnb. (Here’s a $25 Airbnb coupon.) If you want to be some place close to all the restaurants, theaters, nightlife and main tourist attractions, it was a great location. It felt like I was in the London of all the stories and movies.

Speaking of great location, there were lots of dine in and take out options. If you get take out from a restaurant, it’s called “take away”. I recommend Food for Thought. I was a bit disappointed when they handed me a small styrofoam container but the vegetable ragout was awesome.

This courtyard was right around the corner from my Airbnb. It’s called Neal’s Yard.

This courtyard was right around the corner from my AirBnb.

My Airbnb was also on a courtyard which made it quiet at night. If you are going to stay in this part of London and you don’t plan to stay out late visiting all the cute little pubs, I’d recommend finding a quiet place. Coming back at night I felt safe walking back to my room – I just had trouble in some streets getting through the crowds that were standing around drinking outside of the pubs! In the US we can’t drink in the street, so it looked a bit strange to have large crowds of people standing around with pints of beer. I was glad my apartment on an inner courtyard and not over one of the pubs.

You definitely don’t want to drive in London – and you don’t need to. The Tube was great and takes you every where you need to go very quickly.

Driving a garbage truck in London would be no fun.

Covent Garden is a good home base for a London visit. Close to the Leicester Square (pronounced “Luster”), theaters and restaurants.
by

November 1, 2014

Tag: airbnb

Trains, Snow and Hot Springs!

Life in the Big Smoke