In order to help me overcome my fear of flying I turned to my friend David O’Reilly, self-professed plane spotter, to help me better understand what was going on behind the scenes of a commercial flight.  David will be doing a 3 part blog series educating us on planes and imparting his passion for air travel.

By David O’Reilly:

Like many investment bankers, I fly many times each year, usually on short haul European flights from Heathrow, Gatwick or City airport to destinations in the EU (as well as an occasional long haul flight to North America from Heathrow 2-3 times a year). After the emergency landing of BA flight 38 from Beijing just short of Heathrow airport’s runway in January 2008, I was hit by a series of emotions.  Initially I was overcome with relief that no one was killed or wounded for life.  Then my next reaction was a day dreamy, schoolboy-like hero worship sense of admiration for the pilot, co-pilot and cabin staff who were on that flight.  (Note – If there is any airline that you want to be with in an emergency, it is BA. Many of their flight crew are former Royal Air Force pilots). After this admiration phase passed, I got down to some deep thinking about air travel and the fact that I am up on a plane every fortnight on average during a typical year, when you factor in business travel and personal travel.

BA Hero pilots of crashed flight BA38 - Capt Peter Burkill and Senior First Officer John Coward (ironic surname) courtesy of Daily Mail

Air travel is as amazing (and potentially dangerous) as space flight, but we step on and off jets each week for personal and business trips completely nonchalant in today’s world. When I started to think about how often I have to fly and what that meant, I realised that it is similar to taking a space flight every two weeks without wearing a space suit! We just don’t think of it that way because airplane cabins are designed to feel like comfortable hotel lounges (except Ryanair, obviously) and we are surrounded by multiple distractions that are designed to take our mind off where we are (such as  duty free shopping, in flight entertainment, even showers now for first class passengers in the Airbus A380!). Many of these trappings are there on purpose to take our minds off the fact that there is a super cold, hostile environment outside the cabin at 35,000 feet – there is also no air to breathe at that altitude! This is why your cabin needs to be pressurized.

Having never really contemplated weightier matters than how much free drink was available and what the movie selection was going to be on my next flight, I began taking a closer interest in the airlines I flew with and the planes I travelled on. How much did I know about the planes I was on? How much did I know about the different airlines I was flying with? If I am putting myself into someone else’s hands every two weeks and trusting them with my life, shouldn’t I know more about what is going on behind the scenes, the same way I would want to get to know a doctor who was operating on me or the same way that I would check out a hospital or clinic before I checked myself in for a major course of treatment?  I began to get “under the hood” a little bit and to understand what was happening around me each time I flew somewhere.

Some of the many distractions for passengers flying first class on BA

I decided that I would start to invest a little bit of my spare time each week in building up my knowledge of commercial aviation. This wasn’t a difficult decision. Since a young age I was a self-confessed plane spotter and I proudly come out of the plane spotting closet years ago (all of my friends were delighted – both of them). I decided that if I knew as much as possible about the routines pilots go through, the way air traffic is managed from ground controllers, the different noises I heard during the flight, I would enjoy flying much more. I began making notes before, during and after several flights around Europe and the US about what was happening around me in the aircraft and what was really going on each time I flew with an airline.

What did David find out?  Stay tuned to his next instalment where David explains the mystery behind runway numbers and laments the passing of the powerful “flying pencil” Boeing 757 from BA’s London fleet.

About the author

David O’Reilly has worked in London since 2003 as a corporate finance advisor to European technology and media corporate clients. He lives in Kew Gardens in London. His favourite past time is settling back in his BA Club World seat with a glass of wine and day dreaming out of the window.

Madonna di Campiglio was voted most posh ski resort in Italy last year according to La Repubblica, one of the largest newspapers on Italy. They based their data on an index created by TripAdvisor which considered the average price of certain things in each of the top ski areas. I was pretty surprised to learn this since I thought that Cortina d’Ampezzo would have been the reigning champion. So it was good timing that I visited over New Year’s this year.

The skiing was absolutely amazing. With just 1 ski pass you can access both the trails of Madonna di Campiglio and Folgarida Marilleva which comprises 7 peaks, 47 lifts, and 68 trails which comprise 150km (93 miles). Our Hotel Miramonti was just in front of the trail called 3-Tre (translation: three three) where many famous skiers such as Alberto Tomba have won world cup races.

Madonna di Campiglio was voted most posh ski resort in Italy last year according to La Repubblica, one of the largest newspapers on Italy. They based their data on an index created by TripAdvisor which considered the average price of certain things in each of the top ski areas. I was pretty surprised to learn this since I thought that Cortina d’Ampezzo would have been the reigning champion. So it was good timing that I visited over New Year’s this year.

The skiing was absolutely amazing. With just 1 ski pass you can access both the trails of Madonna di Campiglio and Folgarida Marilleva which comprises 7 peaks, 47 lifts, and 68 trails which comprise 150km (93 miles). Our Hotel Miramonti was just in front of the trail called 3-Tre (translation: three three) where many famous skiers such as Alberto Tomba have won world cup races.

Apart from the skiing, the après ski is just as good as the actual skiing. One colleague told me after I recommended the place to him that he might go to Madonna di Campiglio just to eat. Forget skiing!

Although Madonna di Campiglio is very rustic and wild, the fashion looks like it just came off the runway in Milan. The well dressed urbanites make the 4 hour drive (without traffic or all day if there is traffic) all the way from Milan at lot of them it would seem just to be seen. Some of the fashion is gorgeous some of it is tacky like they put on every single expensive thing they owned all in one outfit. Either they did just that, or they have bad taste, it was a mystery to me.

For more information on places to visit in Madonna di Campiglio click here for the full blog series.

Amuse-bouche at the Stube Hermitage

I had the best New Years Day meal at the Stube Hermitage gourmet restaurant in Madonna di Campiglio.  The restaurant boasts 1 Michelin star and the views are as spectacular as the cuisine served up by Paola Cappuccio.

My Agnoli Farciti (stuffed Agnoli pasta)

Stube Hermitage is located inside the Bio-hotel Hermitage which can boast the “bio-hotel” label because it was completely renovated in 1999 to meet the bio-architecture standards.  Good hotel, good restaurant, good standards all around.

My travel companion's straccetti con ragu - even better

The dining room is light and airy, pale furniture, and white table cloths make the spectacular panorama the main feature of the room.  The cuisine is both traditional yet modern, a difficult balance, with ingredients sourced as locally as possible.

The backdrop for our dining experience

We were first presented with an amuse bouche of shrimp, apple, and fois gras.  My travel companion out ordered me on both the starters and the mains.  For both courses we decided to share and swap plates half way through.  I’m a little ashamed that my travel companion chose better than me.

My costoletta di vitello (veal scallopini)

For starters we had a lovely stuffed pasta called Agnoli which were surprisingly purple in color (chosen by me).  We also had triangle shaped pasta called straccetti which had the most gorgeous ragu (chosen by him).

My travel companion's stinchetto di vitello (not sure of the translation but the veal was gorgeous!)

Then although a specialty of Milan and not the Trentino region, but just because I really wanted it I had costoletta di vitello which is veal pounded until it’s very thin, covered in flour and breadcrumbs and then fried.  Although my travel companion’s veal called stinchetto trumped that too.

I think I may have finally picked the better dish - torta ricotta

However, I think I may have had the edge on dessert.  My ricotta torte was beautifully presented and tasted even better.  By contrast my travel companion’s torta Sacra (an Austrian specialty) was pretty standard.

Torta sacra chosen by my travel companion

With all of that good food you’d think that they would have had to wheel us out but the portions were appropriate so we left feeling satiated rather than stuffed.  There’s a chair in the lift in case you’re too weak to stand up after your meal.

In case you need to sit down in the lift

Plus you can always relax in the bar with a glass of limoncello, or grappa, or some other digestive.  Sip, sit back, and enjoy the view!

In the bar - life is good (la vita e' bella!)

A quick video today to explain the differences between skiing in Europe compared to the US.  This was shot on a ski lift in Madonna di Campiglio, Italy which is possibly the best place I’ve ever skied both for the trails and the food.  In the video I said that there were 4 equivalent levels of trails in terms of difficulty in Italy which is incorrect.  There are only three – blue, red, and black.  There is no green and blue is the easiest, black is the hardest (which is similar to the US).  Happy skiing!

Hotel Miramonti in Madonna di Campiglio, Italy is a four star hotel located just a 5 minute walk from the ski lift Miramonti as well as the main Piazza Righi in town.  Its location was the primary reason why I chose it and I wasn’t disappointed for many other reasons.  The staff were really friendly, the rooms were spacious, and the amenities were great.  A few notable points:

Like most ski resorts in Italy both breakfast and dinner are included in the price of a room.  We were assigned a table in the dining room and ate at the same table at each meal.  This really makes guests feel at home.  You also regularly see the same guests at each meal and almost develop a sense of community in a really short time.  My favourite guests were a large Russian family who brought their pet chihuahua to dinner every night.  One night at dinner I gave out a high-pitched sneeze which sent the small dog into a barking fit but mostly he was well behaved.  I found the whole event hilarious but I don’t think the other dinner guests were impressed.

Chihuahuas are everywhere in Madonna di Campiglio

Our New Years Eve dinner at the hotel was superb.  All of the women were dressed up in local costumes like the Von Trapp family (we were just a stone’s throw from the Swiss border after all).  We enjoyed lobster and champagne and had a great view of the fireworks from the window of the hotel.  Italians are crazy for fireworks.  Wherever you may be in Italy at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s you can pretty much guarantee will sound like you’re caught in the middle of guerrilla warfare.

I didn’t book any treatments in from the beauty therapist who works all day from a room in the lower ground floor but I did use the “gym” a few times which could roughly be described as a tiny windowless room containing 3 pieces of cardio equipment, 1 weight machine, and some free weights.  When it came time for me to do my yoga self practice I took the one mat in the gym into my room.  It wasn’t a yoga mat but the only thing available.  People certainly don’t come to Madonna di Campiglio to go to the gym but I went every day and every time I went in the evening the same 3 guests were there each time.  The 4 of us constituted what I nicknamed “the gym posse”.

When it came time to leave our car was brought around for us and loaded in front of the main entrance.  In the 4 days we were there we hadn’t used the car once because of Hotel Miramonti’s close proximity to everything.  We paid and were presented with the gifts of a ceramic bell and a bag full of sweets.  It was these small little touches that made our overall experience so delightful!

I know that this is a travel blog, but as the dust settles on my new British passport (well, hopefully not since I plan to be using it too often to collect dust!) I feel compelled to write about the Duchess of Cambridge being named a runner-up in the Time magazine Person of the Year competition.   From the little that I know about Kate (she’s very private, although this may have been groomed into her after years of the press haranguing her) she seems sweet, clever, well-educated is obvious. But what has she done really except marry the man that she loves? And made a lot of sacrifices to do so.

Shopping on the Kings Road in the lead up to becoming Duchess

Now I love a good fairy tale story as much as the next person.  Plus I did pledge allegiance to Queen Elizabeth II and all of her successors which now includes the Duchess of Cambridge.  I don’t count myself amongst the cynics who may be so bold as to say that she plotted to “get her prince.”  I laugh at those people because I don’t think that a wardrobe full of pretty cloths and having any and every material possession at your fingertips brings lifelong happiness (call me crazy!). And seeing as how they dated for 8 years before getting married it’s hardly like they rushed into it and he doesn’t know what he’s getting himself into.

James Veysey / Retna

Princess Diana once famously said that there were 3 people in her marriage. Although she was referring to a 3rd person, Kate’s marriage is also a tripartite agreement with the “institution” as the 3rd wheel. Besides procreating hers will be a life of endless royal engagements, small talk, smiling. But this is what she has chosen for herself and sacrificed for the prince that rules her heart, and one day the country.  But perhaps the most appealing thing is the power that her position holds. Pretty much anyone on the planet would lend her their ear if she asked it. So with that new power I hope that one day she is the winner of Time magazine Person of the Year, but for what she’s accomplished on her own and not who she’s married.

Sabena airlines logo

Have you ever wondered what happens to airline passengers on the day airlines go bust?  Well, it happened to me once on 7^th November 2001 the last day that SABENA, the former national airline of Belgium, operated flights.  It was a pretty surreal experience, one that I probably would have handled pretty differently today with an extra 10 years of life and acquired wisdom behind me.

Back in early November 2001 I was a young, naïve university student (aren’t we all pretty naïve in our early 20s?!)  I was studying in New York City and this was my first post-911 flight which was already monumental for obvious reasons.  I booked a trip to Rome on Sabena flying to Rome Ciampino airport via Brussels.  On the way there, no problem.  On the way back, total nightmare.

Enjoying the Roman Colosseum blissfully unaware of the Sabena drama that lay ahead

On that fateful day of 7^th November 2001 I went to check in for my return flight to New York at Rome Ciampino airport completely oblivious to the fact that Sabena had gone into liquidation the day prior.  When I arrived at the check-in desk there were hardly any passengers at the Sabena check-in desk.  I was served pretty much straight away.  After many, many minutes of tapping away at the computer keyboard (only in retrospect did it seem longer than usual) the flight attendant finally looked up at me and with a smile and a shrug told me that she could only check me in as far as Brussels, not all the way to New York.  That should have been my first clue as to the trouble that lay ahead but my default position is always to assume the best, not the worst.  I smiled and shrugged back at the flight attendant, accepted from her my boarding pass to Brussels and off I went to board the plane.

It was a few minutes after we landed in Brussels that the nightmare began to unfold.  The plane parked and the captain announced that we were unloading the plane 1 row at a time.  Each passenger was instructed to pick up their luggage which was being unloaded on the tarmac.  Ok, now this was odd, very very odd.  I looked out the window and could see the lights of the terminal way in the distance.  It seemed to be miles away in the dark but after I collected my suitcase and wheeled it along the tarmac into the terminal it was maybe only a 10 minute walk, so roughly half a mile from where the plane had parked.

What would you do if you saw this?

The true extent of the nightmare smacked me in the face when I entered the airport terminal and looked up at the departures board.  Every single flight that Sabena was supposed to be operating was cancelled.  I saw people shaking their heads and heading towards the train station completely giving up flying on another airline as their solution to Sabena going under.  However, I didn’t have the luxury of using another mode of transportation.  I knew no one in Brussels so I couldn’t get stuck there that night and try to sort out another flight to New York.  Now that I’m a “grown-up” I would have just gotten a hotel but back then I felt too scared to be alone in a strange city.  I looked up at the departures board to see what flights where leaving Brussels that evening.  The only remaining flight leaving that night was an Alitalia flight to Rome.  Lucky for me it’s where I had just been so I felt comfortable returning there.  If I couldn’t get to New York that night then I’d go to the place where deep down I preferred to be anyways.  You’ll have to run for it the lady at the customer service desk told me.  The flight was closing.

So run for it I did, with my rolling suitcase which there had been no time to check, and privately escorted by a security guard to rush me through the security checks.  After what felt like an eternity, and now quite sweaty and out-of-breath, I stepped onto the plane.  My rolling suitcase was wrenched from my grasp and shoved somewhere, I have no idea where since it was too large to go in the overhead compartment.  I made my way to the only remaining seat on the entire plane, panting like a dog, and certain that every passenger on the plane was throwing me evil looks like “I can’t believe it’s this girl holding up the entire plane.”  I’m not sure if it was that so much or the fact that the plane was mostly comprised of Italians who would rather be late than turn up as disheveled and undignified as I was at that moment.  I guess I’ll never know.  But in the end the story had a happy ending.  I returned to Rome that night and the same dodgy hotel I had stayed in previous nights had a room for me.  I got a train to Venice the next morning and met up with my friends there.

Sabena Airbus A310-200 in 1985

I had to miss a few days of classes in the end due to all of the drama but I got an unexpected trip to Venice out of it.  I had to pay for it of course, which is probably the one thing I would have done differently if the same thing happened to me today, try to file a claim against the airline to get reimbursed for the leg of the trip they were not able to fulfill.  At the time I’d already been through so much hassle in the first place that I didn’t want to pursue anything once I got back to New York.  I’m really curious other people’s experience when this type of event happens.  Has it ever happened to you?

The Maldives is one of those destinations, like Venice, that you have to see with your own eyes to believe.  No matter how many people tell you how remote the Maldives islands are, or that Venice truly doesn’t have any “real” roads, it seems impossible to believe unless you actually visit yourself.  Now I loathe, despise, and abhor the packaged vacation.  The feeling of being a caged zoo animal, schlepped around from destination to destination, the disgusting buffet food, the chartered flight inexplicably changing at the last minute so you have to leave 6 hours earlier than planned.  However there are some destinations that lend themselves well to the packaged vacation and the Maldives is one of them.

Kuramathi Island Resort - main beach

The Maldives (officially Republic of Maldives) are an island nation in the Indian Ocean consisting of approximately 1190 small islands comprising 26 atolls (the definition of which is up for debate but a guy named Fairbridge in 1950 defined an atoll as “a ring shaped ribbon reef enclosing a lagoon.”  The main airport is in the capital of Malé then it’s anyone’s guess how to transfer to whatever island/atoll/resort/etc you’ve chosen which is why you need a travel agent for this trip.  Also worth noting is the fact that the Maldives are an Islamic nation.  You won’t find a bible in your hotel room here, in fact don’t bother to bring one, otherwise it might get confiscated.  Alcohol is served on resorts (in case you were wondering!)

View from our water bungalow

When I first started looking into the Maldives as a holiday destination it seemed there were only 2 price ranges for the packages (cheap and expensive).  I really struggled to find a package that was mid-range in price (i.e. not £500 per person but not £2000 per person for 1 week on a resort in Maldives and round trip airfare from London).  I didn’t want to go to such a lovely place on the cheap but the expensive packages where completely out of range.  My criteria was that we stay in a water bungalow, my travel companion’s criteria was that we not eat buffet food.

Sunset from our water bungalow

We finally settled on Kuramathi Island Resort which we booked through Kuoni at around £1200 per person (airfare, accommodation, half-board).  I was relieved that we got my water bungalow and my travel companion was satisfied that we’d eat decent food.  Kuramathi is located in the Rasdhoo Atoll.

Our water bungalow lived up to my expectations.  It was literally a little house built on planks resting on top of the water.  To enter you had to cross a little bridge.  The inside looked like a normal hotel room, floors and walls were dark wood.  The panorama from the windows and balcony was spectacular.  You could see for miles and miles, miles and miles of nothing.  There were stairs leading from the balcony directly into the water. When I walked down and jumped in, the water came up to just below my shoulders, 4 feet I reckon.

stairs leading into the water from our water bungalow

The weather did not cooperate for the week we where there in March 2006.  It should have been fine, the monsoon season is between May and November however we were unlucky.  We had 2 sunny days, 1 day when it rained all day, and all the rest of the days were overcast with intermittent showers.  This was fine for my travel companion who preferred to spend his time underwater scuba diving anyways.  It’s times like these when I really wish I didn’t have such a phobia of scuba diving.  I once tried to learn in a pool in Sharm el-Sheik.  I was totally fine with the theory even if I had to learn it in Italian (long story when I was studying scuba diving in Italian in Egypt) but when it came time to putting it in practice in 5 feet of water I completely freaked.  I just couldn’t breathe normally on the respirator.  I thought I might try snorkelling in the Maldives as an intermediary step.  But that’s not so fun in the rain.  So I spent most of my time shaded under a palm tree reading a good book.  Which was fine for me, this is my idea of heaven.

good weather day - sandbar in the background

Each night we went to a different restaurant.  The Thai and Indian restaurants were delicious but our favourite was the Grill located all the way at the tip of the island.  We ate there 3 times.  And each time I had the seared tuna salad for the starter/appetizer.  To this day I think about how good the tuna was, all black pepper crusted along the outside, just lightly seared so it was all gooey and moist in the center.  Also with the Grill being located right on the beach it was really fun to see all of the crabs come out at night and scurry around.

The most amazing sunset I've ever seen

The lasting impression that I will always carry with me from my trip to the Maldives is that feeling of being totally in the middle of nowhere.   The only other time I have ever felt so remote was hiking in the Rocky Mountains on an Outward Bound trip when I was 18.  Our guides told us to be careful not to injure ourselves because we were 3 days away from medical attention.  So for example, if someone broke a leg we’d have to carry them out of the wilderness on foot to the nearest ranger station which had a one-way radio which by the time you’ve arranged a helicopter to come and lift the injured person out and flown them to the hospital 3 days would have passed.  That’s a pretty remote location.  The Maldives feel equally remote.  When you’re looking out in any direction from your teeny, tiny island, you can’t see anything in any direction.  Kuramathi resort was on such a teeny, tiny piece of land that you could drive in a golf cart at 12 miles per hour and go from one end of the island to the other in about 5 minutes.  The island is just over a mile long.

What can I say?! Picture speaks for itself

On our very last day we had an amazing experience watching the sunset at the end of the island.  We had walked out on the sandbars and as we were coming back we were trying to beat the rising tide.  In fact it felt like we almost got stuck out on one of the sandbars but the water was so shallow that we weren’t in any real danger.  As we watched the sun go down I couldn’t help feel like the smallest, most insignificant being on the planet.  Sometimes in this upside-down-crazy-world you need to see something so beautiful that it reaffirms the meaning of life and your place in the universe.  For me, the Maldives were just that.  Have you ever been somewhere that made you feel that way?

Sometimes travel can take you on a journey within yourself rather than an external one.  Such was the case for me when I attend a R&R retreat at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.  After a 6-hour plane ride and 2-hour car drive through rain, sunshine, and snow we finally arrived where I was to spend 48 hours attending yoga and relaxation classes.

South Entrance to Kripalu Center with the main building in the background

The Kripalu Center is an amazing place.  It’s housed on a large and charming campus in a giant dormitory style building.  Everything you need – the yoga studios, dining hall, dorm rooms (where I shared a room with 7 other women camp-style!), spa, whirlpool and sauna, etc are in the same building.  There is such a sense of community at Kripalu.  Everyone seems to know everyone else and volunteers and interns live and work there in exchange for yoga and meditation classes.  What with the amazing schedule of classes and activities, it would have been easy to spend the whole time indoors but after the snow storm, I was dying to get outside and play in it.  When I found myself with a free hour I took a stroll down to the lake which was absolutely stunning with the mist rising up off the frozen water.  I was lucky not to enounter any bears or hunters which I had been warned against from a posting that I read on the bulletin board in the main reception at Kripalu.

View from the lake - watch out for bears!

There were so many amazing classes that I could have written a separate post on each one so briefly the highlights for me included: Yoga Nidra with Jennifer Reis which is a deep relaxation technique 20 minutes of which is equivalent to 3 hours of sleep.  I slept through most of the class which is proof that it works! Something new to me was the study of Qigong, a Taoist healing art which uses breathe, motion, and meditation to restore balance and vitality.  It was taught by the hilarious guy from the MidWest whose name I never found out.  But the most fun of all was the Kripalu YogaDance with live drumming.  It’s basically a high-energy dance improve class where you jump around for an hour straight.  My description doesn’t really do it justice because it was so much more than that.  It was a joyous experience to share it with 100 other people.

I took 4 Kripalu-style yoga classes which was a new style for me.  One common thing that all of the Kripalu teachers had was an above-average calmness/zen about them.   I’ve been taking many different types of yoga over the last 7 years and I have never experienced so many zen teachers all from the same style of yoga.  I think that they must engrain this in people during the Kripalu yoga teacher training.  As a style, I’ll be honest, it’s not my favorite.  I’m a big fan of vinyasa/flow type classes and Kripalu was not dynamic enough for me to do on a regular basis.  Without flow my mind can’t enter a meditative state.  But it was great to try something new.

Sign in the stairwell - clever guy that Bhagavad Gita

Living in a dorm room was a real trip of an experience.  It reminded me of freshman year at Columbia University where I had the top bunk in a triple room.  But sharing with 7 others was way more than sharing with 2 others.  It felt like camp  but for grown ups.  However, everyone was really courtous and my jetlagged self was always the first to bed at night.  With my earplugs in and my eye mask on, once I was “plugged in” I fell asleep instantly.  I think the key is getting a bed as far from the door as possible.  In fact I don’t think I even laid eyes on everyone that I was sharing a room with.  I can only remember about 3-4 different faces that weren’t my mother (she got a bottom bunk across from me).  There were safes under the bunks like in a hotel where I locked my cell phone and laptop.

Natarajasana (Lord of the Dance pose)

The Kripalu Yoga Center is remote in more ways than one.  Cell phones can only be used in the luggage room on the first floor and phone booths located throughout the building.  They are very strict on this point.  So I welcomed the chance to be cut off from the outside world both in terms of location and communication devices.

The food was absolutely amazing.  I tried eating vegan and gluten free the first day, then just gluten free the second and third days.  I ate unusual things I had never eaten before like quinoa and tempeh (fermented soya).  It was all really tasty.  I had no idea you could eat so healthily and feel so satisfied.  They don’t serve coffee in the canteen but they do serve both caffeine and caffeine-free tea.  If you’re addicted to coffee and you absolutely must have it then you can buy it in the cafe across from the gift shop.  During breakfast you have to eat in silence.  I thought that this might be a little wierd but it serves to have you actually taste your food rather than shovel it all in mindlessly.

Kripalu labyrinth for walking meditation

By the end of the weekend, I was relaxed and happy.  Even though I had done quite a lot of physical activity, my limbs were remarkably light and muscles tension-free (bar my abdominals and neck/shoulders which even a few dips in the whirlpool couldn’t quite put right.)  Despite taking the red-eye flight back to London and going to work the very next morning I felt more refreshed than I normally do on a Monday morning.  Guess I really needed some R&R!

Drawing by Douglas McGregor, Figures by Normal Rockwell

My mom and I passed a delightful lunch at the Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge, Massachusetts in the Berkshires when we were in-route to Kripalu Yoga Center. The Red Lion Inn is one of those rare American inns which has operated continuosly since before 1800. Five US presidents have stayed there and famous guests include oldies like Nathanial Hawthorne and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow to more contemporary celebs like John Wayne and Bob Dylan.

The largest gingerbread-style house I've ever seen, but don't eat the candy, it's a few years old!

The Red Lion Inn has so many amazing antiques that it could be an actual museum itself. The long-standing tradition of the inn has been to collect antiques so try to imagine how many amazing antiques can be amassed in more than 200 years of collecting them! Almost every room of common space has tea pots and plates lining the trim of doorways, shelves, cupboards, basically anywhere and everywhere. My favorite antique item was a wooden horse randomly displayed in a corner that I came upon on my way to the bathroom. The handcarved wood was colorfully painted in red and blue and the item seemed to have been rescued from an old circus carosel. Antiques were found in the most unusual places like the fireplace that I found in the bathroom stall I visited.

Antique tea pots

My mom and I ate in the main dining room, although there is also a less formal tavern. The main restaurant was festivally decorated with evergreen swags and red ribbons. The plush red velvet drapes make the room cozy and also serve functionally to keep out the cold winter drafts as these parts suffer from very ruggid winters.

Mac and cheese on elegant china pattern - anyone know this pattern?

I was after comfort food since it was my last meal before 3 days of vegan eating therefore I order mac and cheese with pancetta-style bacon and fried onions. My mom was more sensible and had raddichio, spinach, egg, and blue cheese salad. Both were delicious, although clearly my choice was better. There’s no problem that can’t be solved or no dish that won’t be amazing without about a gallon of cream which I suspect there could have been in my mac and cheese.

Having a relax moment in an antique wooden sleigh on the porch of the inn

One day I would love to come back to stay overnight!