Author Topic: Giving Thanks in 100,000 Steps: London & Barcelona  (Read 12500 times)

Offline yuguy

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Re: Giving Thanks in 100,000 Steps: London & Barcelona
« Reply #20 on: December 01, 2016, 04:24:38 PM »
I just checked the Activity app 0 it was the Health app and it had most of my steps (Except Shabbat).... we also did Over 100k Steps

thats insane!!
Right TR Location for Step Counter.

Yeah I've noticed that on most trips I take we walk about 20K steps a day which is about 10 miles. You're supposed to do 10K a day so doing double is nice. It also makes the subject catchier.

Offline davidmal

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Re: Giving Thanks in 100,000 Steps: London & Barcelona
« Reply #21 on: December 01, 2016, 04:30:50 PM »
Yeah I've noticed that on most trips I take we walk about 20K steps a day which is about 10 miles. You're supposed to do 10K a day so doing double is nice. It also makes the subject catchier.
wow that's a lot on most trips i walk i walk from the bar to my lounge or from my lounge to the pool and back usually i try to keep my walking under 1k per day.
-DMC
"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it ~Ferris Bueller"

Offline shulem92

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Re: Giving Thanks in 100,000 Steps: London & Barcelona
« Reply #22 on: December 01, 2016, 04:54:51 PM »


we also did Over 100k Steps


wow that's a lot on most trips i walk i walk from the bar to my lounge or from my lounge to the pool and back usually i try to keep my walking under 1k per day.

Offline davidmal

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Re: Giving Thanks in 100,000 Steps: London & Barcelona
« Reply #23 on: December 01, 2016, 05:21:25 PM »


Yeah I've noticed that on most trips I take we walk about 20K steps a day, which is about 10 miles. You're supposed to do 10K a day so doing double is nice. It also makes the subject catchier.

wow that's a lot on most trips i walk i walk from the bar to my lounge or from my lounge to the pool and back. Usually i try to keep my walking under 1k per day.
-DMC
"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it ~Ferris Bueller"

Offline sky121

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Re: Giving Thanks in 100,000 Steps: London & Barcelona
« Reply #24 on: December 01, 2016, 05:25:56 PM »
Yeah I've noticed that on most trips I take we walk about 20K steps a day which is about 10 miles. You're supposed to do 10K a day so doing double is nice. It also makes the subject catchier.
10k was just a guideline. It was never meant to be a standard of what is healthy for every human being.
"Not all who wander are lost"

Offline davidmal

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Re: Giving Thanks in 100,000 Steps: London & Barcelona
« Reply #25 on: December 01, 2016, 05:35:20 PM »
10k was just a guideline. It was never meant to be a standard of what is healthy for every human being.
Thank you for the support!!
-DMC
"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it ~Ferris Bueller"

Offline yuguy

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Re: Giving Thanks in 100,000 Steps: London & Barcelona
« Reply #26 on: December 02, 2016, 11:00:54 AM »
London: Day 2 & 3

After an awesome first day we were excited to head back into the city and see some of the other famous sites. Day 2 was a Friday, and with Shabbas set to start at about 3:40 PM (!) we knew we'd have to get up early and get our day started... Thanks to some jet lag and incredibly soft bedding at the hotel, we woke up late for our planned activities.

In any event, we planned to head to Buckingham Palace and see the changing of the guard. In the winter, they do it every other day. It's set to begin at 11:30 AM, but anyone who has been there knows you need to get there early. Like an hour our so. I did some research prior, but because of our late start we didn't get to the Palace until about 11:00 AM.

In retrospect we probably should have just come back a different time instead of wasting time trying to see anything (of which we couldn't), but I guess it's all part of the experience!

From there, we took the tube back to Westminster station and walked across the bridge to the London Eye.

I have nothing good to say about the London Eye. Sure the views are fine (and it was a really clear day), but it's probably one  of the most over priced attractions. Ever. Don't pay for the fast pass... And just don't go at all. Shoulda listened to the Wiki and went to the Shard, huh?




From there we went back to Buckingham Palace - not for the changing of the guard, but so we could get some better shots at a less crowded time.

From there we went back to the hotel to get ready for Shabbas.

We got food the night before in Golder's Green from Shefa Mehadrin. The fish, schnitzel and yerushalmi kugel are all pretty good (in case anyone is wondering!).

Total Steps on Friday (Day 2) - 10,500 Steps

Shabbas day was pretty standard at a hotel - walking around, exploring and hanging out in the lobby. We walked to the Marble Arch (about 30 minutes) and then continued to the park nearby. All in all we spent a good 2 hours walking around getting a feel for London and it's cold weather offerings.

You can't stay near Oxford street and not go into the shops - there are just so many! After Shabbas we spent some time walking around shopping and window shopping. Contrary to what I had assumed, there were lots of Black Friday Weekend sales going on from Thursday - Sunday.



After a bit of that we went back to Golder's Green and at the recommendation of the London Master Thread wiki we went to Isola Bella. The site recommends reservations but we were only two people so I was hoping it wouldn't be a problem.

We lucked out and there were two seats left.

What. An. Amazing. Restaurant.

I was concentrating too much on my delicious food to take pictures but we ordered:
  • Crispy Cheese Skewers
  • San Minam
  • Pad Kee Meo (Hot)
  • Belgian Waffle
  • Gaya cake

Thoughts: The service left something to be desired, but the food! The Thai food was really excellent and different and I thought the portions were generous for the pricing.

The last two days of our trip were pretty mellow. I would definitely love to go back to London and see some more of the museums, history, and of course, Harry Potter.

Total Steps on Shabbas/Saturday (Day 3) [This is a guesstimate because of Shabbas] - 19,805

Running total of steps taken: 50,305

Part III: ¡Hola, Barcelona!



Offline davidmal

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Re: Giving Thanks in 100,000 Steps: London & Barcelona
« Reply #27 on: December 02, 2016, 11:40:13 AM »
London: Day 2 & 3
Isola Bella
What. An. Amazing. Restaurant.

Thoughts: The service left something to be desired, but the food!
We went there as well, and i couldn't agree more! but we simply stop talking to our waitress and switched waitresses and were very happy with the service as well!


ps. TR is great!!
-DMC
"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it ~Ferris Bueller"

Offline yuguy

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Re: Giving Thanks in 100,000 Steps: London & Barcelona
« Reply #28 on: December 03, 2016, 06:58:47 PM »
We went there as well, and i couldn't agree more! but we simply stop talking to our waitress and switched waitresses and were very happy with the service as well!


ps. TR is great!!

Thank you! Hopefully i"ll be done soon!

Offline mgoldhammer18

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Re: Giving Thanks in 100,000 Steps: London & Barcelona
« Reply #29 on: December 04, 2016, 11:56:41 AM »
Definitely go back and check out Harry Potter, def the highlight there

Offline LoLo

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Re: Giving Thanks in 100,000 Steps: London & Barcelona
« Reply #30 on: December 04, 2016, 06:51:19 PM »
Very nice TR, great idea with the step counting.

Offline yuguy

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Re: Giving Thanks in 100,000 Steps: London & Barcelona
« Reply #31 on: December 04, 2016, 09:11:51 PM »
Very nice TR, great idea with the step counting.

Thanks - glad you're enjoying!

Offline @Yehuda

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Re: Giving Thanks in 100,000 Steps: London & Barcelona
« Reply #32 on: December 06, 2016, 10:22:06 AM »
Nice TR! A very enjoyable read. Thanks for taking time to write it up and include pictures. Hope you continue.

Some thoughts:
Wish I would have taken a tour of Tower of London. Just walking through on our own didn't hit the spot (other than seeing the Crown Jewels).
Had the same issue with seeing Changing of the Guard. Would have been nice to know about Matt's tour (discussed in the thread) before we had gone.
I took the wiki's advice and avoided the London Eye. Instead, we went to the London Dungeon, which was great!

Offline davidmal

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Re: Giving Thanks in 100,000 Steps: London & Barcelona
« Reply #33 on: December 06, 2016, 10:43:55 AM »
Nice TR! A very enjoyable read. Thanks for taking time to write it up and include pictures. Hope you continue.

Some thoughts:
Wish I would have taken a tour of Tower of London. Just walking through on our own didn't hit the spot (other than seeing the Crown Jewels).
Had the same issue with seeing Changing of the Guard. Would have been nice to know about Matt's tour (discussed in the thread) before we had gone.
I took the wiki's advice and avoided the London Eye. Instead, we went to the London Dungeon, which was great!
Well said!

the wiki was a big help!
Matt's Tour was awesome as was the beefeaters tour of tower of london.

comical

you can prob get some of it on youtube now.... but it's not the same....
-DMC
"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it ~Ferris Bueller"

Offline yuguy

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Re: Giving Thanks in 100,000 Steps: London & Barcelona
« Reply #34 on: December 06, 2016, 11:24:32 AM »
Barcelona, Day 1

After arriving at BCN, and proceeding quickly through immigration, we took a taxi to the hotel. (I would have taken public but it was a Sunday morning with absolutely no traffic).

The hotel let us check in early. I nice thing about staying at a DoubleTree is that they provide you with hot cookies - unless you keep kosher  ::).

I personally hated the layout of the room - shower in one spot and bathroom in the other - but the DW loved the design and decor. The alcove with the street view was a nice touch, though.

From there we went straight to Casa Mila / La Padrera, designed by Gaudi. And as we'll soon see, Gaudi's work dot the city and represented about half our activities. Casa Mila and a few others are literally 3 minutes walk from this hotel, making the transit easy.


Casa Mila from the outside

Courtyard of Casa Mila

The inside is pretty boring - to us at least - the room or 'La Padrera' is where it's at. You get some great views of the city, and of signature weird/unique Gaudi architecture.





From there we walked about 20 minutes to La Sagrada Familia - a church also designed by Gaudi.

We didn't pay to go in, but I liked how they close the streets surrounding the structure so you don't need to compete with vehicular traffic to see the sight.



I was able to crop out the construction crains, but Gaudi died before completion of La Sagrada Familia. He left behind copious notes and the structure will be completed in 2026 on the anniversary of his death. I guess I'll have to go back :P

There is a metro (L2?) right by the site so we purchased some T-10 cards... A few notes.

- Unlike London, credit cards with PINs are required (I had my Alaska AIrlines visa - luckily I set the PIN before departure!)
- Because the city is relatively small, it's not necessary to purchase a T-10. It may be more cost effective to do one ride at a time. The day passes or 2 day passes are more expensive than the T-10 (which is about 9.5 Euro).

We got off near the Gothic Quarter and got some cool snapshots and then went to the Picasso Museum. For reference, the Picasso museum is free from 3 - 8 PM on Sundays and the entire day the first Sunday of the month. I'd suggest getting there as early as possible during/right before the free period on a Sunday as the line is about an hour wait.

[
The line!

Unfortunately, no pictures are allowed within the museum. It's also pretty large (it looks smaller on the outside). We were definitely happy and thought it was worth the wait. Unfortunately Guernica is on display in Madrid (!) - oh well. I think a highlight of the museum is the World War I display.

I probably wouldn't have paid for it, but it was free, so why not.

Though we didn't purchase anything, the gift shop is a fun stop afterwards.

From there we walked to Restaurant Maccabi. (Sorry no pictures of food) but the first night we ordered:
- The cod
- Hummus plate
- Hamburger
- Flan

We ate there 3 times and the desserts aren't their strong suit. BUT, I found the food to be really flavorful, fresh and large portions for the cost. The service was also prompt and friendly.

Total Steps Taken:18,873

Up Next: Barcelona, Day 2
« Last Edit: December 06, 2016, 11:33:55 AM by yuguy »

Offline yuguy

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Re: Giving Thanks in 100,000 Steps: London & Barcelona
« Reply #35 on: December 06, 2016, 11:25:14 AM »
Nice TR! A very enjoyable read. Thanks for taking time to write it up and include pictures. Hope you continue.

Some thoughts:
Wish I would have taken a tour of Tower of London. Just walking through on our own didn't hit the spot (other than seeing the Crown Jewels).
Had the same issue with seeing Changing of the Guard. Would have been nice to know about Matt's tour (discussed in the thread) before we had gone.
I took the wiki's advice and avoided the London Eye. Instead, we went to the London Dungeon, which was great!

Thank you - just continued!

Matt's tour? I think I would have spent time on the Wiki if I we didn't plan so last minute/on the go.