London: Overview of Trip

Tower Bridge

I just completed a fabulous trip to London!  I’ve been there before, but not in many years, so, in some ways, it felt like I was visiting for the first time.

This trip was theoretically in the making for many years, as I always wanted to run in the London Marathon.  So did my friend Gina, who used to live in the United States, but moved home to southern England a few years ago. Each year, we entered the ballot for the marathon, but did not get accepted.

Last year, hoping for a good omen, and knowing that Club Carlson points were about to be devalued, I booked two different London hotels on points for 2 nights each: the Radisson Blu Edwardian Mercer Street Hotel and the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge London Hotel.

Big Ben

I hoped that this would be the year that I’d get into the London Marathon.

It didn’t happen, but I decided to go anyway. I invited Gina to join me, and we had 4 days to wander around London and laugh and catch up on our friendship (and even run a little). And we got to spectate the marathon, which we knew would be a blast – and it was!

I flew on British Airways business class (I purchased the ticket as part of the AARP/30,000 avios special from a few months ago, so it only cost about $550 out of pocket).

BA 747

In the coming days, I will be posting some lounge, flight and hotel reviews as well as photos from our strolls around the city and the London Marathon and expo.

Entrance to the London Marathon Expo at ExCel Center

For starters, see this post: LONDON, WE RAN WITH PAULA RADCLIFFE, as well as the photos I posted on INSTAGRAM.

Paula Radcliffe at Nike Shakeout Run – London