Sean Colahan

seanPic: So excited to get my neighborhood grocery store back, reincarnated as a #WholeFoods!

seancolahan — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 13:35:32 +0000

Filed under: Everyday

Literary England And London Trip Report: Day 4 – Stratford, Afternoon Tea, And Evening London Walk

seancolahan — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 10:00:39 +0000

We got up, got ready for the day and headed down for another delicious English breakfast at the hotel restaurant. It has definitely helped having a good hearty English breakfast to start our day and keep us going. After breakfast, we packed our bags, checked out of the hotel, and stored our bags in the car before heading down to the Royal Shakespeare Company theatre for a behind the scenes tour.

We were the first tour group of the day and a small one at that. There were three other couples, all locals, and all older than our parents. Once again our tour guides were fantastic and took us all over the two theaters, back stage and even on-stage where one of the tour patrons seized the moment and recited a little Shakespeare while standing on the stage. It was pretty cool standing on stage in such an impressive theatre with someone reciting lines from one of the greatest writers ever. We all gave him his due applause when he finished and continued on the tour. Other highlights included seeing the dressing rooms, costumes, wig shop, with a final stop in the control room of the main theatre where the guides gave a detailed description of what all took place in the booth. It was neat, since I worked on a lot of theatre in high school, to see how a true professional company like the RSC produced things.

After the fantastic tour we headed over to Trinity Church (for the second time) to see Shakespeare’s gravesite. It was nice as there were only a couple of other people in the church so we were able to enjoy the moment in peace. As we were leaving a school group showed up so timing was definitely on our side that morning.

We walked back through Stratford one last time before driving to London Heathrow Airport to return the car. The drive was boring and seemed to drag on as it was mostly on crowded motorways. Before returning the car we filled up with diesel. I think I dropped £75 filling the car up…DAMN!!! We returned the car without incident, made our way to the Heathrow Tube station, purchased some Oyster cards (which we would use to pay for our future Tube journeys) and traveled into central London.

Getting off at Covent Garden station we walked the few blocks to the Waldorf Hilton Hotel to check in. We were welcomed at the check-in desk and were informed that we had been upgraded to a king suite room. We took the lift to our floor, entered the room, and were just in awe at how nice it was. The suite turned into a great home away from home for our four nights in London.

On the drive to return the car we had decided to book Afternoon High Tea at the Waldorf to celebrate our first afternoon in London. With our reservation time approaching, we freshened up and headed down to the main dining room. We were seated right near the piano player who played a wonderful selection of classical music. The waiter asked if we wanted the standard tea service or one with champagne. We decided to order the standard tea service and also requested the type of tea we wanted. I chose Earl Gray while Liz chose the Orange Blossom. Our tea was served along with a tower filled with finger sandwiches, scones with clotted cream, and little desert tarts and cakes. Everything was absolutely delicious and I think we ate everything on the tower.

After letting afternoon tea digest a little, I took Liz out for a little walking tour of London. We started by walking down to the river, then along the Thames walkway towards the Palace of Westminster (House of Parliament). It was a little cool and breezy but nothing too bad. We stopped along the way for a few pictures before arriving at Big Ben which was all lit up in the evening sky. It was great to be back in London especially with my lovely travel buddy by my side. We took a few pictures in front of Big Ben and Westminster Abbey before realizing that the Abbey was going to be open for a little more than an hour. We decided to tour the abbey that evening as opposed to waiting for another time.

After paying our entry fee (the only spot we visited that didn’t give Liz a student discount) we made a beeline for Poets Corner, the main section that Liz really wanted to see. We spent a little time there looking at all the writers, composers, and poets buried and memorialized there. I think Liz was a little overcome at the literary history that was represented in Poets Corner. We explored more of Westminster Abbey but unfortunately only got through half of it as they were closing. Majestic music filled the grand cathedral to signal closing time…we actually got played out of Westminster Abbey – how cool!

My walking tour took us past #10 Downing Street, the Horse-guard Parade where we saw some guards on patrol, through Trafalger Square, Piccadilly Circus, and Leicester Square. At this time we decided that we needed to figure out what we were going to get for take out and make our way back to the hotel to watch the Brit Awards, the UK’s version of the Grammy’s, on the TV. We decided on a vegetarian restaurant near the hotel stopping at a Tesco market for some sweets for later and some wine on the way. We ended up with a bottle of sub £5 Chardonnay which turned out to be pretty decent. We ordered our take-out and took all of our goodies back to the room.

We got in just in time for the show to start, donned our robes and slippers, enjoyed our Indian food and wine, and relaxed the rest of the evening watching the awards show.

Filed under: Everyday, Travel, Trip Report Tagged: Afternoon Tea, Big Ben, Brit Awards, Diesel, dinner, evening, gravesite, Heathrow, high tea, Hilton Waldorf, Horse Guard Parade, London, Picadilly Circus, Powets Corner, Royal Shakespeare Company, RSC, Shakespeare, stratford, stratford upon avon, suite, Sunset, take away, take out, tea, Thai Food, Themes, Trinity Church, Tube, upgrade, Waldorf, Walking Tour, West End, Westminster Abbey

Literary England And London Trip Report: Day 3 – Chepstow Castle, Tinturn Abbey, And Stratford Upon Avon

seancolahan — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 13:12:47 +0000

Slept great, though should have tried to go to bed earlier as I stayed up late watching television. Even so, I still felt refreshed and ready to start another day. We ate breakfast downstairs, packed up our bags, and checked out of the hotel heading towards Tintern Abbey.

It was really foggy this morning and I even had to use my Chase Sapphire card to scrape a bit of frost off the windows. Slowly as we made our way the fog started to burn off a bit making driving easier. We were getting close to the abbey when we rounded a corner and there it stood majestically in front of us, wrapped in a soft blanket of fog glistening in the morning sun. I was absolutely beautiful!

We made our way into the abbey and started in the main cathedral. The building was spectacular and the lighting phenomenal throughout the morning for some great photographs. Splitting up, we each made our way around the abbey at our own pace, reading the plaques they had scattered around explaining what each part of the abbey was and how it played into the whole role of life at the abbey. We met back up, still taken back at the beauty, and continued on our journey, extremely happy with the day’s good start so far.

Just a few miles down the road we drove through the town of Chepstow, Wales, and into the parking lot of Chepstow Castle. I had been here before during my semester I spent in London, but it was nice to be back with my lovely wife. We explored and walked around the castle for a while, enjoying the views and the grounds.

Before getting back onto the motorway, we stopped at a Tesco market to pick up some sandwiches, crisps, and drinks so we wouldn’t have to stop along the drive to Stratford. Lunch wasn’t spectacular, though it did the trick in filling our bellies to continue on. The drive to Stratford-upon-Avon went smoothly and I felt as though I was finally getting the hang of driving on the left side of the road. Half of the drive was on motorway and half was on country roads. We arrived in Stratford and immediately checked into the Best Western hotel and parked our car.

Our plan included visiting Shakespeare’s birthplace museum first which is located in the center of town and only a short walk from the hotel. The weather that day was gorgeous so it was a nice pleasant walk. We paid our entry fee and made our way into two rooms which gave a little background on Shakespeare and Stratford before opening out into the courtyard behind the house. The introductory rooms were a little Disney-eque in feel, but they did have one of the first portfolios of Shakespeare’s works on display. Because it was school vacation week, the Shakespeare Trust had actors in the courtyard acting out scenes from Shakespeare’s catalogue of work that were requested by visitors. It was a nice, surprise addition to our visit there. We then made our way into the house where we were treated to a talk by an enthusiastic, knowledgeable guide who gave a great overview of the house. Our next stop was Will Shakespeare’s father’s glove shop. This particular guide was less enthused and we could tell he was just waiting for his day to end. What a difference a guide can make! We then made our way upstairs through the house before exiting out the back. The house was a good preservation of a period house of the time, but I didn’t get my socks rocked by seeing the room where Shakespeare was born like some visitors to the house. Overall, we enjoyed the tours.

We then made our way through the old and beautiful town of Stratford-upon-Avon and over to Trinity Church, the location of Shakespeare’s grave. Unfortunately the church itself was closed for the day so we walked around it before heading over to the Royal Shakespeare Company’s theatre buildings. We explored the lobby and gift shop before coming across information on backstage tours that were available. We picked up some information about the tours, headed outside for a stroll along the Avon River and a rest on one of the benches to enjoy the late afternoon setting sun. It was so peaceful sitting with my sweetheart, watching the ducks and swans swim by and other people enjoying the riverbanks. After studying the brochures, we decided to book a backstage tour for the next morning. At the box office they informed us that there was space available on the first tour of the day at 9:15 am so we booked it.

At this point we were both getting a little hungry so headed back through town checking out the different restaurants. We ended up choosing a wine bar and were seated near a fireplace in some nice comfy club chairs. The wall was papered in RSC posters from past productions…how appropriate. We ordered a couple of glasses of wine and a charcuterie board to share. The wine was delicious as well as the food. We each ordered a second glass of something different and continued to enjoy the restaurant and the fire as we chatted about our day. Walking back to the hotel, we decided we were still a little bit hungry so we stopped in the hotel bar for a drink, a burger, and a soccer match on the television. Splitting an apple pie desert, we ended another near perfect day in England.

Filed under: Life, Travel, Trip Report Tagged: castle, chepstow castle, literary, Shakespeare, stratford, stratford upon avon, theatre, tintern abbey, tinturn abbey

seanPic: Sunset shot of town hall in Middleboro, MA. #skyporn

seancolahan — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 23:07:58 +0000

Filed under: Everyday

Literary England And London Trip Report: Day 2 – Driving Through English Countryside

seancolahan — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 14:45:03 +0000

Today was mostly spent driving south but we did make a short stop at Bowness On Windermere shortly after leaving Grasmere to get out, take a little walk, soak in the sunshine, and enjoy the beautiful town. Here are some of the highlights from the day.

We kicked off the day with a delicious English breakfast at the inn. I had a fried egg, local bacon, tomatoes, and toast. My wife had soft-boiled eggs and toast soldiers. They were both quite filling and very tasty.

We packed up our bags, checked out of the inn and got on the road south. The section of the A591 that ran between Grasmere and Windermere was quite narrow and windy. Turning off the main road we drove through Bowness and parked in a lot near the lake front. We got out and took a nice stroll through this bustling vacation town, doing a little window shopping along the way. The weather was so nice that there were families on holiday all around and even some taking chartered boat rides out into the lake. We eventually found our way back to the car, got on our way and left the Lake District behind…hopefully to be back sometime in the future.

Our drive on the M6 motorway took us almost back to where we started our English adventure, just outside of Manchester, before we got off the motorway and onto the A49, a 2 lane road that we would wind our way through the English countryside for 3 hours on our way to Hereford.

About a third of our way driving down the A49 we ran into stopped traffic. I turns out there was an accident ahead and the police had stopped all traffic. A few people turned around and headed in the other diction but then the police started routing people down a one-lane farm road lane to get us around the traffic. This road felt like the Death Star trench as it was closely flamed on both sides by high hedge rows. We finally made it back to the main road and continued on our journey.

We finally arrived in Hereford and hit our first traffic of the trip, though it wasn’t too bad. By this time I felt like a champ driving through rotaries as I had gone through so many throughout the day. After going through town we started looking for the Pilgrim Hotel where we were staying for the night. After checking in we took in the view from the hotel as it was punched on top of a hill with a view of the surrounding countryside. We got there just as the sun was dipping behind a hill. The view was gorgeous. After getting up to our room and freshening up, we finished our day at the hotel restaurant/pub sitting by the fireplace with a few pints of bitter, a bowl of delicious potato and leek soup and sharing a Fish & Chip dinner. It was a perfect ending to the day.

Introduction
Packing List
Flights Over
Day 1 – English Driving & Grasmere
Day 2 – Driving Through The English Countryside
Day 3 – Tinturn Abbey, Chepstow Castle, & Stratford Upon Avon
Day 4 – Stratford, Afternoon Tea, & Evening London Walk
Day 5 – Globe Theatre, Tate Modern, & St. Paul’s
Day 6 – British LIbrary, British Museum, Keats House, & National Prorate Gallery
Day 7 – Walk Through My Old Hood
Travel Home
Trip Summary

Filed under: Everyday, Travel, Trip Report Tagged: bowness on windermere, death star trench, driving, England, English countryside, fried egg, Great Britain, hedge rows, holiday, m6 motorway, motorways, road trip, sightseeing, soft boiled eggs, Travel, trip, trip report, United Kingdom, vacation, vacation town

Literary England And London Trip Report: Day 1 – English Driving & Grasmere

seancolahan — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 13:46:56 +0000

We left the airport and took the shuttle bus to the rental facility. The line at the counter was non-existent and were we’re quickly through the process. We walked outside to find our car only to realize they had upgraded us a class or two from the little Vauxhall Astra hatchback to a larger mid-sized Vauxhall Insignia saloon car. Looking back I probably should have gone into the rental car facility and asked for the smaller car. I got into the car and prepared myself for driving on the other (left) hand side of the road.

Making our way onto the British roadways I had to contrite on my driving more than usual. We snaked our way out of Manchester Airport and onto the M6 motorway, then 100+ miles north to the Lakes district. I was cruising along the motorway pretty comfortably. The toughest part was because I was sitting on the right hand side of the car was to keep centered in my lane. I made sure to keep my speed around the limit as there are speed cameras all over the place which will send you a ticket if they take a picture of you speeding. We left the M6 and headed into the Lakes District. I was feeling comfortable at this time though was still hugging the side of the roadway (as opposed to staying centered n my lane). It’s caused me to clip a curb exiting a rotary. Nothing bad happened, though it made me start to be extra diligent in figuring out where to keep the car centered into the lane. We turned off this road onto a back country road towards Grasmere. This is where I wish I had the tiny car as the road got very narrow where there were many times where hedge rows and stone walls would hug up next to the roadway.

The scenery at this time became absolutely beautiful. There were tall hills all around, many with bits of snow sprinkled on their tops. On the lower parts of the hills were pastures for sheep and other livestock, dissected by stone walls that snaked their way down and across the hills into the valleys. We were taken back by the beauty.

We finally made our way into the small town of Grasmere and drove down the little main street. We lucked out and found a parking spot and decide to get a little lunch at a cafe. We got seated and ordered just before a rush of people looking for a lunch break flooded the cafe. Talk about good timing. We lunched on some soup and a ham stuffed roll. Both were delicious!

From there we headed to something my wife had been looking forward to ever since we started talking about this trip, Dove Cottage and the Wordsworth Museum. We bought our tickets right in time for a tour of Dove Cottage, the house that Wordsworth rented during his time in Grasmere. This time in Grasmere turned out to be one of Wordsworth’s most productive writing periods. After the Dove Cottage tour we looked through the Wordsworth Museum which contained many original notebooks and writings of Wordsworth which were on display. My wife was especially fascinated with these notebooks. I enjoyed perusing the museum, learning a little more than I did before about Wordsworth.

We headed to the Oak Bank Hotel where we were staying for the night to check in and drop our bags off.

We then strolled through the town on our way to Wordsworth’s gravesite. On the way. We strolled through a daffodil garden where the flowers were just starting to sprout through the soil. Walking through the town for a while, we decided to venture into the hills for a little while the path was still paved. It was absolutely beautiful scenery as the sun was setting over the English hillside.

Our day finished with a nice multi-course meal at the Oak Bank hotel. We feasted on such deliciously dishes as smoked salmon, ham hock, duck three ways, braised beef, and deconstructed lemon meringue pie. We fell asleep by 9 that night and slept for about 12 hours of much neede sleep.

As a side note, during our walking around Grasmere I counted 7 different outdoor equipment stores in the very small village. Here is a little photo montage of them.

Filed under: Travel, Trip Report Tagged: cars, driving, England, grassmere, hedge rows, holiday, lakes district, London, m6 motorway, milepoint, rental car facility, transportation, Travel, vacation, vauxhall astra, wordsworth

seanPic: Almost home from fill-in Sat shift. #beerthirty

seancolahan — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 22:03:22 +0000

Filed under: Everyday

seanPic: Great view of Mass State House & Boston Back Bay from Attorney Generals office.

seancolahan — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 21:35:51 +0000

Filed under: Boston, Everyday, Life, New England, Photo Friday, Photography Tagged: boston, media, photo

seanPic: #VanillaReload cards still available (for now) at my local CVS. Gotta get ‘em while the goings good.

seancolahan — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 17:07:40 +0000

Filed under: Everyday

Literary England And London Trip Report: Flights Over

seancolahan — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 09:28:04 +0000

Our flight from Boston to Philadelphia was loud and rowdy….Definatly a change from the early morning flights I usually take. We took off a few minutes late due to late arriving aircraft but US pads their north-east routes so we ended up arriving early. Right as we were about to take off we were told that Philly had put a ground stop on all flights so we were going to have to hold for 5 minutes…30 seconds later we we taking off.

On the flight the couple sitting in front of us gave us a run for our money in terms of kissing in public. They were making out the entire flight. After landing, the gate was occupied so we had to taxi around the airport to hold for a while before getting to the gate. Once we got to the gate no one was there to direct us in. It ended up being an on-time arrival. I do have to give credit to the pilot who was constantly updating us on the status of our delays and flight, and doing so with wit and humor. Made all the little delays and waits tolerable.

My wife and I were both really hungry and we wanted to get as much sleep on the flight as possible so we ate at Vino Volo. We sat down and ordered the pork tacos and a Tuscan chicken sandwich to share. We also ordered a tasting flight of winter Cabernets. The pork tacos were excellent, the Tuscan chicken sandwich wasn’t anything special (we ended up ordering another half order of the pork tacos.) The wine was excellent and we both liked all three wines which differed from each other immensely.

After eating, we made our way down to the gate and waited to board. After boarding we enjoyed some pre-departure champagne and looked over the menu.

All the food looked delicious but sleep was on the mind. I just ordered a flourless chocolate cake and a scotch so I could make my seat into a bed and get some z’s. My wife ordered the Ben and Jerry’s ice cream and a Pinot Noir wine. They were delivered pretty quickly after take off so we were able enjoy our deserts while watching some movies before heading to sleep.

I should have skipped the bubbles and scotch and instead had my desert with a side of a sleeping aid pill as my sleep was a little restless. Anyway, after about 4 hours of sleep I woke up for the breakfast service. I had the egg omelet with sausage, potatoes, and fruit bowl. The egg omelet was not to my liking and I wish I had gotten the yogurt and granola. The coffee and juice were good.

Before landing I made my way to the bathroom, to freshen up so that we could get on our way upon landing. We exited the plane first and had a speedy immigration/passport check. We did have an interesting experience. The woman at passport control was asking what we were planing on doing while on holiday in the UK. We listed our itinerary to her to which her response was “you do realize you are only here for a week.” I guess she doesn’t know how we travel:-). We exited customs and were officially in the UK!

Filed under: Flying, Travel, Trip Report Tagged: business class, England, English countryside, envoy, Manchester, phl, us airways