Buckingham Palace - London Duck Tour - Rainforest Cafe
It might seem a novel experience, being a tourist in a city you occasionally work in, but I suspect a lot of Londoners have no idea what they are missing.
We have done this a few times before - made a set agenda of places to go and times to be there - but yesterday was a bit special. This time, we were going to mix with royalty.
OK, so the flag on Buckingham Palace told us the Queen wasn't actually in, but that didn't stop hundreds of people lining the streets for the Changing of The Guard. We watched the marching band come down the road and make their way into the Palace grounds. Junior wanted to take some pictures, but by the time she was ready, all she got were taxis flying past her low viewpoint.
First port of call in the Palace was the Queen's Gallery. Not an obvious choice to take a 6 year old girl, but even she was impressed by some of the paintings inside. After encountering a few sneering looks from people who couldn't believe they "let children in", we had lunch and then queued up for the main attraction, the State Rooms, and "The Dress".
Junior was very taken by the Royal Wedding and she, along with thousands of others, were queuing up to be able to see it as part of the current exhibition.
There is a "Family Audio Guide" available on the front desk. Rather than a stuffy aristocrat telling you about the history of the gilded staircase, we were treated to a fantastic guide that fell somewhere between History Channel and Blue Peter. My daughter absolutely loved it, as it was full of interesting stories and facts that kids can relate to. The Duchess of Cambridge's dress is on display in the main ballroom, and is the main reason for everyone being there. It does look slightly ghostly, but it captured the imagination of the little 6 year old, who happily barged her way to the front to see it close up.
Being the kind of people we are though, we were pushed for time. We never made it to the Royal Mews, but that doesn't matter, because at the end of the Tour we converted ticket to a year pass. So we'll do that next time.
A slightly mad dash across town took us to the next port of call - The London Duck Tour. Giant yellow amphibious craft that take you on a bus tour of the city, before driving into the river. Aside from the historical relevance of being in a vehicle that was used in the D-Day Landings, the sheer novelty factor of being able to drive into the river is something that the other tours can't match. Yes it's pricey, but it is unique.
A short hop to our final stopping point - The Rainforest Cafe. Part toy-shop, part restaurant, this is another unique experience. Certain younger members of the family are not keen on thunderstorms or animatronic jungle creatures, but in spite of this, the staff found us a "quiet" spot surrounded by butterflies.
We were all agreed that, as far as customer service goes, we could not have had a better meal. Our "safari guide" was fantastic, sorting everything out in double quick time, she was very attentive, and the simple act of bringing us the bill while we were still eating made the whole evening almst perfect. It's not cheap though - a two course meal for three set us back £75.
We returned home a 9pm rather weary, but having had another great day out in the city.
Friday 29 July 2011
Monday 25 July 2011
A Lesson In Consumer Power
If you works certain hours or you're off work, you've probably come across Dominic Littlewood. He seems to be on most show during the day-time, but he is best known for helping consumers bargain for goods by talking to them through an ear piece.
His theory is that, if you try hard enough, you can get all kinds of deals and sweeteners from retailers, big or small.
My wife took this to heart a long time ago, and while it is a given that you barter a bit for a house, or a car, many people would not think twice about trying to get money off other smaller items (I just don't have the nerve). Take this past weekend as an example.
I needed a new suit, so we went to Moss Bros. Credit goes to the sales guy for asking all the right questions, what's the suit for, what's your budget, colour, style. He then makes a recommendation or two, and eventually we settle on a nice suit that is already reduced from £400 to £279.
All this while, my wife is getting some good banter going. We have a pretty good routine going now, I play the fool, she apologises for my statement that the shoes he just picked out make me look like Crusty The Clown. The sales guy says that he would recommend they take the trousers up to fit, and we agree. At this point my wife comes in with "So, is there any room for negotiation?".
This is a standard line that you see on all the TV shows, and it's important that it's used on someone who can choose to answer "yes" or "no". There's no point using it on the Saturday worker from the local Uni, as he/she won't have the authority.
So the sales guy rightly points out that they were selling this at £400, so no, there's no negotiation on the suit. Fair play. I go back to the changing rooms, and when I return, I discover that my wife has blagged a free suit bag and half price off the tailoring. An immediate saving of £8.
On we go, and later in the day we go to Altimus, a specialists "Millets" type store, located right next door to Millets in Reading. Shoe shopping begins in earnest, but what we are in for is a very in depth science letter about the state of one's feet. Very informative, interesting, and free, and beneficial towards choosing some walking shoes and trainers. All the banter is there, plenty of chat and empathy towards poor little me having to come show shopping with the missus etc.
A quick use of Red Laser tells me I can get the trainers £30 cheaper on the net, so that's no good to Altimus, but my wife settles on a nice pair of Merrell walking shoes, that the salesman has craftily suggested she try with some proper walking socks. Naturally there's no point only having one pair, so she decides to buy two pairs. At this point, comes the question "Any negotiation on the price of the shoes?" Be honest, how often do you hear that? Of course the answer is no, but the follow up catches the salesman off guard:
"How about throwing another pair of socks?"
So there's my wife playing "heads or tails" for a pair of socks in a shop. And she wins. £12 saving - £20 so far.
The big one of the weekend is the mattress. If you think shoe shopping is time consuming, try mattress shopping. One is supposed to spend 10 minutes minimum on a mattress to know whether it's up to much, and there are a lot of mattresses in Furniture Village.
Cue the banter. We are lying on a giant bed that has a pop-up screen at the foot. "Ooh I could sit here all day watching telly, just need a cup of tea and I'm sorted". The salesman duly supplies the tea, and we are set for the long haul.
We decide on the one we like, we are probably there for 40 minutes or more chatting to this guy, who is very knowledgeable and very balanced in his sell. But this is a big purchase, and we never buy things that big without walking away first. A quick tour round homebase, and we return with a strategy. It turns out that delivery is £55, so we ask the question "Any negotiation on the delivery?" As it turns out, because we are only 15 minutes away, he waivers the delivery. Five minutes later, he's been talked into giving us a £19 pillow. This was a particularly relevant, as we wouldn't have taken it had it not been free. Saving = £74.
So two day's shopping, total saving = £94.
By my reckoning, we've saved enough money to buy my beer-making kit...
His theory is that, if you try hard enough, you can get all kinds of deals and sweeteners from retailers, big or small.
My wife took this to heart a long time ago, and while it is a given that you barter a bit for a house, or a car, many people would not think twice about trying to get money off other smaller items (I just don't have the nerve). Take this past weekend as an example.
I needed a new suit, so we went to Moss Bros. Credit goes to the sales guy for asking all the right questions, what's the suit for, what's your budget, colour, style. He then makes a recommendation or two, and eventually we settle on a nice suit that is already reduced from £400 to £279.
All this while, my wife is getting some good banter going. We have a pretty good routine going now, I play the fool, she apologises for my statement that the shoes he just picked out make me look like Crusty The Clown. The sales guy says that he would recommend they take the trousers up to fit, and we agree. At this point my wife comes in with "So, is there any room for negotiation?".
This is a standard line that you see on all the TV shows, and it's important that it's used on someone who can choose to answer "yes" or "no". There's no point using it on the Saturday worker from the local Uni, as he/she won't have the authority.
So the sales guy rightly points out that they were selling this at £400, so no, there's no negotiation on the suit. Fair play. I go back to the changing rooms, and when I return, I discover that my wife has blagged a free suit bag and half price off the tailoring. An immediate saving of £8.
On we go, and later in the day we go to Altimus, a specialists "Millets" type store, located right next door to Millets in Reading. Shoe shopping begins in earnest, but what we are in for is a very in depth science letter about the state of one's feet. Very informative, interesting, and free, and beneficial towards choosing some walking shoes and trainers. All the banter is there, plenty of chat and empathy towards poor little me having to come show shopping with the missus etc.
A quick use of Red Laser tells me I can get the trainers £30 cheaper on the net, so that's no good to Altimus, but my wife settles on a nice pair of Merrell walking shoes, that the salesman has craftily suggested she try with some proper walking socks. Naturally there's no point only having one pair, so she decides to buy two pairs. At this point, comes the question "Any negotiation on the price of the shoes?" Be honest, how often do you hear that? Of course the answer is no, but the follow up catches the salesman off guard:
"How about throwing another pair of socks?"
So there's my wife playing "heads or tails" for a pair of socks in a shop. And she wins. £12 saving - £20 so far.
The big one of the weekend is the mattress. If you think shoe shopping is time consuming, try mattress shopping. One is supposed to spend 10 minutes minimum on a mattress to know whether it's up to much, and there are a lot of mattresses in Furniture Village.
Cue the banter. We are lying on a giant bed that has a pop-up screen at the foot. "Ooh I could sit here all day watching telly, just need a cup of tea and I'm sorted". The salesman duly supplies the tea, and we are set for the long haul.
We decide on the one we like, we are probably there for 40 minutes or more chatting to this guy, who is very knowledgeable and very balanced in his sell. But this is a big purchase, and we never buy things that big without walking away first. A quick tour round homebase, and we return with a strategy. It turns out that delivery is £55, so we ask the question "Any negotiation on the delivery?" As it turns out, because we are only 15 minutes away, he waivers the delivery. Five minutes later, he's been talked into giving us a £19 pillow. This was a particularly relevant, as we wouldn't have taken it had it not been free. Saving = £74.
So two day's shopping, total saving = £94.
By my reckoning, we've saved enough money to buy my beer-making kit...
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