Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Author: admin

  • Accor – Platinum Status

    Accor – Platinum Status

    Wooooo – of no relevance to anyone or anything, but the changes to the Accor Limitless loyalty scheme means that I’ve reached platinum status for the first time. They made those changes due to the Coronavirus restricting people’s opportunity to travel, although I can imagine it’ll be some time before they get the IT to actually reflect the new status.

    There’s not much change from being gold, other than it means access to a free suite night upgrade once per year, but every little helps.

    As a footnote, it transpired it just took one day for their IT to update. Very impressed.

  • Lincoln – Holiday Inn Express City Centre

    Lincoln – Holiday Inn Express City Centre

    Not that it’s particularly entertaining content (although to be fair, a lot of my content isn’t) but I think it’s important for me to post about how helpful hotels were for stays that I didn’t get to make during late March and early April due to the coronavirus. Every one of those hotels must be suffering and worried about its staff, so I’m going to try and get back to all of them later this year so at least none of them lose my booking. It’s not going to be much, but the hospitality industry is going to need some considerable help, not just from the Government, but also from customers returning.

    Having posted about the other twelve or so hotels that offered me refunds for stays in late March and early April (I have another wave of hotels to contact for stays after that, but it’s too early yet for that), there was only one which didn’t reply at all to my e-mail. Which was this one, the Holiday Inn Express Lincoln, for a stay that had already completed (or not completed in this case). My follow-up e-mail to the hotel was promptly acknowledged by the management company, which is very much appreciated, but they’ve said they don’t have access to the reservation bookings.

    I have a feeling that IHG are processing refunds and are just taking some time about doing it, which is entirely understandable and they’re not the only ones doing that. I can’t imagine many customers will mind that it’s taking some time, but hotels are going to have to tell them that otherwise they’ll have a wave of chargeback claims and the lost custom will perhaps start to bite later in the year.

  • Vienna – Ibis Wien City

    Vienna – Ibis Wien City

    And yet another in my series of hotels which I didn’t get to visit because of the Coronavirus. But, I wanted to acknowledge somewhere (so, here) the very fast response from the hotel to my e-mail confirming that they’d offer a refund. I will most certainly be offering my loyalty to this hotel as soon as I can get to Austria, which is hopefully this year. Another effortlessly professional response and I remain delighted at Accor’s hotels at how they’ve handled all of this.

  • Nashville – Puckett’s

    Nashville – Puckett’s

    I went to this grocery restaurant (it used to be a grocery store and they’re played on that theme), because it was well reviewed and it also seemed quite quirky. They had a lunch offer of a salad and then a main of two different meats, along with two sides and I went for the onion rings and fries. I’m quite predictable like that.

    The pre-starter was a local dark beer and although this was before the time that I became obsessive about noting what craft beers I drank, I recall it was rich and went well with the main course.

    I had thought that the salad included in the lunch deal option, which cost in total around €10, was a little side salad rather than served as a separate starter. I remember there was a choice of dressing and I also recall that this was the honey mustard dressing as it was insanely moreish. It even made the salad taste decent, and salad isn’t designed to taste nice…..

    Beautifully tender meats (not that I can recall what they were, but I’m guessing I would have ordered chicken and pork) with the onion rings being the star of this little show.

    There’s a daily cobbler served and as far as I’m concerned, the best thing that can be put under a crumble are either peaches or blackberries. Since it was peach cobbler available as their daily special, I went for that and it was delicious.

    The grocery theme is visible within the restaurant and during the evenings there’s frequently live music played on the stage. It was a large restaurant that was busy, but the staff were helpful and they were willing to explain the menu concepts to me and there was a relaxed feel to the proceedings. The prices weren’t too bad at all, especially since I had the lunch deal, although I probably didn’t need the dessert that I ordered. All in all, very lovely.

  • Memphis – Mosaic Egg

    Memphis – Mosaic Egg

    The mosaic egg at the entrance to the Memphis Welcome Center. I’m not sure why they chose an egg, but it’s a fun thing and it’s very noticeable. Perhaps that why they chose it….

  • Memphis – The Road to Nowhere

    Memphis – The Road to Nowhere

    I love roads to nowhere, there’s an element of mystery about them. Although I don’t know what has happened here, it’s the Interstate 40 crossing the Mississippi River into Memphis.

    And here’s the overview on Google Maps, the stump of road right by the edge of the river….

  • Memphis – Squirrel and Fried Chicken

    Memphis – Squirrel and Fried Chicken

    In January 2018, I had a rather pleasant visit to Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken in Memphis, and I saw this happy little squirrel the next day near to the river enjoying his own little piece of chicken.

    Bless him.

  • Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue – Day Thirteen

    Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue – Day Thirteen

    The Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue was first published at the end of the eighteenth century, and given that the Coronavirus crisis is giving too much time to read books, I thought I’d pick a daily word from it until I got bored…..

    Bantling

    The dictionary defines this as a “young child”, a word that it seems is still in usage today to at least a small degree.

    The word has steadily fallen out of use over the last century, but it’s quite an affectionate term in many ways, although it hasn’t always been used like that and was sometimes defined more as a brat.

  • Memphis – Memphis Pyramid

    Memphis – Memphis Pyramid

    The Memphis Pyramid, known as the Great American Pyramid when it was constructed, is hard to miss from its riverside location in the city.

    Of course, everything in the United States is understated…… Anyway, this immense structure was constructed between 1989 and 1991 and was designed to be used as a sports arena. It’s certainly like no sports arena that I’ve seen before, which was perhaps half its problem, as ultimately the NBA team in Memphis built a new and more suitable stadium for itself elsewhere in the city. After a period of closure and since 2015, the building has been used as an outdoors store in what is perhaps the most impressive of backdrops possible.

    I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect from an outdoor shop, but I’m certain it wasn’t what I was about to experience. This is the 28-storey lift to the top, which is the tallest freestanding elevator in the country.

    Some of the scenery within the pyramid, which is designed to look like an outdoor wilderness environment.

    Complete with a bear.

    And rocks.

    And trees and huts…..

    There is a point to all this water, this is one of the boats which is for sale. The main tenant in the building is Bass Pro, who specialise in selling fishing, hunting and boating gear and there are large stocks of all of these here.

    This boat isn’t for sale as it has alligators around it.

    Because of course every outdoors store needs alligators everywhere….

    And the store’s subtle little fish tank, with feeding demonstrations taking place at pre-set times.

    I thought I might have a ten-minute walk around this pyramid, but I stayed for a couple of hours exploring it and I remember needing a quick lunch whilst I was there. There’s a hotel here as well, and there are plans to expand the site and perhaps introduce more rooms to the hotel. Although for those who can’t wait for that, it’s now possible to spend the night in the pyramid by glamping.

  • Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue – Day Twelve

    Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue – Day Twelve

    The Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue was first published at the end of the eighteenth century, and given that the Coronavirus crisis is giving too much time to read books, I thought I’d pick a daily word from it until I got bored…..

    Bang Up

    This phrase is defined by the dictionary as meaning “Quite the thing, hellish fine. Well done. Compleat. Dashing”, which is interesting perhaps as it’s almost the sort of term that could be used today in modern slang. Indeed, there are still references made to “bang up good”, although I’m not sure whether that’s a continuation of the older term or by chance it has been reintroduced. I like the idea that it’s a phrase that has been in use for centuries though.