This month’s issue of Global Traveler has a wonderful article on London, with plenty of great suggestions on what to see and where to stay and dine. I shared the piece with daughter Jenny, as she and her fellow students would be spending a month in the area during their study abroad experience. Our family had actually stayed in London for several days a number of years ago when Jenny’s big sister was studying in England, so she had already had the opportunity to experience some of that delightful city’s offerings. We visited St. Paul’s, the British Museum and the National Gallery, shopped at Harrods and took in a play in the West End. There was not enough time to see everything we wished, so Jenny has been looking forward to getting back to London.

 In just the last two weeks on daytrips in to the city, she has toured the Tower of London (and has decided the jewels alone would make it worth being Queen of England), spent some time in the museums, visited Harrods (again!) and thoroughly enjoyed a production of Sister Act: The Musical at the Palladium Theatre. That is not all she’s taken in, though. No, as a nursing student, Jenny has also visited some lesser-known attractions in London that have been, at the very least, eye-opening.

First stop was the Hunterian Museum, located at the Royal College of Surgeons. John Hunter, an 18th-century surgeon, collected and preserved thousands of specimens of plants and animals (and assorted human body parts) in order to better understand anatomy and improve medical treatment and surgical techniques. His original collection was purchased by the government in 1799, given to the Royal College and grew exponentially over the decades. Even though a large portion of the collection was lost during the bombing of London during World War II, Jenny was amazed at the number and variety of items on display.

They then proceeded to the Old Operating Theatre, dating back to the 1820s and the oldest in all of Europe. It’s actually located in the attic space of a church which adjoined St. Thomas’s Hospital — convenient, I guess, whether the surgery was successful or not. Actually, a large skylight just above the operating table provided good light, and the gallery gave apothecaries and physicians-in-training the opportunity to observe and learn. This was, of course, in the days before anaesthesia was available (except for opium and alcohol, that is), so speed was important. Jenny’s group saw a demonstration of how an amputation might be done, including the knives and other instruments used. Her one-word assessment: “Gross!” Usually, these modern nurses-to-be would also visit the Florence Nightingale Museum, also located at St. Thomas’s, but it is closed right now for updating.

Just this past Wednesday the group took in a little more medical history when they visited St. Mary’s Hospital and the lab where Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin in 1928. Fleming had been working with staph bacteria before he’d left on a two-week holiday. On his return, he was clearing away Petri dishes that had become contaminated with mold and happened to notice that the bacteria in those dishes seemed to have been killed by the mold. Jenny found this quite instructive and deduced a few nuggets to live by: Taking a break from work can be good for you in unexpected ways, and perfection in housekeeping could be detrimental, also in unexpected ways. (I would say that when she was a teenager in our house, she had already embraced that last philosophy!)

It just goes to show that there are always fascinating places to see and new things to learn that are often off the beaten track from the usual tourist destinations in the cities we visit. Follow your own interests and inclinations, grab a map or Google a bit and create your own personalized tour.

– Patty Vanikiotis, proofreader

If you’ve been reading my blog over the last few months, you are aware that my younger daughter, Jenny, has been traveling in Europe the last three weeks with a group of fellow nursing students. They have now settled in the picturesque town of Guildford in Surrey, England, to begin their one-month study of community health issues and some practicum experience. Jenny really enjoyed her whirlwind tour of several cities on the Continent but now seems equally pleased to be somewhat settled for a while in one place with a room to herself. I thought I’d just share a few of her impressions of the places she visited along the way and a few lessons she and her friends learned on this, their first big travel adventure on their own.

It doesn’t take much snow to foul up transportation in London. One inch brought havoc to the rail lines, closed the runways at Gatwick for several hours and caused them to rebook on a later flight to Madrid. The girls from Chicago just couldn’t see what all the fuss was about.

Loved Madrid, the Prado Museum, Plaza del Sol and . . . sangria! Also fell in love with Barcelona (I have yet to talk to anyone who’s gone there and doesn’t) and wants to return. After cold and snowy England, the girls loved the sun in Spain.

Jenny celebrated her 22nd birthday in Paris, preferred the Musee d’Orsay over the Louvre and learned a valuable lesson: Check to be sure the site you want to visit is open before you take the time and expense to go there. The group trekked out to Versailles on a Monday only to learn the palace is closed on Mondays (and the grounds, in January, are rather subdued).

Roman men can be charming at any age. On their first evening in the Eternal City, the ladies enjoyed the chivalrous attentions of their “older” waiter (For all I know, he was only 35. Ah, perspective!), and the bartender bought each one a rose from a roving vendor. St. Peter’s was impressive; but Jenny found the colors in the Sistine Chapel to be much brighter than she expected, and the Creation of Adam to be smaller than she thought it would be (again, perspective!).

Squeezing too many cities into too few days along with certain train schedules can lead to frustration. Upon arriving in Florence, the group found that there were no remaining seats available on the train they planned to take from their next stop, Venice, to Munich. Instead, they would have to take an overnight train north, leaving them less than 10 hours in Venice. They never even took a vaporetto to see St. Mark’s Square — sacrilege!!

Food and transportation expenses gobble up the euros; so do entrance fees (and drinks at the hostel bar??).

The Wombat’s hostels in Munich and Berlin offered great, free (except for the tip for the guide), half-day walking tours of those cities, full of great information. Dachau touched Jenny deeply: “I don’t think it is possible to explain how I felt when we were standing in the gas chamber. The evil that existed is unbelievably horrific.”

Be sure you get on the right train. The trek from Munich to Berlin took all day and five trains to accomplish; it should have been one train and a few hours. At least the snowy countryside was pretty!

Based on all the other things Jen has said or written to us thus far, I would venture to say that her greatest lesson is how much there is yet for her to see and learn, and what a great teacher travel can be.

– Patty Vanikiotis, proofreader

Following a mellow Sunday in the western suburbs of Chicago (including a stop for brunch at our favorite breakfast cafe, Blueberry Hill, in LaGrange), our last full day in the city combined some museum-going with shopping. Harry and I began our day early at the Field Museum, home of the largest, most complete T-Rex fossilized skeleton in the world, “Sue.” (Did you know that “Sue” is named for the paleontologist who found “her,’” and scientists don’t really known the gender of the specimen?) We planned only a quick stop there (I had visited before, but Harry hadn’t and he was eager to see Sue.), as we planned to meet younger daughter Jenny at the nearby Adler Planetarium at 11 a.m.

We spent an entire hour just checking out the “Ancient Americas” exhibit which included the opportunity to watch paleontologists in their labs working to free fossilized remains of prehistoric critters from their encasing stone. The Field, a natural history museum “exploring the earth and its peoples”, has such an amazing array of exhibits, both permanent and temporary, covering everything from mummies to pirates, water to DNA, that even a full day does not allow one to explore all it has to offer. We know we will have to return on future visits to delve further into its displays. We used our CityPass tickets for admission on this trip, and I would strongly urge anyone planning to visit at least two or three of its included attractions on a trip to the city to purchase one. It will certainly save you money, but just be sure to budget enough time to enjoy your options.

After meeting up with Jenny, we moved on to the Adler , part of Chicago’s “Museum Campus” sited on a peninsula of land (along with the Field Museum and the Shedd Aquarium) jutting out into Lake Michigan just south of the downtown skyscrapers and just north of Soldier Field and McCormick Place. We lucked out on a sunny, breezy, warmish day, and Jenny told us of seeing Robert DeNiro  filming the upcoming Little Fockers in a nearby park on her way to meet us that morning. Once again, I miss out on a celebrity sighting!

The Adler is a fantastic attraction where one could easily spend an entire day exploring its many interactive exhibits and taking in star shows and informative films in its Sky Theater and Space Theater. Alas, we only devoted a few hours here (one can get a bit museum-weary, after all, and I caught my eyes growing heavy in the darkened Sky Theater) before heading off for lunch in town and an afternoon of shopping.

Starting down in the Loop and working our way up Michigan Avenue, we managed to eat up several hours and a bunch of dollars doing our best to stimulate the local retail economy in our own small way. Late in the day, we trekked north to the neighborhood adjoining the Loyola  campus, where Jenny treated us to our first taste of Five Guys burgers and fries. Oh, my, was that a delicious way to end our sojourn in Chicago! The free-formed burgers made on order from never-frozen beef were great; and the skin-on fries, lightly salted and cooked as you wait, were light and crispy.

Each visit to the Windy City just leaves us eager to return and see more of what we only glimpsed on the last trip, and this time was no exception. Believe me, no matter your interests or inclinations, Chicago will not fail to entertain you.

-Patty Vanikiotis, proofreader

I take about ten trips a year, most stemming from business. I always try to attend a sporting event in my destination city. I am pretty good at scheduling, so I rarely even have to extend the trip to accommodate a ball game.

This year, I have seen baseball games in Houston, Detroit, Milwaukee, Minneapolis and both sides of New York. I have gone to these games with many combinations of people, including friends, relatives and business associates. Later this year, I will be seeing a football game in Houston and possibly a college game at the University of Michigan.

In the September issue of Global Traveler, several men (from several cities) combined on a letter talking about their experience at Houston’s Minute Maid Park. They said they often used baseball as the backdrop for an evening of light business talk and bonding.

I know some people who always try to visit the city zoo when traveling. Others always want to see the downtown area, whether the city is a thriving metropolis or a small, folksy town. Some of my friends are into architecture and seek out interesting structural forms.

Obviously, everyone has different interests, and most cities will have something for everyone. Even the tiniest towns in the middle of nowhere have points of interest; but then again, those towns probably don’t get a whole lot of business travel, anyway.

I would love to hear if any readers out there seek out specific things while traveling on business and if you add extra time on your trip to accomplish your goal. Do you have “must-see” places like museums, ballparks or historical locations? If your business trips are “just business”, let’s hear about that, too.

GT magazine’s section of readers’ letters is limited by space and topics. This blog has endless space (okay, I am sure there probably is a gigabyte maximum, but I doubt we will approach that). So as the late Harry Caray bellowed before singing during the 7th inning stretch, “Lemme hear ya!”

–John Wroblewski, distribution specialist

Last weekend, my friend from college, Beth, came to visit Pennsylvania and brought along her mom, dad and sister. They stayed with us and, since they had never visited Philadelphia, we decided to play tour guides on Saturday and show them around. We did our best to give them the Philadelphia experience.

They arrived around 7 p.m. on Friday evening, so we just kicked back at our house, enjoying dinner and laughs. Since they had to leave very early Sunday morning, Saturday was the only day we really had a chance to show them around. We spent the whole day in the city, so, unfortunately, we were unable to drive them around Bucks County and give them a glimpse of the beauty of the surrounding suburbs.

The day started early. Our first stop, in typical tourist fashion, was an 80-minute Philadelphia Ride the Ducks tour. We drove all through the historic center of the city — past Independence Mall, Betsy Ross house, Elfreth’s Alley and more — before plunging into the Delaware River for a quick ride. After the tour, we visited the Liberty Bell and took a quick peek around the Constitution Center.

After our tour, we left the historic area and headed over to the Reading Terminal Market. We wandered around for a bit, then piled into the car for a drive through my favorite part of the city. We drove them up past The Franklin Institute, up the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, with its country flags, up to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. We drove around the museum, past the Rocky statue and down Kelly Drive, past Boathouse Row. It is a beautiful, scenic drive.

Then, it was off to the Italian Market, where we purchased fresh pasta and delicious Italian pastries from Termini Brothers. And, of course, while in South Philadelphia, we had to stop for a Philly cheesesteak. We chose Geno’s over Pat’s, but the lines at both shops were long. We taught my friend’s family how to order their cheesesteaks — “wiz wit”, “wiz witout,” or insert the applicable cheese selection. After the cheesesteak stop, we headed over to Citizen’s Bank Park for the Phillies game.

After the game, vendors sell Philadelphia soft pretzels on the street corner. That was our last goal of the night — to get our guests some authentic Philly soft pretzels. Alas, torrential downpours led to the game being called in the eighth inning, and we were also unable to get them pretzels. All in all, though, I think we gave them a pretty good taste of the City of Brotherly Love.

–Kim Krol, eFlyer editor, circulation and public relations executive