Kevin Riley Inc

Archive for August, 2009

We’re back!

Mid-July, we hopped a Qatar flight to Doha, Qatar and then a second plane to London. Over 17 hours of flying, but what an airline. Qatar has a 5-star rating and we think it’s well deserved. Especially, the meals were fantastic.

Here we are boarding plane #2 at Doha. It was only 7 am, so not too hot yet, but at 11 pm (on our return flight) it was 42 Centigrade.

London

After landing in London (my sister and brother-in-law picked us up – thank you Peter) we settled in at Annemarie & Peter’s lovely house in Richmond. The next day, we did the tourist thing and visited the Tower Of London (my fourth visit – what a tourist!)

A few wanderings around the castle and along the ramparts, and we soon found toys to play with.

Of course, Rieko soon had me in Harrod’s. After getting lost in the maze for awhile, we finally found the fancy LaDuree tearoom. Lovely, petite trimmed sandwiches and pots of great tea. Prices were not trimmed, LOL.

We walked from Harrod’s to Covent Garden – stopping at Fortnum & Mason, Picadilly Circus, and Leicester Square. At Covent Gardens, Rieko met a Cigarstore Scot.

Richmond

The next day was Sunday – not a day to be on the road – so we spent a wonderful day, wandering around Richmond Park and Richmond itself. We loved Richmond and can see why Peter & Annemarie want to live here.

We found a herd of small deer (you can just see them behind Rieko).

We fortified ourself with tea and scones at the Teabox in downtown Richmond. L-R Annemarie, Peter, me, and Rieko.

Hever Castle

On Monday, we all drove to Kent and Hever Castle. This is where Anne Boleyn lived and it’s a beautiful castle with a lake, mazes, and Italian gardens on the grounds. A great day outing.

Here we are on the drawbridge. You can imagine pulling this up – no one bothers you, no Skype, no Twitter, no phones, just start writing in the protected peace and quiet of your own castle. Hmmm?

Sitting in the courtyard of the castle. This must have been a wonderful spot to sit on a sunny day and read a book. Note the fantastic leaded-glass windows.

We rented a rowboat for a quick circuit of the castle lake. Peter seem a little skeptical of his rowing partner’s abilities.

Nearby, we found super-cool hats. We are The Dudes!

Cotswolds – Bath

The next day, we boarded a train for Bath – the beginning of our Cotswolds tour. True to British weather it was raining on and off, but we managed to have a great day wandering about in this beautiful town. And, there was always shelter to duck under.

We also ducked into Sally Lunn’s – the oldest house in Bath, built in 1482 – for a famed Sally Lunn bun and refreshing tea.

In the evening (yes, it is after 9pm but still light out) we went to the old Roman Baths.

It’s unbelievable how well built these baths were – such a long, long time ago. However, Rieko did have to help them with a collapsing arch. No, she’s not still there holding it – they sent Mr Riley from Fawlty Towers by to fix it with a “lick of paint”.

The next morning, Rieko got her first taste of Kippers – and highly approved, even if they are a wee bit overly salty for us.

Cotswolds – Chipping Campden

Our second day in the Cotswolds, we rented a mini van and drove towards the village of Chipping Campden. Along the way, we stopped at Tetbury, where we discovered antique shops and Rieko bought a beautiful cameo necklace. She’d been looking for one like this for years, so today was already off to a good start.

We drove on to the old wool market town of Stow-On-The-Wold for a great lunch and a little window shopping. Picked up some genuine Turkish Delight – better than any we’ve found elsewhere.

However, Rieko contravened some old law and soon found herself sitting in the park. Only some shrewd negotiations got me my navigator back.

We had booked a night at The Malt House in Broad Camden – just outside Chipping Campden. When we arrived, the place was locked up. Seems the reservation I made online was never noted (Internet not infallible yet), but fortunately we did finally get through to the management & the lovely room they gave us was well worth the effort. Rieko rates this our best inn in the UK.

The next morning, we enjoyed a wonderful breakfast in the inn’s sunny dining room. A great start to our next day of adventure.

Great Tew

We drove all over the Cotswolds, exploring a number of backroads and small villages. For lunch, we headed to Great Tew – a quaint village of houses from the late Middle Ages.

Lunch was at the Falkland Arms. This 16th century building is a true traditional English pub, and sitting inside it we absorbed the warm atmosphere and enjoyed a great lunch. You could picture this pub in olden days, and we imagined all the sights this place had seen.

We even found a spot for the kind of mature and reserved activity that is fitting for someone whom others look to for serious business advice.I wonder if they’ll have one of these for my entrance on the stage at the Warrior Conference.

Driving towards our final destination of Oxford, we found a good spot to take a photo with the beautiful Cotswold countryside in the background. Then, Rieko befriended some of the local woolies.

Oxford

We dropped off our rental car in Oxford and spent two nights and a day there. Lots of shops, streets, and pubs to explore. Also, big colleges like Christ Church College. We roamed around inside – everything built on an enormous scale. Unfortunately, the great dining hall used in the Harry Potter movies was closed.

We headed to the White Horse Pub for lunch. This is the pub where Inspector Morse (of the British TV series) always had his pint with Sergeant Lewis. We had more than just a pint. The menu was great.

London Workshop

On our last day in England, Rieko and I headed back into London to the Royal Horseguards Hotel near Whitehall. I did a 3-hour exercise with attendees at the special London Workshop that Kevin Brown had set up for my UK visit. Here I am with Kevin as we get started.

I especially enjoyed getting to meet some long-term Product Creation Labs members. Here, I’m with Lee McIntyre and David Rogers at the buffet lunch. Below, Phil Wheatley – Product Creation Lab Workshop’s head teaboy – joins me. Phil also delivered two bottles of very fine homemade mead, so I’ve promoted him.

Tahir Shah and Matt Garrett (my Easily Answered expert compares) came down to London to join me for a few drinks in the hotel’s relaxing bar garden. My lovely business partner also attended – although she abandoned my workshop time to go sightseeing and shopping around Westminster and Picadilly Circus.

Muerren to Golderli

The next day, we flew to Zuerich with Swiss Air. Compared to Qatar, I’m afraid Swiss Air was a big letdown. What used to be one of the best airlines … the airline that used to give me a bottle of red wine on just a short flight … gave us for breakfast just one sad croissant on a napkin – no jam, no butter, just a plain croissant.

We were off to do a trek through the Berner-Oberland.

We took a series of trains and cable cars until we ended up at Muerren, where we spent the night at one of those grand old hotels from a hundred years ago.

The next morning, an energetic couple left for the mountains. How long would the energy last? Since we climbed (and then descended) a total of about 1300 meters (4300 feet), and covered about 20 kilometers, the energy would dissipate.

The first part was an easy climb, up into a foggy morning.

In about an hour, we arrived at Spielbodenalp.

Then began the climb – a rocky, steep, winding trail up into who knew what. The fog totally obscured our destination and we had no idea when this grinding climb would end.

Finally, the top (well, the first of many tops). The fog lifted and we had a beautiful view of Spielbodenalp – far down below.

This is where things started to go horribly wrong. After a short break on the bench, we headed out on this trail along the rock face. Little did we know, we had missed a small trail to the left (no trail sign and we’d been distracted by that welcoming bench). So, we somehow ended up back down at Spielbodenalp and one more time challenged climbing that grind up the switchback trail (to the bemused look of a group of cows who sat on a hillock endlessly chewing their cuds). One vital hour lost – which would later have us showing up at our mountain inn just as dinner was being served.

Finally, we arrived at our lunch stop – Rotstockhuette. Great soup, wurst, and thick slabs of rye bread. Powered up for the big climb ahead – we hoped.

Then began a very long uphill climb (over 600 meters vertical) to the rocky gap at Sefinenfurgge. By the look of the trail, not too many people do this last rocky climb.

Phew! Made it to the top. A quick rest and then …

The descent into an unknown, rocky hell begins. This would go on for hours. Nice to finally go downhill, but after a few hours our legs were knackered.

Golderli to Oeschinensee

The next day, we decided it was a day for an easier route (we definitely needed to acclimatize and recuperate before another brutal hike), so we went the easy way around and up to the beautiful Oeschinensee.

We had reserved a wonderful room in the Berghaus Am Oeschinensee and our window offered a view you could never tire of – large rock faces down to the lake, glaciers above, and numerous waterfalls spilling into the Oeschinensee.

Oeschinensee to Schwarenbach

The next day, we retraced our steps down from the Oeschinensee to the town of Kandersteg.

Then, a guide cable car ride up to Sunnbuel, and we were ready for another hike up into rocky alpine territory.

Parts of this hike were quite gentle, like the stroll across the beautiful Spittelmatte. Then, a relatively easy climb up to Schwarenbach (although the puffing British scoutmaster we passed wouldn’t agree with us) and a great view back down to the valley.

Around a few bends in the road and there was our inn – the Berghotel Schwarenbach – where we were thoroughly stuffed by the plates and plates of food they kept bringing out.

In the afternoon, I set my Flip on a rock and shot a quick video here – with this rocky mountain hotel in the background. Come September, this video will be part of a special new campaign I have designed to help all my affiliates get a lot more commissions with Kevin Riley Inc products. If you’re not an affiliate yet, get signed up now at:

http://ProductSellingLabs.com

A very foggy evening beckoned us for a postprandial stroll. Then, a touch of rock scrambling for the hairy mountainman in our group.

Schwarenbach to Gasterntal

Morning was still foggy as we hiked through the beautifully desolate Arvenwald.

We hiked back to Sunnbuel and then dropped under the edge to hike down into the Gasterntal – far below.

Crossing over a chasm with a raging river, we ended up traversing a steep rockface. At one point, the only passage was through this cave.

And a nice, steep climb down from the rockface. OK for a mountain goat, but some decided this was tough maneuvering.

And then, the reward. We stayed at the rustic Waldhaus. No electricity – just the warm glow of candlelight. And, for dinner we had Raclette (melted cheese eaten with boiled potatoes) in the traditional manner – melted in front of a fire. So delicious, we ate platefuls and couldn’t move afterwards.

Klosters

The next day was Swiss National Day, and we headed to my hometown to celebrate my mother’s birthday. It falls on the holiday and she gets fireworks every birthday.

Peter and Annemarie rejoined us here, where the four of us rented a very nice chalet for a week. The walk up to our chalet kept us all from putting on weight with all the good food we were eating each day.

The very next day was Peter’s birthday, and we celebrated it by playing a round of mini golf before heading into the village for lots of cappuccinos, pastry delights, and chocolates. We also found some great toys around the back (obviously for smaller children than us as we could barely get our big feet in to work the accelerator). These coin-operated carts went quite well and we had a blast bashing each other about as we raced around the one big pylon. The look on the real children’s faces as they watched these two overgrown ones was priceless (Yes, we have way too much fun to ever grow up).

Dischmatal

Every time we visit the Dischmatal (above Davos) it’s a cold, bleak day. We weren’t disappointed. My mother – who had just turned 86 joined us for this otherwise gentle hike.

After a few hours of easy – but cold – hiking, we see our lunch stop in sight.

The Teufi restaurant is always our reward after a cold walk in the Dischmatal. They have the best Rosti (a fried cake of grated potatoes smothered with ham, cheese, and a fried egg) and Alplermacaroni (macaroni with lots of bacon, roasted onions, cheese, and lashings of apple sauce). Mmm. A guatta!

And, of course, there’s always room for their delicious desserts. This one, a walnut ice cream with lots of whipped cream and caramel sauce fed the two of us quite nicely.

Gotschna & Davos

Another day, we took the cable car up to the top of Gotschna – just to enjoy a cup of coffee on the sunny terrace. Here’s a video I shot of that ride – and the great view.

The top of Gotschna is a trailhead to hike into Parsenn and many other alpine destinations.

However, today we rode back down to the middle station – Gotschnaboden – for a nice forest hike.

We hiked through the quiet Duerrwald and out into the meadows of Schwendi.

A walk to Wolfgang and around the Davoser See (Lake) took us into Davos. Then, lunch at our must-visit-everytime restaurant in Davos – Schneider’s – where we get glazed open-faced sandwiches with great delicacies on them and decadent desserts.

Monbiel & Garfiun

The next day, we climbed up through the trees behind my friend Hans Peter’s farm to the Monbieler Alp path. Great walk above Klosters – into the small hamlet of Monbiel. From there, we hiked on to lunch at Alp Garfiun.

Madrisa & Schlappin

Our last day of hiking, we rode the gondora up Madrisa from Klosters Dorf.

On Madrisa, we followed a contour trail and then slowly started dropping down into the remote hamlet of Schlappin.

We arrived in Schlappin and hiked on to a good place for a fire and a wurst roast. There is nothing like a Cervela roasted on a stick over a fire in the Alps.

The next day, we were off to Zurich for a night, and dinner at our favourite Zeughhauskeller. What we didn’t know was that we’d end up in the middle of a city wide rave, as Zuerich’s annual Street Parade was in full blast and techno was pumping the air.

Then, a quick flight to London, a stay overnight, and the long 17 hours back to Japan.

It was a very satisfying trip, with 2 weeks of no Internet at all and the first 2 weeks just a quick check of e-mails. I do love having my business on the Internet. All it takes is having some systems in place.