Rosewitch, England was definitely one of my favorite places I have ever visited. My folks took me there when I was 14, and I remember bits and pieces the Crown jewels, walking amongst the Stonehenge stones (roped off now, vandalism), Stratford upon Avon. Time for me to take my own 14YO. Im trying to think how I can get over there for a whole summer, LOL. Dlynn, I could have worked so much more. I didnt really look at night time stuff and there was loads to do. Greece: cant help you, but shoot Yasou a line, she went a few years ago. LOL Annie! Teresa, well go together. I wanted to explore more cooking and food shops/stores but didnt get to. Terri, here is more a link to Pictures of England, a website pointed out to me by Denise. I started it on Bourton on the Water, where we stayed for a few days. Thanks Sharon, I was actually thinking how can I even come close to posting her quality of travel guides, I dont do the pictures she does LOL. We might have sat at the same table in the Cheshire Cheeses dining room! Sawdust still there, but we didnt make it to the cellar. I missed a lot of the British Museum. It has changed.check out the new atrium. I couldnt keep up with DH and DS16. Afternoons, when I planned museums, I crashed. Next time! Pam, lots of people did more than we did per day! Theater every night, more attractions, I cant imagine. Gina heh heh yeah I need another vacation like a hole in my head. Speaking of whichDH has another week off in August. Nooooooooo! Kathleen, DH says he took an average of 200 pictures a day. Yup. Me, I just buy the post cards or Google the images, same thing (DARFC from the photo bugs here) Cathy, thanks for giving me the War and Peace moniker heh heh. Next time I go with CF friends! LindaC, I know. Im still exhausted. Speaking of the V&A, did you know there was a Dale Chihuly chandelier in the entrance room?

May I make one suggestion that has nothing to do with certification, nor the question you actually asked? PLEASE impress upon the attendees the importance of LISTENING to the consumer as well as CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING? It may not play into the certification process, but if you're going to take time out for entertainment, at least spend 5 minutes on how important it is to design a kitchen that's right for each consumer. Let me tell you my experience--we had an old (early 50's if not earlier) kitchen--complete the double drainboard/double sink and only 15" of useable counterspace, and not nearly enough storage. 20 years ago, when we decided to redo it, I went to several kitchen design places and home centers. I knew what would work efficiently for my kitchen needs, as a home ec teacher who had also helped redesign a large classroom kitchen, I was familiar with a lot of the principles involved. NOT ONE designer would listen to me. They all just tried to push their own ideas. In the end, they all lost out--we opted to use MY design, and were our own general contractors. The kitchen is amazing--2 decades later, I wouldn't change a thing in it. I've had dozens and dozens of compliments over the years about how great it is to work in. It was one of the big attractions that helped sell our house quickly when we listed this winter. I will be sad to leave 'my' kitchen behind when we move. The principles of kitchen design are important, but they mean nothing if the designer cannot customize a plan that will work for the customer. Oh, I should probably mention that my design? I have 10.5 feet of counter space--in the same kitchen that used to have only 15" and loads more storage. Your goal is to get these people certified and that involves the facts, figures, principles, rules, etc--but I'd love it if you could at least mention the importance of the human factor. Thanks--I only posted this because I was SO frustrated that NO ONE was willing to put aside the so-called kitchen planning 'principles' to help me design the right kitchen for me.

rococogurl, you nailed it with that Grand Central train to White Plains recommendation. 12:30pm - Walked out of my room at Hotel Plaza Athenee, upper east side manhattan 12:48pm - Caught the Grand Central Metro North train on Track 112, via the elevator down near track 30 with 2 x 29" luggage in tow at this point... Destination: North White Plains. $8.50 maybe. Odd though - I couldn't use my MCA card to pay for it. There was a kind woman setting nearby who said that even this car opened, at that North White Plains station, although that wasn't always the case. I made the train by all of 2 minutes, so I hopped on the caboose...or the first car available. 1:30pm - I was in the elevator at North White Plains train station! I remember this time clearly because I thought the elevator was stuck. I eventually realized I had to first go UP and change elevators in order to go DOWN. Picked up rental car from the Hertz there. Totally painless. More soon! :-D.

There's a group of 4 or 5 of us that plays at my place each week. Fun fun fun!