While Sunderland tried to break out of their miserable run with a change of manager, Stoke went no further than a change of scenery by visiting the Houses of Parliament this week.
And it was during their trip to London that the first-team party popped into a posh pizza restaurant for a bite to eat.
"We took them to the House of Lords and it was something different to break the week up," said Stoke boss Tony Pulis.
"Everything about the place is just fascinating, and even some of the players I thought wouldn't enjoy it seemed to get something out of it.
Pulis said Tuesday's trip dovetailed nicely with his game-plan to do everything reasonably possible to take the pressure off his players ahead of what he now describes as their five-game season.
Stoke follow tomorrow's trip to QPR with fixtures of increasing intensity against fellow strugglers Norwich (h) and Sunderland (a), before entertaining Tottenham and visiting Southampton.
Stoke have more six-pointers on their fixture list than most of their rivals – as any fan would readily testify– but Pulis insists he is deliberately ignorant about other teams' remaining games.
When asked if he had glanced at the matches still to confront the likes of Wigan, Aston Villa, Norwich and Sunderland, he replied: "No, not at all. You'd drive yourself insane.
Pulis maintained that neither he nor his players could have any complaints over the support Stoke have seen and heard on match days during this year's fall from grace.
"We've now got five throws of the dice to get the points we need, and we need a call to arms to everybody in Stoke-on-Trent, for everybody to stick together.
Just about every onlooker has written off QPR's hopes of survival after Wigan's late equaliser a fortnight ago was followed by defeat at Everton to just about extinguish all hope for Harry Redknapp's men.
But Pulis insists they will still be fighting, especially at home, as they seek a minimum of four wins from their last five games to stand any chance.
"I've watched them in a couple of games,." he says, "and they have been very unfortunate not to pick up more points. Reading and QPR will keep going, and rightly so, and Harry will have them firing."
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