"To London to Visit the Queen"

Sometimes the planets align at just the right time. For us that meant Dan having a business trip with a 3 day layover in London, my nanny Nichole being temporarily out of other work and the kids not quite ready for their championship swim meet. The result was the opportunity for me to fly to London for a long weekend with Dan.

We left together, managing to get the same flights out of Erie and then Philadelphia and onto London. The Erie flight wasn’t too bad as flights go though, however our transition in Philly was horrendous! Our Erie flight was delayed a good 2+ hours and when we arrived in Philly (NOT A SMALL AIRPORT) they were already boarding our flight to London at another terminal. Not just any other terminal, of course, the terminal farthest from where we’d arrived. Let me tell you, I have never met a man who can sprint through the airport carry 2-15 lb. bags and make it look easy. I was able to keep up with Dan for the first 5 minutes and then proceeded to huff, puff and whine my way behind him, losing ground all the time. I should note 2 things in my defense; 1) I was always a LONG distance runner in school, not a sprinter, and 2) I was carrying two carry-on bags as well (Note to me: pack REALLY light next time!!). Thanks to Dan’s extensive airport knowledge and incredible sprinting ability we got there as they were literally closing the door. I find it amazing that he remembers the layout of so many different airports and yet can’t seem to remember where he puts his keys. We threw ourselves into our seats looking forward to 6 hours of rest. He was, however, in Business Class, while I was stuck in coach, behind some hooligans who drank the whole flight and spilled wine all over my laptop case (and my feet) that happened to be under their seats. I believe he slept well, I didn’t have the heart to ask.

We arrived in London 6 ½ short hours later into Gatwick airport, changed our good ole US dollars for English pounds (£), found our way to the express train into central London and then set about deciphering the tube system – which is what they call the subway system in London. Within the hour we were expert tube riders and were settled into the Marriott Regents Park, ready for some quick showers to dust off the traveling and head out to see the city and find some delicious foods. London has the best underground system that I have ever seen. Many cities have a subway system, but I can‘t recall one quite as extensive and easy to use as the London Tube. We used it continually while we were there. We didn’t even bother to rent a car, knowing that we wouldn’t be leaving the city. I’m sure the fact that all the maps and instructions were in English helped, not like trying to figure out the subway in Greece which was in a different Alphabet! But overall, it just felt, clean, efficient and easy to use. It did get quite crowded at peak times and we were at one point subjected to a crush of rather inebriated and rowdy, but really good natured Kiwis who were celebrating their national holiday, but at no time did I ever feel unsafe.

For the next 5 hours (Friday) we wandered through streets we didn’t know the names of (mostly because we couldn’t find the bloody street signs!) and hopped on and off the tube as we fancied, just wandering through the city. We found Piccadilly Circus (it wasn’t really lost), Trafalger Square, China Town, the “blue light” district, and eventually made our way to Buckingham Palace. China town was fully decorated for Chinese New Year (Year of the Rat, in case you are wondering) and was a wonder to see.
Saturday we got a late start, but hey, we were on holiday! We missed the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace (only every other day in the winter) but had a great sleep in. We headed out to see the Thames and the London Eye. From there it is a quick walk across the bridge to Big Ben, Parliament House and Westminster Abbey. Being Saturday afternoon, the queues to enter attractions or buildings were huge and were we just as happy to view from a distance and take lots of pictures.

Oh, by the way, there are no Sunday Live Theatre matinees in London. Saturday evening we decided that we’d like to see a show on Sunday, only to find out Sunday morning that they have Saturday day matinees but no Sunday matinees. We opted to spend the morning at the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge and the afternoon again wandering through the city streets. I was amazed (and ashamed of my education) to find out that the Tower of London WASN’T just a tower, but a whole castle style battlement with loads of buildings within the walls and (empty) moat. We later found a great Indian restaurant for a late lunch and then had a real chuckle about the fact that starting the next day Dan’s stuck eating Indian food for 8 days and we should have chosen something else for lunch. It was delicious though.

Parting was a tough time though. On Monday morning, Dan and I were flying out at about the same time, but at different airports on opposite sides of London. He was off to Bangalore and Shanghai (India and China) for 12 more days and I was headed home to the Erie (and the kids I missed so much!). Very strange to say good-bye to him on an underground (subway) platform instead of at home like usual.

Dan’s trip from London to Bangalore went off uneventfully, with him happily ensconced in First Class with a seat that wraps around you and makes a complete bed. I talked to him when he reached the ground and he said he slept quite comfortably for 5-6 hours. I, on the other hand had a longer journey. I had an easy flight from London to Philadelphia, with 3 coach seats to myself (not quite a bed, but enough to stretch out on). I arrived in Philly (3:45pm US time), collected my luggage (1 carry-on only through Gatwick due to elevated threat levels), cleared customs and immigration with no issues (I am a US citizen after all!) and checked for an earlier flight to Erie. No luck, the only flight left to Erie departed at 9:59 pm (6 hours hence). So I grabbed a bite to eat, settled down next to an outlet and started my blog entry. Alas, during my stay in London the planets became unaligned and my luck didn’t hold. At 7:30 pm my flight had been delayed to leave at 11:10 pm – last flight out. We eventually boarded the plane at 11:00 pm and then promptly sat there for 45 minutes waiting on some sort of “luggage” issue. We left Philly just before midnight and arrived into Erie at just before 1:30 am. Temperature leaving London 55 °F, temperature arriving in Philly: 23°F, temperature arriving in Lovely Erie, PA: 4°F. Ahhhh, it’s good to be home!! - J