England: arrival!
Running around like mad, Asher finally came out from under the bed (where he’s been hiding for the past two nights) - I shall miss my baby! Meanwhile Tira proceeds to flop over on anybody who looks at her, demanding scritches. After all of the planning I really didn’t feel much like packing…I hope I haven’t forgotten anything crucial!
We left on time and for once made it to the airport without a hitch (take that, Live 8!) only to discover a four hour delay on the flight >_<. And since we had gotten there three hours early (good little rule heeders that we are), this meant we had seven hours to amuse ourselves in the airport. In the Philly airport. *lol*
May I never have to spend that much time in an airport ever again! We wandered the concourses, trying out massage chairs at Brookstone, and then dragged our feet trying to draw out our experience at TGIFridays - the only sit-down restaurant in all of the Philly airport - as much as possible (our consolation for the delay was a $36 meal voucher). After that we just gave in, curled up on the chairs at our gate (a shabbier part of the airport, of course) and tried to get some sleep. I faded in and out of consciousness lying on top of my jacket, occasionally waking to hear a Spanish-speaking woman having what must have been a very involved conversation. I don’t think she let up once in the four hours that we lay there! She actually became background noise XD;;.
At 2:15 am we were finally boarded and ready to take off. Very comfy seats, very strange setup in Club World…never got to see First Class of course. The copilot continually apologized the entire journey for our delay, which was nice (I have a feeling that an American flight would have done their best to skirt the issue). The tv monitors would have been cool if I’d actually used them ^^;;. Well, I used them for the map, which showed where we were, speed, time left, etc. Brilliant!
They served dinner sometime around 3am (what the hell, I can always eat. Mm, cheesecake). Other than that, just tried to sleep to kill the raging headache I was developing. We did have a lot of fun at the beginning, when another group had taken our seats, and Alana and I were both pushed towards the back of the plane by other passengers anxious to take their seats. How do you mix up row 30 with row 37?
We’ve just passed over Ireland (which I really wanted to see from the air…darned clouds!). Weird to be flying into morning.
Landed…bathroom! Heathrow Airport sure is ugly. I was stupid with the Heathrow Express machine, but the MAC machine and customs went smoothly. London’s got just as much graffiti and dirt as Philly.
After a few moments orienting ourselves in Paddington Station, we struck out with heavy suitcases bumbling along behind us. The service at the Metropole is really nice. We got a corner room (#995) in the West Wing, ordered a fridge which I’m not really sold on that we’ll use, and went shoppiting in London. Marks & Spencer and Woolworths (“Why did the biscuit cry? Because his mum was a wafer so long”)…ah, “discount” shopping abroad! We can’t decide if people walk on the left or right part of the sidewalk. Anyway, we came back with a knowledge that there is nothing interesting in this area (*now* I know what people meant when they described it!) and some weird odds and ends (fruit, soda, cereal bars, etc). Can’t seem to find normal cereal to save our lives.
I agonized over which internet access plan to get (must have precious!) and then we had a pizza in the hotel’s Fiamma restaurant. It scares me when I see prices in pounds and then double them for the equivalent. $40 pizza dinner! *dies* 9:34 now and an early day tomorrow…finally, bed.
PS: Love the duvets! The US so needs to adopt this over our skanky comforters.
We left on time and for once made it to the airport without a hitch (take that, Live 8!) only to discover a four hour delay on the flight >_<. And since we had gotten there three hours early (good little rule heeders that we are), this meant we had seven hours to amuse ourselves in the airport. In the Philly airport. *lol*
May I never have to spend that much time in an airport ever again! We wandered the concourses, trying out massage chairs at Brookstone, and then dragged our feet trying to draw out our experience at TGIFridays - the only sit-down restaurant in all of the Philly airport - as much as possible (our consolation for the delay was a $36 meal voucher). After that we just gave in, curled up on the chairs at our gate (a shabbier part of the airport, of course) and tried to get some sleep. I faded in and out of consciousness lying on top of my jacket, occasionally waking to hear a Spanish-speaking woman having what must have been a very involved conversation. I don’t think she let up once in the four hours that we lay there! She actually became background noise XD;;.
At 2:15 am we were finally boarded and ready to take off. Very comfy seats, very strange setup in Club World…never got to see First Class of course. The copilot continually apologized the entire journey for our delay, which was nice (I have a feeling that an American flight would have done their best to skirt the issue). The tv monitors would have been cool if I’d actually used them ^^;;. Well, I used them for the map, which showed where we were, speed, time left, etc. Brilliant!
They served dinner sometime around 3am (what the hell, I can always eat. Mm, cheesecake). Other than that, just tried to sleep to kill the raging headache I was developing. We did have a lot of fun at the beginning, when another group had taken our seats, and Alana and I were both pushed towards the back of the plane by other passengers anxious to take their seats. How do you mix up row 30 with row 37?
We’ve just passed over Ireland (which I really wanted to see from the air…darned clouds!). Weird to be flying into morning.
Landed…bathroom! Heathrow Airport sure is ugly. I was stupid with the Heathrow Express machine, but the MAC machine and customs went smoothly. London’s got just as much graffiti and dirt as Philly.
After a few moments orienting ourselves in Paddington Station, we struck out with heavy suitcases bumbling along behind us. The service at the Metropole is really nice. We got a corner room (#995) in the West Wing, ordered a fridge which I’m not really sold on that we’ll use, and went shoppiting in London. Marks & Spencer and Woolworths (“Why did the biscuit cry? Because his mum was a wafer so long”)…ah, “discount” shopping abroad! We can’t decide if people walk on the left or right part of the sidewalk. Anyway, we came back with a knowledge that there is nothing interesting in this area (*now* I know what people meant when they described it!) and some weird odds and ends (fruit, soda, cereal bars, etc). Can’t seem to find normal cereal to save our lives.
I agonized over which internet access plan to get (must have precious!) and then we had a pizza in the hotel’s Fiamma restaurant. It scares me when I see prices in pounds and then double them for the equivalent. $40 pizza dinner! *dies* 9:34 now and an early day tomorrow…finally, bed.
PS: Love the duvets! The US so needs to adopt this over our skanky comforters.