Brent - Arrived at London Heathrow yesterday. The clock said 9:30 AM, but I knew it was half past two in the morning, body time. I've never been able to sleep on an aircraft (not a particularly good idea when flying F-4's), so I was jealous of my brother, Steve, sawing logs nearby.
Karrie and I are really enjoying traveling with Steve and Barb. They've done a lot more travelling than we have, so they are a good resource, but so far we have been cracking each other up routinely. Just before we were getting ready to board the aircraft at the gate at JFK, Barbera was talking about how the terminal, while comfortable, didn't offer much in the way of entertainment during long layovers. "Maybe if we were members of the Mile High Club, things would be more interesting."
Well, yeah!
There were lots of giggles and grins all around us. Of course, Barbara meant the Delta Airlines frequent flyer VIP club, or whatever they call it. She's a real Utah girl, though, and didn't think of the usual definition of Mile High Club until she saw everyone's reactions. There's more entertainment to be had on a long layover at JFK than you might imagine.
Our hotel was a lot farther from Heathrow than we had thought, and it turns out that there is more than one Crown Plaza Hotel in London as well. While arranging for transportation, Steve at first had booked us on a shuttle to the Heathrow Crown Plaza through the transportation desk. While talking with the agent at the desk, we asked him to point out where our hotel was located on a map of London, and we found that our hotel was actually all the way across the city. Getting across London turned out to be far more expensive than we had though it would be. We looked at taxi service, bus service, train service, subways, and possibly getting our rental car a couple of days earlier than planned. Transportation in London isn't cheap. We finally settled on hiring a van and a driver to deliver us. Public transportation would have been a bit cheaper, but not by much, and would have involved wrestling with our luggage through several stops, and STILL needing a taxi or two for all our gear for a good portion of the trip anyway. We were all fried from the trip, and didn't feel up to it. Turned out to be the best option by far, as traffic in London at mid day is interesting, to say the least.
Karrie - I believe we got an unintended tour of London. As long as we were able to keep our eyes open we did see the London Eye, the Tower Bridge, Thames River, and lots of unidentified churches and cathedrals. What Brent forgot to mention was the driver we got to take us from the airport to hotel, though extremely polite, was looking pointedly at a map the whole way! Lesson learned: London is NOT America with funny accents. Just because it is common for US airports to have free shuttles from airports to local hotels, don't expect that commodity overseas.
Afte we all collapsed in a coma for a couple of hours, showered and a change of clothes, we all met for our first encounter with a London pub! The Crowne Plaza is located at the old Dockyard area that has been renovated to a huge convention complex. Lovely neighborhood with great dining and views of the river. We found the Fox@excel and enjoyed Stout and Cider and upscale pub food. Our waiter was French and didn't seem shocked that the loud laughing American savages asked to have our picture taken at the table. Good times!
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