Skip to main content

Arrived in the UK!

 It’s been a very long (well, maybe a very short—I DID lose 8 hours overnight) day but all has gone very, very well. The flight was on time, ride was a bit turbulent now and then but I just clutched my pillow and reminded myself that flying is the safest mode of transportation.

UK Customs was very easy, the machine scanned my passport, gate opened and I never even saw a Customs officer. I wonder if all my information had been loaded through my passport; made all Rick and my work on Sunday night at his computer more than worthwhile.

I took the Underground aka Tube into Gloucester Road. It was a long, slightly smelly (the Tube is the same as it always has been) journey but there was hardly anyone on it. Some American girls who didn’t think the “masks are mandatory” sign applied to them but no one came along to check so why should I care? Mine was virtually glued to my face at this point after almost 24 hours of constant wearing. Note though: Wearing a face mask, I actually slept better on the plane with the eye mask; normally the eye mask drives me crazy. Interesting. I did actually burrow under a blanket though as the air circulation in a 777 is super strong and I felt like it was blowing in my ear. It’s also quite noisy but I am NOT going to complain. I got to London safe and sound and that’s all I care about. Arrived at the hotel, they were expecting me, room is very modern and very comfortable. Renovated bathroom with single hot/cold water taps which is a huge improvement over what a lot of hotels used to be like.

I put my cases down, washed my face, put a fresh mask in my purse in case I might need it for going inside anywhere and went off walking. By this time it was about 3:30, sun was shining, it was HOT for London (84º F) so I wore a light t-shirt; thank goodness I had brought a couple for exercising. 

Instead of writing about what I saw, I will post photos and go to bed. Although I tried to get them in order, Blogger uploads them Willy Nilly and it’s hard to change them around using an iPad. 

Hotel Lobby

Room

Front of hotel, across from Gloucester Road Tube

Another view of my room


 

Statue near Brompton Park called The Prodigal”

 





Exterior and Interior of Brompton Oratory

Caffe Concerto interior

I think I can use the USB port and not worry about AC/DC but I’m not sure….

Salmon Nicoise for dinner

Description of the Caffe

Extremely decadent gelato; loads of people in the big plaza, enjoying the afternoon warmth.


Comments

  1. OneKidsMomSeptember 7, 2021 at 3:49 PM

    Looks like an awesome start to your trip. Enjoy! Glad you arrived safely.

    ReplyDelete
  2. RosesareblueSeptember 8, 2021 at 2:10 PM

    Healthy supper and wonderful treat . Enjoy a beautiful trip .

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Life on board the Queen Mary

Passenger's log on the Queen Mary 2: Dec 9th - First Day at Sea Didn't sleep well--think it was the soused mackerel at dinner. Anyway, R and I woke up at about 6:00 am and discussed the order of the day. Quite the swell outside and I can feel the roll of the ship. (No seasickness thank goodness!) Despite the mackerel, I was hungry so we went to King's Court at 6:30 a.m. Buffet with loads of choice of course. We sat in an alcove looking out at the ocean. Our server was from Croatia, Slavan. I asked him my burning question of the day--why did we get a free bottle of wine but a regular bottle of Diet Coke cost $3.75? Diet Pepsi is $1.00 less. Fruit juices are free on tap. Coffee, tea, milk, ditto. But you have to pay for soft drinks. Very odd. Slavan says it is because Cunard can't get a good contract with Coke. Hmmm.... our local School District back in Sierra Vista can negotiate .50 a can for the soda machines in the teachers' lounges but Cunard has to cha...
Post a Comment
Read more

Duckett's Grove/Castle, Co. Carlow

Golly I am tired tonight! We had a really busy day. We went into Carlow town to return a pair of sweatpants that R. bought and didn't like. I also went to the Bank of Ireland and started up my bank account. They do things very differently here than in Sierra Vista. There are no tellers for simple deposits or withdrawals; the bank branch in Carlow consists of four ATM machines and one international exchange cashier. And three personal bankers who are extremely helpful. I discovered that you don't make a deposit, you make a lodgment. Weird, eh? We went to Tesco's after the bank to get our every-other-day food shopping done. Small refrigerators--have to be careful in buying. We also bought some new "orthopedic" pillows that will hopefully help our neck issues. Bought a couple of pre-made sandwiches and ate them in the car when we parked at Duckett's Grove. Duckett's Grove is a ruined 19th century great house whose owners kept redesigning the original house ...
Post a Comment
Read more

US Thanksgiving 2024

My memoir post will be slightly political again today. I'm getting past it all, hardly read any of my previous political commentators now. Still, there is one person whose column I read because I find his musings interesting. This morning he wrote a mostly positive post about Thanksgiving but then he wrote that those who don't support Trump are part of an "educated elite." I felt strongly that I wanted to comment about this. Because, just as not all people who voted for Trump are the same, neither are those who voted against him. And I want to set to paper my opinion about that. Because that's what this memoir blog is, my perspective on the life I have lived and am living :) My blue-collar father who went to high school at night in his teens while working during the day in the 1920s, who told both his daughters in the 1950s and 1960s that high school was "good enough" for women, would be mystified to hear his younger daughter included in "the educat...
1 comment
Read more