Arrived at K + K George Hotel Kensington

It’s 7:00 pm and R is just about asleep. I am trying to stay up until at least 8:30 because I don’t feel like waking up at 4:00 am or earlier. Actually, though, I am sometimes awake at that time at home so what’s really the difference?

Our 3+ hour drive to Phoenix yesterday morning went well. R discovered, once we were too far to turn back, that he had left his wallet at home. Luckily I always carry the passports so it really isn’t that big a deal. The strange, perhaps unsettling, part about England is that with tapping no one really looks at your card anymore anyway. So he can use mine if he wants to. We did discover though that we needed two different credit cards to tap our way through the Tube turnstiles. Luckily I have two different credit cards so, again, all is well.

The cutest thing: Laurie and CJ and family are going to CJ’s folks near Sacramento for Christmas this year. It’s one reason we decided to go off on a holiday on our own. And they were flying out of Phoenix just two hours ahead of us. Because I always arrive at an airport for an international flight AT LEAST three hours ahead (this time it was actually four because I feared the flight was overbooked) I was able to say hello/goodbye to them before their plane left:

I have to admit that I can’t really “do” a long-haul (10 hours) flight in Economy anymore—not even Premium Economy. I did manage to sleep a few hours though, more than Richard did.

Discomfort aside, it was a smooth flight and we landed pretty well on time at Heathrow. It’s so easy to take the Tube in from Heathrow too. We found our hotel with no problem at all, it’s a three-minute walk from Earls Court Underground. The room is very comfortable so all is well.

Night night until tomorrow!

Comments

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...

Sunday in Richmond Park & Memories

One of the reasons I came back to London after Ireland was to keep a date with my cousin Elizabeth: a Sunday morning walk in Richmond Park. When I moved to England in May of 1978, I rented a room in a house near Richmond Park. I'd heard of the room through a colleague at McGill University's Human Resources Department, where I was working as a Senior Clerk. Montreal had become a bit difficult for me to be in owing to a twice-broken heart and a feeling I wasn't going anywhere at McGill. It seemed like an omen, then, on the plane returning from South Africa in January of 1978--I keep promising to write about that--that I came across an article in a magazine about young Canadians living in London. I'd always loved the idea of being in London what with growing up on a diet of British movies and then all of the articles about Swinging London in the 1960s/early 1970s. By the time I arrived at Mirabel Airport, I had the perfect antidote to my wounded pride over South...

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 ...

valeriesbookofme

Search This Blog