Plane Ride Home

Thursday morning I woke up feeling a bit better.  Amber and I slowly walked to a local Starbucks where I had half a small mocha and half a muffin. Then we went back to our hotel. Checkout time was 11:00 and I wanted to push it as much as possible.

At 10:45 a.m. we checked out of the hotel and headed back to the tube station. This time it was only a few stops to Heathrow. I have to admit, I wasn’t feeling too hot and all the “charm” of the British accents was totally lost on me. The noise and hustle/bustle of the train stations was a pain. All I wanted was to be home!

We got to Heathrow fine, got through security fine and all that. It was interesting watching a couple with a small baby try to get through security with all their baby stuff. They even had to prove that the baby’s bottle of formula was OK by having the baby drink some of it before they could get through security.

Waiting in Heathrow

We found our flight information on the board and sat down to wait. Now you have to realize, it’s about 11:30 at the time, and our flight left around 4:00. Ug. I felt crappy. Virtually ALL seats at airports have arms to you cannot lay down – but we managed to fine a missing arm in front of an air conditioning unit so I snuggled on to the seat and let the cool air blow on me. Although Amber and Patrick were helping me enormously, Nessie sacrified his body to be my pillow. I stayed there for a long time.

I ate an entire plain bagel (wow!) and then we got on the plane. We took off about on time and flew west, which meant that we were flying with sun. So, although we flew for about nine hours, we got to Seattle just about 1 hour after we left London. Of course, to our bodies it was 1:00 a.m. on Friday! I survived the nine hours on water, orange juice and the center of half of an egg sandwich.

Patrick and Amber again grabbed all my luggage and we almost ran to Customs – we were about the 3-5th people to get through (it really pays to not check any luggage) and we headed out to wait for Mike to pick us up. By the time I got home it was about 7:00 p.m. local time but it was 3:00 a.m. to me. It was great to see my dog (Bailey) again, I showered and fell into bed.

It’s great to go on vacation, but there really is no place like home.

 

We Made it to Edinburgh

So far all of our reservations, B&B’s cars, flights, etc. have been flawless (THANK YOU AMBER). Of course now there are continuing stories of flights being canceled due to the volcanic ash from Iceland.  Add to that a strike by British Airways (our flight back home), and all three of us now have our fingers crossed.

Today we drove from Glasgow to Edinburgh – not really a long drive at all.  We stopped at three planned places along the way, and a third popped up along the way.

Falkirk Wheel

First was the Falkirk Wheel which is better seen in person that read about. It’s a giant lift used to lift boats 35 meters so they can avoid having to go through the equivalent of 11 locks. Very odd and they seem to have tried to turn it into a tourist attraction. We stood and watched a small barge of tourists being lifted up, boat, water and all, then wait, wait, wait, then the barge was lowered again.  It certainly got the point across, but it was something like £8 for the ride, which I didn’t think was worth it (it looked pretty boring; truth be told).

Second was the Forth Bridge in northern Edinburgh. Well, actually there are two Forth Bridges – one for cars and such and another for trains. These bridges cross the Firth of Forth – which can get to be a mouthful! We were interested in the bridge built for trains. While both bridges are one mile long, the one for trains was the first major steel bridge ever built, in 1890. It’s held together by more than eight million rivets. The bridge is so big, and needs constant painting (and yes, there were parts covered up for renovation – see more on this below), that the saying “it’s like painting the Forth Bridge” means something is that non-stop and repetitive.

Forth Bridge

Rosyln Chapel is there somewhere...

Third, we headed south of Edinburgh for the Rosyln Chapel. I’d read that the ceilings inside the chapel were very ornate and a “must see”.  This was also a location where part of the Da Vinci Code movie was filmed. As a side note, we’d seen that virtually ALL of the churches we’ve visited have been undergoing renovation. This means that typically we walk up, and the front ¼ of the building is hidden by scaffolding. I realize this has to be done, and it’s probably an ongoing task, but really – EVERY church?  So, we pull up to Rosyln Chapel and we look off in the distance where we *think* the chapel is.  And we see a metal roof? Over a mass of scaffolding?  Yup – you guessed it. The chapel was undergoing a huge renovation. But I figure, hey, that’s ok since I came to see the interior anyway.  But of course, as we get nearer, there’s a sign saying that there’s scaffolding inside as well and the ceilings are not currently visible.  And for this you’re supposed to pay £8 ?  I don’t think so… so we left… quite disappointed.

But on the way back, we stumbled across an Ikea and a COSTCO!!  Score! I did not like Ikea at all (I felt like part of a herd of cattle being forced down the chute to slaughter) – but of course Costco was great fun. Since I’d heard they had Costco’s over here, I brought my card with me – and it got all three of us in without question. They had typical things like Kirkland brand dog food, but also different things – like hard liquor for one.  It felt so good to be inside!  It was interesting though – the street that Ikea and Costco were on was named Costkea.

New Car for Mike

Finally, we headed for our B&B. It’s on the northeast side of Edinburgh, on the water! Past experiences with B&Bs on the water has not been too great.  But this one rocks – it’s called Joppa Turrets and between my windows and the water is a little garden, a walking path, and sand!  With my windows open I can hear the gentle surf.

 

Made it Safely to London

We made it to London!

Our flight was nice and uneventful – but wow – flying in Club World (like a business class) was amazing.  We were in a 747 and got seats on the “upper deck” – in the bubble behind the pilots.  There were only 20 passengers there, 2 bathrooms, no kids, and LOTS of room.  One thing that made it seem special (and this is so sad that this is special) – but the center aisle between seats was wide enough for two people to pass by each other!

Amber & Patrick in Club World

The seats that converted to beds were pretty nice – press a button and the seat leans back while the seat part extends forward – very sweet.  Add to that privacy, two seats on one side of the row and two on the other, great service, good food, and free alcohol – where could you go wrong?!

The odd thing was that many people started going to sleep as soon as we took off – about 7:00 p.m. Seattle time!  But I totally understood when later they turned all the lights back on and it was only 2:00 a.m. Seattle time – because we were landing! I got about 3 hours of sleep on and off; Patrick and Amber each got about 1 hour.  It was around 11:00 a.m. London time.

We made it through immigration and customs easily, got some currency in Pounds, found the underground “tube” station and made it smoothly to our apartment!  We’re settled in for the night, trying to stay up as late as we can… but 4:00 p.m. local time (8:00 a.m. Seattle time) is looking like a good bed time to us!

 

British Airways Rocks!

We’re sitting in the British Airways lounge (!) at Sea-Tac and I could get used to this life style!  Free food! Free alcohol!  Free WiFi -  with 5 bars!   (and the freebies include Oreos, Glenlivit scotch, Sunchips, bottled water, coffee, diet cokes, and on and on - I’m impressed).

I can’t wait to get on the plane. We’re flying in a 747 and our seats are in the bubble on the seconed floor!  And the seats turn into beds – this could be amazing.  We’ll be flying for about 9 hours and landing at Heathrow Sunday.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!!