Travel day/day 1

The international-travel-right-from-work concept does make for a bit of a long day. We got to our gate in Cleveland in plenty of time, which allowed me to hunt and gather pizza from the in-airport Pizza Hut. This was followed by king-sized Snickers bars. Thus fortified, we made it (with only a minor 30-minute delay for de-icing) to Philadelphia.

The City of Brotherly Love’s airport is not so loving to the tech-savvy traveler. I wanted to live-blog from the airport (we had an almost-three-hour layover), but during the week, wireless access is only free to college students (and free to everyone on weekends). I did not even bother finding out how much it would cost. I was tantalized and teased by the wireless network “US Airways Free,” but it did not work for me. I did get to see a Liberty Bell replica made out of Legos, and that was pretty darn cool.

The flight to London was long, but that is to be expected. We had choose-your-own-movie videos, but the system did not work for the first two hours or so. I polished off a 200-page book (Piano in the Pyrenees, by Tony Hawks), and then toyed with watching a movie, but decided against it after my first attempt to re-watch Iron Man was thwarted by a system reboot. I had loaded up Christmas music on my Nano (thanks, Shannon and Jo!) for Mer to listen to while she graded (for the entire flight), and I loaded up my Touch (thanks, Dubbs!) for me to listen to music and play games on. It is a bit odd to hear cannons firing while playing Risk on the Touch while Christmas music is singing about peace on earth.

We got to London ahead of schedule (said with a British “ssshhhhh”), and got through customs with no hassle (the customs line was about 10 minutes long). My bag was on the carousel and was quickly reclaimed. Mer’s bag came out within a minute, and we thought we could be off. However, her bag was wedged between two huge bags, and I had to move one of them while Mer tried to get her bag off the world’s fastest moving belt. She succeeded at the cost of my scraped knuckles, only to have her bag fly open on the floor. She gathered the stuff up to find that she was missing (and this is suspicious) her bra, every pair of her underwear, and one old shoe. It looked as if her bag had been inspected, and then the two zippers failed somehow – they now only work in one direction (they used to zip in either direction). This caused a minor delay while we filed a report with U.S. Air’s baggage claims. We then turned our attention to getting our mass-transit passes.

London is a very cosmopolitan city. Our first of many indications of this was when we were asking about passes at the information booth – the man inside was from Pakistan, and was hard to understand through the glass. We finally figured out that we needed to use the live-attendant booth (as opposed to the self-service kiosk). We queued up and got to our very friendly (and equally hard to hear) British attendant, who helped us get 7-day “Oyster” passes for the Tube and bus lines. The Oyster pass is expensive (about 27 pounds, or 40 dollars, each), but allows unlimited travel on London’s excellent transit system. Since individual tickets are based on how many “zones” you cross, paying for each ride can get expensive and confusing. Since we rode the Tube four times (on four different lines total) just on the first day, I think the Oyster passes will work out just fine (and take any worry about being cheap on transit away from us).

We made our way onto the Tube with limited trouble (it took a second to figure out the Tube gates – the Oyster cards swiped near sensors to open the gates, and some gates were “in” gates and some were “out” gates). Our hotel was in a section of London called the Docklands, which is east of downtown. Armed with our trusty Tube map, we figured out we needed to use three lines to get to our hotel. That did  not seem like such a big deal. The Tube was very crowded, even at a terminus like the airport, but we were on early, so we were okay. Our first transfer went well (the joys of speaking and reading English!), but the second transfer happened to be at a station that was under construction. It required us to leave the station, go to the street, and walk about a quarter mile to the next station. This was a little taxing with luggage, but not too bad. Until we got to the next station. The lift (elevator) did not seem to be working, so we used the stairs. Being gallant, I carried both suitcases down the stairs. All eight stories of them. Thank goodness it was down instead of up! Happily, since then, Mer has figured out we can use another line, so we should be spared the stairs on the way back.

The Docklands is an interesting place. It reminds me very strongly of Chicago. The Thames is diverted here (presumably for the docks that I have not seen), so the river is very prominent. This appears to be the new business area – lots of small- to mid-sized skyscrapers in steel and glass, and lots of construction. It is full of business-suited people bustling about at 9:00 and 5:00, and has turned out to be relatively quiet (bordering on abandoned) at night.

Our hotel was right next to the Tube station (which by now was a Light Rail station, above ground). We got to our hotel at about 2:00, and were very grateful when the non-British person checked us right in. We took the elevator to the 10th floor, and found our room. It was very nice – the room was fairly large, and the bed looked very welcoming. The British double beds must be about the size of our queen beds, because we did not feel unusually crowded once we climbed into bed. The major downside to the room was the internet situation. Taking a page from the Philly airport, the hotel charged for internet. They wanted 15 pounds (about $25) for internet access! What a rip-off. Then, just to rub it in, it was not even wireless (it was a standard wired connection). Needless to say, I dropped my plan of blogging each day as I had done in San Francisco this last summer.

Meredith long ago figured out a quick cure for jet lag. When you get to your destination, take a three-hour nap, and then get up and tour. The nap gives you energy to get through the evening, but keeps you tired enough that you can get back to bed at a normal hour. By the next morning, you are more or less on the local time. It works well. So, after about 30 hours of work and travel (although I did get a two-hour nap in at home from 10 to noon), we slipped into bed and grabbed some sleep.

We slept for three hours, and then headed into town. Mer consulted her constant companion, Rick Steves, and found a shopping district. We jumped on the Tube and headed into our first night in London! To go underwear shopping (or “pants shopping,” in England). Not even the nudge-and-wink kind of underwear shopping in London.

Still, the shopping area was nice as shopping districts go – lots of people, numerous stores, and lots of lights. We successfully took care of Meredith’s garment needs, and I was rewarded for my patience (and picky palate) by being allowed to pick the restaurant we went to. On the way to the store, I had seen a sign for a restaurant one block off the main drag; it was called Spaghetti House, and I strongly suspected that might indicate Italian foodstuffs. I was right. Moreover, it was run by real we-speak-Italian Italians. Mer was quite pleased with the atmosphere and the food. The meal was very authentic, with Mer’s pizza being very thin and extremely good. She proclaimed it the most genuine Italian pizza she had had since being in Italy over 10 years ago.

London is an expensive place. Essentially, things in London cost roughly the same as they do in Chicago, except in pounds instead of in dollars, and a pound is worth about $1.50 or more. Our little meal (with appetizers, meal, desserts, and tip) came to about 60 pounds. And it was worth it!

After our repast, we took the Tube to downtown (man, those Oyster passes rock!). Oddly, the most touristy sections of the city (near the Eye and Big Ben and Parliament) all close down between 8 and 9. Since it was 9:30, everything was closed, but we had a grand time making a loop from Big Ben, across the Thames, down by the Eye, across a cool pedestrian bridge, and back to the Tube near Big Ben. We made it back to our hotel via a slightly different line that Mer found, one that did not require climbing eight stories of steps and made three fewer stops to boot. It also allowed us to cross another cool pedestrian bridge in the Docklands. Bed was most welcome, and we slept quite soundly. Not a bad day, considering the work/travel involved in the whole day.

(I owe the title of this entry to my ever-clever wife.)