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They Made It!
Ashley and Jen in their "cabin" after a LONG flight My fifth day began early-at three a.m. to be exact. I was communicating with Ashley and Jen while they were connecting in Dallas and getting on their plane to London.I felt sorry for them-it was going to be a 10 hour flight,and apparently the plane that they were on was an older version that did NOT have individual TV's.
When I (officially) woke up around 8,I decided to try the hotel's breakfast in hopes of finding SOMETHING edible(after all,I had paid for it with the room charges).I managed to scarf down a croissant and jam down,but still found the rest of it less than appetizing.
I headed out to the tube,and made my way back to St Pauls Cathedral,where I didn't have time to go in the other day. My London Pass covered the admission,but photos weren't allowed inside(I soon found this to be the case nearly everywhere in London).The Cathedral was beautiful,and the dome was massive inside.There were meroial statues and plaques throughout.For once,Rick Steve's tour started at an appropriate spot,and it walked me through very smoothly. I hadn't realized before that this was where Prince Charles and
Trafalgar Fountains, Pt 2
There IS sunshine in England!! Princess Diana had their wedding back in the 80's. At the back of the alter was a huge stained glass memorial to American soldiers in WW2 that was breathtaking-they embedded all 50 state flags into different areas of the glass. I even ventured downstairs into the crypt,and saw the tombs of several well known Englishpeople.
Upon leaving the Cathedral,I started to walk down Fleet St,which ended up by Trafalgar Square,but caught a double decker bus about halfway down. Once there,I headed to the National Portrait Gallery,a museum that had painting of historical figures from the 1400's(maybe earlier) up to the royal family today.It was another great museum,although so far the National Gallery was my favorite. As I left the museum,I noticed that it was particularily sunny out today,and there were a lot of people gathering for various events int the middle of Trafalgar Square. I walked around a little,and was going to grab lunch at a nearby pub that was recommended,when my phone started buzzing.
It was my sister,who was sending a text to confirm the arrival time of the girls. I had though it was another 90 minutes or so until they landed,but upon calling
her back,she stated that the computer was saying that they already landed. I spent the next several minutes trying to call American Airlines,but their 800 number wont connect,for some reason. I tried to venture into a nearby internet cafe(they are everywhere) but was told that the connection was down. Finally,I got in touch with the flight status line at Heathrow,which said that they were to land in just under an hour. When all was said and done,I figured I could grab a "quick" lunch and then head to Paddington station to meet them.
I ventured into the pub I was eyeing before,and found that they had advertised Shepherds Pie,which I hadnt tried yet. Unfortunately,they were out,and I wasn't in the mood for anything else,so I ordered a drink. When I pulled out my debit card,the girl shook her head,stating that they didnt take cards for orders under a certain amount. Okay then-I walked out and decided to head to Paddington and find something around there.
Once I reached Paddington station,I found another internet cafe,this time one that WAS working,and checked on the flight again.Now it was saying that they were over an hour from landing.Frustrating!!! I
Watch that drop!
Jen helps Ashley down from the lion went back into the station and had lunch at the pub there-a jacket potato loaded with chicken,cheese,sour cream and bacon.I did not know you could stuff so much into a potato,but it was delicious! Who was it that said British food sucked? While I was eating,Ashley called to say that they had landed and were working their way through immigration. Figuring I had a little bit of time, I went into the Marks and Spencer grocery store to buy some treats for them-some Cadbury Twirl bars,which I discovered the day before,and some other stuff. Then I found a little drugstore where I bought an envelope and marker and made up a sign with their last names(a la driver services). They called again,saying that they were on the HEX,so I went to the platform and waited.
Sure enough,15 minutes later,the HEX pulled up,people unloaded,and my poor,tired pals came down the platform dragging about 5 suitcases beind them(AA allowed TWO free checked bags).Yay!! We squeeled a bit,and then I helped them lug their bags off the platform. We stopped for them to buy their paper Travelcards(they were using the 2 for 1 offers),and then found a taxi.They commented on the
My Turn!
After being lifted up by a stranger odd shape and roominess that I had noticed when I arrived.
Once we got to the hotel,it wa slate enough that their room was ready,and was just a few doors away from mine.Like mine,it was small-the two twin beds were practically on top of each other! They unpacked a little,and we bounced around our original itinerary(go to Shakespeares Globe,river cruise,London Eye) a bit. It was almost too late to get to Shakespeare,so we decided to move that to the next day.One look at their faces told me that we should probably do something light,so I suggested grabbing lunch at Trafalgar Square(figuring the sun would help wake them up). They agreed,so we set out.
Since the Central Line seemed like it would get us there quicker,we walked to the Queensway station.After climbing down the zillions of steps,we ran into a crowd that I had not encountered yet. Sure enough,it was almost rush hour. After assuring them that all tube rides were not this crowded,a train came by with about 100 people in each car.Failing to get onto this one,we waited,only to find the next one the same. Somehow we wedged onto a car,with Ashley and I pressed
up against the wall and Jen buried somewhere in front of us. I had to shout out our stop once we arrived.
When we got to Trafalgar Square,I knew it was a good choice-it was very sunny out now,and the fountains were sparkling in a way they hadn't been on Monday.We walked around,and when she saw people clibing on the massive bronze lions,Ashley wanted to try. It seemed like it would be fun to do(at least,now that I had other people with me!)-until we realized that the base of the lions were all flat.There was no where to grab onto and climb! We circled the lions,trying to find SOMEthing that these others were using to propel them onto the monuments. Finally,Ashley declared that she was going to try. She found the side of one and began pulling herself up against the stone.She managed to get up behind the lion,but decided not to climb any further up.
Once she was down,we walked over to another one,and kept egging each other on to boost one another up. On a whim,I kicked off my sandals and tried flinging myself up the stone unsuccessfully,Laughing,I was about to give up when
Who Let the Loons Out??
The crazies at the table behind...apparently thought they were in a fast food place! some random guy came over and offered to lift me up. I was trying to decline,but the other two were yelling at me to do it,so face flaming,I let him give me a boost and climbed up face first-saying a prayer of thanks that I was wearing leggings under my skirt!! I tried to get the others to climb up too,but they were too busy laughing.
Afterwards,we found another pub nearby and decided to eat. We ordered at the bar,but there were NO seats anywhere.There was seating upstairs,but were told that since we ordered downstairs we couldn't go up there. Jen and I circled the bar,looking for something when a waiter came over and told us to stand by a booth where some guys were,saying that they were about to leave. Feeling a bit stalkerish,we lurked nearby,and the men sat there chattering away,not appearing like they were leaving anytime soon.Finally,I was about to walk around again when one of the guys motioned me over and said that they were leaving, Hooray!
Lunch was good,but I could tell the others were dying for a nap,so after discussing our afternoon plans,we finally gave in and decided to go back to the hotel.We took a different tube route back and got off at Notting Hill Gate to avoid the steps at Queensway.It was a bit further than I thought it was,but we had a nice walk along the entrance of Kensington Gardens.
Back at the hotel,we separated and went to our respective rooms. We met up a couple hours later and ventured out to a pub we had noticed at the end of our street-I think it was called the Black Lion.Like the pub at lunchtime,there were no seats available,so we just stood at the bar for awhile with our drinks until one opened up. We spent the next couple of hours enjoying our English beer(I'm not a beer drinker AT ALL-neither is Jen- but had found this awesome cider beer called Bulmers that I had several times during the trip.Even Jen liked it), while they told me horror stories about their flight and travel snafus fromt he day before. (I guess the transatlantic flight movie feature was a cartoon,and there were about five kids on the entire plane.Remind me never to fly American).
Around 11,as we were sitting there,a banging sound exploded throughout the room. Sure enough,there was a huge bell on the bar,and the bartender was pounding away at it for last call.Shaking our heads,we continued chatting until another BONG blasted our eardrums.We got up and left before our poor heads burst.
We were a bit hungry at this point,but didn't know if anything was still open.Luckily,every fast food place on Queensway was,along with a little Italian restaurant.We went to the restaurant and the hostess practically pulled us in.assuring us that we had plenty of time to eat. She was right about that-just not in the way we expected! She sat us at a corner table next to a large group of people,all about in their 50/60's,I'd say.
After we ordered, we continued chatting while we waited. Some time later,I was getting pretty tired from the drinks earlier. Pretty soon, I was struggling to keep my eyes open and was about to leave some cash for my food and head back to the hotel,when,just behind our table, I heard-
"WHERES OUR FOOD?!?!"
"WE NEED FOOD!!!!"
We turned our heads to the table behind us,where two of the people (there were about eight,I think) were screaming at the waiters. Granted,we had been waiting for about thirty minutes at that point,and they had been there before us,but we were still a bit stunned.
The waiter and hostess (manager?) rushed to the table and began offering the standard apologies and assurances to the group. In the midst of this,a third woman started screaming, "WE ARE VERY HUNGRY!! WE HAVE TO HAVE OUR FOOD!!!"
Needless to say, I was WIDE awake now. All thoughts of leaving were abandoned as I listened to the show behind me.
The staff continued in their attempts to soothe the mob,and scurried back to the kitchen.Jen and I had our backs to the table,but were listening attentively,and Ashley,who was facing them, kept reporting that they were glaring.
Just then, one of the woman stood up. "SIR! EXCUSE ME! WE ARE HUNGRY!!" She slammed her napkin on the table in protest and stomped her foot.
That did it. The three of us were cracking up,nd didnt care that the offensive table members were giving us the death stare.
About ten minutes later,the food for that table was rushed out to them. As the poor waiter dashed back to the kitchen (hopefully to get our food-it had been about 45 min at this point), one of the guys stood up.
"SIR!! I HAVE AN EMERGENCY!!! QUICK!!"
Since no one at the table was turning blue,we didn't figure our services were needed (Jen and I are nurses). We were growing amazed at the spectacle that this group was causing,though.
The waiter flew back to the table,but didn't appear panicked,as I would be if someone started shouting that there was an emergency. The man in question pointed to his plate(okay,yes,we were openly staring at this point. You would be too) and said, "I have NO OLIVE OIL for my BREAD. I NEED it!!!" The waiter tried to explain that they either didnt have any or were out. " I ORDERED IT HOURS AGO!!!" the man wailed.
Of course, our meals were delayed even further while the staff tried to rectify this tragic situation.In the meantime,we shamelessly snapped a picture (presumably of us) to remember the occasion.
Finally, FINALLY, after the table was pacified,and abotu another ten minute wait, our pizzas arrived. It was not the best meal I've ever had,but it was nearly one in the morning,and we were hungry and tired.
We ate pretty quickly and left,smiling at our neighbors as we left. (They were too busy shoveling food in their faces to notice). It was a quick walk back to the hotel,and we collapsed shortly after arriving.
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