Part II. From London to New York City

---

Time to say goodbye
Time in Europe is over
Time to catch a plane.

Richard had to go into work early on Friday so I set my alarm to make sure I was up in time to say my thank you’s and goodbye…would have been a bit rude to sleep in. lol

The plan was to go back to sleep since my train to the airport could wait until 9:30/10. But then I decided against that idea for fear of sleeping through a second alarm…can’t take chances! So what better to do than surf the net! The past while there always seems to be email to answer or stuff to look up for future travels and of course updating my blog is always on the to-do list right there with shave my legs. Lol My sister Laura happened to be online so we chatted via MSN. I can’t believe that in only nine sleeps I’ll be headed to Miami and seeing Laura, Alice and Christie and boarding a cruise ship that will take me to some of the islands of the Caribbean. How cool is that?

Before I knew it, 9:30 was upon us and I had to say goodbye to Laura and finish up a few things before heading out the door, locking it behind me and remembering to leave the key behind! By 9:45 I was outta the apartment and standing on High Street Kensington with my too heavy backpack and daypack too. Okay, should I walk the 1km to Earl’s Court and catch the Piccadilly Line right to the airport or try and find the bus stop to take me to Hammersmith station and catch the tube from there. On the one hand taking the bus would mean not having to carry my bags for 15 to 20 minutes but I really hate transferring and riding buses. Plus carrying my bag is not all that bad…it’s the picking it up and putting it on my back that is the big pain! Where as walking to Earl’s Court it is a bit of a walk but once I’m on the train I’m sitting for the 37 minute ride to the airport - should be enough time to recover. So I opted for the walk and no transfer. Plus it was only £2.10 to get to the airport. Super cheap in my eyes. Perhaps I’m getting used to the £! Lol The ride to the airport was pretty uneventful. In fact the car I was in was pretty empty. So much for me worrying about the Bank Holiday making things super busy and congested! Mind you I haven’t made it to the airport yet…

Well, I got to the airport and found my check in area easily…of course the furthest spot from where I entered the terminal! Thank goodness for free usage of luggage trolleys! There was nobody at the United queue in front of me. Excellent. Oh no, is that a security guard approaching me? Don’t tell me my bags are gonna be security checked. Lucky me. I heave my pack onto the table and unlock my pack for inspection. Everything is neatly packed inside just so, so the zippers can close. Of course the security guard rummages through my stuff and it seems like she’s just being nosy. Opening up my small jewelry case, looking at my toiletries with extra, extra care and flipping through my journal! I’m surprised she didn’t stop on one of the pages and start reading it. Lol Then it came time to close up my bag. I’ve had a lot of experience getting my bag closed with relatively few struggles. But since she sort of shoved everything back haphazardly into my pack I could tell she’d have problems getting the sucker closed. Because this was a security check I couldn’t touch my own stuff to help. So she had to call her coworker over to help her. I don’t exaggerate when I say it took over 5 minutes to close up my bag. All the while the first security guard is saying more than once “I picked the wrong person to check!” It was tough trying to contain the laughter but I did because I didn’t want to be subjected to a body search! lol

The plus side of being picked for a security check at check in is that your bag doesn’t get weighed. Good thing since I’m pretty sure it was over 20kg if not close to that. Having to pay excess baggage fees would have really sucked! Wait a sec. I think flying into North America you’re allowed 32kg. Anyhoo, I got through check in pretty quickly and proceeded through the secured area to check out the duty free and other shops. Since my flight was after 1PM I figured I’d get a bit to eat and spend my last few pounds on lunch. Besides, I had arrived at the airport so early my gate was not yet up so I had no idea where I was supposed to go.

When my gate finally got up on the board I headed to gate number 16 after using the facilities. Lucky me was picked to be security checked again! This time I had to take off my hiking boots…dumb laces…so they could be swabbed for bomb residues. I think the only thing they found was probably eau de stinky feet. Lol

The plane’s pretty full but I am really lucky that the seat beside me is empty. Nice to be able to stretch out! There are lots of movies to watch too. “Madagascar”, “In Good Company”, “Cheaper by the Dozen” and “Monster In Law”. Sure will help to pass the seven hour flight across the Atlantic. I’d have to say though that the ice cream served with lunch has been the biggest highlight of the flight so far. Lol

I still have three or four more hours before landing in NYC. Maria sent me some pretty detailed instructions to take the Airtrain and then the LIRR (Long Island Railroad) to her place. I just hope it’s easy enough to maneuver around with my heavy bags.

Well, made it into Flushing and caught the Airtrain without too many problems. Mind you the first trip I took I landed on the train headed for Howard Beach…I was supposed to be on the one headed out to Jamaica. Doh! Now I have to head back and change trains. So only a minor set back but not the end of the World. Next up was to negotiate the LIRR. It was easy enough to buy tickets but trying to figure which track to stand by was another story. After asking a few people I found where it was I was supposed to go and transfer to another train. I had to wait over half an hour at the Woodside station. No worries. I’ll just find a shady spot to sit and wait with my bags.

Eventually the train came. It was on time as scheduled. In no time at all I was at the Auburndale station and walking the two blocks to Maria and Eric’s house. I was supposed to call Maria when I got to Auburndale but there were no phones at the station! Doh! I’ll just show up at the door with my bags.

True to New York stereotype, I wanted to confirm I was headed in the correct direction so I said to the gentleman walking alongside me, “Excuse me.” He ignores me. Perhaps he didn’t hear me. So I say a little louder, “Excuse me.” He still blatantly ignores me! So I cross the street and walk in the direction I think I’m supposed to be walking and see a woman walking just ahead of me. I also had to say “Excuse me” twice. But at least on the second time she acknowledged I was talking to her. So New Yorkers are not the friendliest bunch…

It was great to see Maria after 15 years. Maria and her husband Eric just purchased and moved into this house a couple of months ago. It’s a nice three level home with a couple of bedrooms and a study. The living and dining area has higher ceiling and seems quite open. Really cute “gingerbread” house as Maria puts it.

After catching up a bit and looking at photos it was time to head into the Flushing Chinatown to meet Eric for dinner. We had a yummy Penang Curry, Noodles, veggies and chicken. I also had a lychee drink which was good. Gotta love the lychee! By the time we finished dinner it was past 9PM. Chatted some more and looked through some of the NYC brochures before my eyelids started to get heavy. Guess I have a touch of jet lag!

---