Geo: 47.6353, -122.302British Airways still recommends that you get the airport three hours prior to your flight. This meant that I needed to get to Heathrow by 12:10 p.m. However, my hotel basically kicked me out at 11:00 a.m., which meant that I couldn't avoid getting the 11:25 express train to Heathrow, which meant that I was done at the self-check-in kiosk by 11:50. Unfortunately, there were no desks open for checking my suitcase until 1:10, which meant sitting land-side for over an hour. This is incredibly boring because there's NOTHING to do except wait. And the big advertising screens kept showing the exact same ad over and over and over and over till I wanted to scream. At least I managed to get a seat -- there aren't that many available. I sat next to ... read more

Geo: 51.5002, -0.126236Breakfast this morning – in the charming basement breakfast room – consisted of a fried egg, British bacon, and a sausage. I declined the tomato and mushrooms. There was also toast complete with toast rack, and tea. The only thing missing was fried bread.I didn't really make an effort to get out early this morning. The wi-fi isn't really working in my room today, so I sat out in the lobby in a comfy leather chair to look at e-mail and post my latest Travelpod entry. There was a steady stream of people checking out, and I heard all kinds of accents. There was a group of four ladies who sounded Polish, but one of their group spoke English like an American. There were some pretty impenetrable British accents too. I wonder if they ... read more

Geo: 48.8534, 2.3488Well, they say rehab takes 28 days. I didn't even make it quite 21 days. When the rest of the group left for the Louvre this morning, I went up to the rue St-Dominique to the Starbucks that supposedly closes at 8:00 p.m. but actually closes at 7:50 p.m. and got a mocha. It wasn't quite as good as one from the 40th floor Starbucks, but still ... ahhhh! And if you frown at me for going to Starbucks while in Paris, all I can say in my defense is that at least I didn't go to the one in the Louvre this time!After the wine tasting in Beaune I bought a bottle of vin rouge for Jesse and Kelly, who arrived in Paris this morning. (I had been feeling a momentary flash of ... read more

Geo: 47.024, 4.83827We had hoped for a miracle this morning so that we might take the gondola up to the Schilthorn before leaving Stechelberg, but the clouds were swirling through the valley. We stopped on the way out of town so that Reid could check the screen at the gondola station, and he said it showed clear at the actual station, but there was no view at all. Thus, we all saved 56 CHF andtook off for France.At our last rest stop in Switzerland, we were advised to “dump all our shrapnel” (coins) because you can't change them for other currencies. I only had 2.40 CHF left, so I bought a roll of Mentos (mixed fruit flavors) and a Kinder Country, which reminded me of the old Summit bars. In other words, mmmmmm! I ended up ... read more

Geo: 46.55, 7.9Our train departed at 7:36, and it was actually on time. You never can tell with Italian trains. On the drive back up the switchback hill, I was able to actually see the view and it's wonderful. Sparkling sea, tiny towns perched on hills, pretty flowers .... And then we hit the autostrada and went through about 100 tunnels: light, dark, light, dark, light, dark. We passed by Genoa and Lake Como and Lake Lugano – so beautiful! We kept an eye out for George Clooney while passing Lake Como, but he must still have been in bed because otherwise he surely would have come out to wave at us. ;-)Reid told us a bit about Switzerland while we were driving. The Swiss are, of course, neutral, and in fact they only joined the ... read more