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St. Paul's
So many verticals and horizontals, and I still couldn't get the picture straight!Geo: 51.5002, -0.126236
I was supposed to be at the airport three hours before my 7:10 p.m. flight, so we left the house at 3:30 with the idea of getting there around 4:15. It took us 45 minutes just to get to the old Rainier brewery because traffic was so heavy. Got to the airport by 4:30, only to find that my flight was running an hour late. Sigh … So I spent a few hours just wandering around the airport. I ran into James, who used to work for British Airways and got me into the lounge a couple of years ago. He now works at the American Express lounge but couldn't get me in because he was working with someone who's a real stickler. That was all right, though, because I was trying to wear myself out in the hope that I'd be able to sleep on the plane. At some point I realized that I wasn't going to want to eat airplane food at 9:30 p.m., so I got a ham and cheese croissant at Seattle's Best. Quite possibly the smallest croissant sandwich I've ever seen!
The plane wasn't completely full, and there was no one sitting right next to
me. The woman one seat over was on her way to Cairo for a holiday. She had taken a Rick Steves tour a few years ago but really didn't like the guide.
I slept a bit on and off, and when I finally checked the clock, we only had three hours left. So I dozed a little more. It was raining when we landed but not overly cool — humid, in fact. The line for passport control took 30 or 40 minutes, and there were two groups of young school kids waiting to be processed and whose chaperones were getting pretty ticked off with the border guards. The kids, most of whom seemed to be from the British School in Kuwait (according to their t-shirts), were well behaved at least.
I got the Heathrow Express to Paddington, and from there it was a five-minute, very damp walk to my hotel. I've stayed here twice before; there's nothing fancy about it, but it feels secure and the staff is nice. I've got room 12 on the ground floor, so I'm hoping the road outside isn't noisy all night.
I changed clothes right away and walked to Lancaster Gate Tube Station. I planned to
put £20 on my Oyster card, but I'd forgotten that Lancaster Gate has no manned ticket windows, and only one of the ticket machines would take cash. Unfortunately, the Italian boy in front of me put in a bill, only to have the machine eat it and basically cancel his transaction. We got a station agent over to have a look, and she figured out that the single cash-taking machine was suddenly no longer taking cash. Sigh … So I had to walk back the way I came — almost all the way to Paddington — to a shop that could top up my card, and then walk back to Lancaster Gate. Not a huge deal, but definitely a waste of time and a further opportunity for my shoes to get soaked. But I finally was able to get on the Tube and head to St. Paul's.
The attraction wasn't St. Paul's Cathedral, but the office building behind it. One New Change has shops and restaurants on the lower levels and offices above. But the reason I went was for the 6th-floor terrace where it feels as if you could reach out and touch the dome of the cathedral. I have to admit, though, that I was a bit disappointed. For years and years and years St. Paul's was partially scaffolded while it was being restored. I expected a gleaming white building, but instead it still looks dingy and dirty. Still, it's fun to see the dome so close up. There were other good views too, but I bet they're a lot better on a sunny day.
Had dinner in the building at Wahaca, a Mexican restaurant. I didn't want to eat anything too heavy, so I just had two little chicken taquitos with a side of rice and beans. The taquitos were very tasty, but the rice and beans were absolutely delicious! The menu described them as green rice with coriander, onion, and garlic, black beans, and topped with Lancashire cheese. So good!
The Tube was much busier by now, and I was squashed a few times while trying to get to Hatchards before it closed. Made it! And bought Bill Bryson's latest in actual book form, not digital.
I had planned to go back up to Oxford Street and walk for a little while, but I decided that it was too rainy and I was probably more tired than I thought I was, so I came back to the hotel. I'm sitting on the bed typing this, keeping an eye out for more spiders (one came running across the bed earlier). It's only 8:30, and I don't feel super sleepy, but I still hope I can make it till 10:00 at least. Actually, what I really want is more rice and beans!
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minnspark
non-member comment
Trains planes and automobiles! Oh my. You are hard to keep track of, woman!