Here I go again on my own (Thank you, Whitesnake.)

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Geo: 51.5002, -0.1262

So I'm off again, this time without John. Which I wish wasn't the case. I'm spending a couple of days in London on my own, then taking the train to Brussels to go on Rick Steves' Best of Belgium & Holland tour.

The flight to London wasn't full, so no one sat in between me and the girl at the window. That's always nice. The flight was supposed to leave at 6:55 but didn't take off till just after 8:00, which meant dinner was served right away. BA's food has really gone downhill over the years. They give you a lot of it, but it isn't all that good. Anyway, I only watched about 45 minutes of television and then put on my eyeshade and tried to sleep. I managed to sleep off and on for about four hours. Then I had to get up and go stand in the back of the plane to stretch. Managed to sleep a little more after that and then suddenly we were being given breakfast. So all in all, the flight wasn't too bad.

The woman at passport control asked me at least ten questions before she'd let me through. This kind of rattled me, to the point where I was stammering my answers. I was sure she was going to flag me for further questioning! Anyway, she finally allowed me to enter the UK, and I went and got my bag.

In the past, I've taken either the Airbus (which I don't think exists anymore) or the Heathrow Express from the airport into London. This time I thought I'd save a little money and take the Tube. It was fine, though toward the end I started to feel a little self-conscious about my suitcase taking up room. Not that there weren't other suitcases clogging the aisle, but mine for some reason seemed particularly obstructive. I'm glad it wasn't a weekday.

Across from me were a French woman and her daughter (?), who must have been around 12 years old. Even at that age, she already looked like a French woman. She had a fashionable scarf tied around her neck, a good raincoat, and a Longchamp Pliage bag. She and her mom were talking about where to eat. I believe in the end they decided on "un McDo" (what the French call McDonald's).

The ride wasn't that interesting because probably half of it was underground. But I did see a field of men playing cricket. I don't think I've ever actually seen cricketers before. To be honest, they weren't really playing. It looked like the match had either just ended or was about to begin.

The plane had landed at 12:30. I got to my hotel just before 3:00. The Heathrow Express would have been much quicker, even though I would have had to walk about 15 minutes from Paddington. I'm staying at Number 63 on Bayswater Road, which is owned by the Soroptomists. It's clean and well-located and not too expensive, but the lift is being replaced and I'm on the third floor. Ugh! Plus, the wi-fi doesn't work very well in my room, so I'll have to schlep down to the lobby when I want to get online.

Since it was so late, and I really wanted a lie-down, my original plans for this first day were scuppered. Instead, I took a short nap then walked through Hyde Park (which is across the street from the hotel; it was very busy with people playing frisbee, sitting around talking, walking dogs, etc.) to Queensway and went to Boots and Whiteley's. None of the eateries at Whiteley's appealed (I was feeling a bit bleh still from the food on BA), so I stopped at Tesco and got a sandwich and some crisps and headed back to the hotel. Ate my dinner while watching "QI," starring Stephen Fry and Alan Davies.

As I type this, it's only 7:00 p.m. Am wondering how I can manage to stay up till 10:00ish so that I can get my body clock on European time.

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Comments

[Sandy]

You know if I had been that passport control woman I am sure I would have flagged you for further questioning -- you have always looked extremely suspicious to me, right up there with the guy who put the explosives in his underwear back in
2009!!

[Aunt Marianne]

I like traveling with you--I don't have to deal with the airplane people. Looking forward to reading about your adventure and seeing pictures.

[Mary Chasin]

Was the woman at the airport asking you questions like "what is your favorite color?" And perhaps you answered "Blue. No! Red!"

[Kate]

Try as I might to get excited about "free" food on airplanes, it usually leaves me wanting. Wonder what was up with the customs lady? That is bizarre. Maybe she just wanted to talk! HA! So you had to drag your suitcase up to the 3rd fl
oor? (And was that the 3rd floor as in the US version of the 3rd floor, or the European version 0,1,2,3, in which case it's 4 flights of stairs??) I took my giant suitcase on the tube when I was in London last. I never even thought to check for other options! HA! Hope you got a good night's sleep!! Looking forward to hearing about your adventures!! Yippee!!