London to Washington, D.C.

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Geo: 38.8921, -77.0241

July 23, 2010

London

Awoke up at 4:10, then 4:50, then 5:30, then finally I got up at 5:50 a.m. I was down to the lobby at 7 for my 7:15 pick up. Two ladies from the tour (two sisters-one of them was the one who walked with me to Blarney Castle) were also heading to the airport. We chatted a bit, and then the shuttle bus arrived. Since we were the last pick up, we headed directly to the airport. We drove through the city for quite awhile before getting to the highway, and then it was a short trip on the road. I was telling the ladies that I wouldn't have to worry about exchanging my English pounds for US dollars since I only had £ 2.68 left. They immediately said that wouldn't be enough for me even to get a decent snack, so they gave me about £ 2.00 more in loose change that they had. I thanked them very well. They were dropped off first at their terminal, so we hugged and wished each other well. I did get an offer to come over and visit them in Australia, but I know that would not be happening. I didn't form any lasting attachments to anyone on this trip due to that most of them lived overseas or that we had nothing in common to form any real friendships. Some had, but they lived in the same area of Australia. I entered Heathrow International Airport and immediately saw the huge line for check in! I thought it was a good thing I got here so early. Then as began to walk towards the line, I saw the sign!!! First Class passenger check in line….I was saved! I got to go to a screened area to check in and get my tickets, my luggage was right on the dot for the total amount of weight allowed (50 lbs), and I was able to go through the fast track of security. This whole process took less than 15 minutes. Unfortunately, I forgot to lock my suitcase with my luggage lock, so by the time I remembered the luggage had already gone through to security. So, we shall see later if I have anything left in it. There was nothing important, since I was carrying the important stuff (laptop/charger, phone/charger, and camera) with me. They only thing I worry about are the clothes I bought for mom and my battery chargers for my camera. I was then directed to the First Class lounge where I was able to eat some breakfast foods (cereal and toast and juice) for free and use their Wifi. I worked on my blog and downloaded pictures. I left the lounge just a few minutes after 11. The gate was a good 10-15 minutes at a fast pace. I got to the gate just as they were boarding the last of the rows.

Plane flight to USA

Once again I sat next to the window in my own little pod area. I got some water and the USA Today paper to pass my time while waiting for take off. We were supposed to leave at 12:05, but it was closer to 12:20 before we actually were in the air. I watched the map of the route for about 45 minutes taking pictures of the screen and then the scenery below the plane. In most shots I only got a smattering of land. We did not fly over Ireland, but the clouds lessened, and I did see the last of the UK before clouds obscured my view. Maybe some time down the road I will return. I still haven't seen all of Great Britain and Ireland. I then settled down to begin watching my first choice of the movies I selected. I was served my lunch during the movie. First we got a small bowl of warmed mixed nuts and a dinner roll, followed by an appetizer of lemon saffron chicken brochette (two small pieces of chicken with the large piece on a small popsicle-like stick). It was good. I skipped on the roasted carrot and swede soup, but had a salad of fresh seasonal greens with asparagus, cucumbers, and sun-blushed tomatoes covered with a balsamic vinaigrette. Other than picking off the tomatoes, it was very nice. The main course that I selected was grilled filet mignon with béarnaise sauce, twice baked potato with sautéed spinach (not really my cup of tea, but the other choices were salmon, Indian curry, or pasta with spinach….ick). The mignon with the sauce wasn't bad, but not really appealing to my pallet. I tried the sautéed spinach (one bite and that was it for that), and I ate about half of the potato. Dessert was a choice of ice cream or cheese. I didn't care for the way the cheese looked, so I opted for the ice cream with caramel syrup. It was okay, but very hard. After they cleared away the plates and water glass, I finished watching the movie, “Sherlock Holmes” starring Robert Downey Jr. It was interesting since they showed parts of London from the turn of the century. Overall the movie was good, but it was hard to follow the dialogue. After the movie, I used the restroom and then worked on finishing up the photos from yesterday and my blog. After this was done, I still 3 hours out of my 8 hours flight left, so I selected the movie, “Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief.” I had seen it just before I left Peru for my trip, and although it wasn't a great movie and more of a teenage flick, I decided to watch it. The other choices of movies either were too dramatic or had actors that I didn't care to watch. During the movie we encountered a bit of rough turbulence for about 5 minutes. It was very bouncy for awhile. After watching the second movie, and about an hour out of DC we were served our tea service. My choice was a cheese plate (Black Stick, and Butler's Secret) with fresh seasonal fruit (grapes, melon, strawberries) as well as a raisin scone. One cheese was bright orange, and a bit too strong. The light yellow cheese was quite good. When the tea service was finished, we had only about 40 minutes before landing, so I read a book, Jane Austen's ‘Persuasion,' for the rest of the flight.

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