Catching Up
Almost a month ago, we spent the weekend in London. What, I forgot to mention that? Yeah, I know. I’ve been busy.
J planned a surprise trip for my birthday as sort of a last hurrah before we have two kids and never never ever get to travel ever again because I’m convinced that grandparents would be completely unable to handle two of our kids for more than a 24 our time period. OH, THE ENERGY. What I would do for that kind of energy, especially right now.
We arrived in London on a Saturday morning on no sleep, and spent the day walking around and squeezing as much as we could in the short time we were there.
We had the fortunate experience of traveling with our friends, a couple who had never been to London before. We had a great time showing them around, and having traveling companions made an enjoyable trip even more fun.
We stayed at the Andaz hotel, which is a new concept in hotels, and has only been around since about September 2007. There’s no check-in desk - when you walk through the door you get your own “concierge” who checks you in, gives you a tour of the room, and serves you drinks while you wait.
By the way, a little tip for anyone considering such a trip - the Andaz’ published rates are equivalent to like $8 billion per night - but if you call up and say you’re planning a special trip for your pregnant wife, and can they cut you a break, they’ll slash the price for you. It really wasn’t that bad of a deal.
The hotel had little bowls of fresh plums everywhere. They were delicious! And they have complementary breakfast (menu - not buffet) which is wonderful … especially since otherwise it’s the equivalent of $50 per person.
Our first stop was St. Paul’s Cathedral. We were unable to take pictures inside the cathedral, but we climbed all the way to the top and got a great view of the city.
I’m considering that climb to be my greatest accomplishment during the trip. My leg muscles were sore for days. I slowed everybody down, but I made it. The others didn’t complain too much when I used the “climbing for two” excuse.
After St. Paul’s, we went to Lord of the Rings, the musical. Technically, it was phenomenal. It was all the show that money could buy. The script itself was more like a recap of the movies than an actual story by itself. They had to squeeze so much into 3 hours that if you haven’t seen the movies or read the books you’d probably be pretty lost. And the guy that plays Pippin is just plain annoying. But visually, it was fascinating to watch.
After the show, we took an evening stroll along the Thames.
I just love London at night.
During our stroll, we stopped for dinner to enjoy some genuine British “fish & chips.” The waiter put the plate down and in front of me was the biggest slab of fried fish I have ever seen.
And I at the whole thing. Without even realizing it. Apparently I worked up quite the appetite climbing to the top of St. Paul.
After dinner, we went to the Tutankhamen Exhibit at the O2 Arena. It’s coming to Dallas in the fall, so if you’re around here I strongly encourage you to see it when the time comes.
On Day 2, we headed over to the Tower of London to see the Armory, the Crown Jewels, and whatever else we could fit into the hour we had at our disposal before the flight back.
The White Tower inside the Tower of London.
We then returned to our hotel, checked out, met our driver and began the hour-and-a-half drive to the airport.
And missed our flight.
Public Service Announcement: FYI, American Airlines at Gatwick Airport has its own security that you have to go through IN ADDITION TO regular airport security. So if you arrive at the airport 5 minutes after the security guys have gone home (!!!) you will not be allowed to check in and board your flight.
Also, there’s only one flight per day to the States out of Gatwick.
Also, it costs $260 PER PERSON to change your flight, plus the shuttle fare to Heathrow Airport where the later flights are.
Also, there are no more direct flights to Dallas, so you have to be routed through Chicago.
This Public Service Announcement has been brought to you by the Association of Exhausted and Sleep Deprived Travelers Who Obviously Needed to Waste Some More Time Attempting to Return to the Comfort of Home.
Fabulous.
So the flight back was an adventure… But perhaps it was good that we were so exhausted because we had reached the point of sleepless insanity where you can’t do anything but laugh in the face of ridiculous inconvenience.
We made it back to our house about 1am (which was 7am London Time), having been awake for yet another 24 hours.
Bed has never felt so good.
In the future, perhaps we will try to spend more time at our destination than on the plane, but overall this was a really fun trip and we’re glad we took the weekend to go. Especially since it will probably be the last time we can travel internationally for a long time.
