This one was a bit more stressful to plan than our last trip, as my work has a lot of projects due around this time. I hope I didn't overlook any key details for the trip (or the projects) as I have been spending all of my attention at work. In the months leading up to this trip I cut my ultimate down to the bare minimum (just games, no pick-up) which says how busy I have been.
Just like babymoon #1, it will be Grandpa Jeff and Grandma Kristen taking care if the kids in our absence. They showed up on the Thursday before we left to ensure a smooth transition and get the routine down. Colton is always really excited when the grandparents come to visit, but Melissa and I were both worried that our gregarious 3 year old may have a tougher time this go-around now that he is older and more aware of his environs.
After some late packing on Friday night, we woke on Saturday morning and spent some time with the kids. Grandma and Grandpa are going to get some good time with Riley. She recently started crawling a lot and being a lot more communicative and is proving herself to be an outgoing baby, if there is such a thing.
After a long goodbye, we drove with Grandpa to LAX. Traffic was odd, as in it was in all of the places that normally do not have traffic. We sped through check-in and security and found ourselves with two hours to kill in the terminal. I saw a $7000 bottle of scotch in the duty-free shop. Melissa said I couldn't have it (maybe because I don't like scotch).
In our time in the terminal we split a turkey avocado sandwich from the La Brea bakery. It was tasty, and a final reminder that we would likely be avocado free for the next two weeks. Eventually, our flight boarded and off we were.
I was excited to have a flight on Air New Zealand. We flew them for our honeymoon to the Cook Islands and their service was awesome. The plane was a Boeing 777 ER (extended range). They constantly bring you food, wine, tea, coffee, water, etc. the food was good (for airline food). Also, they have the nice personal TVs in the seatbacks. The flight was direct to London Heathrow, and it took about 10 hrs. Melissa and I started by watching Gravity together (we synced our screens). I followed this up with Captain Phillips, while Melissa watched the sequel to the Thor movie.
Melissa managed to sleep a bit, but I did not. I was uncomfortable for most of the night, whether it was my achilles (old track injury) hurting or not being able to find a comfortable position. One thing I noticed was that the economy plus on Air New Zealand looked like business class on most planes. I may be tempted to do that upgrade the next time I fly them, if only for a better nights sleep.
We landed a Heathrow at 1030 am local time. Getting our luggage and passing through customs was uneventful.
In order to get to our hotel in central London, we needed to take the underground. At the station at Heathrow we each purchased Oyster cards and put 15 pounds on each. These get you on all London trains and busses and are quite convenient, as long as you do not lose them. Also, you have to pit down a 5 pound refundable deposit in each card, which makes it important to plan for waiting in the refund line when you leave London. As long as you get this refund before you leave town,the Oyster card is much cheaper than buying the all day unlimited passes.
The Piccadilly line on the underground went all of the way from Heathrow to Russell Square, in the Holborn district. This was adjacent to the west end. We walked from Russell Square to the hotel, which involved passing through the campus of The University of London. We passed their graduate school of tropical medicine, which made me want to look up the definition of tropical medicine.
Our hotel is the Ridgemont Hotel, which is on Gower St. The owners combined two adjacent row houses into one hotel. The place was a bit worn, but the staff were friendly and helpful. We had a garden view room, which is good because traffic on Gower St was heavy. Our room was a bit odd. It had a double bed for us, but it also had two twin beds. Mind you, this is London, and the rooms are all tiny by American standards. We had a sink in our room, but no toilet or shower; those were shared down the hall. Below is the view out our window.
After getting our room situated, we walked down Gower St to the British Museum.
This is the second time I have been here, and both times I am shocked by some of the objects here. If I were an Egyptologist I would start here before heading off to see the empty burial chambers in Giza. Highlights included seeing some samurai artifacts, some ancient Egyptian statues, and the Rosetta Stone.
After the museum we went back to the hotel, heavily jetlagged. After a quick nap, we went to a pub for dinner on the recommendation of the hotel owner called The Rising Sun. My head was foggy from being jetlagged, and the bar was nuts because the North London Derby (Tottenham v. Arsenal) was live on the tv. I ordered a burger and a Guinness (after all it WAS the day before St. Patrick's day) and Melissa had a beef and ale pie and some wine. From what my tired mind could gather, the food was decent and Arsenal won 1-0.
After dinner, we went back to the hotel and tried to Skype with the kids. The timing did not work out because grandma and grandpa took them to the LA Zoo to seem Elmo and they were tuckered out from all of the excitement. Since we, being jet-lagged, would not be able to stay up until they woke up, Skyping was a no-go.
No comments:
Post a Comment