We're HERE!

Well, it’s somewhere around 12:30 am and I am beginning the Turkey3 blog.  Of course, with international travel, it is always the beginning and the end with long flights that makes things interesting.  In our case, we were flying Tucson-LAX/LAX-London Heathrow, and then tomorrow (Wednesday) we will be heading to Istanbul on Pegasus Airlines.

To begin … Bob and Stew LaCasce, our wonderful neighbors, picked us up on a very rainy Sunday morning about 7:45 am.  No problem with the roads, even with all the rain, and I think we got to the Tucson Airport about 8:30 am.  We are TSA Pre-Check, which does make things really lovely at times.   We did NOT have to take our shoes off, or Robert his belt, and the computer and our liquids all stayed in our bags.  Our flight wasn’t until 10:35 am, so we had plenty of time, but I’d MUCH rather be early than late!  The Southwest flight was right on time, and we were on to the plane fairly quickly.  Very nice flight across the desert, and an on-time arrival at LAX. 

Our bags arrived very quickly on the carousel, and then we were outside and waiting on the curb for Bus A, which is the Airlines Connections bus.  Again, very smooth transition to the United Terminal 7, even considering that there is major construction going on there.  We did have passes to United’s Red Carpet Club (which was good, as it was only about 11:30 am and our flight to England didn’t leave until 4:50 pm), and they have built a truly lovely and HUGE new facility.  Truly dwarfs the former club that we knew so well!

Checked in for the club and found some very comfortable seating.  R able to get a copy of the New York Times, and I was able to find a very old friend – the Los Angeles Times, which I very much enjoyed!  The club had a very nice buffet of snacks and munchies, and also included some excellent Chicken Corn Chowder and a small salad bar with lots of veggies … oh, and chocolate chip cookies to one’s heart’s content.  This new facility also included a really lovely outside area – if one was so inclined (but this “one” wasn’t, as it was still a coolish and overcast kind of day … although the sun did finally break out, which was nice!

But, the best news is that at the huge new bar area, they had televisions – including the soon-to-be-played Green Bay Packers vs. Dallas Cowboys game!!  So, we relocated to a good viewing spot (with lots of charging stations everywhere, I am happy to report, as well as free WiFi!) and the game began.  Very much enjoyed it, as the Packers took an early lead, but unfortunately, we did have to bestir ourselves to make the our way to gate 74 to board our plane – and this was right at the beginning of the 3^rd quarter!

Our plane boarded right on time, but the SERIOUS problem I had was that the last thing I saw as we had to turn off our electronics, was that the score was TIED 28-28!!!  REALLY FRUSTRATING!! 

The wonderful thing about flying in January (after the Christmas rush) is that the plane was far from full.  We had splurged for Economy Plus, and the way it worked out, almost everyone had three seats to him or herself!  I did stay in my seat until the door had closed, and then found my own row (it’s a 3-3-3 seat configuration) with the object of possibly (?!) getting some sleep on an airplane! 

To explain, Robert has the annoying capacity of being able to sleep on an airplane – any airplane, and while sitting up!  Grrrrrr…..I have always been jealous, because even lying down, I’m usually not able to sleep at all. 

So, as the plane was taking off, the purser came over the loud speaker with a spoiler alert about the football game – and then announced that Green Bay had kicked a last second field goal, and was moving on!!  YIPPEE!  (Burt, we were definitely rooting for your team!)

The trip to London was about 9½ hours, and it was very smooth, I am happy to report!  We were served dinner of some anonymous pasta, but United did make up for it by serving Salted Caramel Gelato for dessert; very good!  By this time, I was nicely settled in “my” row, with the contemplation of what movies did I need to watch.  (Remembering that I am the person who watched “Nancy Drew” SEVEN times on our way to Australia once because I couldn’t sleep!)  In this case, I chose the new “Ghostbusters” (having never seen the old Ghostbusters) followed closely by “Mamma Mia” which I enjoyed.  Then, I decided to see if I could sleep, and incredibly, I got something like 3½ - 4 hours!  Amazing!  Of course I was able to lie flat across the three seats, and had plenty of pillows and blankets to use. 

Up with about 1½ hours left and moved back to my seat next to Robert, where I put on the movie “Deepwater Horizon.”   And of course, that didn’t allow me enough time to see the end of the movie!!!  It’s like Star Trek Revisited – when I had to wait for months to find out the end of the movie!  Hopefully in this case, I won’t have to wait quite that long … but the movie was actually very interesting, although I’m not sure it found any fans at BP …

Out of the airplane quickly and then the schlep across Heathrow to clear customs and immigration.  Honestly, regardless of where you come in, it still takes at least 15 – 20 minutes to walk endless corridors and moving sidewalks and staircases.  Not too much of a line, and it moved fairly quickly and we were in!  Then … duh da da … to collect our luggage.

Got to carousel 7, and there was my new non-spinner suitcase, going around, with only a few other pieces!  As Robert says, the next time he comes to Heathrow, he wants to come in checked baggage, as that seems to take no time at all!  As our second piece wasn’t there, we waited for a bit – until I noticed that the carousel was labeled “Baggage ARRIVED.”  Uh-oh!  Headed to United baggage counter, and they told us that the second suitcase had last been scanned entering the carousel at 11:36 am – and it was now something like 11:45 am … okay, that’s nice, but where the heck was it?!  Big scramble – we looked everywhere, as did the baggage people, but no suitcase.  (As a side note, I always split our things, so that in the case of a lost or missing suitcase, we would both have some clothes … but as the missing case was the bigger of the two, I could imagine us spending our two days in London going shopping …) 

After a thorough search (with my heart dropping to my knees…) the bag still hadn’t shown up.  Finally, after about 45 minutes of confusion, as Robert was filling out the lost luggage claim, carousel 7 started bringing up the luggage from a later plane’s arrival – and there it was.  Talk about RELIEF!  Whew!  Apparently, the case got stuck on the conveyor belt after it had passed the scanner but before it could get to the carousel. 

By this point, it was somewhere around 12:30 pm and we decided, in view of the circumstances, that rather than schlep across London on either the Heathrow Express train or the local underground, that we would splurge and take a taxi!  (Not sure we’ve ever done that, actually!)  It wasn’t too expensive, but it was fortunate our hotel was on the Heathrow side of London, as once we got into London traffic, things did cork up quite a bit!  Nice driver – name of Joe – who lives five miles from the Scottish border, and came in 11-day shifts to drive his cab!  Very knowledgeable man, especially about English history, and we enjoyed the drive.

Arrived at the Doubletree Chelsea at Imperial Wharf about 1 pm and fortunately our room (612) was ready.  It’s a nice size (for London) and everything is nice and clean.  Spent a few minutes getting things arranged, and Robert set up the computer.  We had thought we might want lunch and naps when we arrived, but as we still had so much adrenalin from not being able to find the suitcase, that we were actually neither hungry nor tired!  So, set out to find a post office.

During the past year, we had collected quite a number of astronomy books and related content for our young friends Leo (about 6) and Hugh (about 3) who we will be visiting when we return to England in February.  However, when set to mail to the U.K. for Christmas, the postage alone was over $100.  So, to save the $$, we decided to pack everything and mail once we got here.  (I know … we were late for Christmas!)  These items had made Robert’s carry-on really heavy … I hadn’t realized how much stuff there was until unloading Robert’s bag here at the hotel!  So, we packed all the gifts into R’s carry-on and set out on foot for the post office.

Quite a walk, but it wasn’t too bad as far as weather. 

Loved the car & business!

Overcast and gray and in the low 40’s.  However, while we knew what street the post office was on, we didn’t exactly know at which end of the street the post office was, with the result that we did rather go the “long way” around …of course!  Only to arrive and find that it was a post office inside a small tobacco shop – with a line of 6 or 7 people stretching to the door.  However, as we were there, we dutifully joined the queue.  We had hoped to get a if it fits, it-ships box, but instead were directed to get a large padded envelope.  Everything fitted in, and for something like 17£, it was on its way.

Walked back to the hotel to drop off the carry-on, and then out to look for transportation and a bank.

Right around the corner from our hotel is the Imperial Wharf “overland”  stop.  (Overland meaning at street level, as opposed to “underground” as most of the London Tube is.)  We were able to buy an Oyster pass for Robert, as I already had one, and then we put something like 10£ each on the passes.  (An Oyster card enables us to just get on any bus or tube or train and tap the car against a sensor, and the correct amount is automatically debited; you then use the card until you run out of pre-paid money, and then top it up and start all over again.) 

Interesting building!

As we always, prefer buses to going underground (so you can see where you’re going!) we hopped on a C1 bus at Imperial Wharf and went to Earl’s Court. 

Me on top of double-decker bus next to polka-dot building!

From there, we did take the underground two stops to South Kensington, an area where we have stayed frequently.  Found our old UBS branch (United Bank of Scotland), got money, and then headed to one of our old favorites, PJ’s in the Fulham Road for a late lunch/early dinner.  (It was now about 4 pm.) 

SO nice to see PJ’s again!  Lovely and warm, and seriously, it was now starting to get dark, even though it was only a few minutes after 4!  We were also starting to drag about then, but that may have had something to do with the wine.  We ordered glasses of an excellent Beaujolais, as well as a starter portion of chips (French fries) with truffle salt and parmesan.

Lovely chips and bread

R's sea bass

My short ribs with mashed potatoes!

Red wine always helps!

Excellent dinner!  Wonderful bread and chips, followed by sea bass with roasted new potatoes and Jerusalem artichoke sauce for Robert, and a HUGE portion of beef short ribs with mashed potatoes for me.  We were both beginning to fall asleep by the time we finished our second glasses of wine and got the bill, so opted to see how quickly we could get back to the hotel.

Found a 114 bus on the Fulham road, and took it to the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital.  As we were talking to the driver about getting to the C1, a nice young man indicated that he was going that way, and would be happy to show us.  Very nice of him, especially as we had to walk several blocks, and the C1 stop was up a side street we would have been hard-pressed to find.   The C1 came quickly, and in no time at all, we were off at the Imperial Wharf Tesco (supermarket) stop.  We did stop in for some water for the room and basically, hit the bed as soon as we got into the room.  It was totally dark by then, and all of something like 6 pm!  Not sure of how we’ll sleep, but went to bed anyway!  We have had a very long day!

Well, up something like every hour to hour and a half, and finally, a little after midnight, I asked Robert to log me in to the computer so that I could blog!  I am sure a lot of this is really boring, but we have found that blogs make the very best memories, once we have them printed out and bound into book form at the end of the trips (Thank you, Katy & Hilary!), so I do just tend to prattle on! 

Shop across from PJ's; like the Indian headdress?

This is just "me!"

Chilly and sleepy!

Hopefully we will be able to get a bit more sleep tonight, as tomorrow (today, actually!) we plan on hitting the BM (British Museum) one of our favorite places!

Much love,

m

xxx