We safely arrived in London Wednesday morning at around 11am, local
time. Dad and Doreen took us to the
airport, and to some extent, it reminded me the send-off I was given when I
first went to London in high school. I
guess some things never change, and for that I am thankful.
When boarding the Boeing 777, we quickly got as
comfortable as possible. I had limited
space even before take-off because the lovely lady in front of me had already
reclined her seat, making it nearly impossible to store my backpack under the
seat. A friend had just shared a similar
story that didn’t work out in her favour, so I patiently waited for the
attendants to correct the situation; and they did. No sense getting completely annoyed this
early in the game.
Bill is always in the window seat, which leaves me in the
middle seat. More times than not, I find
myself in conversation with the person next to me, and this time was no
different. Anthena, from Humboldt,
Saskatchewan, and I carried on a lengthy conversation and discovery of so many
things we had in common. Both of us work
in elementary schools; are health care practitioners; and meditate and do yoga. Another new friend has been made.
We arrived in Heathrow's new Terminal 2 (only open two weeks) and our driver pointed out a giant piece of artwork hanging in the terminal. It depicts what the jet stream looks like as it leaves the engine. This fine piece cost £2 million, or $4 million Canadian dollars!
Bill also had an interesting experience. In over 28 years of flying, and never, EVER
having needed to use the washroom on a plane, he now knows that he can fit in
one of those little closets to get the job done. He blames it on the shaken green tea he drank
before boarding that brought an end to his streak.
When we checked in to the Mercure London Bloomsbury hotel
at 1pm, our room was already made available for us. We had time to freshen up and get comfortable
before heading off to the British Museum, just a couple blocks away. There we checked out some of the exhibits and
enjoyed high tea at the restaurant. It
was a sunny day, so wandered around the area and explored a few of the shops as
well.
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| The street where our hotel is located. The pink flags are where it is. |
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| The British Museum |
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| Information about the lion statue below. |
We finished off the day with dinner at one of the little
side-street restaurants nearby, by the name of Cagney's, for a plate of fish and chips. It's a modest little restaurant with a broad menu. By Alberta standards, first impressions might lead you straight out the door, but we experienced a decent meal and had a funny waitress to boot!