Longing for London.
Ever since the 2nd British Music Invasion during the 80’s, I had always longed to visit London. London always seemed like a comfortable place to visit. Number 1 reason, english is spoken. You can still have a foreign adventure, immerse yourself in the culture and not have to learn a new language or speak broken embarrassing phases( I always think of Clark Griswold in European Vacation) that get you through your day.
Daughter attends university in the UK.
Our daughter decided to go to college in the United Kingdom back in middle school. We thought “Oh, she will change her mind” “It may too expensive”, or “Sallie Mae may not do a student loan for a UK college”. Forget all those phrases. She did not change her mind, The cost is the same as sending her out of state, and Sallie Mae does fund. She was accepted at the University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen Scotland and received a scholarship for her last year. Woohoo! I am closer to getting to London. The first time in London was at Heathrow to change planes to go to Aberdeen, 2-3 hours top.
We Gotta Do This!
Jon and I had talked about traveling to meet our daughter in London during the off season when it would not interfere with her school schedule. He found some good prices through Icelandair and a good place to stay through Airbnb. We were on our way. We left the Sunday after Thanksgiving from Denver, which happened to be during her revision week. Upon boarding our flight we were greeted by the Icelandair flight attendant with a complementary bottle of Icelandic Water, yes a full bottle of water. Jon and I booked aisle seats to have more legroom. Unfortunately do to the location of the seats they did not recline due to the exit row being behind us. So when you travel be sure to check out the websites so you can pick you seat ahead of time if that is an option. So much for trying to sleep, I was too excited to sleep. We brought snacks on the plane to be healthier, but I wanted to try one of the Icelandic drinks hoping that would make me little sleepy. I ordered a Blueberry Liquor with Processo, which was yummy and settled in and watch Harry Potter for the rest of the flight. The restrooms on the flight was really clean for airplane bathrooms. I actually felt comfortable enough to brush my teeth and clean my face before trying to sleep.
On Top Of The World, At Least Pretty Close
We finally landed in Reykuvek. It is interesting to land at the airport, you get off the plane on the tarmac and take a shuttle to the terminal for the next leg of your flight. If you are there in the winter months, be sure you have on shoes that don’t slip easily. That tarmac can be slick in the middle of the night in November. Next, you are being shuttled on a bus between airplanes taxiing to the runway. The terminal is very small and it is easy to find you next gate. There are some really nice restrooms that make you think IKEA minimalism. There is also a food court which we decided split a Turkey Sandwich, Chips, and grab more water. I must have been really hungry because I inhaled that half of sandwich. Next time we have get our own sandwiches.
Almost There.
With a fuller belly I settled into my seat for the next leg of the flight and finally got a nap. When we were closer to London, Jon woke me up to fill out the customs cards. I hate filling those cards out. I am always afraid I will fill them out wrong and they won’t let me into the country, Lol. However in my defense I was half asleep and jet lagged. We finally landed and waited 2 hours to clear customs. I think everyone on our flight was in the same customs line with us. Once we cleared customs, I was ready for a potty stop and some coffee.
Coffee and a Shower Please!
With a coffee in hand from Nero Coffee and we hoped the Heathrow Express to Paddington Station to Warrick Avenue Stop. We could not get into our flat right away, because we were early. So we ventured down the street and sat at a coffee shop called Toast and had another coffee and waited until it was time to to get into the flat. The coffee shop was quaint, with outdoor seating. Since the coffee shop was small we opted to set outside with our luggage. Plus I did not want to be to close to anyone without a shower. So we showered up, changed, and walk to the grocery store to get breakfast food. The only regret I have was we did not get crisps to tide us over until dinner. It was 5pm and we did not have reservations until 8:30pm. So we did nap, until it was time to take the tube for dinner and to meet our daughter.
Dinner at Bizzarro
Our daughter met us at an Italian Restaurant called Bizzarro. Reservations are recommended, so Myah had made those for us in advance. We were a little early, but they were gracious enough to seat us while we waited for Myah to arrive. She arrived soon after we ordered some wine. I was one happy mama to see my baby. I think everyone else in the restaurant appreciated my happiness. We ordered starters, then our main dish. I had Cannelloni Ripieni. Jon ordered a veal dish which looked really good and his plate had veggies with it(he hates most vegetables), I wished I had his veggies. Myah had the Pennette alla Puttanesca which fits into her vegan diet. Dinner was great. The service was friendly and appropriately attentive. We ended our evening with sipping shot of Lemoncello and headed back to our flat for the night. We needed some rest for seeing the sites, high tea, and Harrods.
Do you have a place that you have longed to visit, but just never got around to it? Let me know where that is.