Finally, at 10:15 am on Sunday (almost one full day later than anticipated), we landed at Heathrow airport. We found the train ticket booth and found out that instead of taking a LONG tube ride or an expensive Heathrow Express ride, we could take a new service called Heathrow connect; it got to Paddington station in 25 minutes (vs 15 for the Express), but was only 6 pounds (not 25).
At the Hilton, we checked in and were shown to our room; ITTY BITTY. Of course. Paul was shocked. I was reminded of the crappy rooms Rachel and I stayed in (this was classier, though, than many of those). The bathroom here is smaller than mine at home, if you can believe that!
After that shock, we decided we were feeling claustrophobic, so we walked down the road to see what kind of area we were in. I would say, based on the number of Arabic restaurants and signage that we are in a very diverse neighborhood. We ended up by the corner of Hyde Park and speaker’s corner, where there was a peace demonstration we avoided. We then found a pub and after sitting down, I realized how tired I was. But I had the ability to still remember that we wouldn’t be served, so I told Paul he had to go up to the bar to order our food. I had fish and chips and Paul sausage, beans, and chips (fries). I literally was on the verge of falling asleep sitting up, so we trudged back to the Hilton and I CRASHED! I had, at this point, been without sleep for over 24 hours. Paul was experiencing some major culture shock (with the money, ordering food, tube, etc.). I do not think he expected it to be this big or busy.
A few hours later, we started moving again and figured we’d use our travel cards on the tube since we had already lost a day. FUN! Jump on, jump off. Not too hard to figure out what’s where. What’s harder is to find your destination once you get out of the tube station (left or right?) We ended up lost! We were looking for the Tower of London area. We ended up by the revitalized docklands (nice houses and lofts). We walked A LOT! Then we found the Tower of London and Tower Bridge (absolutely gorgeous…and mind boggling! We didn’t tour the tower yet, so I won’t say much about it here. Besides, I could have looked at it all day and still not find the words to describe it). We then took the tube back to hotel as it was dark and we were tired again. We had supper at the hotel (20 pounds for a calzone and spicy fries). We then went to the room and crashed.
Showing posts with label Aer Lingus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Aer Lingus. Show all posts
Monday, March 12, 2007
The Saga continues! (Sunday morning in Dublin)
The line for Aer lingus was HUGE! It was filled with the Illinois State University band and what seemed like a couple hundred people on a CIE tour (an educational based tour company). As we stood in line for ticketing, we noticed a sign that said “for connecting passengers” so we by-passed the line, thinking we fit the bill. There, Paul asked about our tickets, and the lady helping him said we only had ½ the ticket we needed (in other words, we could get to Dublin, but not to London). She then took the tram and stairs to go talk to United herself. She came back about 20 minutes later. We did a LOT of people watching. I was playing a game trying to figure out where people were from and/or going. Nevertheless, finally, the lady came back and then we had to wait in the line (which was, by that time, thankfully much shorter).
Then it was on to the next line. The line to the security check area was massive! We were all funneled into two main lines for awhile, but as we got closer to the actual metal detector and such, we were literally “sorted” into 4 different lines by TSA agents. This was the most surreal moment of the trip so far. I think I got a small glimpse of what it felt like to live through the holocaust and prison camps. I got the giggles watching Paul; he had to take off his belt, put it in a tray along with his coat, his shoes, but he also had our carry-on bag with the laptop (laptop in a tray of course), and his passport wallet and tickets. I had my wool coat, my slip on/off shoes (what a smart traveler I am!) and my tickets/passport. We felt so rushed through the detectors and when we got to the other side, it was just a weird frenzy. Paul was grabbing crap left and right; even with just slipping on my shoes and grabbing my coat from the tray, I had to rush…everyone was coming through it seemed, and piling up on top of one another. We both observed that we felt either like cattle coming out of a shoot. Or we knew what it was like to be a pinball. WEIRD!
So then we sat and sat in a terminal next to the one we would depart from (the other being full of the ISU band members).
When we got on the plane, we were happy to see that our luck had changed; we were seated at the front row of economy so we had a direct line of site to the movie screen. I had the window seat; Paul had his aisle seat. Hurray! The take off was one of the roughest I’ve experienced. The plane was swaying left to right quite a bit before we settled down). We were served either beef or chicken for dinner, and then we settled in for a six hour flight to Dublin. I watched about half of the first movie (Night at the Museum) before trying to sleep. I did not get ONE wink of sleep, though. Once there, we had to go through customs and immigration (so I do not have a second English stamp, darn it).
Then it was on to the next line. The line to the security check area was massive! We were all funneled into two main lines for awhile, but as we got closer to the actual metal detector and such, we were literally “sorted” into 4 different lines by TSA agents. This was the most surreal moment of the trip so far. I think I got a small glimpse of what it felt like to live through the holocaust and prison camps. I got the giggles watching Paul; he had to take off his belt, put it in a tray along with his coat, his shoes, but he also had our carry-on bag with the laptop (laptop in a tray of course), and his passport wallet and tickets. I had my wool coat, my slip on/off shoes (what a smart traveler I am!) and my tickets/passport. We felt so rushed through the detectors and when we got to the other side, it was just a weird frenzy. Paul was grabbing crap left and right; even with just slipping on my shoes and grabbing my coat from the tray, I had to rush…everyone was coming through it seemed, and piling up on top of one another. We both observed that we felt either like cattle coming out of a shoot. Or we knew what it was like to be a pinball. WEIRD!
So then we sat and sat in a terminal next to the one we would depart from (the other being full of the ISU band members).
When we got on the plane, we were happy to see that our luck had changed; we were seated at the front row of economy so we had a direct line of site to the movie screen. I had the window seat; Paul had his aisle seat. Hurray! The take off was one of the roughest I’ve experienced. The plane was swaying left to right quite a bit before we settled down). We were served either beef or chicken for dinner, and then we settled in for a six hour flight to Dublin. I watched about half of the first movie (Night at the Museum) before trying to sleep. I did not get ONE wink of sleep, though. Once there, we had to go through customs and immigration (so I do not have a second English stamp, darn it).
Huzzah! (Saturday)
Cheerio from London!
I’ll squish two days worth of material here, as there is no FREE internet service here. In fact, it costs 15 pounds sterling for 24 hours of access (that’s about $48). We’re going to get it tonight so we can “skype” McKenna (internet call with video—something Paul set up before we left so we could see Maymay).
So here is what happened since my last post:
Paul and I stayed in the Holiday Inn Select in Chicago. We woke at 7am (so about 6 hours of sleep) and went for breakfast at a diner down the road from the hotel. We then went back to the hotel and Paul fell back asleep, but I couldn’t, no matter what I tried.
Finally, even though our plane didn’t depart until 6 pm, we left the hotel at 2 pm and thank goodness! At the United ticket counter (where the guy from United told us to go to get paper tickets for Aer Lingus), the guy helping us didn’t know how to do paper ticketing, so his manager helped. She was amiable and yet was all business. She got on the phone, sorted out some things, and finally, after about a ½ hour, we got our tickets. Or so we thought (this is the theme of our trip). Anyway, we had to go over a tram and up the stairs (re-read to the tune of “over the river and through the woods) to the Aer Lingus line we go! I'll post the rest AS IF I was posting day-to-day.
I’ll squish two days worth of material here, as there is no FREE internet service here. In fact, it costs 15 pounds sterling for 24 hours of access (that’s about $48). We’re going to get it tonight so we can “skype” McKenna (internet call with video—something Paul set up before we left so we could see Maymay).
So here is what happened since my last post:
Paul and I stayed in the Holiday Inn Select in Chicago. We woke at 7am (so about 6 hours of sleep) and went for breakfast at a diner down the road from the hotel. We then went back to the hotel and Paul fell back asleep, but I couldn’t, no matter what I tried.
Finally, even though our plane didn’t depart until 6 pm, we left the hotel at 2 pm and thank goodness! At the United ticket counter (where the guy from United told us to go to get paper tickets for Aer Lingus), the guy helping us didn’t know how to do paper ticketing, so his manager helped. She was amiable and yet was all business. She got on the phone, sorted out some things, and finally, after about a ½ hour, we got our tickets. Or so we thought (this is the theme of our trip). Anyway, we had to go over a tram and up the stairs (re-read to the tune of “over the river and through the woods) to the Aer Lingus line we go! I'll post the rest AS IF I was posting day-to-day.
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