We're Across the Pond!!

Our beautiful friend Philippa and her husband Dan -- expecting their first this summer!

Sunday, May 2

Hello, All!

We've made it to London, and are getting ready to collapse in the hotel!

All went well yesterday, considering that the alarm went off at 3:05 a.m. and we were out the door by 3:45 a.m. Made it with no problems to Phoenix by 6 a.m., turned in the rental car and headed to check-in. We had a wait of probably 2 minutes at the United desk, and absolutely NO wait at all to clear security! (You see, even though R complains about how early we have to get up, this is proof positive that you can avoid the crowds this way...if you're conscious enough to notice!)

Nice flight to Washington Dulles, with the exception of some BIG bumps getting around some thunderstorms near Tennessee. We had a 3 hour layover, and used the time to get food at Gordon Biersch - both of us bowls of very good New England clam chowder, R some crabcakes, and me a spinach salad. Very good!

When we checked in to the overseas flight, we were very confused by the seating chart that showed up. I had changed our seat selections, and was a bit nervous. But turns out we were on a BRAND NEW 777 that had a different seating configuration than any we'd seen. The upshot was that we had 3 seats across at the center of the bulk head, the first row of economy, with nobody between us! The seats were amazingly comfortable; actually move forward when they tilt back, and every two out of three seats has a U.S. power connection for computers! Wheee!!! So, we were very comfortable, and the flight went very quickly -- 6 hours 54 minutes. Saw several movies, including INVICTUS with Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon -- EXCELLENT! Recommend it HIGHLY and will definitely add it to our movie collection when we get home. Also watched "Leap Year" with Amy Adams; cute; very definitely a chick flick!

Landed 40 minutes early into the new (about a year old, but new to us) Terminal 1. Just excellent! We didn't have to walk many miles at all to get to customs, and there was no line there, either! (Compared to a couple of times when it took almost an hour to get through, this was amazing!) Very happily collected our luggage, and then off to Europcar.

It was absolutely POURING outside, and the drive to Gatwick, something like 50 miles from Heathrow wasn't terribly pleasant. However, when we got to Gatwick, the wonderful gal at the Courtyard by Marriott found a room for us even though it wasn't even 9:30 a.m.! AND, as breakfast was included, and we're leaving so early tomorrow, we were even able to have a full English breakfast!! What an incredible place!!
Lovely, clean and well equipped room. Showered/bathed and got ready to head out to Henley on Thames to meet our friend Philippa and her husband Dan!

Got to Henley about 11:30 a.m. and parked in a car park that was easy to find -- and there they were!! SOOOOOO great to see Phil and finally be able to meet her wonderful husband Dan!! We walked on to the High Street (raining AND cold!) and found a very nice French restaurant for lunch.

We chatted for several hours (LONG lunch plus dessert!) until we really began to feel the jet lag and lack of sleep catching up with us. So, back to the car park; SO sorry to say goodbye after such a short visit! On to Gatwick where we topped off the car with petrol and I got my first MAGNUM CLASSIC bar of this trip! The weather wasn't exactly conducive...maybe 40-ish? -- but it was GREAT!

Now back in the room; almost 5:15 p.m. and we're definitely in for the night!! Need to be up bright and early (yes, again!) for our Easy Jet flight to Crete!!

So, with that, I'll close for now...
Much love,
m
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