Mar. 24th, 2000 - London
21 C/70 F degrees and partly cloudy but more sun than we saw the entire 2 weeks last
time.
Len
Landed on time at 10:15ish. No room at Heathrow
for us, so they parked the
plane in the boondocks and bussed us to terminal 3. Got thru customs fine and
reclaimed our very heavy luggage. Looking forward to seeing Matt to lighten the
load!
Went over and caught the Heathrow Express. Just as
nice as before. We got to
Paddington in 15 mins.
Once there we decided to take a breather and get our bearings. So far we're not feeling as loopy as
we did last time. Bought a coke and some postcards. Lugged our stuff down to the underground. One
escalator trip down, then 1 1/2 flights of stairs up, then 1 1/2 down. *Really* looking forward to
seeing Matt. 2 one-way tix to the Bayswater station was £3. And only one station away :).
From there one flight up then about 2 blocks away to the Grand Plaza Hotel.. Check in was at 2pm, but they
let us in at 1:00 with no problem. We're on the 5th floor (6th in US floor count) and due to some
confusing signage we took a tour of
the hotel trying to find the lift. Narrow halls!. Some steps and 2 lifts later
we find our room - 2 doors down from the lift leading to the lobby. :) Room is
Quaint. Nice view of a similar building across the street and a church spire.
Went out and bought more postcards, then popped out to the Rat and Parrot for a
few pints and to write them. Nice place. We got back to the room around 7pm.
Watched TV then fell asleep around 8pm. (Ke notes BBC News talked about the
Oxford Cambridge boat race on Sat. which we'll miss. More importantly we're going
to miss the millennium PoohSticks competition on Sat. as well. Bummer! The 8 inch
step into the shower was expected, but the 1/2 step into the bathroom caught both
of us. Not expected was the broken shower sliding glass door that fell on me
and nearly smashed into a million bits, nor the toilet taking a noisy 28 mins.
to fill. Ah yes, British plumbing at it's finest! Boy, are we bruised and
sore from carrying our heavy bags - Can't wait to see Matt!)
Paddington in 15 mins.
Once there we decided to take a breather and get our bearings. So far we're not feeling as loopy as
we did last time. Bought a coke and some postcards. Lugged our stuff down to the underground. One
escalator trip down, then 1 1/2 flights of stairs up, then 1 1/2 down. *Really* looking forward to
seeing Matt. 2 one-way tix to the Bayswater station was £3. And only one station away :).
