Monday in London

I definitely lucked out on the flight over! I had 3 seats on the Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747 all to myself. When I checked in for the flight I asked the agent if anyone was sitting next to me and she told me there were. So I had her move me to a window seat further back that had no one currently in the other seats. She did but of course could not promise that someone else wouldn't end up there. But soon enough the aircraft doors closed and there I was with 3 coveted seats all for myself! It made for a much more enjoyable overnight flight to London.....3 seats, 3 blankets and 3 pillows; and a seat-back video screen to kill a few hours too. Beef and mashed potatoes for dinner....my kind of meal.

Before long the plane began its decent into London's Gatwick Airport. It was a beautiful sunny morning and the English countryside was still sporting a mostly green coating even though it was mid-November. I recognized the port of Southampton from the air, a place I departed on a cruise a couple years prior.

My friend was flying into Gatwick from DFW. The plan was to meet in a certain location at the airport with all kinds of backup plans in case one of us got diverted or delayed. My flight was actually nearly an hour late getting in but I cleared Customs & Immigration in no time and was at the designated place. His flight arrived on time and before long there he was, a first-time visitor to Europe. We were both a bit tired; it's hard to sleep well on a long flight, but we were ready to go!

We took the train from Gatwick into central London. Our hotel room was not yet ready but the hotel took our luggage so we were free to see the sights. I had warned this guy that this was not the way to do Europe; particularly 3 cities in 3 days. At that pace we would see the sights, but only for about 5 minutes each! This turned true. With our Underground (subway) Day Pass
we spent more time in the Tube going from place to place than we did actually seeing any place. Big Ben/Parliament, take photos....back in the Tube. Tower of London/Tower Bridge....back in the Tube......Marble Arch, take photographs....back in the Tube. And so on. Did a little bit of Christmas shopping on Oxford Street at TopShop and TopMan. (www.topshop.com)

London is horribly expensive for Americans. Think of U.S. prices and then multiply them by 2.3. My dinner seems reasonable at £16.95 if those were dollars. But they're British Pounds and that works out to nearly $40 for a small steak, fries and a coke. :(

First night was an early evening. Jet lag sets in and by 9pm it was lights out. And we have an early departure too.

Europe in a Daze

Hello everyone from Orlando where it's been chilly the last couple nights but we're headed back into the upper 70's and low 80's next week. Unfortunately I won't be here as I am making a quick trip to Europe.

A good friend of mine had me plan a great two-week trip to Europe for him and his wife & kids a few years ago. Unfortunately the trip never happened and he ended up (ultimately) getting divorced. So he still hasn't ever been "over the pond" and that subject came up a few months ago during a phone conversation. We ended up deciding we should do a trip together and I'd show him the highlights of a couple places. Problem was though that between our two schedules and other commitments we only had about 3 days to "see Europe". So Sunday night we fly out and on Monday we'll "do" London, Tuesday we're in Amsterdam, Wednesday we're in Berlin and on Thursday he flies home and I fy to Frankfurt to spend an extra day (due to flight timings) and I return on Friday.

I'm confident that between jet lag, late nights partying and daytimes on early airline hops, we're really going to SEE a lot of Europe! And did I mention it's going to be in the 30's & 40's over there?