My Adventures in the UK - DAY 1 to 3 - by Anne Shier

(this narrative began when I left Toronto, Ontario, Canada on September 2, 2016 and landed in London, England on September 3, 2016.  My first tour - Britain and Ireland in Depth - was to start on September 5, 2016.  It began in London, England, went southwest all the way to Land's End in England, then northeast to Wales, across the Irish Sea to Ireland and N. Ireland, then back to England and south back to London)
Thursday September 1, 2016:

Today, Linda Cicchetti at Sears Travel finalized my travel plans - all flights and train rides - the Globus tour operator looks after the bus, hotels and food on both tours.  The first tour is called "Britain and Ireland in Depth" and will last for 25 days.  The second tour is called "Continental Introduction" and will last for 14 days.  Of the 44 days (Sept. 2nd to Oct. 16th) that I'll be overseas, only 5 days will be spent on my own; 39 of these days will be on tour.

Friday September 2 and Saturday September 3, 2016:

The Air Canada flight (AC 856) that I was scheduled to board at 6:35 pm (Toronto time) almost went awry.  I was heading towards the plane after going through security, and some guy who was selling CIBC Visa cards at an airport kiosk, waylaid me and delayed my progress by five minutes or so.  Anyway, I was delayed just enough to arrive right at 6:35 pm when the airline was making its last call for passengers to board.  Fortunately, they were looking for me since my suitcase was on board already and I was able to show my boarding pass and check in just under the wire!  I will never let that happen again.  It was too close for comfort!

The flight itself was interesting because each passenger had his/her own TV screen, which faced him/her.  It was built into the seat of the passenger directly in front and was a touch-screen monitor that each passenger could use to play their chosen games, watch any TV shows and movies they wanted, and monitor the progress of the flight.  I thought it was neat.  There was certainly nothing like this available on the last jumbo jet we flew to the UK thirty-five years ago.  Technology has certainly taken leaps and bounds regarding air travel across the ocean. The key difference between first-class and coach, which is where I was, is the size of each seat and the size of the monitor facing each passenger.  First-class passengers have a lot more leg room and comfort.  I found that sitting in coach made me feel cramped for this six-and-a-half hour flight.  Oh well, minor inconvenience!

I played several games of Trivial Pursuit with the computer, passing levels one and two.  Level three turned out to be a challenge, however.  But, I finally passed level three, at least once.  Then, I watched a couple of movies – I can’t remember their names though – because the TV shows weren’t that interesting to me.  There was dinner service on the plane and I chose a pasta dinner that had a small coleslaw-like salad and brownie for dessert and a small bottle of water.  That dinner, though not large, was enough to satisfy my appetite for the duration of the flight.  I think there was also supposed to be a continental-type breakfast, but it didn’t look interesting enough to eat, so I passed on it.  Generally, the flight went smoothly and we arrived at London’s Heathrow airport at 6:34 am, pretty much on time.  I was tired, but was holding my own at this point.  Would you believe that we’d just flown over 5,900 km from Toronto in six and a half hours?

Then, of course, we had to go through secure document check-in where an airport official looked at my passport and asked me what I am doing in the UK and for how long.  That conversation took maybe five minutes and I was then cleared to go to baggage re-claim.  Unfortunately, I had to leave behind my big tube of toothpaste and a similarly sized tube of lotion during the scan of my backpack.  The airlines do not want you to put biggish containers with liquids and creams in them in your carry-on bag.  But, after this is when things really started to go wrong.  I was under some mistaken assumption (through Linda at Sears Travel, possibly?) that my suitcase – the huge suitcase that I’d checked in at Pearson airport in Toronto – was to be transferred to my hotel – the London Hilton Metropole – without my help, but I was wrong!  I took a taxi to my hotel, but found out shortly after arriving there and being taken to the Globus Tours office in the hotel, that my luggage was missing!  This lady there told me she would look into it and I would have to wait.  Well, I waited and waited and waited until she finally told me that I would have to go the airport myself again and retrieve my missing suitcase!

By this time, I was getting very hot and exhausted – due to not getting any sleep on the plane and my baggage fiasco – that I sure wasn’t in any kind of mood to be trekking back to that huge airport building to look for my bag, yet I had to.  No one else was going to be able to do it for me.  Fortunately, the very nice lady in the Globus Tours office told me how I could get to Heathrow airport very quickly and relatively cheaply, on my own!  I had some grave doubts about doing this, but she pointed me in the right direction, told me to proceed for about seven minutes on foot on Praed Street – right in front of the hotel - to Paddington train station and buy a round trip ticket to Heathrow airport aboard the Heathrow Express (the name of that particular train service).  I somehow managed to get to Paddington train station, buy a round trip ticket with very little assistance (thank God, I’d bought some pounds Sterling in Toronto already), and boarded the Heathrow Express train on my own.  So far, so good!

It only took about fifteen minutes to get back to Heathrow airport on the Heathrow Express and then I had to somehow locate a baggage inquiry phone and tell an airport official my problem.  Yes, I was exhausted, but at least I was now at the airport and I just had to find out where my suitcase was and retrieve it.  To do that, I had to go through security again and show my passport, but I only had my purse with me (due to having checked in at the hotel) and my Globus file folder with my tour papers in it.  After I went through security with no problem, this very kind gentleman, an airport official, took me over to the baggage department and helped me locate my missing bag.  Then, I just had to fill out a simple form and sign it and I could then leave the airport building and go back to my hotel.  I did not have to go back through security anymore.

So, after walking back to the Heathrow Express, I got on and rode it back to my hotel.  Finally in my room, I was able to take an extended hot shower after getting out of my damp clothing that I’d been wearing since yesterday morning.  It felt so good to be clean and dry again!  I somehow rustled up the energy to go out and find something to eat – I’d had a sandwich earlier at the hotel – and I found this nice little deli right across the street from my hotel called “Pret a Manger”.  I bought some breakfast compote that looked appetizing, two cups of fresh fruit, and a can of apple juice.  I figured that would be enough to fill my craving for a light dinner.  I really didn’t have the energy to get any other kind of food or to eat anything heavy.  I went back to my hotel and ate dinner while watching my first pay-per-view movie called “Everest”.  It was a good movie, but I sort of fell asleep while watching it.

 

When I got up later, it was getting dark.  It’s now early evening in London.  I was feeling more energetic by now, so I wrung out the damp clothes that had been sitting on the floor of my wet shower where I’d rinsed them, and started writing in my daily journal.  Day One was written yesterday afternoon at Pearson airport in longhand, so I still have to type up my notes, and Day Two is being written today directly on my notebook computer at my hotel this evening.  In another day or two, I will be joining my first tour of the British Isles at this hotel and I’m looking forward to this tour experience very much.  I’ve never seen the British Isles except for London and a tiny bit of southern England.  It should be very interesting.

copyright 2016 - Anne Shier