Saturday, March 1, 2008

Headin' on back to London ...


Yeah, Brother.


So, you may ask, why am I going to the UK?

Well, my husband and I have been married for almost nineteen years, and so this can be called an anniversary trip. We try to do something during his week off of school in February, so you could say that is the reason. Or you could call it our second honeymoon, as my husband has been saying. Or you could say that I wanted to do something special with my best friend.

All of those reasons would be true.

And I got a really great airfare to the UK.

Anyway, my husband (Wrymouth of wrymouth.com) and I are gong to be spending about five days in London and two or so days in Scotland. It is the first time my husband has been out of the country, except for our honeymoon in Mexico, which was memorable for many things, including the fact that I ended up in the airport infirmary in Guadalajara – but that is a story for another day. My brand new husband learned to say “Mi esposa es enferma”. Let’s hope that this trip does not include me going into febrile convulsions.

Huh … with that as a baseline, this trip should be spectacular.

From the moment that I really started thinking about it to getting the trip together, things went fast. I first made sure that the grandparents and eldest child would be available to watch the younger ones, and then started looking for airfares. Just about the time I was going to lock in the airfare, British Airways came up with a non-stop fare from LA to Heathrow for three hundred less per person than the lowest airfare that I had been able to find. I jumped on it and we were good to go. Once again, I have to recommend TripAdvisor for finding a good hotel.

I was a little worried about going to London and Edinburgh in February -- I was afraid that we would freeze. Especially my husband. He is Southern Californian born and bred and has very thin blood. He becomes pinched and wan when we visit Colorado. He shivers when the temperature dips below 70 degrees.

I was so busy at work before we left that I only had a very little time to prepare. The week before we left, I had lots of lists going, but not a lot done. Packing at this point consisted of tossing things that we might need into a box at the end of my desk.

We were leaving on Saturday afternoon, out of LAX, and the kids were all going to see us off. We started gathering stuff together at the beginning of the week in a more systematic fashion and got most of our stuff packed the night before the night before we left.

The actual night before we left, my husband took me out for a nice dinner – we had received a gift certificate for dinner for two and decided to use it up. It was probably not the most practical thing we could do, but we had a lovely time. Also, as our food budget would only allow for sandwiches and chips, we were having a last hurrah.

I got up really early on Saturday morning so I could finish up some reports, thinking that we might have a couple of hours of packing and would be out of the house by ten. We got out of the house about two hours later than I would have liked, but there you go.

I did not have my sister's assistance in packing, but I managed to restrain myself. I only packed six or seven books to read. I always over pack books when I travel. I made sure that we had maps to the hotels and our boarding passes and our passports.

We did not have time to get lunch at Farmer’s Market, but we did have In-N-Out Burgers, which were pretty good. We got to the airport about three thirty for a five twenty flight. We were all checked in online, and supposedly just had to drop off our bags at the Fast Bag Drop and get through security.

We all stood on the sidewalk, saying good-bye over and over. My youngest said that he missed us already. It was hard to say goodbye to the kids. I missed them before we even got into the terminal. Next time, they come with us. I was not worried, because between the oldest and the grandparents, they would all be fine.

Really.

Wrymouth (husband mine) and I got into the Tom Bradley terminal and got in line to drop off our bags. As we looked up, we saw that our flight had been



Yes ...



So we had time for



So all was not lost.

4 comments:

Rowan said...

Aww, hope you guys had a great anniversary trip.

Look forward to reading aboot yer time in London!

Sushi....did they not have anything more sustaining and calorific? If I ever run the rist of being delayed at that airport, I will need to seek out a burger joint. (Note the attempt to sound all happenin and American.) I saw an ad for a cheescake cafe in California, where you get impossibly huge wodges of the stuff, for a sensible price....I am hoping you will be a good native guide and put pins in the map for me, of good nosh spots.

You guys are very cool when it comes to travelling, and the pics are great! I am looking for a pith helmet, white bermuda shorts, knee-high white kilt socks and nurses brogues. Think that is the travelling outfit for the discerning Brit, plotting an expedition overseas.

Rowan said...

Ah Bob! I did not notice that you had, in fact, partaken of the yum-mungous sounding In N Out Burgers, before reaching the terminal. So...I send you a high-five, untainted, by superhuman effort, with even the slightest hint of jellisy. I don't think I have ever had a really good burger, but I know they are out there...

Dr. Bob said...

Ro -- capris and tanks for out here. I know that you will be uncomfortable in shorts, so I am easing you into SoCa threads.

Rowan said...

Capris I could look at from the corner of the room, and concievably pick up and actually wear. In time. Howevurrr...I can't conceptualise ever wearing a tank, which I think is what we would call a vest top. A sleeveless tee. Wearing an actual tank, in the armoured sense, would be intriguing, and kind of fun, and would also help me in my quest to learn to drive...

here are my favourite strides, which incorporate many of the required features.


I have had a wizard packing wheeze! Instead of being trauchled with luggage, I am considering bidding on clothing bundles in my size on Ebay, and have them delivered to my destination. :D