Traveling to London

[Monday, July 24, 2023]

Woke up this morning knowing that it will be about a month before we got to sleep in our own bed again. However, that was balanced with the reality that the day has finally arrived. Casual breakfast and then Laureen went to have her nails done. I jumped in the truck to get some gas for the lawnmower so that those who will cut my grass have what they need. I gave the lawn a trim and dealt with the new crop of weeds that have begun to spring up both in the lawn and in the rocks between our house and the neighbours. The flower beds needed a bit of attention as well, so a quick tilling of the soil and it seemed things were good.

We both had a shower and jumped into some comfortable clothes for travel. Lunch was a plate of nacho's and a pineapple-coconut Bubbly after surveying our suitcases on last time. Both of them are well under the weight limit (whew). With a few minutes to spare we decided to retreat to the cool of the basement and catch an episode of Home Town before it was time to hail an Uber. Lucy for us, they were just a few blocks away.

It was also around this time that we noted that we were going to in for, not one, but two flight delays.

The hope is that this is not a sign of things to come, and moreover, the vacation gods getting the issues out of the way early. This delay is going to cause an issue with a Windsor Castle visit that Laureen had booked for us in advance. We will miss our time slot as the tickets have a two hour window and our delay is already more than that by 2 times. Laureen decided to try sending a note to the establishment and see if we could move the tickets to Wednesday, where we have little planned. In today's world of consistent flight delays, it may not serve us well that we are so organized. I guess we will see.

The ride to the airport was uneventful. Our driver had been driving for Uber for 6 or 7 months and was hoping to study architecture which she claimed was her passion. We exited the Uber and made our way to the WestJet kiosk area to print baggage tags and drop our checked luggage. Next was the security line where they have swapped the regular and NEXUS entrances. We almost went the wrong way. Just as we arrived at the X-Ray machine, they decided to calibrate it. 😐. Another delay, although it wouldn't matter as our Calgary flight was a couple hours behind schedule. We also experienced the new protocol for trusted travellers. Left everything in the bags as they went through the machine. No removing the belt or shoes either. I kinda like this. Now we just wait.

They called us for the Calgary flight and we boarded the roughly half full plane. It looks like we might at least make it to CowTown. Also checked the Air Tags and it appears as though our luggage was joining us too. BONUS! 👍

Flight was good but there were two more small delays. First, when we landed, the ground crew was busy with some other flight and they decided to use a jetway instead of making us get off on the tarmac. 😐

We arrived at Terminal A - but our flight to London was out of Terminal D. 😐. The walk was good to stretch the legs. Dinner was at a Chili's in our terminal and then back to waiting for our 4 hour delayed flight to London. 😐. I don't mean to sound impatient because we've waited this long for this to happen. What's a few more hours.

Is it just me, or is it hot in here? As we sat at the restaurant for dinner, we overheard the waitress telling someone that the AC in this part of the airport is not working. 😐. Welcome to Calgary. 😓

Sat in the terminal for the now customary 4 hours minimum to finally board the plane. This one was a little bigger than ones we usually board with each row having nine seats in groups of three. 💺💺💺 💺💺💺 💺💺💺. Who, might you ask, is sitting right in front of us. Well, you know that family/group with kids that like to scream for most of the flight. Ya. Them. 😐. And I was having trouble getting my ear buds to pair with the new phone. 😐. Did you know that when you get a new phone, and your apps all transfer but some of the options don't come over with it? Like the option to "download" some music so you can listen to it when you are off line. 😐. I had three songs for 8 hours. 😐.

For the most part, the flight was uneventful except for the christening incident. Shortly after take-off, when the captain turns off the seatbelt sign, Laureen asked for her bag so she could grab a couple of items for the journey. We're not exactly sure how it happen, but when I opened the overhead bin (which was at quite the slant when it's closed), water started dripping on the elderly British people behind us. At the same time I noticed that Laureens backpack was damp (well, wet actually - 👀). They jumped up and started making some noise before I realized what was going on. A steward brought me a handful of napkins and I started trying to stop the flow of water. It took a while, but it eventually stopped. There was another bag in the bin that was damp and I tried to blame it on that bag. Thankfully, nobody claimed responsibility for that one. As it turns out, somehow Laureen's water bottle lid came loose and drained about half it's contents into the overhead bin. Pretty sure we didn't get blamed and the lady was actually quite thankful that I spent so much time wiping it up when it "wasn't my fault". 👀.

We both slept for about 3 hours off/on during the flight which is not quite enough to feel well rested. They fed us "dinner" at about 2:00 AM Edmonton time which was a hot meal of pasta or chicken. Not too bad for airline food.

Arrived in London a little ahead of the scheduled time from takeoff. The pilot must have a lead foot. Laureen turned on her phone and checked to see if our bags followed us. Thankfully, they did. Jumped into the customs line and because we were from Canada, we got to go to a line where you walk into a chute, scan your passport at the same time a mechanism lines up and takes your photo, and then it turns green and the door opens. That's it. Your done. You don't even have to talk to a border services person. That was slick. 10 minute wait for the luggage to roll out onto the carousel and we headed for the bus pickup for the car rental.

It's just a short bus ride to the car rental place, where we were met and provisioned with a Ford Puma. Stick. Right hand drive. Now, I've driven before in the UK (and in the Bahamas where they drive on the left side of the road as well). I've also driven a right hand drive before, but it was an automatic. In this case, we were provided with a manual right hand drive. 👀. I've never shifted with my left hand before. So, took a deep breath, started chanting softly to myself, "Stay left. Stay left. Stay left", and we took off for The Castle Hotel, in Windsor.

With only one minor navigation issue, we managed to make it to our destination in one piece and with all the parts of the car in-tact. Fun fact - the traffic circles go the opposite direction as the ones at home. Add that to driving on the wrong side of the road, in a right hand manual drive, all while softly chanting to yourself, "Stay left. Stay left. Stay left.". Sounds like the start of a bad joke.

Checked into the hotel and they provided us the directions to where their parking is, which happens to be right behind the hotel. Tight little spots. Took me about 5 tries to get backed into one. 👀.

After dropping our stuff off at the hotel, we went out for a walk. It was an overcast day, and a little cool. But that was welcomed given the rather warm muggy journey we have had thus far. We wandered down to the Windsor Castle gate where we missed our booked tickets to enter the grounds. Laureen began to approach the two armed (and when I mean armed - I mean fully automatic weapons armed), to see if they would have mercy on us and still let us in. One of the guys actually told her not to come any closer, and from her location, she tried to relay our situation (thanks again to the airlines for the delay that had us miss this). He flat out told her no. But shortly there after his partner kind of approached us and said that if we waited a few minutes, he would allow us to come under the arch after the people who were there for the service had left. And, true to his word, he waved us up. That was very kind. We got to stand in the archway, put our hands on the 500 year old oak doors, and take a few pictures.

We chatted with him for a bit, while he was lowering and raising the car barriers for those who were coming and going. He recommended that we walk around the side of the castle for a ways to go and see "The Long Walk Road". He also recommended the best place in Windsor for a pint - The Two Brewers. We did the walk and found both. Amazing.

Walked around a little more just to take in some of the sights in Windsor.

(Aston Martin Parked. 👀)

We landed at a Pub called, The Duchess of Cambridge, for dinner and shared a baked Camembert dish and a traditional fish and chips. Of course, I had to try one of their local brews.