Buckingham Palace

October 6

We awoke about 9 a.m. to a nice, sunny day.  It seemed like a pleasant way to end our two-week stay in Germany.  While I was looking forward to spending a few days in London, I was not looking forward to getting on a plane with my cold.  Still, the cold had subsided enough that I figured a couple of Sudafeds before departure would keep my ears from plugging up during the flight.

Since our flight was at 4 p.m., we had quite a bit of time to kill.  We ate a leisurely breakfast and resumed packing.  Kelly came home at about 11:30 with some lunch for all of us from Taco Bell.  He left about 12:30 and Denise (along with Julia) drove us off to the Frankfurt Airport about a half-hour later.  After an hour drive, Denise and Julia dropped us off.  We hugged them goodbye and went into the terminal. 

Now, I thought the Americans had obtrusive airport security.  Leave it to the Germans to take things to a whole new level.  Our first exposure to airport security – German style was at the ticket counter.  It began with all of bags were x-rayed at the ticket counter, just like in the United States.  Then, we proceeded to a security checkpoint, where our carry-on luggage and jackets were x-rayed.  Again, this was just like the United States, so it was no big deal.  Then, as we got closer to the gate, we came across a second security checkpoint, where our carry-on luggage and jackets were again x-rayed.  Here, I was pulled out of the line, and had the contents of my carry-on chemically tested for bombs.  Finally, at the gate, our passports were matched up with our tickets to insure that we were the person who was boarding the plane.  That’s four different security inspections before boarding the plane.  Instead of making me feel more secure, the additional screening actually made me nervous, because I kept wondering if there was a reason why they were doing the additional screening.

Fortunately, my fears weren’t realized.  The Lufthansa flight took off on time and made its way to England.  As we departed, I felt a bit of sadness leaving Kelly, Denise, and Julia behind.  It was great (as it always is) to spend some time with them.  But, the good news was that they would be moving back to the United States in a few months, which meant we’d get to spend even more time with them.

Our flight to London wasn’t as nerve-wracking as the flight to Frankfurt was.  Still, it had its moments of high anxiety, particularly on the approach into Heathrow as we descended through some clouds.  Eventually, we landed and made our way through customs.  After finishing with customs, we made our way to the Paddington Express train.  I had loved taking the Paddington Express in my earlier visits to London.  I thought it was an inexpensive, convenient way to get to Central London.  Well, it’s still convenient, but it’s no longer inexpensive.  We paid ₤14 per person for a one-way trip to Paddington (it’s even more expensive now).  I had paid ₤6 per person last time I rode it.  To say I had “sticker shock” would be an understatement.

The hike in price didn’t come with a decline in the quality of the service.  As promised, we made it to Paddington Station in 20 minutes.  We then went to the taxi queue, and hired a taxi to take us through Hyde Park to our hotel, the Holiday Inn - Kensington on Gloucester Road.  There are actually two Holiday Inns on Gloucester Road.  One is in a high rise structure; the other is designed to look like a set of three story row houses.  To make matters more complicated, the two Holiday Inns are directly across the street from each other.  So, we needed to tell the cab driver that we were in the row house Holiday Inn, and not the tower Holiday Inn.  As is usually the case with London cabbies, he took us to the correct Holiday Inn without any problem.

After checking into the hotel, we decided to wander out in search of food.  Fortunately, there are a number of restaurants around the Holiday Inn - Kensington.  Since we didn’t feeel like being too adventurous, we stopped at Pizza Organic about a half-block from the hotel. Despite the name, the restaurant serves a whole Italian menu, including pastas. We both had pasta dishes, which were very good. However, I got a different pasta dish than the one I had ordered. Fortunately, they charged me for my original order, which cost less than the dish I received. Still, the misplaced dish typified the service we received that night, which as lackadaisical and slow. Given the prices for our dishes (about ₤9/person), I’d probably go somewhere else for dinner.

After dinner, we went back to our room and continued to sleep off the remnants of our colds. 

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