It is hard to believe that it is our last day in London. I had packed the morning before, so there were just a few things to cram into the suitcase. We went down and had our last pieces of toast and tea. We decided that we might as well head for the airport early so we would not have to rush and since we did not want to drag our luggage around London. Our flight actually did not leave until 11:25 but we headed to the airport at around 7:30 ish or so.
We took the Tube from Bayswater and changed at Piccadilly Circus. There was some sort of power outage happening somewhere along the line, so they said our line was closed for the time being. We ran into a local couple who were also heading to Heathrow so we stuck by them. The Tube finally re-opened after about 5 minutes. We hopped on and headed west. We ended up having to change trains 2 stops before, since the one we where stopped at all the terminals but ours (4). Not a big problem we still had time to spare.
We arrived at the airport and checked in. We again, as on the way over only had carry-ons. It was not a problem packing. In fact, Bill and I each had a pair of pants that we did not wear. I did do a little washing of socks and undies in the hotel sink. But we managed just fine. In fact most of Sophie's clothes I gave to Dori for the girls, she was thrilled and I was thrilled they where going to be worn again. After going through customs and security, we finally made to the gate area. We decided to spend the last few pounds we had and opted for a nice meal. I had the traditional English breakfast with coffee, Bill opted for fish and chips and a beer.
Our flight finally boarded, and we took off on time. It was a full and very uneventful flight. We arrived in Atlanta around 4:00pm our next flight not leaving until 10:30 pm. I tried to get us on an earlier flight, but that was going to run us $50 per person. We decided to nix that idea and found a quiet place to sit, watch people and rest. Sophie layed down and was out cold in about 2 minutes. Bill and I took turns walking around grabbing something for dinner and just stretching our legs. We had a hard time waking Ms. Cranky-Pants for the last leg home. We finally boarded that flight too, and headed to Tampa. I know I slept the whole flight as did Sophie, Bill on the other hand opted for the Coke and lovely bag of peanuts. We arrived into TPA at 12:01 am Thursday morning. By the time we took the shuttle back to long-term parking and got on the road, I was believe it or not ready to roll. I was afraid that I was going to fall asleep at the wheel but managed just fine. We arrived home, dropped the suitcases by the front door, changed Sophie into pajamas, showered and fell into bed at 2:15 am. Ahhh it was good to be home!
It was an amazing trip. We saw and did so much that I am not sure if I manged to cover everything. I know I am sad that I did not get to see my friend Hajni, but unfortunately her work schedule did not work well with our play schedule. Maybe next time. I am quite sure there will be a next time for London. I however, did NOT find the Shangri-La for which I was searching. There is to much hustle to find the peace and tranquility for which I am seeking. The 2 sides to that coin are, it was great fun trying to find it, and hopefully finding it will be even better.
We took the Tube from Bayswater and changed at Piccadilly Circus. There was some sort of power outage happening somewhere along the line, so they said our line was closed for the time being. We ran into a local couple who were also heading to Heathrow so we stuck by them. The Tube finally re-opened after about 5 minutes. We hopped on and headed west. We ended up having to change trains 2 stops before, since the one we where stopped at all the terminals but ours (4). Not a big problem we still had time to spare.
We arrived at the airport and checked in. We again, as on the way over only had carry-ons. It was not a problem packing. In fact, Bill and I each had a pair of pants that we did not wear. I did do a little washing of socks and undies in the hotel sink. But we managed just fine. In fact most of Sophie's clothes I gave to Dori for the girls, she was thrilled and I was thrilled they where going to be worn again. After going through customs and security, we finally made to the gate area. We decided to spend the last few pounds we had and opted for a nice meal. I had the traditional English breakfast with coffee, Bill opted for fish and chips and a beer.
Our flight finally boarded, and we took off on time. It was a full and very uneventful flight. We arrived in Atlanta around 4:00pm our next flight not leaving until 10:30 pm. I tried to get us on an earlier flight, but that was going to run us $50 per person. We decided to nix that idea and found a quiet place to sit, watch people and rest. Sophie layed down and was out cold in about 2 minutes. Bill and I took turns walking around grabbing something for dinner and just stretching our legs. We had a hard time waking Ms. Cranky-Pants for the last leg home. We finally boarded that flight too, and headed to Tampa. I know I slept the whole flight as did Sophie, Bill on the other hand opted for the Coke and lovely bag of peanuts. We arrived into TPA at 12:01 am Thursday morning. By the time we took the shuttle back to long-term parking and got on the road, I was believe it or not ready to roll. I was afraid that I was going to fall asleep at the wheel but managed just fine. We arrived home, dropped the suitcases by the front door, changed Sophie into pajamas, showered and fell into bed at 2:15 am. Ahhh it was good to be home!
It was an amazing trip. We saw and did so much that I am not sure if I manged to cover everything. I know I am sad that I did not get to see my friend Hajni, but unfortunately her work schedule did not work well with our play schedule. Maybe next time. I am quite sure there will be a next time for London. I however, did NOT find the Shangri-La for which I was searching. There is to much hustle to find the peace and tranquility for which I am seeking. The 2 sides to that coin are, it was great fun trying to find it, and hopefully finding it will be even better.
