About one hour before we are scheduled to land the pilot announces that he has a decision to make. The Gatwick airport, where we are going to land, is closed due to the weather. They planned on opening at 9am so we could fly around for a couple more hours or see if we could land at Heathrow airport instead. Then he announces that Gatwick will not be opening until noon and we would land at Heathrow. There was no terminal for us to use so we de-boarded on the runway and then boarded several buses that took us to an airport entrance.
This was pretty cool in my opinion. I haven't flown much and I've never walked down the steps of a plane. It was like in the olden days. Since everyone in my party had carry-on luggage we just needed to catch the tube to Euston Station and then it was a short walk to our hotel. Except the tube line we needed, and several others, were not running because of the weather. After lots of talks with locals we hoped on another line, then off to catch a different line, and then we were on the right track (pardon the pun). It was drizzling when we got out of Euston Station. This was our only day in London. The weather could have been better but it could have been worse too. We arrived at the
Arosfa Hotel just as they were setting up for check-in time. It was warm and dry and the lobby was very posh with a flat screen TV, computer, modern sofas and lots of film photos of women in Hollywood. Our room was the only one of the first floor. The bathroom was about the same size as the airplane bathroom, very cramped. That's the shower to the left of the toilet.
The room had one twin bed and one double bed. We heated some terrible tea in our room before we ventured out to get some lunch and find the British Library. We stopped at a pub, the Marlborough Arms, and had tea (excellent) and ham and pea soup with bread and butter.
This is mom and Susan outside the pub. It had a cozy atmosphere but was pretty cold inside. My tea got cold before I finished it. I went downstairs to the bathroom (most English bathrooms are on the basement floor) and as I descended the stairs I could see my breath. I had to straddle the toilet just to shut the door (sorry for the image) and there was no hot water to wash my hands with. I thought I was going to get frostbite. Then we trekked a while (like forever!) to find the library. The library was pretty impressive, and that's not just because I'm a librarian. It had a neat bench shaped like an open book just as you entered. Not sure what the ball and chain represents though. Odd bookmark?
We walked around the
Sir John Ritbalt Gallery which houses the Magna Carta (none of us could find it) and several original manuscripts. These included
Tess of the D'urbervilles by Thomas Hardy (he originally titled it Daughter of the D'urbervilles),
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll and
Persuasion by Jane Austen. Naturally I was awe struck and very sad that no photography was allowed. I studied
Tess and
Persuasian for my study abroad trip to the UK in 2001. After the library we headed back to the hotel to rest before dinner. We were meeting Andy and Jane. Jane is the daughter of Anne, whom we were going to stay with in York. We met at St. Pancras Station by this huge and unique statue. The statue is actually named
The Meeting Place. The couple stands atop a circular base and along the base are dozens of intricate carvings as well. Very detailed. A portion of the base is in the second picture below.
The woman is huging a man while looking at her phone or maybe texting. The station was recently renovated. It was derelict before that. Isn't that a great word? I heard it twice while we were in England. In the States we'd just say run-down or abandoned. Andy met with us first and helped us figure out how to get the balance on our oyster card. It's a pass to use on the underground system--I have no idea why it's called an oyster card though. Once Jane arrived we ate at a very fun pub by the statue. I had fish and chips with mushy peas. Mushy peas are English peas mushed with oil but this had some mint mixed in (gross). I also tried a lager and lime (half pint) which I gave to Andy as it was also gross. Jane and Andy are a very cute couple, very smart and very helpful.
Andy admitted he doesn't photograph well. He was right. This was like the fourth take. With our belly's full we headed back to our hotel to try and get some sleep before departing for York the next day.
This was pretty cool in my opinion. I haven't flown much and I've never walked down the steps of a plane. It was like in the olden days. Since everyone in my party had carry-on luggage we just needed to catch the tube to Euston Station and then it was a short walk to our hotel. Except the tube line we needed, and several others, were not running because of the weather. After lots of talks with locals we hoped on another line, then off to catch a different line, and then we were on the right track (pardon the pun). It was drizzling when we got out of Euston Station. This was our only day in London. The weather could have been better but it could have been worse too. We arrived at the Arosfa Hotel just as they were setting up for check-in time. It was warm and dry and the lobby was very posh with a flat screen TV, computer, modern sofas and lots of film photos of women in Hollywood. Our room was the only one of the first floor. The bathroom was about the same size as the airplane bathroom, very cramped. That's the shower to the left of the toilet.
The room had one twin bed and one double bed. We heated some terrible tea in our room before we ventured out to get some lunch and find the British Library. We stopped at a pub, the Marlborough Arms, and had tea (excellent) and ham and pea soup with bread and butter.
This is mom and Susan outside the pub. It had a cozy atmosphere but was pretty cold inside. My tea got cold before I finished it. I went downstairs to the bathroom (most English bathrooms are on the basement floor) and as I descended the stairs I could see my breath. I had to straddle the toilet just to shut the door (sorry for the image) and there was no hot water to wash my hands with. I thought I was going to get frostbite. Then we trekked a while (like forever!) to find the library. The library was pretty impressive, and that's not just because I'm a librarian. It had a neat bench shaped like an open book just as you entered. Not sure what the ball and chain represents though. Odd bookmark?
We walked around the Sir John Ritbalt Gallery which houses the Magna Carta (none of us could find it) and several original manuscripts. These included Tess of the D'urbervilles by Thomas Hardy (he originally titled it Daughter of the D'urbervilles), Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll and Persuasion by Jane Austen. Naturally I was awe struck and very sad that no photography was allowed. I studied Tess and Persuasian for my study abroad trip to the UK in 2001. After the library we headed back to the hotel to rest before dinner. We were meeting Andy and Jane. Jane is the daughter of Anne, whom we were going to stay with in York. We met at St. Pancras Station by this huge and unique statue. The statue is actually named The Meeting Place. The couple stands atop a circular base and along the base are dozens of intricate carvings as well. Very detailed. A portion of the base is in the second picture below.
The woman is huging a man while looking at her phone or maybe texting. The station was recently renovated. It was derelict before that. Isn't that a great word? I heard it twice while we were in England. In the States we'd just say run-down or abandoned. Andy met with us first and helped us figure out how to get the balance on our oyster card. It's a pass to use on the underground system--I have no idea why it's called an oyster card though. Once Jane arrived we ate at a very fun pub by the statue. I had fish and chips with mushy peas. Mushy peas are English peas mushed with oil but this had some mint mixed in (gross). I also tried a lager and lime (half pint) which I gave to Andy as it was also gross. Jane and Andy are a very cute couple, very smart and very helpful.
Andy admitted he doesn't photograph well. He was right. This was like the fourth take. With our belly's full we headed back to our hotel to try and get some sleep before departing for York the next day.
1 comment:
How fun, I want to go too!!
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