The Plane Ride was horrible. About 7.5 hours of pure pain from Newark to Heathrow. I smartly (or so I thought at the time) booked an exit row seat. I love exit row seats--lots of leg room, you can get up to go to the bathroom easily if you need to, no kids allowed in the aisle--it's great. One problem--you can't recline your seat. I don't know if this is an issue if you're the last exit row, but I, alas, was not. Not reclining is not a problem for say a 2, or even 4 hour trip, but 7.5 hours? No ma'am! In the immortal words of the ever-classy, Khia: "My neck, my back (lick it)...". I ached all over and there was not much I could do. I did meet a nice Filipino (of course) from Virginia Beach (double of course) who was very friendly (triple of course, know to be known as "o.c."), a couple seats over from me. We became airport buddies at Heathrow and it was sort of nice to talk to someone in line at Customs and to wait at baggage with. We exchanged info but it remains to be seen if we'll meet again...knowing me, probably not. (Bad, Trish.)
Dot2Dot is this coach service I found online through various recommendations. It's a point-to-point shuttle service that supposedly costs less than half of what a taxi would cost. I went up to the desk to confirm my reservation and was greet by two, quite nattily dressed, older Brits who called me sweetheart and darling, which is never a bad thing. Well, usually not a bad thing. The best dressed of the two (pin-striped dark pants, floral button-down shirt, solid vest, and patterned tie--somehow all came together) actually came over to the general waiting area (not just designated for Dot2Dot customers) and collected us individually and walked us out to the mini bus. He even told us little anecdotes as we walked, one sad one (meant to serve as a cautionary tale), I'll share with you--A young American couple flew into Gatwick airport. They were on their honeymoon. As they left the station, they spotted their coach across the street and stressed about the possibility of missing it, ran across without looking. A large bus caught them unawares and they were hit, run over, and caught in the wheels. The man died instantly and the wife died the next day. Yeah...that's a real downer, huh? His point--"We drive on the correct side of the road. Look both ways. Twice. And be careful, dahlin." Yeah. Anyhoo, back to the ride. Ended up sitting across from a woman from Houston, TX. Nice lady who works in the oil business...she was also blonde, had a thick drawl, and wore ill-fitting clothing. Oh stereotypes. She was also on a "holiday" visiting her friend for a few days. It was nice chatting with her as the 30 min ride turned into a little over an hour bcs of heinous lunch hour traffic. It would've been great if I didn't have the nasty habit of getting carsick. No worries--no upchuck-age involved, just lots of nausea that I, of course, kept to myself. Overall, the service lived up to its hype--comfortable, very easy to use, and while at about $40, it's not the cheapest way to get from the airport into town, for someone coming into a new country off of a long international flight, it was well worth the convenience. I highly recommend them if you're ever in the area.
The hotel was a mix of the expected and unexpected. The Shaftesbury Metropolis London Hyde Park (link) is a little misleading in its name. Sounds very grand, yes? It's set in a row house--one in a long long line of row houses that goes for several blocks of just hotels, guest houses and b&bs. Sort of weird. After much research on tripadvisor and other websites, I chose it for its close proximity to several tube stations and positive reviews and pics online. The lobby is super modern--the walls are black and white stripes and there are pops of orange and blue everywhere. The sofas are cleanlined and bright orange. There's also a huge amoeba-shaped orange light fixture. The ceiling is painted midnight blue and dotted with tiny "star" lights. There's also a couple computers, a gigantic flatscreen tv and lounge area. I'm told there's a gym (a what?) and a restaurant as well. My room was on the 3rd (top) floor and the place is like a maze. From the elevator, a sign pointed me up a short flight of stairs and through a door. From the door I had to turn left down a very short corrider and go down a short flight of stairs down another very short corridor to my room at the end. The room is small (but I expected this) but not quite as bad as I thought it would be...but maybe this is bcs I got a double bed instead of a single (twin) bed. It's traditional but modern so I guess the right term would be "Transitional". Dark woods, gilded mirrors, padded upholstered headboard, printed curtains and bronze sheers. There were a couple nightstands, a little desk and chair (more like a vanity area), a clothing cupboard (closet and shelves) and a little corner station with a hidden microwave, mini fridge, tea kettle, and fresh flowers--a nice surprise. A flatscreen LCS tv also made me feel quite at home. lol. The bathroom is also teeny (again expected) but super cute. The shower is glassed in with a hand-held shower head and the sink is one of those free-standing bowl pedestal sinks. There's about 4 inches of counter space around, but a couple small shelves save the bathroom from being totally inconvenient. Note to self and other travelers, next time bring a hooked toiletry bag--way more convenient. Might have to pick one up. The bed is soft but bcs I'm so used to my pillow-top, I think it's really comfortable. There's a bunch of construction outside my window, but honestly, after living in NY, it's not really a bother. But I suppose I will know tomorrow whether that kind feeling lasts...
For dinner, I met Tita Ina (Mom's brother's wife's former sister-in-law....did you follow that?). She came and met me at the hotel and we walked to a Spanish place she liked in the area (Paddington). After walking in circles a few times, we stopped and asked a waiter and a man on the street if they knew of it. Little did we know, we had just starting talking to Crazy, personified. The waiter simply said no and then Crazy (gray hair, glasses, 50-ish, black leather jacket, salt-and-pepper chest hair trying to escape from his gray t-shirt) asked if we had an address and then interrupted our answer (no) by asking if I knew that he owned 19 hotels. No, I didn't know that. Then he would ask another question, roll his eyes at my Aunt (who was mildly terrified at this point, but still being polite), and then tell me another fun fact about himself....he's a millionaire, old-school gangster...so many things I can't even remember. Then, he grabbed my arm tightly and (of course, interrupting talking again) looks me in the eye and says, "I like you". Somewhere in his insanity he must've realized what that sounded like to a female, and he hastily said, "I mean....not like that but y'know let's get a pint or a coffee somewhere and talk, why don't we?" I politely said no (at this point, I don't even know what Tita Ina is thinking, but I'm sure it has to do with calling the police) and talked to him like he was a small child, explaining that I had to go to dinner w/ my Aunt. He seemed bewildered that I wouldn't accept his invite and repeated his list of attributes again (millionaire, gangster, hotel scion) and I removed my arm from his grasp, patted his arm and said, "I have to go now but I will most certainly tell everyone I know that I met a true gangster, millionaire, hotel owner. Bye" and walked away with my Aunt. She seemed bewildered by the whole experience and simply said something along the lines of it being good that I'm from NY and know how to handle myself. As we walked, Crazy continued to another restaurant where he started telling more unsuspecting diners of his many charms. Eventually, we found out that the place we were after was closed, so we ended up walking around, reading menus, finally deciding on a non-descript Italian place. (Turns out Tita Ina is not so adventurous when it comes to food.) We shared calamari fritti and insalata tricolore (avocado, tomato and mozzarella drizzled in olive oil, salt and pepper) and she ordered something with prawns and I decided to embrace my first official meal of vacation (I forgot to eat lunch) and got the always satisfying, artery-clogging Spaghetti a la Carbonara. After a tiramisu finale and lots and lots of family gossip-sharing, we returned to the hotel. Tita dropped me off at the lobby with my promise of meeting up again complete with family photos (via computer) to illustrate gossip.
Overall, a satisfying first day. Tomorrow, I hope to get on the Big Bus Tour for an overview of the sites. Hope it doesn't rain....
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