Grand Rapids to St. Albans

We're in England. Or, more precisely, we're at Richard and Pauline's home at Ellis Fields in St. Albans, preparing for a rainy drive north to Scotland.

But speaking of drives, the one from Grand Rapids to Chicago's O'Hare airport last Sunday was smooth with light traffic and no construction delays. We found our motel right off I-294 near the airport. Dropped off the car and took their shuttle to Terminal 3.

After checking in we made our way through security -- again smooth traffic with little or no delay there either -- and found a place to grab a bite of lunch before the flight. Notwithstanding their steep prices, we can certainly recommend the delicious sandwiches at Publican in the terminal.

After lunch we made our way to gate K-13 where we and waited with so many others to board our American Airlines flight to London nearly an hour late.

We packed ourselves into seriously cramped seats where we sat for the next 7 or so hours. Aside from the unpleasant food were the tired and travel-weary attendants who didn't seem terribly happy or pleased with their care choice. And for the early portion of the trip we had the required yelling/screaming/crying baby close by. All part of the inclusive travel package.

We arrived at London Heathrow about 45 minutes late, made our way through passport control, picked up our bags and soon found ourselves exiting Terminal 3 -- and there was Richard waiting for us! After I picked up a SIM card for our old UK phone the three of us made our way to the car park and before long we were heading north in a maze of motorways and Monday morning London commuter traffic for our refuge at the Horsman home in St. Albans.

Pauline was waiting for us with a lovely breakfast and the four of us spent some time catching up and weighing the pros and cons (mostly the later) of our respective present political situations. It was about 11am local time when we headed up to our room for a sorely-needed nap.  We both got up and refreshed and ready for the day at about 1:30 and after a scrumptious lunch of soup and meat pie we all made our way to nearby Highland View park in St. Albans for a leisurely stroll and leg stretch.

 

Returning home we relaxed, chatted and shared  a gin & tonic before another lovely meal - Richard knows how to make the perfect G & T. This time Pauline prepared a slow-cooked  pork and mushroom stew with steamed fingerlings and broccolini - with apple crumble and ice cream for dessert!

We were in bed by a little after nine and slept like the proverbial logs. What a day, though, spent with good friends.