En route

It’s 7:30 and we’re at Heathrow waiting for our bus (coach!) to Southampton. Going through immigration and then customs was a breeze–we sailed through without any lines at all. There are ATMs throughout the airport so we didn’t have any trouble getting cash. We were able to pick up the pocket wifi (tep) at Excess Baggage without any problem (they didn’t even ask me for identification). We had tickets for the 9:30 coach, but given that we were through with the airport so quickly, we changed our tickets (there was a £5 charge for changing our tickets but it’s well worth it not to have to sit an extra hour and a half at the airport! We found Coke and Diet Coke (yes, for breakfast) along with apricot croissants at a Coffee Nero in the bus terminal.

From the right angle, the coaches had tusks.

From the right angle, the coaches had tusks.

We ought to be exhausted, but I’m not–I’m sure it’ll hit me soon, though–it’s 2:30 EST right now–but my late night owl self isn’t having any problems even though we didn’t sleep on the plane at all. I might try to doze on the coach–but might not, because of the wonder of seeing the landscape!

Picturesque town
Picturesque town
We passed through this town–I loved the juxtaposition of a modern Blockbuster and Subway with a traditional Crown & Anchor.

The flight itself was uneventful. One surprise is that it was hot and humid in Dulles–I ended up taking off my jacket and my scarf–it was just so darned warm. Stan had forgotten a pencil so we walked the breadth of Terminals C and D looking for a pencil. You’d think you’d be able to buy one at any notions stop but that didn’t turn out to be the case. We eventually found one–a fuzzy pencil–and bought a sharpener to go with so he could actually use the thing! He triumphed over the crossword puzzle in the plane magazine, so clearly it was a worthwhile search!

I watched The Wind that Shakes the Barley on the plane. I’d downloaded it from iTunes as a rental–I’d never done that before. It was set in Ireland in 1920–and was an incredible tearjerker. Well acted–and very moving. What I didn’t do on the plane was sleep–I’m not even sure I dozed.

And it’s now after dinner–Stan took a real nap this afternoon albeit with a lot of interruptions–our cabin steward stopped by when our luggage was ready, we had flowers delivered to our cabin, Karl called, and there were multiple full ship announcements over the intercom. It wasn’t conducive to sleeping and I didn’t manage it at all. I’m pretty punch drunk tired–it’s sort of a weird feeling.

Our first view of the ship

Our first view of the ship

Dinner was really tasty–the waiter was concerned that I didn’t like it (and she had recommended it) but I liked the mango salsa-ish fish a great deal–it was just twice the portion size I needed. I was semi-surprised–portion sizes on ship are usually smaller than US restaurants. People don’t take doggy bags and can order multiple courses so we don’t need to feel we “got our money’s worth” with each entree.

Our seating is a bit confused–we have a group of 8 at a table for 8–that’s great. We have a group of 8 at a table for 6–that’s crowded. And there’s a group of 2 at another table. The crowded table plus Karen and Karl from the other table are going to move to a table for 10. We won’t all be adjacent but at least we’ll be at reasonably sized tables!

I’m heading to bed–no partying tonight–it’s all about getting some rest!

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