LAX to Central London

 A proper Good Afternoon to You

And greetings from Central London.

There's always something. I realized suddenly on the tube trip in that while I carefully packed my solution and case, I had forgotten the actual contact lenses. I'll just wear my glasses, and I'll be fine.  On the brighter side people were practically throwing themselves at me to help out. I did not even have to ask.

I had a smooth trip to the airport. In fact I arrived before the check in desks opened and had to wait around. Then the trip through security. Some kind folks spotted my wrist brace and offered help, but I was Ok until the security people needed me to take the brace off. Oh well.  Then British Airways emailed me, and I learned the flight would be delayed. 

I made my way to the One World lounge, which is nice, but the offerings are not as good as Air France. I had a small bowl of curry, which was good. I actually wanted seconds, but they (over) fed me on the plane. I had ice tea to drink. There was a lot of free booze on offer--some of it very fancy--but once again, I was offered drinks on the plane. The lounge is a nice place to hang out. There is wifi and comfortable places to sit as well as the food and drink.

On the plane I settled in to my cubicle. I always keep my seat belt on. I fly over the Northern Atlantic, so there's going to be turbulence--sometimes it's bad. Even in the lie flat seats you can stay buckled with the buckle outside the cover so the flight attendants don't have to bother you if the seat belt light goes on.

Pil. you mentioned drinking on the plane. It seems a bit much.

Fortunately, the glasses are small, and they do not fill them, or it would be. I had two kinds of sparkling wine--French Champagne and British sparkling wine. Because of climate change more and more wine is being produced in Britain. I was offered seconds but I passed.

The above was my starter. I ordered the smoked salmon avocado timbale because it seemed like something Bertie Wooster would like. I liked it, too! Most tasty.

This was the main course--British beef and vegetables. With some Cabernet from France.

I didn't take a shot of the cheese plate, but I had ruby port with that.  Then I was quite ready to snooze. I don't know how much sleep I got, but it was several hours of good sleep. Then breakfast. I passed on the full English that British Airways offers. In my younger days I used to scarf them up, but I had eggs an veg instead with some nice tea.

So good flight and the flight attendants were lovely, but then I was decanted into the airport. The home of British Airways is Terminal Five, but passport control and baggage claim is in Terminal Three, so we took the shuttle train. Security and passport control work on facial recognition so it's very efficient, and I didn't have to dig my passport out twenty thousand times.

There was a long wait for my bag, but then I went to the Underground station and got my Oyster Card and boarded the train for the long trip to Holborn. What I had forgotten is that Holborn Station has no lifts and does have stairs. Seeing my dismay, a chivalrous Londoner offered to carry my bags, which he even managed on the escalators for me! 

I checked in at Citadines and since I had paid for early check in, my nice room was ready. I dumped my bags and went to get some food and drink. Everything is automated, so I had to learn to use the automatic check out machine.

I'm swilling water because it's a bit humid, and also long plane trips dehydrate me. Normally I'd be having fish and chips for my first London dinner, but British Airways fed me so well and so much, I'm having a chicken tzatziki wrap and some rose later on.

Cheerio!