ATW in 45. #44

The last legs of our journey are upon us. Today we have a 130 flight on Iberia to London. Arriving at 3. The real problem with that timing is its difficult to do anything tourist worthy at either end of the trip. A true travel day. We will soldier on. The good thing, we can get up late and drag around. No rush required. Really an easy day for us. And my editor.

So a leisurely breakfast and a pack up. I had ordered an advance Uber for the late morning. Funny thing, when I checked on it I noted I had accidentally booked for 1050pm instead of am. Oops. Fortunately I still had time and ordered one. And we had no problems with it. And I told no one.

The Uber driver was a Slavic guy and he drove like the wind. Very fast. I was not worried but I heard later that both Emily and Marika thought he was going to crash. I thought he made a 30 minute drive in 15 mins. Cool.

Since we are flying Iberia and not Vueling, we were able to check in online. So all we had to do was drop our checked bags and go. That is after a small adventure. I had three postcards to mail. Last night, I asked the desk clerk where the nearest letter box could be found. She says three miles away, city center. How efficient of the Spanish to centralize collection. I went online and found out our departure terminal had one, I identified location and all is good. So, left the fam at security in airport and I went to the first floor prior to security and looked for the box. Nope. So I asked a security guard. He says one floor down. I go. No box. I ask at the information counter. She says the box is yellow. Go up a floor. I do. I go by the Iberia counter and ask a clerk. This was a real brain teaser for her. But, she helped me find it. Actually walked around with me. Where was it? About fifty feet behind where everyone was waiting for me. Haha. No. Cards posted.

So we went through security, no issues except the doofus unpacked michaels duffel because of liquids. Turns out, it was a towel. Then same to me. The liquid? A razor handle. Moron.

We exited into the usual shopping mall they like to have by the gates. Bought nothing. Had free shots at duty free. Did not bother with the free Iberian ham. Off to the gate. I think the walk to the gate was a mile. Minimum.

We should have eaten prior to getting on the plane. Spanish airlines don’t go out of their way to feed passengers even though they do charge for everything. I am used to US based airlines who skip no one and always leave pretzels, at the least.

The flight was delayed at least 15 minutes for god knows what. Again, Spanish tradition, tell the passengers nothing. Ever. We had a lot of turbulence on the flight, which I always find disconcerting. There was a rather scary full power landing too. I thought the plane might crash after it had landed. Nice.

I want to give a shout out to our customs officer. She gave us a question and answer on what we have done in London and planned to do on this trip. Tested our knowledge on the sites. Then told us all the things we need to see while here. I told her she should sell tickets. I was ready.

So, finally in Heathrow. We did some hard math and found that an Uber was cheaper than the express train into London. Uber wins. I did not have to wait the usual 18 min Spanish time of the last few days. Our driver was a native. An indian, born in London. He knew a lot of stuff. Recommended restaurants, sites, etc. Traffic was miserable. Took an hour for twenty miles. But we got there. Very well located.

The hostel is very nice. Nowhere near the last place in amenities and quality but clean and well tended. Room is only big enough for two bunks. Bathroom is insanely small. But still great.

We got settled. It was dinner time. We had the usual epic battle about where to eat. So we choose an indian place. Turns out to be the same place we ate in a month ago. Funny. Only not after an argument about where to eat. We walked, my idea Ed, about a mile to the restaurant. It is fun to see the neighborhoods and people. We got there,and unlike the previous time, there was no line. We got a table right away, next to the table we last had. The food has not changed, I did not think it special then or now.

We Ubered home. Enough walking for the day (Ed) even for us.

The hostel has a bar in the basement. So, surprise, the adult kids went downstairs for cocktails and kareoke. That’s what it said on the sign. Emily and I went up to bed. Signed off.