I am typing this at Heathrow Airport as I wait for my gate to open. The last week has been so hectic as I have got ready for my trip and also produced a Christmas card with a flight map (like the one on the Monday, October 18, 2010 posting) and sent it to most of my friends on my Christmas card list. It was a real effort only made possible by having Thursday, 21 October as an extra day off from Tesco. So I designed the card on that day and was able to print it at a very reasonable on our church's colour photocopier. I printed 200, about 30 or so I gave out to church folk yesterday, but most of the rest I've been busy printing out addresses and posting the cards all week One result is that I should have more people reading this blog by the time this post gets broadcast. The other result is that I have been less well prepared for this trip. But my sweet sister helped me pack and I just hope that nothing is forgotten.
Well here we are at Heathrow Terminal 5, a nice new Terminal, showcase for Britain perhaps, but not quite up to the beauty of some airports like Singapore with their beautiful gardens! And getting here has not exactly been a showcase for British luxury. I came on the Greenline 724 Airport bus which rattled its way through suburban town and never went near the M25 motorway, not that the M25 would have got me there much quicker, it's always full of traffic! Whatever happened to the nice Virgin bus with the man who put your bags in the hold and Heathrow as the first stop. But I was early because I feared long queues due to the recent "printer cartridge bombs" found on British flights bound for America, so when this bus came along I caught it. But I do wonder what happened to the bus that I thought I had found on the Internet, and that I have caught before. And why are British people so unhelpful. Well, I know that I have just been given a badge at Tesco that says "I am friendly and helpful" but I probably also fall far short of the mark. Anway, this bus was going to Heathrow Terminal 5 so I caught it. No hold for my case which fell over as the bus went round corners so I went to sit on a rather hard fold-down chair so that I could be next to it. The bus had many local people on it, shoppers, grannies, even a lady with a pushchair and a baby that cried. But after many stops it got me right to Heathrow Terminal 5 and in good time.
Post From Flight BA 279
Terminal 5 has automatic check-in at computer terminals so when I went to what looked to me like a check-in desk I was directed back to one of the computer terminals. At it I typed in my booking reference and scanned my passport and typed in the hotel address. It issued me with a boarding card (which was actually paper!) and then I went to the "check-in desk". Then it was through the emigration and then the security. Finally I was -in the departure hall as I described at the beginning of this post. A much nicer departure hall than others at Heathrow with a large window to view the planes. I sat down and read a newspaper someone had left behind and then I started typing this post.
Then I realised that time had flown and it was time to look for my gate. It was over in "B" Terminus so had to go on a "transit" underground train to get there. Now I'm on the plane sitting between 2 nice folk from Chicago. So I get to ask them what there is to see in their city. Fortunately I also have a DK Eyewiness Travel book which I got cheaply over the Internet. The best advice so far is to get a 5 day pass for the train and bus system (which is run by the city, surprising in the land of private enterprise!).
Post From La Quinta Downtown Hotel Chicago
I've arrived now and safely made it to my hotel. It seems that my ESTA permission to stay in the US without a visa went through automatically, I did not have to fill in any form or show my papers to any official. At the immigration the young official was friendly and polite. They had all the biometric technology, hand fingerprint scanner and special camera to take a picture of one's eyes. Then the man asked me how long I was staying and as I was a bit vague I said I wanted to check on my calendar. I bent over to find it in my carry-one case and the man kept saying "talk to me" and "look at me. Anyway I found my Itinerary from the Travel Agent Mike Langford and the sweet official was happy with that and said my Travel Agent had done a good job. He wished me a pleasant stay. Then it was on to the bag carousel and the customs and on through what looked like a fire escape. Fortunately the doors opened automatically, and not onto some back street but a corridor leading to more doors and the arrivals hall. Then it was into a "transit" and up escalators and down elevators to the train station.
Of course I had all kinds of concerns. Although I had all the printed pages that Travel Agent Mike Langford had sent me, these did not have his instructions to the hotel, he had sent those in an e-mail. Surely his file was on my little net-book computer. Yes it was, but unfortunately this was an older version of his file and did not have his latest e-mails, so his instructions to the hotel were not there. But my next seat lady on the plane had encouraged me to catch the train and had told me the station that she thought was near my hotel. Then there was the old man who sat on the other side of me. He was going to get a Limo because he didn't think it was safe for his wife to drive at night... Was it safe to take the train at night?
But at the station a helpful platform attendant showed me the machines to buy the tickets, $2.25 but no change given. I asked about the 5 day pass and he showed me a different machine... no 5 day pass but a 3 day one for £14-. Fortunately I had a few $1- bills (notes) because this machine didn't give change either. It's good advice to take some small denomination notes as well as the $100- ones that the exchange people in countries like Burma and India give a better exchange rate on. The platform attendant told me to go to Washington Station which was about 18 or so stops. The trains were much like our British Underground not quite as nice as some of our better ones but quite good enough ... here's a picture of the plastic seats...
And here's something that caught my eye an ad for Islam.
It says "I am Allah, there is no god but I, therefore serve Me and keep up prayer for my remembrance."
So Islam is having an impact in America.
The train seemed to be going along the central reservation of a motorway with cars and trucks passing the train on either side. As we got closer I noticed the shops ... I would have expected McDonalds (they were there), but it was interesting to see Blockbuster (video store) and even Aldi (the budget supermarket from Germany).
Closer to the centre the train went underground. I got off at Washington Station (which is a few stops past California!) up the escalator and then I asked the ticket man how to get to my hotel. He said up the steps and then right and it's 4 blocks along. There were quite a lot of steps! I counted the blocks as I went along. Then I stopped and looked at my map which was not much help. As I was standing there trying to work out where I was a kind young lady came up and said "Are you lost?" "I'm looking for La Quinta" I replied. "It's over there!" she said pointing across the road. I thanked her, crossed the road when the light told me to (they have a red hand for "stop" and a white man for "walk across"). Someone must have been praying! (And people will always ask me "was she an angel?" Well, she seemed just a kind and beautiful human being, but she was like an angel to me coming to my aid at a critical moment. Oh, and as was focused on getting to the hotel I never turned round, she could have just disappeared as angels do!)
The reception here at La Quinta is not that grand, but the room is very nice. It has a big flatscreen TV, and 2 large beds. There is no fridge or mini-bar, but there is an excellent coffee making machine. So it's time to try one of those nice beds! See you tomorrow!
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