Great Britain at last!



11 June 2008

Well, we are here. As I write this, we are on the train to York. We had an awesome flight thanks to Virgin Atlantic and their wonderful service. The flight left Orlando 30 minutes late (though we boarded on time) due to lightening keeping the baggage handlers from loading our luggage on the plane. The flight itself was very nice. There was no one in the seat next to Emily so she got to have a window while I got an aisle AND we had plenty of storage in between us. We flew economy class (read “steerage”) but we were treated to a goody bag that had a sleeping mask, a pair of socks, and a pen. Though it wasn’t as nice as the goody bag Emily’s parents go on their trip to Italy last March in Premium Economy, but it was a site more than the goody bag full of nothing that I received from US Air/Lufthansa when I flew to Switzerland in 2005. I was able to sleep for about five hours due to the Unisom I took when we got on the plane. Emily says she only slept 3 hours – but apparently that is par for the course for her when she flies transatlantic. The food was really good (for airplane food) and all in all, we had a great flight. We are definitely sold on VA, and will be using them whenever possible for future flights.

Upon arriving in London, we discovered that we were able to take the First Capital Connect train straight into North London (St. Pancras International Station). This put us out literally across the street from King’s Cross – to catch the train to York. This was much better than having to go to South London (Victoria) and then taking the Tube or a cab through town to King’s Cross. Our Britrail passes also were honored saving us the added expense of a cab or the Tube.

At King’s Cross, we got Emily’s picture at Platform 9 ¾ and then bought some Cornish Pasties and Coke for lunch. We were in dire need of some caffeine to keep us from getting a bit snippy at each other. We were then able to catch a direct train to York and should arrive at about 1:20 GMT (Greenwich Mean Time – 5 hours ahead of EST). Not sure that we will be seeing much in the way of sites today, but we will soak in as much as our bodies will allow. But we are determined to stay up until at least 9:00 p.m. GMT in order to stave off Jetlag.

The pictures I’m attaching are of us on the plane, and Emily at King’s Cross.

We’ll write more soon!

-Cary

Comments

andy hutton said…
WELCOME TO GODS OWN COUNTRY!!!!!!
HOPE YOU HAVE A GREAT TIME WHILE YOU ARE HERE.IN YORK MAKE SURE YOU SEE THE MINISTER (THATS THE CATHEDRAL),THE SHAMBLES, WALK ON THE WALLS AND BY THE RIVER.DONT WASTE MONEY ON JORVIK AND TRY BRITISH FISH AND CHIPS FROM A SMALL CORNER SHOP NOT A SHOP IN THE CENTRE OF THE TOWNS OR ONE RUN BY CHINESE!
YOU WILL ALWAYS FIND FREE TOILETS IN MCDONALDS
June 11, 2008 at 4:35 PM
Wil Bissell said…
You have to pay for toilets??????
June 11, 2008 at 9:39 PM
janladd said…
I wish I where there with you. Have you every had a shandy?

Janice
June 11, 2008 at 9:52 PM
Cary said…
What is a shandy? Obviously we haven't had one!
June 12, 2008 at 10:05 AM
andy hutton said…
shandy is half beer ,half lemonad
June 12, 2008 at 3:35 PM
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