Don't give up on me yet, though! I have a few tricks up my sleeve this time. One of them is YOU! Yes, you! Please feel free to nudge me, pester me, gently encourage me, or yell at me to get this done. Whatever works for you! Please? Ok, thanks.
So let's jump in. Where are we going? The United Kingdom! You know, where the history comes from. (Bonus points if you get that reference.) More specifically, England and Scotland. (Sorry, Wales. We'll catch you next time!) This post will be a little photo-shy, but don't you fret - there's plenty of that to come. It will also be long, but hey - so was our first day, ok?
We left on a Thursday from Dulles, and the plan was to catch a flight on Delta to JFK, then connect to a Virgin Atlantic flight to Heathrow. This was our first time flying VA, and we were excited to try it out. As we were in line for security, Adam got on his Delta app and realized our flight to New York was delayed. It wasn't a huge deal, as we had a decent layover, but nevertheless we kept our eye on it. By the time we made it through security, the flight was delayed again. Nope, this won't work. He got on the phone and started making changes. Before we got to the terminal we were booked on a direct flight to Heathrow on Virgin, making our layover unnecessary. They were even able to locate our bags and re-tag them, so we were all set. The flight to New York ended up being delayed several hours, and we definitely would have missed our connection, so rebooking so quickly was a vacation-saver.
Now with plenty of time to spare, we went over to the Virgin lounge, figuring we would check it out and get our first taste of this hyped-up airline. Except we didn't get past the front desk. They didn't see us in their system at all. Back out to the main terminal, a few phone calls and everything was sorted. Turns out Delta was too fast for Virgin and hadn't sent them our information yet. All good, we finally made it into the lounge. I got to sit and finish up some work that I had planned to do during our layover at JFK, and we both ordered drinks and food. The service was great, from the front desk to the wait staff, and the drinks and food were more than acceptable. I was definitely a little buzzy by the time we got on the plane. Because VACATION.
After about two hours they called our flight for boarding. First thing we saw when we entered was a bar. On the plane. Well, that's new (to me). It was sleek and had fun lighting, but I couldn't help but wonder how much it would actually get used? We made our way to our seats and settled in for the flight.
Then the pilot came on and said there was severe weather coming and the whole airport had shut down. No idea when we'd be cleared to take off. Again, we breathe sighs of relief that we had rebooked a direct flight. The entertainment systems were on, so I sat and enjoyed a movie while rain poured and wind rocked the plane back and forth. I would much rather be on the ground during a weather system like that! After about two hours, the airport was reopened and it was time for take off! Hooray!
On our way, and dinner was served on the plane. It was ok. Nothing spectacular. Service, too, was a bit indifferent and cold. And I haaaaaaated my seat (Adam did, too). It was, frankly, uncomfortable, and while it had a lie-flat capability, you needed to get a member of the crew to convert it to/from the lie-flat configuration for you. I didn't love it. But as a side note, I did notice a whole bunch of people hanging out at the bar, so that answers that question!
The flight went smoothly and finally we were landing! Any doubts that our bags were actually retagged to our flight proved unfounded, as they showed up on the baggage carousel in perfect shape. At Heathrow we decided to take advantage of one more thing Virgin offers: the arrivals lounge. It was about 9:30 am local time, and as we had had a full day on Thursday and an overnight flight, we were both interested in a shower. They have a lovely set up with fully equipped spa-type shower rooms and we had a nice wash, change, and refresh. Then we stopped in their lounge for breakfast and some coffee. The lounge also offers a full-service spa and salon, but we didn't take advantage of that. I didn't love the flight itself, but having this available was all very nice.
Once we were ready, it was off to find our car! I will confess that I make Adam drive when we're overseas most of the time. Especially in countries that drive on the left. He lived in Japan for three years so he's used to it. Ok, so it was 15 years ago. He still has more experience than I do!!
Here's a pic of the little chariot we ended up with (please do excuse all the dirt and dust as this was taken later in the trip):
The rental agency had Land Rovers available, and it seemed so perfect, so we did check to see if we could get one. No love, but by the time we were done with this trip we were glad we had a smaller car. Turns out that roads in the UK are really narrow. Almost as if they're not meant for cars. Who knew?
We left London and headed north! Our first planned stop of the day was St. Albans to get some lunch and look around the town. It's a small city, with some excellently preserved Roman structures and a famous cathedral, as well as some classic historical buildings, like this one:
We took a look around the visitors center, which does an admirable job of explaining the Roman settlement of Verulamium which stood here from about 50 to 450 AD before being mostly abandoned after the Roman withdrawal from Britain. Unlike a lot of other Roman settlements, no major city or town was built over the foundations, and so a lot of the ancient city remains. Such as this spectacular mosaic floor:
Not only is the floor so beautifully preserved, it's in the exact place it was originally laid down.
Unfortunately, due to time constrictions, this was as close as we got to the cathedral:
I'm a sucker for living history. I understand the importance of preserving historical sites and setting them aside from the world at large, but it always makes me a little sad to see something preserved in time, never to be touched or lived with again. So to find out that the remains of the Roman wall in St. Albans were essentially in the middle of a soccer field, well that was a joy.
I'm also a sucker for birds, especially ones I don't get to see every day.
Know what happened? Traffic. That's what happened. And I don't mean run-of-the-mill "oh it's the weekend, let's head out of the city" traffic. I mean, standstill. "Get comfy sweetheart, 'cause you're not going anywhere" traffic. After several hours (hours!!) of inching along, we decided to take the next exit we saw and figure out an alternate route. Which was just as well, as emergency services showed up and literally closed the highway and forced everyone off at the exit. Those up ahead of us might still be there for all I know. Stuck on that highway. Unmoving. Forever. But hey, at least the scenery on the detour was nice.
A few miles later we had to ford a bit of a river to get to the other side of the road, so that was fun. By the time we arrived at our hotel for the next two nights, we were beyond punchy. And hungry! We were relieved to find a few parking spots left in our hotel's lot, but they were so tiny and precariously located that we had a really hard time squeezing the car into them. The front desk clerk finally came out and, taking pity on us, moved her car so we could get into a more accessible spot. I'd say she was thinking "ugh, Americans" except that she was EXCEPTIONALLY kind, and even recommended a lovely hole in the wall for us to grab a late dinner as it was almost 9pm. I don't mean that in a degrading way - the place was literally called The Hole in the Wall.
(Picture from their website as it was far darker when we arrived!)
Fed and watered, we turned in for the night (after lugging our bags up four flights of stairs, one of which was terrifyingly narrow) and were out within moments. Tomorrow would be our first day exploring York!
And if you think this was a long post, just think how it felt to live this day!
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