As I left London Heathrow - this guy gave me a hearty salute. I told him I would see him next year.
This is my alarm clock at the Boston Airport. It is a Zamboni machine. I feel like I am icing the puck.
I am sitting on some obscure corridor in Boston Logan Airport. It is 11 PM - I am not tired - I just slept 7 hours on the way to American from England. It is still July 29th - hard to believe.
This morning we woke up in our apartment in London. We packed our bags and took the subway to the airport. After 20 subway stops - we were there. Lulu was supposed to fly at noon and beat me home by 7 hours. I was scheduled to fly home at 7 PM - the long route from London to Boston to Miami to Tallahassee. When we got to the airport Lulu was informed she may be offered $1000 to give up her seat. We had to bid a speedy goodbye because security would not let me wait with her at the gate. I was going to go touring for 7 hours.
While in Uxbridge where I was going to visit the American School and WWII Bunker - I read my blog to find a post from Lulu saying she was bumped. She wanted me to meet her at the Hilton where they stored her for the night. I hopped a local subway and was there in maybe an hour. I caught Lulu having her lunch in the atrium.
Lulu is flying Delta - she is a gold card girl. They told her that they are booked pretty solid. She is guaranteed a flight Tuesday if she wants it. But they said they could probably keep her a few more days and give her $1000 for every day plus her meals and hotel. She could end up teaching her classes this fall over the Internet from London :-) If she stays there until Keith's wedding that would be $25,000 of flight vouchers. Thanks to these antics - I was able to fly to London first class for the first time this year - with a bed.
At 6:30 PM - I walked into the airport - and caught my flight home. I first had a shower at the airport lounge - then caught my Boeing 777 - and slept the 7 hours to Boston.
I arrived in Boston at 10 PM - still July 29th - to a basically shut down airport. The first class lounge was closed - all the ticket agents were closed. I am on my own for 6 hours. Surely if you know Harry - you know I am not going to pay for a hotel room for 6 hours. I am long past the days of checking into hourly hotel rooms. I found my little mecca - somewhere in Terminal B. It is super quiet unless you count the Zamboni vacuum going by every once and a while I feel like a lost hockey puck in the corner of the net
I have a quilt I pilfered from my airline bed. The floor is spotless - I have an outlet to plug in my cell phone and laptop. There is free wifi in Logan Airport. So I can do everything I can do at home. I can watch my home TV over the slingbox. I can listen to Howard Stern on Sirius.com. I can blog - I can take pictures. I can do anything but go to sleep. If I nod off - I would probably miss my 5:30 flight home.
So I will sit there homeless - and review our trip.
I am juiced up on little 5 ounce cans of Diet Coke - the stuff with caffeine. I picked up a few extra cans in the lounge. I prefer no caffeines after 6 PM - it makes me bug-eyed. the price was right.
We spent 23 days in London. Most of the days - Lulu taught her class from 9 to 5. Her class is supposed to be 60 clock hours for 6 credits. She gave them 120 clock hours. There are two ways to look at that. They got a bargain of twice the education they were supposed to get - or they did not get as much free time as they expected. Lulu probably thinks the former - of course lazy Harry thinks the latter.
What I did - toured Parliament - went on the Morgan Sports Car factory tour - toured Duxford Air Base - saw a WWII air show - went to a giant MG car club show - toured Cambridge - went to Paris - spent a night in Normandy - drove a rental car in France and stumbled onto the Tour De France - went through the Chunnel. We had 9 guests - visited with Jan and Dicky Davis and toured their St Pancras Hotel - visited the Olympic Park - went to the Dockyards Museum - went to see Dirty Dancing musical - saw my favorite Billy Elliot Musical - saw the Beatles - Let It Be Show - and do not forget The Who in Wembley Arena - and The Rolling Stones in Hyde Park. We shopped on Oxford Street - the Strand - and the new Westfield Mall at Olympic Park. We walked the beaches of Normandy and experience the solemnity of the American Cemetery there.
Lulu's class was busier than I was - they went to Oxford - St Paul Cathedral - Westminster Abbey - the Tower of London - saw Wicked - saw a Shakespeare play at The Globe Theatre. They toured Diana's Kensington Palace - Buckingham Palace - and did a whole bunch of Harry Potter stuff. They visited several authors' homes - saw The Chocolate Factory Show and the author's hometown and house. In Paris they went to the Louvre - went up the Eiffel Tower - took a cruise on the Seine - and had a French Dinner with entertainment. They talked a lot about Jane Austin whoever that is. :-) I thought she was a one third partner in the Austin Healey Sprite. :-)
I am looking forward to getting home tomorrow. I hope to see Lulu someday. It is really strange how when you are far away - you seldom think about the tasks and chores that you have back at home. On to new projects - building a new home and selling the old one.
The old cell phone picture of myself in my bedroom for the night.
Sunday - Lulu always has her Last Supper with the class at the Hard Rock Cafe. After 3 weeks in London they are ready for big American burgers and Coke free refills.
in July - Regents Street was carless every Sunday. The most successful Apple Store in the world is there.
Penn State is a popular brand of pretzels in London. Why can't pretzels be just pretzel flavored pretzels?
This is Lulu's storage spot at FSU for next summer. It gets fuller and fuller - hair dryers - toasters - coffee makers - tea pots - extra dishes - books - etc.
I left Lulu behind at the London Hilton. They are keeping her there and giving her $1000 a day to use her plane ticket for someone else. Do we have to claim that on our taxes?
This is the view from the Sky Lounge where I had a shower and supper before my flight home.
Here I am on my floor spot in Boston waiting for my 5 AM flight home. It is 1:17 AM here - how do I look? It is already 6:17 AM back in London.
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