Our very last day in London, and, wouldn't you know it, the dawn broke clear and sunny with low humidity! This is the kind of weather we were expecting for our trip, and we only got it on the very last (half) day.
Thanks, London! Bloody hell.
I had pre-arranged with England Transfers to drive us from the flat to Heathrow. They provide a better, cheaper fare than using the London Black Cabs, and it's much more direct than trying to use the trains. England Transfers charged 39 GBP each way; a Black Cab would have been at least 75.
I saw many people in the underground struggling with large bags to get up the escalators (or stairs!) and I didn't want to be that couple.
I walked outside the flat to look for the driver and there he was, parked on the side of the road waiting for me.
We loaded up the bags into his car and it took over an hour to get to Heathrow due to some very heavy traffic. Heavy traffic at 10:30am on a Friday? What. Ever.
The driver was from Sri Lanka and came to London in 1997. He'd been driving a cab for many years and said he just could not get ahead. Better than living (or dying) in Sri Lanka due to the civil war there, but he wasn't happy at all.
He told us that tourists can travel to Sri Lanka with no worries, but that he would probably be killed if he tried to return now. He is a Tamil, a Hindu.
As a tourist, I absolutely will not travel anywhere a civil war is going on, even if they allow tourists and don't bother them. Tourism generates dollars, and I will not support repressive regimes with my tourist dollars. So, fuck that.
When we finally got to Heathrow, I could not believe how tight the security was. We have never experienced anything like it.
We had to show our passports at least six times to different people at different checkpoints. Getting into London was a breeze. Getting out took forever.
They pulled one of our carry-on bags aside and searched it, pulling out everything and even going through pockets.
Turns out the wife had slipped up and put two large bottles of perfume in her carry-on, which is a no-no.
Our flight took off on time and was pretty smooth until we got close to Houston and we hit a lot of turbulence. Not the worst turbulence we've ever experienced, but bad enough to make you a little dizzy. And a little nervous.
We made it through Customs in Houston easily and found our driver (Super Shuttle) with our name on his sign. As soon as we stepped outside the terminal, BOOM, we got hit with a load of muggy, heavy air. Ah, back in Houston.
It was raining like hell.
This driver was an atheist, so we had a nice chat en route to the house, slamming Joel Osteen and other fakirs.
He made a funny comment to the effect that every one of Osteen's books was exactly like the others. They just change the title and the cover.
We finally walked through the door of our wonderful, spacious home around 7:30pm. With all of America's warts and religious fundamentalists and charlatans, I'm still quite proud and lucky to be an American citizen.
No matter how much fun you might have on vacation, it's always nice to get home again.
In a future post, I will publish some reflections on our London adventure.
Thanks, London! Bloody hell.
I had pre-arranged with England Transfers to drive us from the flat to Heathrow. They provide a better, cheaper fare than using the London Black Cabs, and it's much more direct than trying to use the trains. England Transfers charged 39 GBP each way; a Black Cab would have been at least 75.
I saw many people in the underground struggling with large bags to get up the escalators (or stairs!) and I didn't want to be that couple.
I walked outside the flat to look for the driver and there he was, parked on the side of the road waiting for me.
We loaded up the bags into his car and it took over an hour to get to Heathrow due to some very heavy traffic. Heavy traffic at 10:30am on a Friday? What. Ever.
The driver was from Sri Lanka and came to London in 1997. He'd been driving a cab for many years and said he just could not get ahead. Better than living (or dying) in Sri Lanka due to the civil war there, but he wasn't happy at all.
He told us that tourists can travel to Sri Lanka with no worries, but that he would probably be killed if he tried to return now. He is a Tamil, a Hindu.
As a tourist, I absolutely will not travel anywhere a civil war is going on, even if they allow tourists and don't bother them. Tourism generates dollars, and I will not support repressive regimes with my tourist dollars. So, fuck that.
When we finally got to Heathrow, I could not believe how tight the security was. We have never experienced anything like it.
We had to show our passports at least six times to different people at different checkpoints. Getting into London was a breeze. Getting out took forever.
They pulled one of our carry-on bags aside and searched it, pulling out everything and even going through pockets.
Turns out the wife had slipped up and put two large bottles of perfume in her carry-on, which is a no-no.
Our flight took off on time and was pretty smooth until we got close to Houston and we hit a lot of turbulence. Not the worst turbulence we've ever experienced, but bad enough to make you a little dizzy. And a little nervous.
We made it through Customs in Houston easily and found our driver (Super Shuttle) with our name on his sign. As soon as we stepped outside the terminal, BOOM, we got hit with a load of muggy, heavy air. Ah, back in Houston.
It was raining like hell.
This driver was an atheist, so we had a nice chat en route to the house, slamming Joel Osteen and other fakirs.He made a funny comment to the effect that every one of Osteen's books was exactly like the others. They just change the title and the cover.
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| give up hope all ye who enter |
We finally walked through the door of our wonderful, spacious home around 7:30pm. With all of America's warts and religious fundamentalists and charlatans, I'm still quite proud and lucky to be an American citizen.
No matter how much fun you might have on vacation, it's always nice to get home again.
In a future post, I will publish some reflections on our London adventure.
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