Actually, I should disclaim that this whole post is being done before I've had a chance to get some good sleep, so it may be punchy. Also, I'm a fish out of water here, too. That's my disclaimer.
Hmm - I'm not sure where to start ... so let's start w/ the flight over, shall we? No wait ... let's again re-emphasize how ã1 = $2 (or close enough)! So this has tainted all of my expenditures... which I guess I shouldn't be TOO concerned, as this is a business trip and most of it will be reimbursed, but it's still annoying to spend so much money for meals. As an example, I ducked into a small cafe for a tea (.79p) and on a whim, I added a muffin and that brought the total to over ã3. So $6 for a muffin and tea!
Ok, so now the flight over. It's been a while since I've been on an international flight, but the last time I did, they gave free alcohol. I was looking forward to this, to burn the edge off and help me sleep, but no ... AA now charges $5 per drink. Also, AA has introduced these neat lil' mini-TV's per seat (flying Coach here, people). So that's a neat gadget and I soon get hooked into a predictable, sappy romantic comedy (which upon reflection wasn't really much on both counts): "Win a Date w/ Ted Hamilton". No, please ... don't hurt me... I couldn't help myself!
Anyway, the flight was sparesly populated, with seat configurations of 2-5-2 (Boeing 777), so there were quite a few empty center aisles. The flight ran overnight (left RDU at 7pm local and arrived at London at 7am local), so there was a great opportunity to grab an center aisle and stretch out. So what did I do? I get hooked into this movie and forfeit sleep. ARGGGGG!!! Darn you, Hollywood!
Ok, so I arrive and get to my hotel ... no wait ... let me also share w/ you that I forgot my train vouchers, so I have to re-buy tickets. And I get suckered into re-buying Gatwick Express tickets! I hope I can cancel those vouchers or something.
Ok, so now I go to the BBC Good Food Show, which I paid ã11.50 for, which is a lot, but I'm anxious to see some good food & what-not. What does the ã11.50 get you? Well, entrance and a free magazine. Oh, then you can buy a show guide for ã5 (what? that doesn't come w/ the ticket?) Then when I get inside, there are some good things, but there's also a slew of vendors hawking their wares upon you ... including a credit card company (what does that have to do w/ food?!).
Then for lunch, I crossed town over to Jamie Oliver's Fifteen restaurant, which was an awesome experience. It's a little hard to find, tucked away in a side street, but definitely worth it.
Another bad thing about this trip is that I've had to break my diet. I was down to 211.5 (that's 38.5 pounds!), but everything here, including the plane fare, seems to be high-carb. I hope all the walking I'm doing is helping to burn off some of this stuff.
After lunch, I came back to the hotel and was able to check into my room, which is your typical London hotel room (that you don't pay a lot for), where the bed & room is much smaller than you're used to (from an American perspective). I took a shower & crashed on the bed, out cold until cog called me. Then we met and then met up w/ some of the other LPW folks and ate dinner at a nearby pizzeria (Zizzi).
Ok, I'm going to sleep now. Tomorrow will be a new day and I should be better caught-up w/ the whole timezone thing. That is, unless there's something on the telly! ;) No, no ... I promise ... straight to bed! I could go on & on, on the Fifteen restaurant review ... maybe a separate post.
Cheers & Peace,
Jason
(by which I mean that it probably tasted foul, too, seeing as you're not a builder)
-Dom
