May 31, 2017
When you board a luxury cruise liner you are made welcome immediately, and for the duration of your cruise you are remembered by name and every wish is anticipated and fulfilled. The day you depart the ship their motto is, "Don't let the gangway hit you in the butt!" You depart with very little fanfare and even less assistance, but hey, they have to get everything ready for the next set of guests. At first they told us that we had to depart the ship at 06:15 for our flight that departed at 10:40. That was a non-starter for us and I informed them, rather than requesting, that we would be on the 07:30 bus. They complied by sending the right baggage tags to our cabin for the later bus. So far, so good.
We were on the bus at the appointed hour and for the next fifty minutes we were treated to a monologue by a woman who was most certainly related to our guide from the day before. She told us about trees and lava and all the other things we had heard yesterday. Her twist was on the fact that fast food came to Iceland via the US Navy, which had a base there from 1941 to 2006 when it was turned into a NATO base and most of the Americans departed. In addition to some Iceland/American children, we left a fondness for hot dogs, hamburgers and french fries as well as a real affection for rock and roll - to the extent that they have a rock and roll museum near the airport. As we approached the airport I thought I would have to give up on my red-hot desire to see a puffin, but as luck would have it, a big puffin flew right in front of us as we drove around a roundabout and landed on the grass just outside my window. I was over the moon.
Check-in for our flight to London was a nightmare, taking more than fifty minutes to get our boarding passes and check luggage. Then on to security which took another twenty-five minutes and then passport control which took more than forty minutes. No time for duty free shopping and luckily the flight was delayed by twenty minutes which allowed everyone to get aboard. The flight itself was quite lovely with great views as we departed Iceland and continued over Scotland, Manchester and into Heathrow, arriving on a beautiful sunny and warm afternoon. Heathrow has not improved much in the past several years and getting through immigration and waiting for luggage - which came on two different belts without any notification - took another ninety minutes.
We arrived at our airport hotel in time for a lovely long walk. It always amazes me that you can see the airplanes taking off across the street, but if you turn down a country lane and walk the other way, you are in gardens and fields and pastoral bliss in ten minutes. We found a narrow path that went by a highly fortified facility that was called, "Her Majesty's Refugee Return Center" (Brit for deportation jail). Soon after we were rewarded by walking into a perfect little English village with two pubs, a large church with vast gardens and cemetery, and a few little shops. All the spring flowers were blooming, the cottages sported newly planted flower boxes, and it was heavenly to be walking among such beauty.
We had an early dinner and got to bed at a reasonable time. Not sure what happened but I was wide awake at five am and despite my best efforts could not get back to sleep. I slipped out and walked the same route as the day before for about an hour when exhaustion finally hit and I headed back to the hotel for a two-hour nap. By eleven we were back at Heathrow and heading to Warsaw. Our arrival there was so different than yesterday's at Heathrow: off the plane, walked though a very modern and lovely airport (named Chopin of course), through passport control in seconds, no paperwork involved. By the time we stopped to get some local currency our bags were at the carousel and we were heading to a taxi and the hotel. From landing to entering the hotel was less than fifty minutes; absolutely amazing!
More on Poland later, but here is a hint: We love it! Cindy and Wm
No comments:
Post a Comment