But here it is, the start. (Warning these posts will probably be long because we had long days!)
I hope that each of our posts both share the planning that went into it, how that planning helped, and how everything went awry (and how preplanning helped those times go smoother)!
So here we begin. Our original plans for this day (i count it as one day because we never really slept):
ITINERARY:
Wednesday, December 24, 2014 - Christmas Eve
11:00 AM - Sarah & Jayson Uber to Van Nuys Flyaway
11:30 AM - 12:00 PM - Van Nuys Flyaway to LAX ($8 per person)
1:00 PM - Sarah & Jayson arrive at LAX, go through security
2:00 PM - Last time to check in/drop off bags for flight
3:30 PM - Flight load in
4:00 PM -Depart LAX for London Heathrow
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
Thursday, December 25, 2014 - Christmas Day
10:45 AM - Arrive at London Heathrow
- Go through Immigration & Passports, pick up luggage, use Green Exit through customs
- Food & quick rest stop (Cafe Nero or M&S Simply Food)
- Follow signs to Central Bus Station
12:45 PM - National Express Coach to Victoria Station- NX806
1:30 PM - Arrive at Victoria Station
- Check luggage with Victoria Coach Station, opposite Gate 6
- Walk around Buckingham Palace, the Mall, Westminster, and back to the station
- Paddington Bear: Good News Bear, by the Telegraph. Parliament Square (near where Rick Steves did his audio postcard)
- Pick up luggage
3:30 PM - Cab to Jenn’s flat
- ADDRESS
- Tell Cab Driver: SIMPLIFIED ADDRESS
3:56 PM - SUNSET
5:30 PM - Christmas Dinner reservations at Strada - St. Katharine’s Dock
- 2 Tower Bridge House, St. Katharine’s Way, London, E1W 1AA
- £21.95 per person, 3-course meal
- 0.7 miles from Jenn’s flat
7:30 PM - Doctor Who Christmas Special airs!
I originally planned on using Uber to get to Van Nuys Flyaway, and take that to LAX. Then the day before, i realized that with all the hassle of the changing vehicles and waiting, and stopping at several terminals, it would be just as worth it to take Uber all the way to LAX (after all this was Christmas Eve = no traffic!) It would have been about $12 to the Flyaway, and then $16 total for the two of us to ride the bus; a total of about $28. Instead, with taking the Uber straight to our terminal, we paid $31.66. Worth it!
So we left for the airport at 11 am. Partly because we were excited, partly because we were nervous something would go wrong, partly so we could have plenty of time to eat lunch, but really really because we were excited. We were going CRAZY sitting around the house.
Welp, we arrived at the ticket counter at 11:45 am, and found that they had no plans of opening until 12:30 pm. Guess what there is to do while you wait. Go ahead!
If you guessed there was absolutely nothing to do but walk around aimlessly, boy are you right! They really made us wait it out, but we finally made it to the counter and checked in!
all packed and ready to go
We thought we were SO smart as we had one piece of luggage to check, and one piece of smaller luggage with emergency supplies to take on board with us. Well, they made us check both, but luckily Air New Zealand is amazing and didn't lose our luggage, so we had no need of emergency supplies. We were very happy with this.
our crew greeting us (yes, those are Christmas decorations!)
my last instagram collage before takeoff
On board Air New Zealand was fantastic! I do have to say that their seats were much more narrow than i expected, and there wasn't much room between us and the seat in front of us; so those things made it a little disappointing. Other than that the service was pretty great, everyone was very kind, and the ambiance was spectacular!
We paid a little extra to have a row that was just the two of us, but immediately the people in front of us leaned back really far in their seats, cutting off any illusion of space that we had. We were so happy we didn't really care, and for the most part laughed it off.
About an hour in they began food service. We had special order of vegetarian food, which meant we were served first. I LOVED that the flight attendants requested that all people sat their seats up so the person behind them could enjoy their meal. It made a huge difference because, unless asked, most people wouldn't have bothered. They actually had to walk up to several people and ask them to sit up as previously requested.
dinner on board. greek salad, fruit, roll, and i cannot at all remember what our main course was!
The food was good for plane food, and Jayson and I toasted Christmas with prosecco (me) and whiskey (jayson).
Cheers!
The next several hours passed by with attempted sleep, lots of movie watching, and more attempted sleep. Jayson got a little more than me, but i'm pretty sure i got a total of 45 minutes.
There was also a moment of me wanting Ginger Ale in the middle of the flight. Well, apparently they switch crew in the middle, and if your order goes in at this time, they forget about it. I never got my ginger ale, and by the time i tried to order it again, they said it was too close to landing. So if you're ever on an overseas flight, make sure to watch out for this, and check in personally with the flight attendant, instead of just depending on the computers.
Our flight path! Thank goodness it avoided all the storms happening in the Eastern part of America!
The lights slowly illuminated, we were served a quick breakfast, and we received news that we would land shortly. We were landing AN HOUR EARLY! It was an amazing Christmas treat! As we drew closer to landing, the plane first had to fly us over London, which gave us beautiful views of Hyde Park, and so many of the sites we had been reading about for over 6 months!
View of Hyde Park, Winter Wonderland, Kensington Gardens, Kensington Palace, and a bit of my old neighborhood!
We landed about 9:45 am GMT. Quickly got off the plane, no bathroom stops, straight to the border. I'm telling you, that is the trick. Don't stop! I saw so many people go to the bathroom, and then end up 60 people back in line.
Hurry!
After a little confusion as to which line we were supposed to join, we had stamps in our passports, had several people wish us a "Happy Christmas!", and picked up our luggage.
Rick Steves told us (and everyone else that reads his guidebooks) to just get cash at the airport ATM, so we did. Next, we made a small stop for just a couple of items of food at M&S Simply Food, but not as much as I expected. We then hurried on to find our bus!
Along the way we found several people who had no idea that public transportation was closed on Christmas Day. (ALWAYS RESEARCH TRANSPORTATION, PEOPLE!) So as we tried to find the right place to hop on our bus, there was mass confusion as other people showed up to desperately find a way into town.
Now, I am sure National Express Coach is an excellent mode of transportation normally. Probably very orderly even, but Christmas Day was not a great day for them. They seemed understaffed, and had to deal with A LOT of weary travelers. The two women on staff really tried their best, and for that i am very thankful. If they hadn't been on point, it would have been an even bigger disaster than it was turning out to be!
I purchased flexible tickets for Jayse and myself, so even though we were two hours early for the bus time i had booked, if there was room we could join an earlier bus.
Somehow in the mass of people, and watching one or two buses leave without us, we were on a bus an hour earlier than we expected. In the very back, but we didn't mind. We were able to exchange pleasantries with fellow travelers who had also made it through this crazy morning!
ah ha, hush that fuss, everybody move to the back of the bus
The coach bus took us to Victoria Coach Station, and along the way Jayson was able to see real London streets for the first time! I was so excited for him to already see the lovely little nooks and crannies of this town i love so much! And me, well I got to briefly glimpse the TARDIS that we never had time to go back and see. It all happened so fast, i couldn't even take a photo in time!
obviously my PSA for drinking lots of water when you travel
When we arrived at the station, we went to where we were to check our luggage. It was supposed to be the only place to check your luggage on Christmas Day.... it was closed.
So instead of walking around the neighborhood we thought we would, we followed my back up plan (i had my suspicions that things might not work out with our luggage.) We hopped in a cab, and made our way to our friend's flat in the City! (reminder, we had an absolutely amazing friend that let us stay in her flat, while she was visiting family in the states!)
The cab driver took us by all of the great sites in town. I am not sure if this was the most direct path, but i didn't care. We WANTED to see everything! I wanted Jayson to see all of it for the first time! It was a glorious entrance into London!
Buckingham Palace!
Elizabeth Tower with Big Ben inside!
London Eye!
After arriving at Jenn's and putting down our things, we went on a walk around the City. We were so lucky that it was a BEAUTIFUL day!
The Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, the Monument, London Bridge, the streets of the City, we saw it all! My fitbit says we walked 17,781 steps (about 7.42 miles) that day. (if only it knew that that was just a warm up!) We stopped along the way to warm up in a Pret with some tea and a cheddar and pickle sandwich (sooo delicious).
Tower Bridge
beefeater/yeomen at the Tower of London
The Monument
View of the Tower Bridge from the London Bridge
Tower of London, Jayson's favorite thing in London
We went a little early to one of the few non-expensive places open for dinner that night, Strada (simple Italian food). This was one thing i really had to research before our trip. Nothing was open, most things charged A LOT of money, and you had to make reservations for most.
St. Katharine Docks, where we had dinner (and we walked by daily)
Strada Christmas cheer
When we ordered our food, the waiter tried to tell us that we couldn't have the special Christmas menu and price, as you had to make reservations and put down money prior to the night to receive that. When I explained that I made reservations from America, and there was no way on the website to pay in advance, he let us have the discounted price.
So while we could have wandered around and found this restaurant day of, it paid (or in this case "saved") to make reservations ahead of time.
After dinner, we hurried home to watch
the Doctor Who Christmas Special!
And yes, yes the Christmas Special was disappointing; but we were in London and that eased our pain. We walked out again on to the patio, said goodnight to the Thames; and finally got some much needed sleep.
View more photos of Day 1: http://on.fb.me/1FypV7U
