And we’re off…

Pre-flight dinner at Seatac Airport.

Flight departed about on time. Beautiful initial view:

For the next few hours the interior view was all I got to see and pretty quickly, the screen was a lot closer up after the person in front reclined their seat without warning, almost knocking my dinner into my lap. Ah, the joys of flying!

We arrived at Heathrow after decent sleep (L), no sleep despite looking very asleep at times (M), and almost no sleep and backache (D). Flight time was 8hrs 45 mins, and we came in across Ireland, instead of the usual route over Iceland and Scotland.

Cleared immigration and customs without fuss.

Took the Heathrow Express to Paddington.

Lugged heavy bags quite a ways and up and down a lot of stairs (including one short flight of 3 steps at the top of a long ramp!!!) to the Central line. Five stops to Kings Cross. Short but painful walk to Hotel Pullman.

D and M took a nap. I took the opportunity to get my four miles in, wandering down the Marylebone Road to Regent’s Park, which was enchanting.

Tried to get cash out at Euston Station on the way back, but failed. Will need to sort that out! Met D and M as they left the hotel in pursuit of food. Albertini’s is a small, friendly Italian restaurant just around the corner from the hotel. Had a nice dinner, spoiled a little bit by chain smokers at the next table, and made slightly comical by it taking about 20 minutes to pay, because their router got water on it….just as well we weren’t in a rush!

Spaghetti Bolognese, Risotto Pollo, Tika Chicken Skewers:

Tomorrow, Harry Potter!