Nando's and Naps-Finally!

I said we would report in once we got here and so I am doing it now. It has been a rough 36+ hours but we are finally in our 2nd room at the 4 star hotel and unpacked.

But let me back up. We got to Boston Airport and spent the day there until we boarded the plane for Iceland. We arrived at Reykjavik at 6:30 AM and then proceeded to have to go through 3 more tight security and passport lines....even though we had never gotten off the plane from Boston to Iceland! It seems the European Union doesn't think very highly of foreigners airport security (are you talking about us or US?!) and so for another 30 minutes we were herded from one line to another line to still another line. Every time we had to show our passport and go through security again.

We then got on our 7:30 flight to London and by this time we were feeling exhausted, fatigued (2 different feelings mind you) and hungry. We didn't have much time for breakfast in Reykjavik so we grabbed what I thought were 2 yogurts. Jim thought the word resembled Swedish for cream. Thinking a blend of yogurt and ice cream wouldn't be bad I grabbed 2 of them only to discover they were more like sour cream with a very thick texture to it! In the garbage our breakfast went and so we had to wait until London to feed our tummies.

We landed on time in London and then had to go through more scrutiny....why were we here, where were we staying, how long were we staying, is anyone else with us, where are we spending most of our time, how are we getting back to US, do we like cruising across the Atlantic and do we feel claustrophobic?

We found some lunch, found our Tube (underground subway) line that for $6.00 would bring us to our hotel or nearby. Last time we were here it cost us over $90.00 in taxi and train for the same trip and felt totally comfortable taking the Tube instead of the higher priced transportation.

We got off at the right spot but unfortunately there were a lot of stairs leading to our exit. Once I dragged my suitcase up the stairs we followed our directions to the hotel and checked in. We were so very tired.

Once in our room we were taken aback by the size of it (not much bigger than a cruise cabin) and the small, very small double bed and very used furniture! This is a 4 star hotel but  we were way too tired to complain or do anything so we quickly took a nap.

3 hours later we woke up and decided to head out for our FAVORITE restaurant, Nando's PeriPeri chicken. Since we were smart and googled it and printed directions a month ago we knew right where we were headed and took off. But first Jim negotiated a new room for us; bigger bed, free Internet (they wanted $20 per day in the other room), free continental breakfast  and a great view of the city and all this for only $50 more a night. Knowing what we had to look forward to in the other room we snatched this one up and transferred once we got back from dinner.

So today is over. We love London and feel very comfortable walking around. We are in a nice area of the city, the Tube is nearby, lots of places to shop and eat and we feel right at home. I don't know if it is the mixture of the cultures, the smell of different foods or the history that precedes every step we take but I love this part of traveling. I don't like the plane rides or the movement of my luggage up 2 or 3 flights of stairs, but once I have unpacked and we have taken off it feels great! Print this post