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May 1998

England

Jvi
2004-09-14 11:04:24

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We left Chicago for London on the 8PM flight on Wednesday, May 13, 1998. We were traveling with our friends, Ed and Leslie (that's them on the right). We all sat on the second level of the Boeing 747, they call it the "Bubble". You have more legroom and the seats recline more when the upper deck is laid out for World Traveler (economy) Class. There are 27 seats when the upper deck is World Traveler and 12 when it's Club. They also try and keep the upper deck free of children and mostly for business people who can't afford Club who are paying full fare. It was a good flight and we got some sleep. We arrived at Heathrow on Thursday about 9:40AM. It was raining but the pilot assured us it would "burn off", it did. We took the Airbus into the city for Ł6 each, about $10, so Ed and Leslie could see the city, we sat on the upper deck in the front and it took over two hours to get to the President Hotel on Southhampton Row and Guildford Street across from Russell Square. The traffic was terrible. We should have taken the Tube, about 55 minutes from Heathrow to Russell Square. By the time we arrived at the hotel it was quite warm. We checked in and cleaned up a bit. Can't lay on the bed, you have to stay up until about 9 or 10 PM and by tomorrow you'll feel better. We walked over to the corner of Southhampton Row (Kingsway) and Theobalds Road (Vernon Place). One of the interesting things about London is how they number and name the streets. A street can change its name just about anywhere. These two streets both change their name at this intersection, hence the four names, one intersection. We actually went to this intersection to get to a smaller street named Sicilian Way that runs between Vernon Place and Kingsway. It's out tradition to take Christine's picture here on the first day of our visits to London. We also like an Italian Restaurant here, the Spaghetti House. I stopped in and "booked" a table for four for dinner that night ...