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Day 1: Tuesday, September 5, 2006
London England Hello
Jet Lag
We landed at Heathrow
Airport at 1:25 pm London time. By 3:00 pm we had retrieved
our luggage and cleared customs. There was a huge lineup as
planes from all over the world seemed to land close to the same time
we did.
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We hopped on the Piccadilly Underground
Line which was
very convenient as it took us directly to our hotel without having
to change trains. I could not believe how fast the underground
trains travel. Still it took us an hour to get to our stop
which gives you some idea how far out Heathrow Airport is. Our
hotel was halfway between the Covent Garden and High Holborn stops.
We decided to get off at High Holborn and walk back. This
turned out to be a good decision because we found out just as we
were getting off that they were doing renovations to the Covent
Garden station. |
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Holborn Station
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Getting to the hotel was a bit of a struggle as we
each had 3 pieces of luggage to haul up and down escalators and
stairs. The escalators are long and incredibly steep as the
Tube is "really underground" (see photo at right). We were also grossly overdressed for the unexpected hot
weather. Once outside the station it was about a 3 block walk
dragging luggage and we were at our home for the next 4 days.
Kathryn had done an incredible amount of work on the Internet to find
hotel rooms. She found us a Travelodge within walking
to the Theatre District, Covent Garden, Trafalgar Square and
Piccadilly Circus (see map below). |
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Looking up one
of two escalators needed to get to the top in Holborn Station |
Hotels in London are really expensive and our
Travelodge, although pretty basic, was brand new and only cost us
£26 per night (about $52). For the rest of our stay in England
she found us Travelodges on motorways that only cost £10 per night
(about $20) which is unbelievably cheap.
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could tell we were staying in the tourist zone. Because
traffic flows on the "wrong" side of the street, the Brits are kind
enough to give you reminders on the road. I even saw one that
said "Look Both Ways".
After changing into shorts and T-shirts, we
strolled down to Covent Gardens, checked out all the restaurants and
shops and went to the Lyceum Theatre to buy tickets for The Lion
King for Thursday night. Then it was back to the hotel for a
much needed sleep.
West End Theatre Map - click to enlarge.
Day 2 |
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