We were up early to enjoy the excellent breakfast and great surroundings at Aster House in London.
By 9AM we were checked out and ready to walk the short distance to the South Kensington Underground station to travel to Heathrow Airport. But, before leaving Aster house I took pictures of the gardern area in back and the cute little Mandarin Duck who lives there with his own little pond and cage to protect him at night from city foxes (yes, city foxes). I had never heard of a Mandarin Duck and it looked pretty ordinary to me. However, Leone showed us a picture of what a Mandarin Duck looks like before it seasonally molts it feathers. Look up Mandarin Duck on Google and prepare to be amazed at the outrageously colored creature you will see.
The train ride to Heathrow was easy and uncrowded as the mobs of Londoners were all going the other way to work in the City of London. When we got off at the Heathrow Underground we cashed in our subway "oyster cards". To ride you have to get one of these cards and charge it up with cash or credit card at a machine in the station. You scan it on the gates to the train area when entering or exiting the station areas and it chips the money off. We got almost thirty pounds back and set out to spend it on frivelous things at the airport before boarding our Newark bound flight.
Security at British airports is much tighter than in America. As people waited in line (or "in the queue" as they say in England) to check their luggage, police with luggage sniffing dogs examined the luggage. Behind each dog handler was another police officer (usually quite large) with a machine gun in his hands pointing down, ready for the dog to react and a passenger with offending luggage to react badly. Our checked luggage had been checked in at the Lviv, Ukraine airport all the way to Neward, and spent the night at Heathrow so we didn't have to bother with it. We set out for our departure gate and for the first time for me or Phyllis, we accepted a ride on one of those little golf cart type vehicles that take people to their departure gates. I figure after all the airports we walked miles in, that we earned this bit of comfort.
We boarded our completely full United Air Lines flight to Newark and were on our way back to the States. On other flights we had aisle seats across from each other. On this flight we were four rows apart. We independently determined that the chicken and avocodo sandwich from Harrods was tastless and way too much bread. So much for their fabulous food department. I watched a bit of two movies i had already seen and ate airline food when I wasn't sleeping as we prepared ourselves for jet lag and New York city.
At Newark airport, while other passengers waited in line for inspection by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) we went to the empty line designated for Global Entry members. Global Entry cost $100 for five years and gives you the "trusted traveler" benefit for domestic flights plus an easy reentry to America. I was surprised when I saw it was a self-service process at kiosk terminals where you insert your passport and press four fingers of either hand on a glass panel. Once you are identified as a Global Entry member, the terminal asks you some questions about Ebola, what you are bringing into the US that you aquired abroad and the value of those items, etc. Once approved you are on your way. It was a breeze and well worth the $100. A taxi ride that cost as much as 5 room nights in Mogilev-Podalsky, Ukraine, and we were on the Upper West Side of Manhattan at the apartment of Phyllis' friends. We went out to dinner with our hosts and proceeded to get some much needed sleep.
No comments:
Post a Comment