October 1 – Heathrow to Dover

I arrived safely to London Heathrow yesterday but frankly I was too exhausted to write.  Some observations about my flight first.  I flew on Delta in Delta One, their first class, and it was the most uncomfortable seat I’ve been in for ages.  Despite being one of those pod things it was cramped and the seat was like sitting on a board.  After a couple of hours my rear end was protesting and I kept trying to shift around.  Second, the food was absolutely horrendous.  I don’t expect good food on planes, but this stuff was just awful and I’m not too picky an eater.  Enough about the flight.  

We arrived at Heathrow at 7:30 AM in fog so thick that I couldn’t see the terminal until we pulled up to the gate.  In the last few years I’ve always flown into Heathrow on British Airways which goes to the new terminal.  This time I was at the older one and it is pretty bad.  The walk was long to get to UK Border Control and there were some sets of stairs.  For those of us who didn’t want to go down those, there were some zigzag ramps which had been waxed so that they were like ice rinks.  I had visions of sliding down on my rear if I mis-stepped so I clung to the railing.  Eventually the walk ended in a huge room with perhaps 1000 people walking back and forth in those theme park kinds of cordoned off lines. By the time I got through there, picked up my luggage and figured out how to get to my hotel which was attached to Terminal 5, it was close to 10 AM.  

Getting from where I was to where I was going offered me two choices – take the underground train or get a taxi.  With two suitcases and a carry-on (yes, I probably over-packed) I decided that a taxi was the better course of action.  I had a lovely taxi driver who I could barely understand because he had a very broad Yorkshire (I think) accent but he took good care of me and got me to the Sofitel.

By the time I checked in I was completely pooped and according to my apple watch I had walked nearly 13,000 steps since I left home.  I decided it was time for a nap.  My plan was to go to Windsor, which is not far from Hounslow where Heathrow is located, after I got cleaned up and had a little snooze.  That was not to be.  I slept for several hours and when I awoke it was raining pretty hard.  I decided Windsor has been there for hundreds of years and will be there the next time I come to England on a sunny day. I spent the rest of the day dozing off and eating some light snacks in the hotel’s club lounge.

                                       An exciting photo of the hotel lobby

This morning it was beautifully sunny and around 60°.  I had arranged for a car and driver to take me from the hotel to Dover and he was there early.  The drive is about two hours but it passed quickly because my driver, Mr. Habib, and I had a nice conversation and solved most of the problems of the western world as we drove along.  As with most highways there wasn’t much to see except for fields and occasional flocks of sheep.

At the cruise terminal I boarded within five minutes and was on the Ovation.  Cabins weren’t ready yet so I had a light lunch in the Colonnade and now I’m in my home away from home for the next two weeks.  This is the first time I’ve been in a regular veranda cabin on Seabourn and it’s very nice and more than adequate for me.  I’ll upload some photos so you can see.  

                                            More photos than you probably want to see, but here they are.

From the veranda I can see Dover Castle and some of the famous white cliffs.  The captain just announced that tonight we only have to travel 120 nautical miles to our first port of Portsmouth.  Unfortunately he also announced that tomorrow light rain is forecast for at least the morning so I may have a soggy visit to Stonehenge and Salisbury.  Oh well, I won’t melt.  More later.

                                                            Dover Castle

                                                         The White Cliffs of Dover