Harrod’s in Knightsbridge was our next destination. Before we left the hotel I finished a 2-liter bottle of water because I did not want to carry it around. I figured Harrod’s was like Macy’s and I could use the loo there. However, there were two problems: 1. The store is so big you need a map to find your way around and 2. Little did I know it would cost £1 for each visit to the loo. Once in the loo, I didn’t want to go and mess it up. It was the nicest loo I’ve ever seen in my life. Never have I seen one with so much marble. I stood there for 10 minutes looking around. There were tons of amenities on the counters. I was afraid to touch anything.
We spent about 2 hours in Harrod’s and I spent £3 for my three trips to the loo. From Harrod’s we walked along Kensington and Knightsbridge Roads. Harvey Nicols, on Knightsbridge Road, is another posh store, though we didn’t go inside.
Dinnertime approached real fast so we decided to try this Greek restaurant across from our hotel. I ordered a salad that was supposed to be enough for two. I was starving when I finished. Leaving the restaurant we walked along Bayswater Road in search of desserts. No restaurant would let us order just desserts, so we ended up at this pub where I ordered Yankee Pot Roast and Juilea and Natalie ordered desserts. No only was the meat bland and nasty, but we totally forgot about the Mad Cow disease that gripped England. Oh well, two years later I’m still around to write about this so, I guess the Mad Cows didn’t get me Mad.
It was our last night in England. What should we do? Walking aimlessly around the Paddington section of town seemed just fine. The night was ending fast, bringing us closer to the nine-hour flight back to Atlanta. Our hotel room was nice and warm, so warm we slept with a window open. In the middle of the night I awoke with a mammoth earache. I was scared that I wouldn’t be able to fly home. Though Natalie was in a deep slumber she somehow talked me into feeling better.
Tuesday morning hit us like a ton of bricks when the phone rang at 6:30 am for a wake-up call. No earache (Woo Hoo!). We boarded The Gatwick Express, which leaves from Victoria Station offering a fast, safer way to the airport. The sun made a rare appearance giving us a chance to see part of the English countryside. The half-hour train ride felt like 2 hours. We cleared Immigration and headed for the terminal. We had plenty of time to walk around the airport. We split up and Natalie and I met up in the atrium when we heard the fire alarms ringing. We heard a voice over the PA system mention something about a fire in the airport and all people should leave through the closest exit.
. It was like life was going in slow motion. As we were walking towards our gate I began asking Natalie, “Where is Juilea? Why isn’t anyone leaving the building? Where is Juilea? Do you smell smoke? I smell smoke. Where’s Juilea? How big is this fire anyway? How close is it to us? Where’s Juilea? Have you noticed no one has left the building?” As we got to the gate we saw Juilea sitting there as if nothing happened. The area of the airport she was in didn’t hear the announcements about the fire. As we found out, the fire was on the other side of the airport and did not put our side in jeopardy.
Our seats were in the back of the plane making it a short walk to the bathroom (Ahhhh!! Juilea and Natalie know why). We were treated to two movies. The first one I slept through and the second one was “It’s a Wonderful Life.” It was the first time I watched it without commercials.
The best part about flying international is the free alcohol. The flight attendants named us “The Party Row.” Every time they passed, we asked for a few more bottles of alcohol: Bailey’s Irish Cream, Kaluha, vodka, rum and all the good stuff. We were brewing up our own drinks with coffee. My backpack was getting heavy from all the little bottles I stashed away. I really don’t remember how much we drank, but it was fun and I did sleep well that night.
Two and a half years later I still have yet to see Juilea’s pictures. She keeps saying something about the pictures being too dark and that they’re not good. I guess we’ll have to go back againÂ…during the summer months when there’s more daylight.
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