9-13-2006
We (Rachel and Gawain) have set out a few days before the scheduled meeting day of September 17th, at which time the Mellon Fellows will meet in Paris. We have come to London.
Life is a system of checks and balances; and traveling is no exception to this rule. We began our precisely made travel plans at the Rochester International Airport, where we were supposed to board our flight with Northwest Airlines. Due to unfavorable weather conditions in the Midwest, our flight initially set to Detroit would not make international connections on time. We were prompted to the United Airlines counter where we were re-routed to Chicago O’Hare only to change airlines again flying internationally on American Airlines, switching our arrival airport from Gatwick to Heathrow in London. We checked our luggage with United and hoped that it would arrive at the right airport on the right plane. Several weather delays and two random personal searches later, we made it on our plane to London with just seconds to spare. I even managed to somehow get a vegetarian meal despite the airline changes. We woke up from our redeye slumber, to arrive at Heathrow with no luggage at the baggage claim (which in London is called the baggage re-claim). The airline offered us toiletry kits and the promise of our luggage arriving the next morning. With no tears shed, we headed out to find our hotel, which was quite simple with the excellent public transportation system here. Our hotel rests in a lovely area of town called Kensington, which contains curvy roads, an extensive shopping district and an enormous park. We had to change rooms once as our hotel room was still dirty from the last occupant, which forced us to camp out in the lobby for a brief nap. Once finally checked into the room, we decided to stroll in yesterday’s clothes out for our first bite to eat. We settled on a Lebanese restaurant, feasting on a vegetarian platter of hummus, baba ganoosh, falafel, grapes leaves and spinach pie. Despite the fact we were jetlagged and un-showered, this meal ended up being the best part of the day. But then it became even better as we were given a complementary dessert at the end our meal. Free baklava never tasted so delicious. We’ve suddenly forgotten all about the mishaps of the day. Here’s to a fresh welcoming start in London, (if our luggage does indeed arrive)!
