Literary Map of England
Our final day in England and it was ironically the 4th of July!
We got up early (0600 we left the hotel) to grab a taxi for Paddington. It is much cheaper to catch a taxi to Paddington and then, using our RailPass, take the Heathrow Express … this cut the cost in half and gave us our final day on our rail passes. The taxi rolled thru the morning commuter traffic and got us to Paddington in a fraction of the walking time (so was well worth the 10 pounds it cost).
Maggie and I both like to get to the airport with plenty of time to spare so we didn’t linger in Paddington but instead high-tailed it to Heathrow. We were so early in fact that altho we could check in, it was too early to check our bags. We opted for a coffee and nosh while we waited the requisite time to check our bags. The folks at BA are so amazingly polite and nice!
Once our bags were checked (we just had carry-on stuff) we headed thru security/passport control. I must say that BA and Heathrow have security check down to a fine science — it took just under 20 minutes to process us all the way thru. Easy-schmeasy!
We had a couple of hours to waste while waiting for our flight … and a bit of British money burning a hole in our pockets … so we did some airport shopping (including getting some small, shot-glass-size, bottles of Glenfiddich’s Special Reserve!) and used up all but 1.40. Not bad, eh?
We then settled down to wait for our Airbus 380 to take us back to the States.
Our chariot awaits ….
Our flight left England at 10:50am and arrived in Dulles (local time) at 1:50pm. We were tired but felt great (always easier to come west …) and our flight had been uneventfully smooth. US security was a hassle … and it took a while for Maggie’s bag (the one with all the souvenirs, of course) to come down from the runway … but we were back on US soil and all looked good to us, even if it did rain the entire trip home. Lovely daughter Catie met us at the arrivals … with a welcome back sign she had done herself … as well as wine for mom and treats for the Maggie and the boys.
A lovely welcome back sign … with flowers, food and wine met us at the airport!
Our Literary Trip to England is now just a memory … but a memory that unpacks into many, many memories of a two-week time in the summer of 2016. We got to see some of our favorite authors’ haunts (Agatha Christie’s Greenway and Torquay, Jane Austen’s Bath, the Inklings’ Oxford, Charles Dickens’ London, Roald Dahl’s Cardiff) and visited amazing museums and saw once in a lifetime exhibits. We met interesting folks and ate local foods.
We can’t wait to go again!
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