Talk me into LONDON please!
Nov 6th, 2007, 01:07 PM
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Talk me into LONDON please!
Talk me into London, please! I know this is an unusual request.
We're considering booking flights to London as a stopover on the way to Prague and Krakow. There are nonstop flights from LAX to London. We would spend a couple nights in London on both ends of the trip, so that we could see London.
But I've read so many complaints about problems in London and problems at London Heathrow airport that I'm getting nervous! I've read about lost luggage, terrorist threats, crowds, long slow airport lines, and claims that those in charge of running the London Heathrow airport are "incompetent".
Instead of feeling excited about London, I'm getting nervous! [-o<
I don't want to keep focusing on what can go wrong.
That's why I'm asking for your help. I love traveling but sometimes get nervous, especially about flying.
Isn't London fun? Isn't the Tower of London cool? What about the Harry Potter tour, is that fun for Harry Potter fans? What about the Royal Botanical Gardens in Kew, aren't they beautiful?
Please tell me that it's perfectly safe and reasonable and fun to go to London! Just tell me what your experience is, good or bad.
I was also nervous about our recent trip to Washington DC! Talk about flying anywhere near the DC area and not getting nervous... But once I arrived I felt safe and it was a great trip.
I've been to Europe...to Ireland and Italy. Italy was before 9/11, when everyone felt blissfully safer on airlines.
I think I agree with Rick Steves. He says, in his book, that he's not going to let terrorists scare him out of the enjoyment of exploring the world.
So, I guess I need a pep talk. Also, I don't mind hearing about your experiences in London.
It won't help, by the way, to tell me about why I should be afraid of Prague and Krakow. Fears just come over us, we don't choose them... Fears aren't always logical or predictable. Although it is predictable for me to be afraid to fly, but I do it anyway. I am happy that I only have to conquer this fear of London...I don't want to add new fears to the pile!
Thanks! You know, I realize I've been thinking this for years...I've been thinking, I'll never fly to London... But we found flights and an itinerary that works very well for us, which includes London.
We're considering booking flights to London as a stopover on the way to Prague and Krakow. There are nonstop flights from LAX to London. We would spend a couple nights in London on both ends of the trip, so that we could see London.
But I've read so many complaints about problems in London and problems at London Heathrow airport that I'm getting nervous! I've read about lost luggage, terrorist threats, crowds, long slow airport lines, and claims that those in charge of running the London Heathrow airport are "incompetent".
Instead of feeling excited about London, I'm getting nervous! [-o<
I don't want to keep focusing on what can go wrong.
That's why I'm asking for your help. I love traveling but sometimes get nervous, especially about flying.Isn't London fun? Isn't the Tower of London cool? What about the Harry Potter tour, is that fun for Harry Potter fans? What about the Royal Botanical Gardens in Kew, aren't they beautiful?
Please tell me that it's perfectly safe and reasonable and fun to go to London! Just tell me what your experience is, good or bad.
I was also nervous about our recent trip to Washington DC! Talk about flying anywhere near the DC area and not getting nervous... But once I arrived I felt safe and it was a great trip.
I've been to Europe...to Ireland and Italy. Italy was before 9/11, when everyone felt blissfully safer on airlines.
I think I agree with Rick Steves. He says, in his book, that he's not going to let terrorists scare him out of the enjoyment of exploring the world.
So, I guess I need a pep talk. Also, I don't mind hearing about your experiences in London.
It won't help, by the way, to tell me about why I should be afraid of Prague and Krakow. Fears just come over us, we don't choose them... Fears aren't always logical or predictable. Although it is predictable for me to be afraid to fly, but I do it anyway. I am happy that I only have to conquer this fear of London...I don't want to add new fears to the pile!
Thanks! You know, I realize I've been thinking this for years...I've been thinking, I'll never fly to London... But we found flights and an itinerary that works very well for us, which includes London.
Nov 6th, 2007, 01:16 PM
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Sure, go to London.
If you're going to be flying to Heathrow, better to be stopping there for a couple of days than to be trying to make a connection.
While London is very congested and expensive (but, you can minimize the cost and inconvenience by following some tips here), it has some unbeatable sights that you have to see at least once.
If you're going to be flying to Heathrow, better to be stopping there for a couple of days than to be trying to make a connection.
While London is very congested and expensive (but, you can minimize the cost and inconvenience by following some tips here), it has some unbeatable sights that you have to see at least once.
Nov 6th, 2007, 01:17 PM
#3
Melissa5: search some of the threads about London - the answer almost allof you question wil be there. Then clock on DESTINATIONS above and read up.
LHR can be a real pain to connect through. But arriving isn't so bad really at all. Transport into the city is easy by car service or tube. Transport back out to the airport is just as easy.
I understand being worried about LHR (not a big issue IMHO except for the high departure tax/fees) but the "<i>But I've read so many complaints about problems in London</i>" bit really escapes me. What problems in London? It is a very easy city to learn to love. I've had far fewer complaints or problems there than just about any other city I've ever visited.
LHR can be a real pain to connect through. But arriving isn't so bad really at all. Transport into the city is easy by car service or tube. Transport back out to the airport is just as easy.
I understand being worried about LHR (not a big issue IMHO except for the high departure tax/fees) but the "<i>But I've read so many complaints about problems in London</i>" bit really escapes me. What problems in London? It is a very easy city to learn to love. I've had far fewer complaints or problems there than just about any other city I've ever visited.
Nov 6th, 2007, 01:20 PM
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London is fabulous and ancient and modern and bustling and dreadfully easy for those of us whose numero uno language is English.
Airports stink, big airports often stink worse. Do they stink every minute? Highly unlikely. Breathe deep and expect the best.
Do you want to live in a world where you are afraid to go to London? Probably not, so don't!
Airports stink, big airports often stink worse. Do they stink every minute? Highly unlikely. Breathe deep and expect the best.
Do you want to live in a world where you are afraid to go to London? Probably not, so don't!
Nov 6th, 2007, 01:23 PM
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You could lose your luggage at any airport. Yes, Heathrow in particular has a bad rep lately. Any way you can fly into Gatwick or Stansted instead? Or at least fly OUT of them? Can you open-jaw so you fly into London and out of another city in Europe? You could even train over to Brussels or Paris via Eurostar if you want and fly on from there. Flying OUT OF or transferring THROUGH the London airports seems to be the worst to deal with.
I did what you want to do in 2005 (before all the restrictions on bags). I flew into London, flew to Prague, from Budapest back to London, spent a few days in London on the way back, then home. It all worked out great although I didn't fly into our out of Heathrow. I loved stopping in London on the way home - it was a surprising treat and I'd been there before.
I've heard by the way British Airways is pressuring the British Government to lift some of the restrictions on carry-ons at London Airports - perhaps to avoid another holiday luggage nightmare like they had last year. It does sound like BA in particular is to be avoided if you are worried about losing luggage.
I did what you want to do in 2005 (before all the restrictions on bags). I flew into London, flew to Prague, from Budapest back to London, spent a few days in London on the way back, then home. It all worked out great although I didn't fly into our out of Heathrow. I loved stopping in London on the way home - it was a surprising treat and I'd been there before.
I've heard by the way British Airways is pressuring the British Government to lift some of the restrictions on carry-ons at London Airports - perhaps to avoid another holiday luggage nightmare like they had last year. It does sound like BA in particular is to be avoided if you are worried about losing luggage.
Nov 6th, 2007, 01:25 PM
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We love London. As twk says, you don't have to worry about the "lost luggage" if you are stoppiing there; the luggage is lost on transfers. (And we've never lost any, in 3 trips through there in the past few years).
London is a big city, and the crowds are no more or less than other big cities. The famous attractions---museums, Tower of London, Kew, etc.---are all great. We love to just walk and walk through the parks and all over that city. Our teenage daughters love it too.
As for the "t" word, I don't see how it is any worse there than anywhere else. You can't let that worry you, or you wouldn't travel at all.
The only "downside" to London right now is that the exchange rate makes it even more expensive than ever.
London is a big city, and the crowds are no more or less than other big cities. The famous attractions---museums, Tower of London, Kew, etc.---are all great. We love to just walk and walk through the parks and all over that city. Our teenage daughters love it too.
As for the "t" word, I don't see how it is any worse there than anywhere else. You can't let that worry you, or you wouldn't travel at all.
The only "downside" to London right now is that the exchange rate makes it even more expensive than ever.
Nov 6th, 2007, 01:26 PM
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As an aside, I wouldn't choose Gatwick over Heathrow. Wouldn't choose Heathrow over Gatwick. But flying out of Gatwick won't necessarily solve your problems, and it is kind of a dump. Even compared to Heathrow.
Nov 6th, 2007, 01:31 PM
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Melissa,
My first question would be, if you're not flying via London, what are your options regarding connection/stop-over?
I think many people had bad experience with Heathrow because of strike by airport personnel over the summer. I haven't heard much about lost luggage etc recently. Lost luggage can happen with any airports/airliners.
You are likely to see similar passport control queues unless you have a EU passport. (At least, you'll apprciate that you're on US citizen's queue when you get back home!)
Crowds and long airport lines would also be pretty much unavoidable in any major cities/airports--be it Paris, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, or any other major US cities.
Terrorist threats? You can proHaving sabably say the same thing--I recall German police foiled an attempt to bomb christmas market there, and Spain had experienced attacks before. You'll probably notice lots of police presence in central London--which at least may give you better sense of security (plus easy way for asking for directions).
Having said above, one clear disadvantage of all London airport is one-piece only carry-on luggage (not one piece + handbag/computer bag).
My first question would be, if you're not flying via London, what are your options regarding connection/stop-over?
I think many people had bad experience with Heathrow because of strike by airport personnel over the summer. I haven't heard much about lost luggage etc recently. Lost luggage can happen with any airports/airliners.
You are likely to see similar passport control queues unless you have a EU passport. (At least, you'll apprciate that you're on US citizen's queue when you get back home!)
Crowds and long airport lines would also be pretty much unavoidable in any major cities/airports--be it Paris, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, or any other major US cities.
Terrorist threats? You can proHaving sabably say the same thing--I recall German police foiled an attempt to bomb christmas market there, and Spain had experienced attacks before. You'll probably notice lots of police presence in central London--which at least may give you better sense of security (plus easy way for asking for directions).
Having said above, one clear disadvantage of all London airport is one-piece only carry-on luggage (not one piece + handbag/computer bag).
Nov 6th, 2007, 01:31 PM
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People seem to have lost luggage in every European airport, based on reports here and elsewhere. I know LHR is worse than average right now, but you are hardly assured of non-lost luggage with another airport.
If you are that concerned, I would suggest doing carry-on only. It's not that big a deal, and it would be silly, IMO, to skip London because of a low probability of your luggage being temporarily delayed or an even lower chance of it being lost.
If you are that concerned, I would suggest doing carry-on only. It's not that big a deal, and it would be silly, IMO, to skip London because of a low probability of your luggage being temporarily delayed or an even lower chance of it being lost.
Nov 6th, 2007, 01:39 PM
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twk: You are my new best friend. Thanks for the encouragement. In fact, I just posted my question, and hadn't even left this computer yet, when I noticed I already have 11 replies! Fodorites are great.
Thanks for the encouragement. In fact, I just posted my question, and hadn't even left this computer yet, when I noticed I already have 11 replies! Fodorites are great.
Nov 6th, 2007, 01:42 PM
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London is fun, it is cool - no worries! I had a great time there.
I splurged on fantastic theater, I indulged in a bunch of "London Walks" tours (which were great) including the Sherlock Holmes tour and the Jack the Ripper night tour -tones of fun.
I sauntered through some fantastic museums and ate trays of wonderful inexpensive sandwiches. Is this great UK sandwich thing a secret?
Great train system, easy to get around, world-class sites an absolute mass of things to do.
How can travel ever be a waste? You could be sitting at your desk at work after all.
There are a load of Brits living in London - they get on alright. Safer than many North American cities I've been to.
Have fun! Your going to LONDON! YEAH!
MollyB
I splurged on fantastic theater, I indulged in a bunch of "London Walks" tours (which were great) including the Sherlock Holmes tour and the Jack the Ripper night tour -tones of fun.
I sauntered through some fantastic museums and ate trays of wonderful inexpensive sandwiches. Is this great UK sandwich thing a secret?
Great train system, easy to get around, world-class sites an absolute mass of things to do.
How can travel ever be a waste? You could be sitting at your desk at work after all.
There are a load of Brits living in London - they get on alright. Safer than many North American cities I've been to.
Have fun! Your going to LONDON! YEAH!
MollyB
Nov 6th, 2007, 01:51 PM
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<b>janisj:</b> I'm glad you find London an easy city to love. I'll tell you where I found all the complaints about London. Just go to tripadvisor forums and look up London under the United Kingdom section. So many complaints! I also find it reassuring that London is fine for you, and you are well-travelled as you mention you're comparing London to other cities you've visited. Thanks for your comments.
<b>oh2be:</b> I love your poetic response! "London is fabulous and ancient and modern and bustling"... Very poetic and sounds terrific. That, by the way, is how I found Rome, my favorite city on earth. I am tickled by your question about stinking airports as you ask "Do they stink every minute? Highly unlikely."
Well, oh2be, I DO live in a world where I'm afraid to go to London, however, I'm determined to find my way into an alternate universe, where I have gone to London, enjoyed it, and am eager to return! My philosphy is...I can't stop being afraid, but I don't have to let the fear stop me. ><
Fodors is a lot cheaper than therapy for phobias! Thanks, fellow travellers!
<b>oh2be:</b> I love your poetic response! "London is fabulous and ancient and modern and bustling"... Very poetic and sounds terrific. That, by the way, is how I found Rome, my favorite city on earth. I am tickled by your question about stinking airports as you ask "Do they stink every minute? Highly unlikely."
Well, oh2be, I DO live in a world where I'm afraid to go to London, however, I'm determined to find my way into an alternate universe, where I have gone to London, enjoyed it, and am eager to return! My philosphy is...I can't stop being afraid, but I don't have to let the fear stop me. >
<Fodors is a lot cheaper than therapy for phobias! Thanks, fellow travellers!
Nov 6th, 2007, 02:00 PM
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travelgourmet: <i>As an aside, I wouldn't choose Gatwick over Heathrow. Wouldn't choose Heathrow over Gatwick. But flying out of Gatwick won't necessarily solve your problems, and it is kind of a dump. Even compared to Heathrow.</i>
Well, I've flown into and out of both, and I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on that one. I found Gatwick much easier to deal with than Heathrow. All I remember about Heathrow is walking...forever...to get from my gate out to the Tube station. I didn't find Gatwick dumpy at all. It seems less busy and hectic than Heathrow for sure.
The biggest disadvantage of Gatwick to me seems to be that you can't take the Tube to get there - you have to take a train or long bus ride out there from central London.
Well, I've flown into and out of both, and I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on that one. I found Gatwick much easier to deal with than Heathrow. All I remember about Heathrow is walking...forever...to get from my gate out to the Tube station. I didn't find Gatwick dumpy at all. It seems less busy and hectic than Heathrow for sure.
The biggest disadvantage of Gatwick to me seems to be that you can't take the Tube to get there - you have to take a train or long bus ride out there from central London.
Nov 6th, 2007, 02:07 PM
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Hi Melissa,
We had our first ever trip to Europe this year and were offered free accommodation staying with a friend in Ealing. DH and I were not too sure about going, we are not really big city people and prefer the countryside BUT free lodgings, how could we refuse?
We flew Copenhagen to LHR - had no problems and we just loved London and look forward to the day when we can go back and see all the things we missed.
We purchased an Oyster Card at Heathrow and we were off to see the sights for 5 days.
We had a magic day at Kew Gardens then found a real English Pub for a late lunch, I went to Westminster Abbey,DH went to the Churchill Museum, Buckingham Palace in the drizzle but we caught the changing of the Gaurds,we stared in awe of Big Ben and Parliament house, went to two theatre shows, walked around all the sights we had seen on TV and learnt about in school,spent a fabulous day at Windsor (Devonshire Tea too), walked and walked and walked, caught a ferry to Greenwich, more walking, more pub visits, Harrods food hall, the tube is a breeze to use. Only once in the depths of Westminster station did a feel a bit odd about being so far underground and what if there was a terrorist threat but as soon as we were up in the open air I was ok.
Yes, when we flew out from LHR to Oslo it was a shambles with long lines, crowds and seemingly no order but we got to our plane and took off for our next adventure. I just tried to enjoy the people watching and kept thinging how lucky we were to be on such a fabulous holiday.
Take a deep breath and go forth, don't dwell on might be and the best bit on advice I received from here -pack your sense of humor. Have a wonderful, wonderful holiday. Best wishes.
We had our first ever trip to Europe this year and were offered free accommodation staying with a friend in Ealing. DH and I were not too sure about going, we are not really big city people and prefer the countryside BUT free lodgings, how could we refuse?
We flew Copenhagen to LHR - had no problems and we just loved London and look forward to the day when we can go back and see all the things we missed.
We purchased an Oyster Card at Heathrow and we were off to see the sights for 5 days.
We had a magic day at Kew Gardens then found a real English Pub for a late lunch, I went to Westminster Abbey,DH went to the Churchill Museum, Buckingham Palace in the drizzle but we caught the changing of the Gaurds,we stared in awe of Big Ben and Parliament house, went to two theatre shows, walked around all the sights we had seen on TV and learnt about in school,spent a fabulous day at Windsor (Devonshire Tea too), walked and walked and walked, caught a ferry to Greenwich, more walking, more pub visits, Harrods food hall, the tube is a breeze to use. Only once in the depths of Westminster station did a feel a bit odd about being so far underground and what if there was a terrorist threat but as soon as we were up in the open air I was ok.
Yes, when we flew out from LHR to Oslo it was a shambles with long lines, crowds and seemingly no order but we got to our plane and took off for our next adventure. I just tried to enjoy the people watching and kept thinging how lucky we were to be on such a fabulous holiday.
Take a deep breath and go forth, don't dwell on might be and the best bit on advice I received from here -pack your sense of humor. Have a wonderful, wonderful holiday. Best wishes.
Nov 6th, 2007, 02:31 PM
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This is helping SO MUCH! Thanks!
<b>travelgourmet</b>: Your name makes London sound tasty! I also like your description of London as "current and alive". What's your favorite thing to do in lively London"? Please, do share some of your favorite places to eat in London, which are priced moderately (by London standards). We love all sorts of tasty ethnic foods. Thanks!
<b>enzian:</b> We'll be travelling with 2 college-age daughters, so it's fun to hear that your teen daughters enjoy London too. What was their favorite site or activity in London? I like your use of the "t" word...why give those "t" cowards more than one letter of the alphabet?
I have some friends who ask me, aren't I worried, and they point to events in the news, when I am traveling internationally. They are under the mistaken impression that we are safer by staying home. It's hard dealing with fears, but sometimes you can mentally trick yourself... Just imagine that wherever YOU are, that is where safety exists, as if you're taking it with you when you travel. Why not? "T" is unpredictable, so you're right, we can't let it rule our lives...then they win.
<b>Andrew:</b> It's good to hear that you found London to be a "surprising treat" on the way home from your trip to Prague and Budapest.
We decided to avoid BA by the way. We can open-jaw if we use Lufthansa. But if we use Air New Zealand we will have to fly into and out of London. However I like Air New Zealand because we flew them to New Zealand and they were great...if you're nervous about flying, as I am, a familiar airline where you had a good experience is reassuring. I also had a good experience on Lufthansa, but that was way back in 2004.
<b>W9London:</b> You asked about our options, if we didn't fly into London. We are considering flying Lufthansa from LAX into Munich or Frankfurt for example... As I explained above to Andrew, there is also Air New Zealand but they only fly into London. If we flew into Munich we could take the train to Prague... If we flew into Frankfurt we'd probably get the connecting flight onto Prague. Then we'd still need to fly home from Krakow. WE could fly home from Warsaw, but it's not on our itinerary right now.
I don't have a problem with the one piece only carry-on luggage as I usually carry on a small duffel with a smaller purse inside of it. It fits under the seat in front of me. I don't like lugging a heavy bag around the airport, even if it's on wheels, as it hurts my back. Sometimes my husband take on a wheeling carry-on, so I put my duffel on top of his wheeling carry-on and he carries it around the airport for me.
My husband is logical and he made a good point to me. He said we will most likely spend more time on the airplane than we will in the airport. (About 11 hours from LAX to London.) Therefore he said we should choose the most comfortable airline, and not worry about the airport.
However there are lots of airlines that can get us from London to Prague, and from Krakow to London. There are a lot more choices for that, so it wouldn't have to be the Heathrow airport...
We haven't flown this way before...usually we get connecting flights all the way through to our destination so that I only have to fly on 2 days, one day on the way there, and one day on the way back. But if we have stopovers in London, I will actually be flying on 4 different days, and I'm not sure if this will make me more or less nervous, since we've never done that before.
I think it's really important for people who are nervous about flying to have the best possible flight for their long-haul flight. You can put up with anything for a couple hours on a short flight, but it's much more difficult to manage if you're stuck on an 11-hour flight and you're unhappy with it.
So far here are my favorite airlines in the whole world:
JetBlue
Air New Zealand
Lufthansa
Here are my least favorite airlines in the whole world so far:
Aer Lingus
US Air
Wow I've got to get off the computer, thanks so much everyone, I'll be back later. This thread has been very helpful to me.
<b>travelgourmet</b>: Your name makes London sound tasty! I also like your description of London as "current and alive". What's your favorite thing to do in lively London"? Please, do share some of your favorite places to eat in London, which are priced moderately (by London standards). We love all sorts of tasty ethnic foods. Thanks!
<b>enzian:</b> We'll be travelling with 2 college-age daughters, so it's fun to hear that your teen daughters enjoy London too. What was their favorite site or activity in London? I like your use of the "t" word...why give those "t" cowards more than one letter of the alphabet?
I have some friends who ask me, aren't I worried, and they point to events in the news, when I am traveling internationally. They are under the mistaken impression that we are safer by staying home. It's hard dealing with fears, but sometimes you can mentally trick yourself... Just imagine that wherever YOU are, that is where safety exists, as if you're taking it with you when you travel. Why not? "T" is unpredictable, so you're right, we can't let it rule our lives...then they win.
<b>Andrew:</b> It's good to hear that you found London to be a "surprising treat" on the way home from your trip to Prague and Budapest.
We decided to avoid BA by the way. We can open-jaw if we use Lufthansa. But if we use Air New Zealand we will have to fly into and out of London. However I like Air New Zealand because we flew them to New Zealand and they were great...if you're nervous about flying, as I am, a familiar airline where you had a good experience is reassuring. I also had a good experience on Lufthansa, but that was way back in 2004.
<b>W9London:</b> You asked about our options, if we didn't fly into London. We are considering flying Lufthansa from LAX into Munich or Frankfurt for example... As I explained above to Andrew, there is also Air New Zealand but they only fly into London. If we flew into Munich we could take the train to Prague... If we flew into Frankfurt we'd probably get the connecting flight onto Prague. Then we'd still need to fly home from Krakow. WE could fly home from Warsaw, but it's not on our itinerary right now.
I don't have a problem with the one piece only carry-on luggage as I usually carry on a small duffel with a smaller purse inside of it. It fits under the seat in front of me. I don't like lugging a heavy bag around the airport, even if it's on wheels, as it hurts my back. Sometimes my husband take on a wheeling carry-on, so I put my duffel on top of his wheeling carry-on and he carries it around the airport for me.
My husband is logical and he made a good point to me. He said we will most likely spend more time on the airplane than we will in the airport. (About 11 hours from LAX to London.) Therefore he said we should choose the most comfortable airline, and not worry about the airport.
However there are lots of airlines that can get us from London to Prague, and from Krakow to London. There are a lot more choices for that, so it wouldn't have to be the Heathrow airport...
We haven't flown this way before...usually we get connecting flights all the way through to our destination so that I only have to fly on 2 days, one day on the way there, and one day on the way back. But if we have stopovers in London, I will actually be flying on 4 different days, and I'm not sure if this will make me more or less nervous, since we've never done that before.
I think it's really important for people who are nervous about flying to have the best possible flight for their long-haul flight. You can put up with anything for a couple hours on a short flight, but it's much more difficult to manage if you're stuck on an 11-hour flight and you're unhappy with it.
So far here are my favorite airlines in the whole world:
JetBlue
Air New Zealand
Lufthansa
Here are my least favorite airlines in the whole world so far:
Aer Lingus
US Air
Wow I've got to get off the computer, thanks so much everyone, I'll be back later. This thread has been very helpful to me.
Nov 6th, 2007, 03:31 PM
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I went on my first European vacation this summer with my 13yo daughter. We tacked London onto the end for 3 days, saw Buck Palace (inside since it was the end of July), several parks, shopped, British Library and Museum, took a bus for awhile, fell in love with the Tube (we're from Alabama and there is no mass transit system worth mentioning here), stayed on the Thames and saw a couple of shows. If it weren't for the awful exchange rate, I'd be back in a heartbeat. There is still so much that I want to see and it is still on my list of destinations in the future. It was a magical experience for us.
We flew into Heathrow from Belgrade. The arrival was easy, immigration wasn't that long and we enjoyed the entire experience, including finding the Heathrow Express and transferring through tube stops to get to our hotel (County Hall Marriott). We flew out of London City Airport to connect to Amsterdam. It was a pleasure to fly out of since it was small and easy.
We were leaving the US right after the bombings this summer. I had expected them as soon as I heard that Tony Blair was definitely resigning. While it gave me pause for a second, I wasn't about to give up my trip and my tickets to Wicked over it!
We flew into Heathrow from Belgrade. The arrival was easy, immigration wasn't that long and we enjoyed the entire experience, including finding the Heathrow Express and transferring through tube stops to get to our hotel (County Hall Marriott). We flew out of London City Airport to connect to Amsterdam. It was a pleasure to fly out of since it was small and easy.
We were leaving the US right after the bombings this summer. I had expected them as soon as I heard that Tony Blair was definitely resigning. While it gave me pause for a second, I wasn't about to give up my trip and my tickets to Wicked over it!
