My trip to London began in the Gillmor Center Parking Lot with a few Lori, Bonnie, Katie, Beth, Ally, and Seth as we rode in a Dragon Wagon to the Toledo Airport. After meeting Colleen, Katie and Rocky at the airport we breezed through security and heading out on a short flight to Chicago, from which we would fly to Heathrow.
After arriving in Chicago we were forced to sit on the tarmac for about a half hour while waiting for our gate to clear, but once it did we were able to transfer terminals, pass back through security (with about a thousand other people), and board our very full British Airways flight to London Heathrow Airport. I wound up getting an aisle seat and had a very nice time chatting and meeting my seatmates, a middle aged man traveling with his father and a mother/daughter who were friends with one of the American gymnasts! Once we got going I was able to settle into the familiar routine of watching TV shows and Movies (The Tube, The Hunger Games, and Chariots of Fire) and dozing for most of the 7 hour flight. We arrived around 10:00 local time (5:00 back home) and headed through customs and baggage claim and headed out into London to find our hostel.
To get to Kings Cross Station we boarded, and essentially took over, a Tube car that would take us all the way into Kings Cross Station, our stop. Along the way we talked with an Irish woman now living in London who was able to answer a whole bunch of questions that we had about London and the changes that have come about as a result of the Olympics. We eventually arrived at Kings Cross and, after a few wrong turns and sketchy directions, we found our hostel and were able to move into our room before heading out for lunch.
We ate The Lucas Arms Pub where I had a Pint of Green IPA and the Haddock and Chips to go with it in order to have a truly British meal, right off the bat. From there we took the Tube to Green Park Station from which we walked, a long way, to Hyde Park and the 2012 Torch Finale Celebration presented by Coca Cola. It turned out to be basically be a big concert and party designed to pump up the British people, and particularly the Londoners, for the Olympics which start tomorrow! So we spent the late afternoon and early evening hanging out there, listening to music, and enjoying all the Olympic themed activities and photo-ops that were available! To cap off the celebration, we watched the Olympic Flame come into Hyde Park and light a cauldron on stage in front of over 65,000 people.
Finally, we returned to the Clink and I was able to get my run in. I talked to the front desk manager and he suggested I run along the canal, which I did. And since I was able to ignore the homeless men/transvestites peeing in the canal and was able to successfully dodge all the bikers and walkers it turned into a solid run and a good way to cap off the night!
After arriving in Chicago we were forced to sit on the tarmac for about a half hour while waiting for our gate to clear, but once it did we were able to transfer terminals, pass back through security (with about a thousand other people), and board our very full British Airways flight to London Heathrow Airport. I wound up getting an aisle seat and had a very nice time chatting and meeting my seatmates, a middle aged man traveling with his father and a mother/daughter who were friends with one of the American gymnasts! Once we got going I was able to settle into the familiar routine of watching TV shows and Movies (The Tube, The Hunger Games, and Chariots of Fire) and dozing for most of the 7 hour flight. We arrived around 10:00 local time (5:00 back home) and headed through customs and baggage claim and headed out into London to find our hostel.
To get to Kings Cross Station we boarded, and essentially took over, a Tube car that would take us all the way into Kings Cross Station, our stop. Along the way we talked with an Irish woman now living in London who was able to answer a whole bunch of questions that we had about London and the changes that have come about as a result of the Olympics. We eventually arrived at Kings Cross and, after a few wrong turns and sketchy directions, we found our hostel and were able to move into our room before heading out for lunch.
We ate The Lucas Arms Pub where I had a Pint of Green IPA and the Haddock and Chips to go with it in order to have a truly British meal, right off the bat. From there we took the Tube to Green Park Station from which we walked, a long way, to Hyde Park and the 2012 Torch Finale Celebration presented by Coca Cola. It turned out to be basically be a big concert and party designed to pump up the British people, and particularly the Londoners, for the Olympics which start tomorrow! So we spent the late afternoon and early evening hanging out there, listening to music, and enjoying all the Olympic themed activities and photo-ops that were available! To cap off the celebration, we watched the Olympic Flame come into Hyde Park and light a cauldron on stage in front of over 65,000 people.
Finally, we returned to the Clink and I was able to get my run in. I talked to the front desk manager and he suggested I run along the canal, which I did. And since I was able to ignore the homeless men/transvestites peeing in the canal and was able to successfully dodge all the bikers and walkers it turned into a solid run and a good way to cap off the night!