LisaKinVA Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 In a few hours, my family will hop on a budget airline to fly into London, then hop on the Easy Bus, the tube and then walk 2 minutes to our apartment for the next 6 nights. We'll be competing in the London Aquatic Center on Saturday and Sunday and then sightseeing on Monday and Tuesday (flying back to Italy on Wednesday). I'm taking 38 swimmers to compete in 230 events, and all five of mine are competing in Championships for the first time. We're excited! 24 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starr Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 Have a great time! I just got back from visiting my dd in London. It's so funny realizing how easy London is and then remembering, "Oh yeah everything is in English." haha. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lilaclady Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 Good luck to the team!!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaKinVA Posted February 22, 2018 Author Share Posted February 22, 2018 Have a great time! I just got back from visiting my dd in London. It's so funny realizing how easy London is and then remembering, "Oh yeah everything is in English." haha. For once, I won't get my limited knowledge of several languages confused! I can't tell you how often that happens with Spanish, Italian and French (I don't have that issue with German, though...). It will definitely be easier! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 Lisa if all 38 Swimmers and those who accompany them hop onto an "Easy Bus" or "the Tube" at the same time, PLEASE post a video of that on YouTube... Much good luck to all of you at the competition in London and have a safe trip! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaKinVA Posted February 22, 2018 Author Share Posted February 22, 2018 Lisa if all 38 Swimmers and those who accompany them hop onto an "Easy Bus" or "the Tube" at the same time, PLEASE post a video of that on YouTube... Much good luck to all of you at the competition in London and have a safe trip! LOL... we're all coming in on different flights into different airports. I think there will only be 2 families on my flight tonight (including mine). But yes, 38 swimmers and their families all getting off the plane is quite an event. When we flew back from Sicily 2 years ago, half the flight was our team. It was something! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fraidycat Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 Good luck to all the swimmers! And enjoy your sightseeing!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaKinVA Posted March 1, 2018 Author Share Posted March 1, 2018 We swam very well with nearly 70% Personal Best Times, one League Record, and multiple team records broken. Finished 5th out of 16 teams from across Europe. We took the Hop On Hop Off Bus on Day 1, so we could at least go by many of the historic sites (Westminster Abby, go across the London Bridge, see the London Tower, etc), and also spent a couple of hours at the Aquarium. We had wanted to go to the zoo, but the Siberian Wind was on it's way in, and well... it was more than a bit nippy. But, it also gave us a good sense of the city and where things were. We should have planned to eat dinner downtown and go home late -- instead, we got stuck due to weather. Went one way on the tube, than back tracked to another tube, and then finally home (nearly 2 hours for a 30 minute commute). Day 2 of sightseeing was done via Tube and Walking (still a bit nippy, with snow falling heavily at times). We started with the Changing of the Queen's Guard (not the fuzzy hat soldiers, but the mounted soldiers). I was most impressed with the Band... who played while astride horses, and sometimes while the horses actually were walking. I can march and play, I can ride a horse, but I'm not sure I could play while astride a walking horse!! This was at Buckingham Palace. We also went to the Chamberlain Rooms, the Queen's Gallery, and the British Museum (mostly for the Assyrian, Egyptian, Greek, Roman and European History), and then to China Town for dinner. Getting home was much easier on Day 2 -- but it was 8pm at night vs. 6pm. Yesterday was our travel day home. We planned 3 hours for transportation (90 minute trip), to be "safe." Easy Bus was a massive fail on the return to the airport. We arrived early, but the bus was full, and had to wait -- the next bus was 45 minutes late. We stood outside under minimal cover in the -3 degree (celcius), with wet snow and wind -- huddled together to try to keep warm. My feet were numb from the cold. We had nearly given up on the bus arriving, and it showed up. We were just nearly thawed when the bus pulled off at another station and stopped. Apparently, the driver's time was up, and both the 40+ passengers waiting on the bus, and OUR full bus had to wait for another bus or two and then get on that one. Watching our time tick away, we gave up on the bus and ordered Ubers. We arrived to the airport at 2:20pm (we left our apartment at 10:00 am), and ran inside. We quickly used the bathroom, then I went one way with our one checked bag, and my husband went the other way with the kids to get started at Security (it was BUSY). Finally at security, my husband and our kids were just getting to the buckets scanners, the security guard let me pass through the line, as our flight was boarding. Wouldn't you know it, both my oldest son and I got randomly selected for pat downs and full body scans :( I was able to get my shoes on, but LEGOManiac ran without shoes, belt in hand, through the airport (and I grabbed half his other small electronic things). We got down to our gate at the final call. They boarded our kids, while they checked our passports -- kids were being boarded and dh and I were stuck as they got approval for us to plane (our passports expire in April, so they weren't going to let us on -- so we whipped out our official passports which are good through October and our Sojournos which are also good through October, and they let us through -- as we were running through the gate, the passport lady started to demand that they size my husband's bag for the plane, her co-workers looked at her like she had lost her every loving mind, and we just bolted for the plane. Safely on the plane, door shut, the flight attendants announced that we'd be sitting on the tarmac for 20 minutes and then get the wings de-iced and would probably take off in 30-45 minutes. It was 5pm by the time we got some water and food. I was never so grateful for a cheese sandwich in my life. The rest of the trip home was uneventful. And I was really, really glad to wake up to NO SNOW and temperatures well above freezing. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 Sorry you had a rough time getting away. The UK does not do snow well... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaKinVA Posted March 1, 2018 Author Share Posted March 1, 2018 Sorry you had a rough time getting away. The UK does not do snow well They actually did very well, all things considered. But, we will not fly in or out of Luton again, especially if we need to ride the EasyBus to get there. That extra stop/change buses/wait in the elements kind of killed us. We would have been much better off going out of Standstead via Stratford on the way home. But, we won't be in London again during the winter, either ;) Having spent enough time in states that don't do snow very well, I was very grateful for the salted walkways and stairs. I do think more people should have stayed home from work, though. Stay warm, Laura! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 They actually did very well, all things considered. But, we will not fly in or out of Luton again, especially if we need to ride the EasyBus to get there. That extra stop/change buses/wait in the elements kind of killed us. We would have been much better off going out of Standstead via Stratford on the way home. But, we won't be in London again during the winter, either ;) Having spent enough time in states that don't do snow very well, I was very grateful for the salted walkways and stairs. I do think more people should have stayed home from work, though. Stay warm, Laura! The outlying airports can be a pain. It's less of an issue in Scotland, but the flight bottleneck in London means that the distances to the 'London' airports can be silly. I'm working from home today. After I had picked up fuel from our wood pile and defrosted the bird bath, I walked onto our little side road and then onto the 'main' road. It's quiet out there (apart from the howling wind), very quiet. All the buses in the county have been cancelled and there's no one else on the roads. I get to spend the day with my family by the wood stove. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fraidycat Posted March 1, 2018 Share Posted March 1, 2018 Wow, that's quite the commute experience. I'm glad you made it to the airport on time. And congrats to all the swimmers! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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