Jolly Ole England

7 June 2016 – Tuesday

The trips to JFK and Heathrow were very smooth. I had a great bulkhead seat booked and it worked out well. I love traveling the world but for somebody as tall as me and porky it’s still uncomfortable. The flight from New York to London is just under eight hours which is considerably shorter than the 24+ hours it takes to get to SE Asia but still long.

Got into the Heathrow Terminal about 7:30AM . It was packed with folks waiting to go through immigration. That took about an hour and once I got to the immigration officer it took about two minutes. The officer was very friendly, sometimes they’re totally BUSINESS.  I had decided to check my backpack even though it qualified as a carry-on because I just didn’t want to have to sling it around on board. Grabbed it at the carousel and walked through the green line for customs without a hitch. Next stop, the Tube. Two tube trains to my next stop at Euston Rail Station taking about an hour. At Euston in London I grabbed a bite to eat, some needed Java and it was soon time for my 11:30 train to Blackburn. Virgin Trains are superb.

I had my GPS out clocking the speed and shortly after leaving the station were were flying at 110+MPH. The cars had seats similar to a tour bus with a 4-6 tables scattered throughout each car. The tables had electrical outlets for charging. Nice picture windows for the view and very comfy A/C. The 190 mile trip took two hours with only two very quick stops prior to Preston… so averaging 95MPH. Fantastic.

 

Having only dozed for a few hours on the plane I was completely shattered by the time I go to Blackburn where my friend Khoa met up with me. Caught a nap once we got to the house and then a nice evening at home with Khoa and his house mate, Mark.