Today was our last day in London. The weather was fabulous with the sun sparkling off the Thames as we walked alongside it to our vendor's office. As we walked, I looked out at the many bridges, each with their own character and story. As we passed Millenium Bridge, it took me back to Erin & John's wedding and my last trip to the U.K., where my groomsman partner told me about how he'd helped to test the stability of that bridge.
The business stuff was good today, but the real fun came after work for it was time to make the expedition to the airport. O.P., Lisa (my colleague and his wife) and I are staying at the airport Hilton tonight as we have early flights in the morning. After a lamb burger with fresh blue-veined farmhouse cheddar on a toasted roll from a stall in Borough Market (a spectacular market featuring every imaginable kind of cheese, meat and other speciality items) and a Wharf Winter Ale (think Newcastle, but better) from a local micro-brewery to fortify us, we picked up our bags from our home for the past ten days and took a taxi to the train station. The taxi was a private car for hire, which was a little worriesome, but after managing to cram all the luggage in the tiny hatchback trunk (weird for a taxi, no?) we were pretty much committed. Traffic was crazy as usual and 40 minutes later we arrived at Paddington Train Station. The "tube" might have been quicker, but none of us could stomach the idea of hauling our luggage up and down several flights of stairs and then cramming ourselves with that luggage into already overflowing subway cars. We've been using the tube for almost two weeks now and we just couldn't endure what would surely be torture. Not to mention, it is the last Friday of the year for many working folk here in London so the crowds were even bigger than normal.
At Paddington we easily caught the Heathrow Express train and in the flash of an eye (15 minutes?) we were at Heathrow Airport and waiting for our next train to the appropriate terminal. 30 minutes after that, I was finally checked in and searching for the mini bar. Yes, the mini bar. But not for a drink...after all, there is the Hilton Club for that :-) You see, I'd gone to this cheese tasting event at Borough Market on Wednesday evening...and I'd tasted some marvelous cheeses that were too good to pass up. I mean, they will be perfect for Christmas Eve. So, I'd taken the advice of the cheese sellers and had been storing my precious purchases on my windowsill - outside during the day and inside on the ledge at night. It was plenty cold enough. Except now as I walked into my room at the Hilton, I saw that the windows didn't open. Not even a little bit. Kind of a problem. I was debating how to best explain this dilemma to Guest Services when as a last ditch effort I opened the closet. Low and behold - a tiny mini-bar fridge. Saved! And so I stowed my cheese and headed off to meet O.P and Lisa for that drink in the club.
Now I just hope the conversation tomorrow with US Customs goes as smoothly....
US Customs: "anything to declare?"
Me: "surely unpasteurized cheese doesn't count and as a declared food stuff"
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment