Wimbledon - Day 26
Day 26 was a travel day. We had to get up and get ready to fly back on Aer Lingus to Heathrow. We were not terribly hung over, but we were both ravenous. I get downstairs, and somehow Intercontinental Hotels believes that I have enough points to have gotten the night for free, and when I put the Holiday Inn number on the reservation, they submitted it as though I had requested points redemption. That meant the 175 euro room and breakfast for two rate I had been quoted was now just the charges on my mini bar, and the bar last night. Of course, it also meant I had not paid for breakfast and when we got to the restaurant, we had to pay 35 euros for one contintental and one full breakfast. The eggs were cold, but there was marmite and toast and really good coffee. I also liked the sausage and had some mushrooms. Colleen had some of my eggs, but they had to be ice cold by the time we felt comfortable enough to sneak her some. Didn't want to get busted for sharing and then be charged more. Still, at the end, I had paid only 70 euros for room and board for the night. It wasn't too bad at all.
We arrive at the Dublin airport Hertz counter, and it turns out were in the pick up only spot. We can't return a car there, we have to go to short term parking at the terminal and return the car there. The punks. Through some fault of my own, I had reserved the car using my Corporate Card apparently, and it had not paid for all of the use of NeverLost. I gave him my card, and he at least cleared the remainder of the bill. I suspect I am going to have to now figure out how to make sure the company does not pay for my rental car, and at the same time clear the AMEX statement line item that downloads into the system. SIGH!
Construction at an airport, go figure. The walkway to the terminal was long, through a lot of construction, and took longer than we wanted. We did get a laugh as a gentleman in a rental car drove onto the pedestrian walkway in front of us and then off the curb onto the road and out of the airport. Given the time I did that in Germany, I felt an odd sense of relief to know I wasn't the only idiot when it came to driving in strange countries. Of course, my pedestrian walkway ended in poles and I was forced to back all the way out, but that's neither here nor there.
Colleen and I had agreed that we'd fly out of Dublin fairly early so that we'd have most of the day in London. That seemed a reasonable plan. That was, of course, until we find out the flight we're on was cancelled, and that we'd now have to fly on the next flight one hour later, and that we wouldn't be sitting next to one another, and both were sitting in middle seats! From the ridiculous to the sublime. :-) At least we knew there would be no more driving as London meant dragging out our Oyster cards and catching various tubes. The flight was for the most part trouble free. Colleen even managed a brief catnap. I was so immersed in my book and my iPod I didn't even notice until we were announced to begin descent into London Heathrow.
I should mention that I heard on Ireland AM that the time we had been there was the hottest consecutive days streak in recorded history for the entire island. The forecast two days after we left showed showers and cooling temperatures. It figured. However, that did not prepare us for the heat that was London. We get to the terminal, walk for what seems miles lugging our backpacks to find baggage claim, and due to some random chance, Colleen's bag had been routed to the wrong carousel, but had not been placed. We had to wait in the sweltering terminal for the bag. Colleen was in a numb state, and the bag finally did arrive. Now came the "fun part." We were doing it on the cheap, and took the tube from Heathrow to Kensington, but that meant lugging the suitcases because we had to "mind the gap" as the tube constantly reminded us. Fortunately, it was only one train from Heathrow to our old familar Earl's Court station. We would be a short walk from the prepaid hotel and a quick trip around the block to gather the stored luggage. Of course, we had to navigate stairs, and it boiled inside the tube. The temperature that day was slated to reach a 28 year high, go figure! When we got to the Premier Travel Inn we were both ready to crash. The room had glorious A/C, and we cranked it up and lounged in chilled bliss.
Watching TV is dangerous, as I am prone to find some odd game show or quiz show and just start competing against the TV. Once Colleen saw that was happening, she decided it was time to get out of the room. We still had to pick up some last minute souvenirs and the extra luggage anyway, so getting out wasn't a bad idea. So, we went walking around town. Colleen got to buy a CD of an artist she liked from the Bridget Jones soundtrack, and we found the last of the souvenirs.
Got to the Mariott, and they had moved our luggage into a deep storage room, but they did find it. No, I didn't tip him for giving it to me. I probably should have, but I was pretty annoyed with them in the first place for not having a room for us in the first place. I lugged it down the car ramp, and there was our hotel anyway, so it was good we were close. I brought it into the room and discovered that the power supply I was convinced I had lost actually was in the stored luggage. I felt kinda stupid, but I was glad I had found it. I honestly didn't miss my laptop the entire time, though it would have been better to have stored all these blog entries over the course of the vacation instead of putting them all together after the fact.
Time for a little dinner. We chose Bistro Benito as I had seen it a couple of times, and had wanted to go, but never managed to get the team to go, since it was all about Wimbledon Village when I was working. The site I found doesn't really do them justice. It was traditional Italian, run by a traditional Italian family, and the food was awesome! We ate well, though I am not sure that it was worth the 55 pounds we paid. I didn't care. It was worth the experience.
While we were walking to dinner, we saw a ton of people, even some drinking in the street. As we sat down to dinner, we discovered that the Red Hot Chili Peppers were playing at Earls Court Exhibition Centre and were finishing up 4 nights there. Now, we probably could have bought some scalped tickets to actually go see the show, but I wasn't really in the mood, and I really just wanted a quiet evening. Besides, we got out of dinner well after the show had started. So, we popped into the Prince of Tek pub and had a few pints (I have switched to Staropramen when in London, warm flat beer is out for me!) and on the way out, I told Colleen I wanted to see if we could find a t-shirt for the band anyway. I was amazed as we turned the corner to see the throng of people heading out of the show, so we quickly turned back. However, as we got back in front of the tube station, there were vendors setting up, and I managed to get my shirt. That was in itself a very cool deal.
We got back to the hotel, but Colleen wanted to have a couple more rounds. There was a bar, so we definitely made use of it. They offered a 5 pack in a cooler that we could take back to the room, so we got the 5 Stella Artois and headed back to the room to finish those. Crashed late (again) and knew we'd be moving fast to make the train in the morning. Another travel day, this time back home!!!
Cheers!
We arrive at the Dublin airport Hertz counter, and it turns out were in the pick up only spot. We can't return a car there, we have to go to short term parking at the terminal and return the car there. The punks. Through some fault of my own, I had reserved the car using my Corporate Card apparently, and it had not paid for all of the use of NeverLost. I gave him my card, and he at least cleared the remainder of the bill. I suspect I am going to have to now figure out how to make sure the company does not pay for my rental car, and at the same time clear the AMEX statement line item that downloads into the system. SIGH!
Construction at an airport, go figure. The walkway to the terminal was long, through a lot of construction, and took longer than we wanted. We did get a laugh as a gentleman in a rental car drove onto the pedestrian walkway in front of us and then off the curb onto the road and out of the airport. Given the time I did that in Germany, I felt an odd sense of relief to know I wasn't the only idiot when it came to driving in strange countries. Of course, my pedestrian walkway ended in poles and I was forced to back all the way out, but that's neither here nor there.
Colleen and I had agreed that we'd fly out of Dublin fairly early so that we'd have most of the day in London. That seemed a reasonable plan. That was, of course, until we find out the flight we're on was cancelled, and that we'd now have to fly on the next flight one hour later, and that we wouldn't be sitting next to one another, and both were sitting in middle seats! From the ridiculous to the sublime. :-) At least we knew there would be no more driving as London meant dragging out our Oyster cards and catching various tubes. The flight was for the most part trouble free. Colleen even managed a brief catnap. I was so immersed in my book and my iPod I didn't even notice until we were announced to begin descent into London Heathrow.
I should mention that I heard on Ireland AM that the time we had been there was the hottest consecutive days streak in recorded history for the entire island. The forecast two days after we left showed showers and cooling temperatures. It figured. However, that did not prepare us for the heat that was London. We get to the terminal, walk for what seems miles lugging our backpacks to find baggage claim, and due to some random chance, Colleen's bag had been routed to the wrong carousel, but had not been placed. We had to wait in the sweltering terminal for the bag. Colleen was in a numb state, and the bag finally did arrive. Now came the "fun part." We were doing it on the cheap, and took the tube from Heathrow to Kensington, but that meant lugging the suitcases because we had to "mind the gap" as the tube constantly reminded us. Fortunately, it was only one train from Heathrow to our old familar Earl's Court station. We would be a short walk from the prepaid hotel and a quick trip around the block to gather the stored luggage. Of course, we had to navigate stairs, and it boiled inside the tube. The temperature that day was slated to reach a 28 year high, go figure! When we got to the Premier Travel Inn we were both ready to crash. The room had glorious A/C, and we cranked it up and lounged in chilled bliss.
Watching TV is dangerous, as I am prone to find some odd game show or quiz show and just start competing against the TV. Once Colleen saw that was happening, she decided it was time to get out of the room. We still had to pick up some last minute souvenirs and the extra luggage anyway, so getting out wasn't a bad idea. So, we went walking around town. Colleen got to buy a CD of an artist she liked from the Bridget Jones soundtrack, and we found the last of the souvenirs.
Got to the Mariott, and they had moved our luggage into a deep storage room, but they did find it. No, I didn't tip him for giving it to me. I probably should have, but I was pretty annoyed with them in the first place for not having a room for us in the first place. I lugged it down the car ramp, and there was our hotel anyway, so it was good we were close. I brought it into the room and discovered that the power supply I was convinced I had lost actually was in the stored luggage. I felt kinda stupid, but I was glad I had found it. I honestly didn't miss my laptop the entire time, though it would have been better to have stored all these blog entries over the course of the vacation instead of putting them all together after the fact.
Time for a little dinner. We chose Bistro Benito as I had seen it a couple of times, and had wanted to go, but never managed to get the team to go, since it was all about Wimbledon Village when I was working. The site I found doesn't really do them justice. It was traditional Italian, run by a traditional Italian family, and the food was awesome! We ate well, though I am not sure that it was worth the 55 pounds we paid. I didn't care. It was worth the experience.
While we were walking to dinner, we saw a ton of people, even some drinking in the street. As we sat down to dinner, we discovered that the Red Hot Chili Peppers were playing at Earls Court Exhibition Centre and were finishing up 4 nights there. Now, we probably could have bought some scalped tickets to actually go see the show, but I wasn't really in the mood, and I really just wanted a quiet evening. Besides, we got out of dinner well after the show had started. So, we popped into the Prince of Tek pub and had a few pints (I have switched to Staropramen when in London, warm flat beer is out for me!) and on the way out, I told Colleen I wanted to see if we could find a t-shirt for the band anyway. I was amazed as we turned the corner to see the throng of people heading out of the show, so we quickly turned back. However, as we got back in front of the tube station, there were vendors setting up, and I managed to get my shirt. That was in itself a very cool deal.
We got back to the hotel, but Colleen wanted to have a couple more rounds. There was a bar, so we definitely made use of it. They offered a 5 pack in a cooler that we could take back to the room, so we got the 5 Stella Artois and headed back to the room to finish those. Crashed late (again) and knew we'd be moving fast to make the train in the morning. Another travel day, this time back home!!!
Cheers!
posted by Derek Botti at
4:59 PM
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