FROM LONDON, ENGLAND

(click on images to enlarge)

Traveling with Mr. Murphy

LONDON, Mar 13, 2008 - In the good old days of ocean crossings by ship, the Cunard ocean liner company used to have a slogan, "getting there is half the fun" (see a Cunard 1963 adm - right, courtesy of Janet Allen and Peter Campbell, my dear friends from Western Australia).  That was before they went out of that business, that is.  Whereupon they pursued the more leisurely and less demanding crowds that prefer cruises to flying. If someone were to suggest at this day and age of airline travel that getting there is half the fun, they should be summarily proclaimed to be off their rockers and advised to seek counseling.

Take my latest trip, for example.  Ostensibly, I was traveling alone.  As it turns out, however, Mr. Murphy was with me every step of the way.  Uninvited and unwelcome, the author of "Murphy's Law" nonetheless insisted on accompanying me on this trip to London.

He first showed up in the cabin of the American Airlines S80 jetliner while we were still on the tarmac in at the Sky Harbor Intl airport in Phoenix.  The captain announced that there our departure would be delayed by an unspecified amount of time due to ground fog at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport, our first destination.  Since most of the passengers were traveling to Dallas involuntarily (because that's an AA hub) and had to make connections to other flights there, you could hear a collective groan spread throughout the cabin. 

"Thanks a lot, Mr. Murphy," I thought.

Well, the delay turned out to be not so bad, only about half an hour, so making the connecting flight was not an issue.  Once on board of the aircraft that was going to take us on the next leg of my trip - to JFK in New York - we faced a more serious problem.  The captain announced that the autopilot feature was not working properly, and that he is having maintenance take a look at it.  "Well, that can take hours," I muttered, recalling similar circumstances in the past.  But I said nothing out loud as I did not want to alarm other passengers who may have had better luck with their travel experiences.  Or those who had the best luck of all - and had never traveled on a modern airline before.

"Here you go again, Mr. Murphy," I thought.

Well, it took about an hour, but eventually we did leave Dallas and headed for New York.  Luckily, I had more than two hours between the scheduled connecting flights, so once again, making my flight to London did not appear to be an issue.

With about half an hour to go before the scheduled departure time, I packed up my laptop and headed out to the Admirals Club reception to make sure the airline did not change the gate while I was working at the club, as they are sometimes known to do.  The gate was still the same but the airplane was going nowhere fast.  "They've just given us a two-hour estimated delay," a lounge attendant told me.  She did not know the reason.  But I suspected it had to do with bad weather in England, with very strong winds, that I had read about on the internet. 

"Well, Mr. Murphy, maybe the third time will be the charm and I won't see you again on this trip?" I thought.

Well, the delay turned out to be closer to three-hours.  But eventually take off we did.  To say that our landing in London was a challenge even for experienced commercial pilots would be an understatement.  Gale force winds were buffeting the 767 jet, shaking it like a leaf fluttering to the ground from some high tree branch.  It was a hard landing but the aircraft stayed in one piece.  Were it a European airline, applause and maybe even ovations would have been heard throughout the cabin.  Instead, I only heard murmurs of quiet prayers.

By the way, we landed at the London Stansted airport. "What's London Stansted airport?" you may be wondering?  Me, too.  I have been to Londond several dozen times but had never even heard of that airport before this trip.  So to help you as well as myself, here is a map the surrounding counties (shires) around London.  As you can see, Stansted is about an hour-train ride northeast of the city.  By contrast, Heathrow is a tube (subway) ride away west of the city, while Gatwick lies a bit farther south of the city.

The Stansted Express train...

...which you can see in the left photo at the airport train station, runs through some pretty pastoral countryside, which did not look like much on a drab and cloudy day.  Still, there were some green fields, like the one in the rightmost picture.  The hundreds of white dots that are dotting the field are birds having their lunch.

You can also see a flock of swans on a river in front of that apartment building in the leftmost shot.  At other places along the route, one could still see the ugly remnants of the Industrial Revolution that's now about two centuries old (right two photos).

An Unwitting London City Tour

The Stansted Express terminates at the Liverpool Street station in Central London.

It is a charming old structure that also dates back to the Industrial Revolution and the Victorian era in this country.  The station is well maintained and quite ornate, as you can see from the above photos.

From there on, my cab ride to my hotel in the Kensington area became an unwitting tour of the City of London.  The bullet-shaped building on the left is called a "Gurka Building."  It was apparently the target of an IRA bombing, my cabbie informed me.  I am sure that every student of British history will recognize the center left photo as the Tower of London.  What you may not know from history books is the pub across the street from it with a gruesome, but very appropriate name, "The Hung Drawn and Quartered" (center right).

We next came upon the Millennium Wheel (left), across the river Thames from the Parliament Buildings (the right three shots).

Right next to the Parliament (left) is the Westminster Abbey, the site of many coronations and royal weddings, among some public celebrations in Britain (two center shots).  A little ways along St. James Park, we caught a first glimpse of the Buckingham Palace, the British royal residence (right).

A few more shots of the Buckingham Palace from different angles...

... and then of a War Memorial at Green Park on Piccadilly (two left shots), and the entrance to Hyde Park right next to it (center right).  Finally, the famous Harrods department store on Knightsbridge, before arriving at my hotel.

As it turns out, Mr. Murphy was already waiting for me in my "room with a view" (left). "The man just won't leave me alone on this trip," I thought as I struggled to get my internet connection working properly.  No, it wasn't just the ugliness of the view. It was one of the more bizarre problems I have ever encountered.  I could browse the net but could not download or send my e-mails.  (As for those of you who did receive e-mail from me yesterday, that's because I walked across the street into a Starbucks from where I was able to do it).  So after about five hours of hotel staff and I struggling to solve the problem, I three in the towel.

"I am out of here," I told the hotel manager.  "And I don't expect to be charged for the last five hours unless you want me to bill you right back at my consulting rates for trying to help you deal with your lame network system." 

He did not argue.  And I got checked into another hotel nearby. That's where Mr. Murphy made his final appearance for the day.  They only had a smoking room available.  "Oh, well, it's just for one night," I reasoned, before finally being able to start enjoying my visit to London.  And the view from my room also improved (right).

Family Visit

I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening with my daughter and her two children.  They live in a lovely quiet neighborhood in South Kensington...

...including a private park to which only the local residents have access - with a key.

The next day, on our way to my grandson Nik's soccer practice (center right), I took the above pictures of the Albert Concert Hall and of the Royal College of Music, across the street from it.  Later, Katharina and also hung on to me after her evening meal.

And that's all she wrote for now from London...

TO BE CONTINUED... 

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