Day 39. July 2, 2012

Day 39. July 2, 2012. Monday


Off for a vacation within the vacation


This morning was spent doing all the final things that need to be done finished before you you can leave on vacation. Eventually all was prepared to go. The cab was called.

Just before noon the big black traditional cab came to pick us up and take us to the Glasgow International Airport. Yes, the person who tries to avoid flying like a plague is getting on an airplane.....cost, time, riding in the car for the wee one. Two big suitcases, four carry-ons, one pram/stroller, and one car seat, four adults, and one little one all fit into that cab. When we reached the airport the cab let us off in the parking lot instead of at the cab stand.

The cabs and Glasgow International Airport seem to be a bit strangle. Apparently, after a terrorist threat a few years ago, only the airport bus and one taxi service (white taxis) which are large and small minivans are allowed to operate at the airport. City taxis may bring passengers to the airport, but they must drop off their passengers in the parking lot and may not wait for another fare. City taxis may be ordered by a passenger after they land, but they must pick up the passengers in the parking lot. There is to be no standing by city taxis. The white taxis are more expensive, territorial and generally a pain in the neck.

We got our luggage out in the rain, of course, and headed into the airport. We checked in and checked our luggage as well. The car seat and the pram had to be taken to the oversize area. Done with all of that we headed to security which is like the States. Neil went through, Pete went through, Jess and Joey went through without a single beep. I went through and set off the alarms. I apparently had left my step counter in my pocket....not on purpose. I got the full pat down....quite thorough. Not only did I set the beepers off, my carry-on was pulled to be gone through. EasyJet allows one carry-on, so my purse had to go inside of the duffle bag I carried. I have no idea why.....they searched through everything twice. Jess's bag was also pulled because of the formula she had for Joey. Security made her open one of the boxes of liquid formula and taste it. After we survived that, we made all sorts of inappropriate comments and ideas about what we could have done. However, we followed the basic ideology....security people do not have a sense of humor....so do not mess with them.

EasyJet....colors are orange and white.....is also connected to Easyhotel and Easybus. I wonder if they own Sainsbury (a grocery chain) whose colors are orange and white.

Please let me state.....I hate flying. The flight from Glasgow to Stanstead ( north of London) is about an hour....We go up....fly steady for a bit.....and start to descend. They do have time to sell food and drinks from their over-priced cart. They also go through with toys and souvenirs to sell. Then they collected money for UNICEF. Obviously, I survived the trip....thanks to Pete giving me a game called Flow to play on his phone and the distraction of a certain little girl. We picked up our rental car after a bit of a snag....one of the credit card companies that I had called to tell them we would be using the card out of our normal areas decided to stop the transaction because of possible fraud. Used a different card and went out to pick up our Puegot.....a small SUV. Pete is doing the driving since he took driving lessons over here.

We headed to Cambridge. We are glad Pete was driving. We reached our hotel in Cambridge. We had reservations at Travel Lodge. Travel Lodge is the UK has a better reputation than in the States. It was not a cheap hotel by any means. The hotel was built in a newer complex which had a cineplex, restaurants and two small grocery stores. It was really a rather nice looking place. However, we had a bad feeling about this hotel when they told us the room wasn't paid for, and we thought it was. We chalked that one up to the banking snafu experience by NatWest and the Royal Bank of Scotland......a huge computer malfunction whereby people's moneys were not being credited to their accounts (including direct deposits), nor was anything being paid out. The bank got the money and kept it. We were told that there was free wifi; however, the free wifi was only in the cafe area. We were told the hotel had air conditioning; however, it was set at 18 C. Unfortunately the thermostat didn't work. Nor did the air conditioning work. Nor did the windows open. Now 18 C isn't bad, but Pete and Jess have a baby monitor that measures the room temperature. The actual temperatures in the room were hovering around 80 degrees F. or higher. We were lucky to have a floor fan in the room. We were given one bath towel. The bed had a distinct list to the center which was better than the one in Pete and Jess's room which had a bed with one broken leg.

We went across the plaza to a restaurant called Frankie and Benny's. It looked like a nice place, specializing in American type foods. Jess ordered a glass of wine. The waitress came back and told her it wasn't available. Jess ordered a different one....waitress came back and told her it wasn't available. It happened a third time. The fourth time the bartender came back to tell us that one wasn't available either. They finally found a wine for her. Then the bartender told us that the beers that we ordered were not available. Same fiasco.....finally a beer was found. The food was good.

We went to Sainsbury for some soap and shampoo.....no there was none supplied by the hotel. We went back to the hotel and retired to our rooms. I forgot to mention the 12 Pounds per night that we had to pay for parking. Between the reception area and the elevators you had to use the hotel card to get through the locked doors. There was also a locked door between the elevator lobby on our floor and the room; however, that one was broken. Then finally we could get to our room. We had to put one of the room cards in the electricity slot to make anything in the room work, including the air conditioner that did not really work.

Note to self: sleep in park on park bench instead of staying in a Travel Lodge......

Steps: 6,992

Sorry, I can't believe I didn't take a single picture of the dreaded hotel.