I have a vendetta out against West Drayton. It seems to have conspired against me and my karaoke aspirations! This evening I saw a sign that said: "Karaoke Friday" and I thought NOOOOOO!!!! I missed my shot at showing off my karaoke prowess in jolly ole London. But Lo!, I got online and searched for West Drayton karaoke, and what do you know? There it was, Saturday night karaoke at The Fox and Pheasant. Brilliant.
An hour and one wrong turn later, I arrived at F&P, and was very pleased by what met me. *Excellent* dancing music, and yes, very cute accent-speaking boys. Unfortunately for me, that is where the wonders stopped. Having been outside the EU for over a year, I forgot to specify that I wanted water water, not carbonated water. And then, the worst, most appalling thing in the world: the lovely waitress informed me that the karaoke machine....was not working properly this evening. Oh, how did my plans to sing some Pat Benatar sink into the muddy Thames. So, I completed the Sudoku puzzle on my phone (Level: easy, Time: longer than I'm willing to admit), forced down the remainder of my gas-y water, took a stop by the loo and danced along to the rockin' music, before fixing my hair and reluctantly exiting the bar. Maybe one day I will be able to, you know, strike up a random conversation with a random person. Tonight was not that night.
I would hate for you to believe that the entirety of my trip to date can be summed up in the half-hour of mild disappointment I experienced when my perfect plans came to naught. What follows is a semi-short sum-up of my life since flying out of Omaha's Eppley Airport.
Flight 1: To Chicago O'Hare
Yes, O'Hare, we've met before, but last time you were far nicer to me! I got massively lost while visiting. Thank goodness for a long layover! I finally found the transport to Terminal 5, waited in line forever to go through security again, and off I went on Aer Lingus 124!
Flight 2: To Dublin
Long flights are definitely not my cup o' tea, but I was well rewarded when I arrived in Dublin (where, ps, it was about 55 degrees) and found basically the easiest airport ever. Though, I did have to go through a passport check and security.....again. I got to board my next plane on the tarmac :o, which is always fun. Makes me feel like a star. And off I was to London!
Flight 3: To London Heathrow
I was warned that Heathrow is the busiest, most chaotic airport I will ever see. Thankfully, I was completely misinformed, at least it certainly wasn't the most difficult leg of my long journey. Not by a long shot. Signs pointed me precisely where I needed to go. I found my luggage, a place to exchange money, and the taxi que, where there was absolutely no one in line. I'm pretty sure it took longer to check in to my bed and breakfast than it did to make it out of the airport. I imagine there are times when Heathrow can be very chaotic, but I was lucky enough to miss out on that!
I am staying in the Oakwood Bed & Breakfast in West Drayton. It is certainly not the Hilton, but has cheap rooms and wifi.
Alright, I know that what everyone really wants to read about is my trip to London. It's really just a lot of me getting lost, but I will detail it better later on. Right now, I think I should probably attempt to sleep -- only in Europe could I ever stay up until 3 am....
Loves and laughs and thoughts and dreams,
your rambling jennywren
No karaoke in London! Well, I guess Uncle Jer Ber won't be heading to London anytime soon. :-)
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