We've arrived!

And so it begins! A decent flight with a strong tailwind got us to Heathrow well ahead of schedule. In an attempt to avoid the awkwardness of our Customs experience in June, we placed our landing cards in our passports such that the visa pages would be the first thing the agent saw. It worked well, except the agent then stamped those pages as they would any other blank page in a passport; you can't even make out my birth date or nationality now. *sigh* I think both Tea and I cried a little (inside) to see the fruits of no small amount of labour vandalized in such a fashion. Of course, we said nothing, and were through in no time; here's hoping the next Customs agent who looks at them doesn't bat an eyelash.

Oh, and one final note on Customs: I saw Michael Geist in line behind us with his family. I didn't introduce myself, however, so that's all I have to say about that.

Since we were well ahead of schedule, we decided to see if we could catch an earlier National Express coach to Cheltenham. Tea had paid extra for this option -- in case Customs tripped us up -- and for an additional fee, we were on the 7:15 a.m. coach, Caffè Nero snacks and drinks in hand.

We sent James, our landlord, a text message on the way asking if showing up early would be a problem. He said that so long as we didn't mind him under foot for a bit, it was fine with him. He's quite the funny guy, actually -- Tea says he reminds her of our friend 'W', and I can see why -- and we all hit it off really well. (We'd met his wife, Linda, on our house-hunting trip.)


Malvern Road BridgeAfter dropping our bags, and going through their list of important things to know and the inventory (they're very organized), it was off to Waitrose to see what the nearest grocery store had to offer. As if the fifteen-minute walk door-to-door (with convenience stores much closer than that) wasn't sweet enough, we got to take in the beautiful Honeybourne Line Cycle Path while doing so. Add to that that there are many lactose-free products available at Waitrose -- there are none at Tesco, and I was beginning to wonder if that was indicative of the whole town -- and a free delivery service, and you can understand why I was grinning from ear to ear as we left for home.


Our kitchen tableThen it was time for a nap; Tea's was only slightly longer than mine, ;-) leaving me time to finish The Falcon and The Snowman and have a good long chat with Kae.

We decided to have take-away delivered from The Everest -- a favourite of ours on the June trip -- for supper, and used the Waitrose and Tesco Web sites to plan what groceries we'd like delivered over the next two days while we waited for it. Our supper arrived in no time, piping hot; the balti chicken was just as good as I remembered, and it was a great experience all-round: I've never shaken a delivery guy's hand before! :-)

Day 8: London

As some of you know, Saturday night was a late one for us, making the 1030 coach to Heathrow seem that much earlier. But we made it to the bus station -- walking this time, now that we had the town down -- with plenty of time to spare, and we were in prime tourist form as we arrived at the airport: the hotel hopper wasn't around, so we immediately hailed a taxi to the hotel; we were grabbing the hopper back to Heathrow (and the Underground), having checked in and dropped our bags in the room, as another couple who'd come in from town with us was just getting off it. No moseying for me that day!

Then it was down to the Underground, where we bought day passes -- Heathrow is in Zone 6, so there's no saving money by getting a pass for the core a.k.a. Zone 1 -- grabbed some tube maps and minded the gap as we headed to the city. A little over a half hour later, I had the first of many surreal experiences as we emerged from the Knightsbridge tube station to the sound of a steelpan; combined with the warm weather, I could've sworn we'd just arrived at our first port of call on a Caribbean cruise. It was fantastic!

I'm currently working on a Google map of our walk; I'll embed photos in it, etc. It'll be great. But, as I promised a post within 24 hours of getting home, I'll include a slideshow of our Day 8 and Day 9 photos in the meantime. Enjoy!

Day 1, Part 1

Central Bus Station, Heathrow
 We've arrived! The flight was uneventful, save for some bumpy circling over our destination. An espresso for me and a smoothie for Tea fixed us up as we waited for the coach to Cheltenham.

Swindon
 Despite barely sleeping on the flight -- we made up some time in the air, so they served breakfast early -- I was craning my neck this way and that as the coach pulled out on to the M4 motorway, drinking in the sites. Tea didn't get many winks either, between the cramped seats and my pointing out sheep to her -- I wasn't brave enough to suggest she count them. I must've closed my eyes at one point, though, because I woke to the driver announcing that we'd reached our first stop on the route: Swindon.

Cirencester
 The second stop was Cirencester; quite a bit a road work going on there, providing opportunities for many snaps.

Outside Cheltenham
 Finally, we're just outside Cheltenham. No idea what this little building was for, but it reminded me of the reading I've done on Mongolian yurts; totally out of place in the English countryside by my reckoning, and awesome for that very reason.

Time for a little cat-nap at Willoughby House, then it's out for some groceries before an early night. Big day tomorrow: five appointments! Wish us luck!