May 2nd - part 2

Oh, the power of a nap! No, I'm not completely myself - not by a long shot - but my long, luxurious nap was quite delightful. I'm feeling slightly less loopy, so on to more tales of travel:

• London's Heathrow airport is large but easy to navigate. All sorts of interesting stores and spots to have a bite to eat. Having been fed (I didn't say "fed well") on my flight over, I wasn't really hungry. I wandered around a bit and then purchased 90 minutes worth of Internet time. After about 20 minutes, my gate was listed, so I logged off the connection as directed (to save my remaining credits, rather than having them eaten up) and headed over to the gate. Very easy to get to - elevator down, followed by a clean, easy, quick train (like a subway) ride to the B gates. Got to my gate, re-logged in... and suddenly my new account is nowhere to be found. Tried unsuccessfully for about 15 minutes and then decided to purchase another 90 minutes. I paid via AmEx and decided I'd let them help me sort it out when I get back home. Was only able to use about 10 minutes of the new time. Ah well. Remember, I saved all that money by not being able to upgrade my flights!


• On this flight (747, vs. a 777 over to London), World Traveler Plus was the section between 1st class and Business class. Of about 40 or 45 available seats, only about 15 ended up occupied. That allowed a few people to move around and we all had plenty of room. No one was seated beside me (would have been better still if the divider between the seats was moveable, allowing me to lie down, but no such luck). No babies, no children (I swear, I don't have anything against babies and children... except when they're fussy on planes. Don't hate me for it.)


• Another flight delay - this one due to someone not showing up at the gate on time, though his/her bags had been loaded on the plane. After they offloaded the luggage, we had another delay due to flight traffic. In the end, we left about 30 - 40 minutes late.


• Meals were a step or two up from the flight to the U.S. (no mystery meat). About 1/2 an hour after dinner, I took an ambien and fell asleep about 20 minutes later. When I awoke, about 5 1/2 hours had passed - nice! Even though the flight to B'lore was about 3 hours longer than the flight to London, the longer flight felt so much shorter and more comfortable.


• No gates available for arrival, so we had to stop on the tarmac and wait for shuttles to take us to the terminal. Only delayed things by about 10 minutes. Worst part = getting down the stairs with my carry-on (bigger roll-on than I normally take onto a flight). Ended up not being too much of a struggle & made it over to the terminal in ~ 5 min.


• Immigration was quick and easy. I had been told that there were procedures in place at the airport (along with 8 other airports in India) to examine arrivals for swine flu, including blood pressure, temperature & throat swab. Fortunately, the process ended up being a simple form which was then reviewed with someone sitting at a small folding table (and wearing a mask, I might add! The only other masks I saw on the entire journey were worn by 2 people at Heathrow). I was passed thru quickly and was on my way. Total delay for this screening (including waiting in line) was perhaps 10 - 15 minutes.


• Our luggage was already starting to come out by the time I made it to the carousel... but my bag took another 20 minutes to arrive. Ah well. Truly, do we get our luggage any more quickly in the U.S.? It arrived fully intact and the TSA-approved lock was still on, un-tampered-with. Thank goodness the chocolate that I brought for my new friends in India was safe!


• Exited the main area to find someone from the hotel waiting to greet me. He took my bags and led me to the driver. Had a nice, easy ride to the hotel. Though the airport is about 42 km (30ish miles?) to downtown, there was minimal traffic on a Saturday morning at around 6 am. Definitely not the chaos of downtown Bangalore traffic that I remember from 4 years ago (I'm sure I'll experience that on Monday getting to the office). No cow sightings yet, either, for those who asked.


• The hotel is really lovely. Lots of security, from gates to numerous security guards. Pulled up to the reception area where I was greeted by name. A few people took care of my bags while I was led to my room (no front desk check-in required). Had to pass thru a metal detector before proceeding into the hotel.


• Again, quite a lovely hotel and my room is great. Comfortable king-sized bed with great pillows* and soft, cool sheets (remember, I took a nice long nap!). Desk for working, several 2-line phones, small couch, nice TV (I just turned it on & flipped channels - and I found last week's Amazing Race!! Woo hoo - I may be able to keep up with it while I'm here!), DVR (with DVDs available at the front desk).
• * There is a pillow menu available, in case I'm not content with those provided. Choices include: Spelt pillow, exclusive neck supporting pillow, horse hair pillow (for babies/children), down special pillow, non allergy bolster "imprima", smoker pillow "imprima", standard duofill pillow, super soft pillow ("a popular choice with our lady guests"), chimera pillow, firm pillow, contour pillow, and slim pillow. Wow. Who knew? I may have to order one or two just because I can.

• A fruit bowl (apples, grapes, tiny bananas) was waiting on the coffee table, along with several chocolates and bottles of water.


• Room has a balcony with a small wood table and 2 chairs. Not huge, but not tiny, either. The balcony overlooks the beautiful gardens - including a small waterfall! - at the back of the hotel. I can't see the waterfall from the balcony, but I can hear it.

• I was supposed to be in a "deluxe" room (the lowest class of rooms), but I believe they gave me the next class ("conservatory"). According to what I've read, conservatory rooms are the ones that overlook the gardens & that have complimentary fruit & sweets. I'm not great at estimating room sizes, but I'd say more than 400 square feet.


• The bathroom is very pretty, with a separate shower stall and deep tub, along with a separate room with the toilet. Nice, big towels - love that!

• Downfall of a lighted magnifying mirror = problems that you didn't realize that you had! Thank goodness for tweezers, for all the strays I missed under my eyebrows!


• Starting to feel a little loopy/out of it again, so this will be all for now. More later!