A New England

Ian is not a big fan of London, and determined that I see the “real” England. For me this a ‘new’ England, though I know it well from a lifetime of BBC movies and tv programs.

My trip started a bit differently, with packing. I normally start my process about a month ahead. I’ll put my suitcase out and as I think of things I want/need to take, I throw them in. I do lists, too, but don’t rely on them as much as I used to.
With house projects and a few sewing projects taking my attention, packing didn’t quite happen this way. The suitcase came out about a week before and the actual packing happened the morning I left. No panic, since I’d still been collecting/making things to bring. This is only day 2, but so far I don’t know of anything important I left behind.
Ian and I booked our tickets a few months ago, getting round trip tickets in basic economy (World Traveler) for $640 on British Airways. Thanks to a recently added direct flight between Austin and London Gatwick, the prices have come down quite a bit. Ian’s plans changed about 2 months ago when his work decided to sent him to Ireland for 2-1/2 weeks before our planned trip.
About a week ago I decided to cough up $230 to upgrade to World Traveler Plus. I was looking forward to some decent sleep with a bit more space.
Tuesday night I checked in and printed my boarding pass, and put it in my purse.
When I went to check my bag, the gate agent asked about my plans and then pointed to the placard sitting on the counter. The flight was oversold and the airline was offering up to $1850 in travel vouchers to people willing to give up their seat. I was VERY tempted to delay (though I’m not sure I’d get on the flight the next day), so I said no. The gate agent handed me a new boarding pass and told me where the club was. I didn’t look very closely at the boarding pass, and didn’t really wonder why they were telling me to go to the club. I got a Gin & Tonic and ate the sandwich I’d made myself. It wasn’t until we were in line wating to board that I looked at my boarding pass. It said Club World, not World Traveler Plus and when I compared it to the boarding pass I had printed, the new one had me 5 rows back. I started to think I’d been downgraded and was dreading a long flight in a tiny seat and incensed that I’d probably have to spend time on the phone to get my money back.
WELL, what I didn’t realize was my original seat, though further up in the plane, was exactly one row in front of the BUSINESS CLASS. That lovely woman at the BA counter had very casually upgraded me to business class without saying a word. And business class on BA means you sit in a little pod with a seat that folds flat, a foot rest that makes it into a narrow bed, a proper pillow and a duvet. HOLY COW.
Needless to say, I was very happy about this. It even made up for the 2-1/2 hour delay due to a malfunctioning iPad. That’s right, the iPad they use to transmit the counts for hold baggage didn’t send so the plane had to return the gate while the crew waited for confirmation from Heathrow.
We finally made it here yesterday (Thursday) about 2 hours late. Once I got through passport control and had my bag, my lovely bloke collected me in the rental car and we headed to Windsor.
I’ll upload some photos tomorrow as well as some from our day at Bletchley Park today.
We ended the day by meeting our hosts Steve, Lisa, Verity and Josh at a traditional pub, followed by a curry dinner.

Tomorrow we head to Chippenham. :)