London street
nitroglycerine. Anyhow, after that was all over he put on the tiny lock and gave the suitcase into the hands of the baggage handlers; it arrived OK at the other end.
Well, here we are in London. Los Angeles International Airport was only moderately busy in the late afternoon. We experienced Baggage Check at the ticket counter, where we stood by and watched as our suitcases were opened and patted with explosive-detecting devices by freshly-hired federal employees of the Transportation Security Agency. Bob's suitcase set off the explosives beeper, so several inspectors congregated around the finicky device and advised the inspector doing Bob's suitcase to take the items out and check them individually. So undies and PJs were laid on the table until the apparent culprit was found. Some of his medicine (we brought a six-month supply) looked like explosives. Or so they said. It might be nitroglycerine. Only it wasn't
London street
nitroglycerine. Anyhow, after that was all over he put on the tiny lock and gave the suitcase into the hands of the baggage handlers; it arrived OK at the other end.
The flight took ten hours; we slept most of the time. Just as we were landing, it started to snow, just enough to cover things in a blanket of white and make the sidewalks slushy. We awoke this morning to learn that this uncommon snowfall has snarled traffic and apparently disrupted some businesses. By mid-morning, the sun was out and most of the snow was now puddles. We were lucky, as it turned out. Dozens of flights into Heathrow arriving later in the day were cancelled.
We have a tiny hotel room on Sussex Gardens, which is a row of old four-story town houses converted into small hotels. The Delmere is a Best Western, so we continue to accumulate points for free nights. It's about three blocks from Paddington Station, where we got off the Heathrow Express and purchased our Senior Railcards and SuperSaver tickets to Truro for next Tuesday. We're about halfway adjusted to the jet lag, not so bad.
Albert Memorial, Hyde Park
Today was devoted to selecting our apartment for our six-week London stay, from March 1 to April 12. We'd been corresponding with several real estate agents during the past several months, and found two who were interested in working with us. We have selected a one-bedroom apartment with large rooms near Regent's Park. We will be in a Mews House, formerly part of the housing for the housekeeping staff of the huge mansions which face the park itself. The apartment-hunting expedition has involved many subway rides and lots of walking, with the result that we feel virtuously tired. We were also confounded by the fact that the Central Line is out of service for two weeks; seems a train engine had become separated from some cars with ill effect on the rails. We've also read a big warning sign that there will be a 48-hour Industrial Action this weekend starting 0900 Saturday; the British firefighters are involved in a labour dispute.
We'll be leaving Tuesday morning for Cornwall. In the next couple of days we'll be investigating things like alternative (cheaper) Internet service, banks and banking, and such other practical matters as might come up.