On April 16, we escaped the USA craziness to spend a few days visiting friends in England, followed by a chug through the Chunnel to enjoy springtime in Paris.
The budget battles and US government shutdown affecting TSA workers was still underway when we left, and (like several other airports) DIA claimed to have a box where passengers could drop off gift cards for TSA staff struggling to make ends meet. This is something our EPA Alumni network has made possible for EPA staff, so I was all in to help fellow Feds. I bought a number of $20 cards (the max that can be accepted by federal employers who actually follow the ethics rules) to deposit in the box. Alas, after circumnavigating the never-ending construction site that is DIA these days, asking both TSA staff and airport hosts, no box was to be found, and the gift cards got to travel to Europe with us.
Wary of security delays, we arrived at DIA very early, but passed through security in record time. We hung out in Denver’s United lounge until our departure to Chicago O’Hare, then hung out in the Chicago lounge until boarding time for London. The two best things about the Chicago lounge were a bowl of lovely carrot-ginger soup and the metal koi who swim above the entrance escalator.
Everyone was on board for an on-time departure for Heathrow, when a “technical issue” delayed us on the ground for 20 minutes. That was just enough time for the storms that had been delaying Midwest flights to reach Chicago so the air traffic controllers could shut the airport down. We sat on the runway for two hours in the rain, our 9:30 departure finally lifting off at 11:30pm. Fortunately, we had npc real time constrains on the London side – we just missed out on an afternoon in London.
We breezed through passport control in about two minutes – a record – collected bags, and caught the new Elizabeth Line train for a ~40 minute ride to the Whitechapel station. London has taken many steps over the last few years to reduce traffic congestion and improve air quality in the City, and this new train line provides an important new transit connection. Transport for London now makes using transit so easy, with integrated route planning, multiple types of maps and real time arrival/departure information across all of London’s transit services (bus, train, tube and ferry).
At Whitechapel, we transferred from the overground Elizabeth Line train to the Tube’s District Line for the Mansion House Station, right across the street from our lodging. We stayed, once again, at the Cove Cannon Street, which I highly recommend – it’s a concierge-serviced apartment complex in a great location, just a few blocks from the Thames between St.Paul’s Cathedral and the Tower of London. Below are views from our window.
After settling in and some quick grocery shopping, we waded through the evening pub crowds across the Southwark Bridge to the Thames South Bank, where we enjoyed at excellent meal at The Swan, part of Shakespeare’s Globe Theater complex. (Sadly, nothing was playing at the Globe.) Â Our table had a view across the Thames and I enjoyed watching all the activity along the river – strollers, sunset cruises, ferries and some mudlarkers looking for treasures in the exposed tidal zone on the opposite side.
After dinner, we walked across the Millennium Bridge through the setting sun.
We strolled through St. Paul’s churchyard on our way back to the flat, then called it a night.
