Elizabeth’s Journal

Arrival in England

So after being home from Kansas for only about 9 or 10 days, we took off again and drove to Kathleen & John’s to spend the night. Courtney was there too, and we had fun helping her with her homework. Kathleen got us off to the airport at exactly the right time the following day, and the new terminal at Intercontinental Airport was a breeze.

The whole flying experience was great until we actually got on the plane. Being dropped off was easy, the new terminal has a nice feel to it, nothing was too crowded, the food was good, and the staff were all helpful. We were very encouraged—this was our first time flying Continental instead of British Airways for many years, and so far everything was superior—a shorter drive to Katy instead of Fort Worth, the terminal being so much better than dealing with the DFW airport, it was all looking good.

Unfortunately, even after promising Margaret that I’d reserve judgment until after I flew (at the wedding I’d expressed disappointment that we were going to have to fly Continental this year instead of BA), I have to say that the actual flight itself was pretty bad. The cabin crew were mildly grumpy and sometimes bordered on rude, the food was pretty dismal (not awful but certainly not appetizing, and Dale’s yogurt in the morning didn’t even come with a spoon), and they might as well not even bothered printing up a schedule for the in-flight entertainment because it was downright abysmal. One of the best things about flying BA was that it was great for the kids—there was something on from the minute we came out of takeoff until they turned off the cabin systems for landing, and if it repeated it did so only once, and there was LOTS of stuff for kids. And for adults! But there was nothing for the kids. We didn’t even get socks or a little toothbrush. And the seats were very uncomfortable, like they were concave where they were supposed to be convex.

Who knows, maybe it’s better in Business First or First class, but I thought it was pretty poor myself. For next year’s trip, I’m going to start scouring for flights starting about six months’ ahead of time so we don’t have to do this again.

We did arrive on time and got through immigration quickly, and then once we got our luggage and got into our minivan we’d hired to pick us up (same guy three years running), we made a stop at Pilgrim Harps for me to pick up a rental Skylark harp for the month that we are here. It’s in a lovely country house (they make the harps there) out in the Surrey countryside, and the harp, even though it’s just their low-end student harp, sounds really beautiful. I had it out of the case and was tuning it up within ten minutes of arriving at Joy & Brian’s. Amazing how different it feels to mine, just holding it. But it does sound lovely, and I feel very privileged to get to play it for a month.

Now I’m off to bed, the last one up, as usual. The kids were great travellers and we all had naps this afternoon, but I am feeling sleepy. Glen and Ben both came by tonight to say hello, and it was great to see them. So we’ll see how the day is tomorrow. Should be lovely—I had to put a jacket on when we went up to the shops this afternoon. The gardens are all beautiful here, especially Joy & Brian’s. I’m so excited we’re here!