Norway Cruise to the Midnight Sun via London

June 11th, 2014 - Fly from Durango, CO to Dallas,TX connect to Austin, TX to fly to London Heathrow International Airport.  Austin to London direct flight, who knew.  And why?  Anyway, upon our arrival at Heathrow no luggage.  This is the next day already, June 12 as England is 6 hours ahead of our Mountain CO time.  British Airways does a search and they say our bags did not arrive. Duh, we sort of figured that out already.   BA cannot locate luggage and can only say the bags are in transit.  So we file the search form and leave for hotel.  Good thing we are going to be in London for a couple of days, bags will arrive tomorrow for sure, just come on one of the next flights.  We head to find the "tube" to get across London to our hotel to meet up with our two friends Michael and Chuck.  They were kind enough to get us very very discounted cruise tickets on Holland America for sailing with them on this trip.  It is the "Voyage of the Midnight Sun" which leaves from Dover,England and sails up the coast of Norway into the Arctic Circle and back to Dover, two weeks altogether.
(Thanks guys!)



We had done some research on navigating once we arrived in London so we had an idea of what to look for and where we needed to get on and get off the "tube."  But switching subway lines to get there was still a challenge. 

Once we got to the station nearest our hotel, we walked out into the new world of London city streets, quite different even from our big city days in Tucson, AZ.  And they drive on the wrong side of the road too!

After a short 10 minute walk, we find our Marriott Hotel on the north side of London near St. James Park and meet up with Michael and Chuck.  We decide not to waste the day so chart out a day to take in sites and head back to the "tube" to catch a boat tour on the famous Thames River.  The big tower is "Big Ben" but that's not its' real name; more on that later.

The big Ferris wheel structure is the Millennium Wheel or London Eye that opened in 1999 as part of the New Years millennial celebration.  There are 32 pod "capsules" which can handle approx. 25 people and it continually moves in a circle.  As the "capsule" comes to the landing area, people exit, cleaning crew jumps in to remove trash and then exit, and the next load of people board.  It never stops....sort of like gondolas. One go-around takes half an hour with the wheel rotating at only twice the speed of a tortoise sprinting, so you can step on and off without the wheel needing to stop!

The London Eye is the fourth-tallest structure in London, so the far-reaching views over London are spectacular. On a clear day you can see as far as Windsor Castle. And the slow speed of the rotation means there's plenty of time to see everything and take lots of photos.  Not!  Only for the brave and not for the faint of heart...we only observed.  It is majestic though!

                                                                             

Here is poster pic. (not mine)  

Oh my, this is work and I am only on day 2 of 17 days.  Stay tuned "gentle reader", to coin a phrase from a good friend.     Hehe, I am taking a page out of Wally's handbook for this blog, thanks, Wally.   There is more to come but that is all I can do for now....so check back every couple days for a new segment of "Keeping up with Mike & Robert".