By Foot and By Bicycle
August-September 2018
August 9: It’s up into the wild blue yonder today. Betsy correctly points out that our adventure started with bus and train first. We have started our trip that has been in the planning stage for nearly a year.
We arrived at the airport in plenty of time and, after checking bags and passing through security (no TSA Pre-check this time - Iceland Air does not participate), we enjoyed the business class lounge of United Airlines. As we arrived there, a couple saw our backpacks and inquired if we were going hiking. They were on their way to Scotland and we had a lively conversation about all of the great places we visited there 2 years ago.
We departed pretty much on time and are enjoying our seats in row 4. We started with sparkling wine, followed by ‘pink gin’ and tonics, and then BBQ chicken/etc. dinner. I watched a Netflix movie and we both watched Black Panther. Betsy is trying to sleep, even though it is just 9 o’clockand the sun is barely down.
At sunrise (about 11 pm our time) I did get a good view of a glacier on lower Greenland; the photo is not as good as the real view.
The second leg of the trip was uneventful; I watched a Netflix movie The Captive — not very good. We arrived in Manchester ahead of schedule and, after a 20-minute wait, passed through passport control. The bags were waiting for us and we had an easy walk on sky bridges to the Radisson Blu Hotel located between Terminals 1 and 2. We checked in and pretty much collapsed for a couple of hours. I don’t remember every being this comfortable lying in bed — I almost didn’t want to arise.
But we did get our weary bodies together and proceeded to explore the neighborhood. We had a bit of difficulty getting across the several access roads leading into the airport. We walked by or through a couple of parks, and then paralleled the tram tracks that link the airport and downtown Manchester to reach The Flying Horse Pub. It is a family-oriented pub, with outdoor seating/play ground and several TV screens, obsessing about soccer. We had beer/cider, two orders of Chicken Tikka Marsala, and shared a Bakewell Tart with vanilla ice cream (which was actually a cream sauce). We returned to the hotel, following the tram tracks back to the airport, completing 5.5 miles.
It is a bit cool
A ‘signed’ chainsaw carving
It is 7:30 and time for bed.
This blog merely lets everyone know that we made it to Manchester without issues and are starting the time adjustment. We also got a message from Ron that he, Jan and Varis arrived in London, also without complications. Ron and Jan have a new phone number as do we.
