London

Whenever I hear the word London, it reminds me of a Christmas years ago. I like giving experiences rather than gifts so I wrote on a piece of paper, “Lamb’s.”It was a gift to my Mom and it’s a fantastic live theater in Coronado. She read it as London! So we did both, attended Lambs and we went to London. It just so happened that my sweet niece, Jennifer, was going to the London School of Economics. So we had fun, going to the theater, eating great food, meeting friends in Bath and checking out where Harry Potter got on the train and finding the Ice Bar.

I digress…. I arrived somewhat rested. I had three seats. I could not pre check in. They needed to see my passport and since my passport does not have my middle names, ( special thanks to some government official for being lazy.) so I could see open seats but couldn’t book them. The line at the airport was easy and the checked in to one flight, not the other ( a problem to come later). Exit row in the bulkhead. Not a fan of the bulkhead, I unilaterally moved to the first row of three seats. I have learned that if you ask, they say wait until the Plane is in flight. So I do it when you can and ask forgiveness later. Got the seats, plane took off watched Little Fires Everywhere while eating a little charcuterie that I brought. A little wine and Ambien and I had a 6 hour nap. Easy flight.

Arriving in London should be easy, but it is a huge airport with so many terminals and gates. I never did go though passport control or customs. So I didn’t have the boarding pass for the next leg. Signage was not great. Bus to the terminal, long lines. Very strict about liquids in a one quart zip lock. Last person on the plan and arriving in Porto now. I should have a taxi driver with my name and he should take me to the hotel I booked for tonight.

I just finished magazines and next is a great book that I am loving, “Half the Sky.” By Nicolas Kristin and Sheryl Wu Dunn. I have been reading it for a few months. It’s about female poverty across the globe and what is being done with it. I few years ago I founded a project that supplied Ethiopian women with sanitary, washable, reusable napkins. It is so inspiring.