Jolly Ole England!
So… here we are in First Class… jealous? Oh my. We had watched this child throw temper tantum while in the waiting area. Even made a joke about sitting next to him. His parents had zero control. He definitely did not like the word “no”. This tantrum went on before, during and after the flight…
With the need to take the first flight out… and international flights all red eyes, we had a long wait ahead of us! After being tortured outside security for quite a long time, we decided to check out the Airport Westin at Detroit Delta Terminal. The day room costs $150 for the afternoon and we considered it, but by the time we thought about it, we only had six more hours… so we had the bell desk watch our luggage. We went inside and relaxed in the very big, very quiet lobby. Getting a little hungry, we went to the lobby restaurant for a bite to eat. Had a great meal and by then, we had reached the time that we could check our luggage.
With no sleep on Thursday and racing around on Friday, we were beat by the time we got on our flight from Detroit to London. We barely got on… but made it! So, we had to think of a plan to get us to Southampton. Once in my comfy seat, I realized I had no internet service. I could only txt… so I got in touch with Jeremy and after a bit of shenanigans, we were able to book coach tickets from the airport to Southampton (where we had a car rented). We climbed into our seat on the coach (bus) and hubby was OUT! Busses run often out of LHR airport so we booked an 11am to make sure we had time to process into the country. It was 37 pounds for the two of us… we booked the changeable tickets.
We arrived in Southampton, took a taxi to the airport and rented our car. We were hours early since Immigration and Customs went so quickly. It was actually shocking how quickly we went through! We had a coach reserved at LHR for 11am and ended up switching to an 8:30 coach! (Thanks Jeremy for thinking of the changeable ticket!) Once we picked up our bright red Citroen, we headed to the beach resort town of Bournemouth! Our room wasn’t ready (we didn’t expect it to be) so we walked the town a bit…
With a very short walk to town, we realized how hard it is to cross the street! We keep looking the wrong way before crossing… lucky to be alive! On a brighter note… these beautiful flowers are everywhere! So pretty… This one was right outside the grounds of our hotel.
Not only do we look the wrong way before crossing, there are cars coming from everywhere. There’s side streets and lanes filtering into lanes. At least the weather is sunny and warm! Can’t wait to really explore tomorrow… On a side note, it’s hard walking in this different traffic flow, imagine me driving in it!!! A little scary…
We ended up at a pub… as expected, soccer/futball blaring on the tv. Other patrons cheered loudly! We ordered lunch and a drink. To my surprise, the French martini I ordered came in pairs. During the day it’s 2 for 1… That’s my Mother’s Day treat! I had a simple meal… tapas actually. It was a skewer of chorizo and a delicious baked cheese. Oh my… and it was served with a fruit jam. Sounds a little strange but it was really good. The deal on the menu said three tapas for ten pounds. The one I got was the ONLY one that fit my diet so I had three of them!
As we walked back up the subtle grade of the “hill”, I turned to look back at the town center. It’s a cute place… seems to have many restaurants and hotels. The beach is hidden by a new layer of fog that just rolled in. But it’s out there! We will have dinner on the pier tomorrow. They take the gluten free issue seriously here! So, I should have some food for a change!
Initially, we booked one night at The Grove Hotel. The cost was 114 pounds. After looking at flights out, we decided to add a day to our travel. When I made the change to add an extra night to our hotel booking, the total came out to 118 pounds. What a bargain! An extra night for 4 pounds! Our room was close to being ready but not quite. Fortunately, they have many comfortable places to hang out. Hubby chose the “living room” with cozy couches and chairs… and a tv. I loved the sun room. It had this wicker chair set up and views over the well landscaped yard.
Also… a well stocked library could be found in the living room area. Some of the book’s titles looked like those I would find at home. There was quite a variety… considering this is a resort town, I’m guessing many bring books to read and relax and then leave them for others to enjoy!
FINALLY! In our room… we make it a point not to sleep until the evening no matter how tired we are. That’s the only way we can get back on some sort of schedule… we just couldn’t follow our own advice this time. Both of us fell asleep… so here I am…2am… getting caught up on my posts… uh oh. We’ve had a “spot of tea” and tried watching boring shows… to no avail. We are wide awake because at home it’s only 8pm. Tomorrow should be fun… I’m going to force myself to sleep now. Another day = another adventure!
