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Back in 2003, I got an email from MSNBC's "Budget Travel" mailing list that advertised a nearly unbelievable deal: 6 nights in London for only $399 - including airfare and hotel! The missus and I talked about it and decided to go ahead and book the trip, which went down in February 2004 and is documented on this site here.

We had a great time, but Lisa felt as if she'd missed out on some things. Prior to this trip, she didn't have a lot of experience with international travel, so things like passport control, customs forms, dealing with a different currency and figuring out the Tube were somewhat overwhelming. She wanted to go back to London now that she "got it" and would have an easier time of it. And now that we'd visited most of the really "touristy" sites, we could take our time and just have fun.

That was the situation when Go Today, the company we booked our first London trip with, sent us an email in April 2005 about a "New Year's Eve in London" special. The price was right, so we went ahead and booked the trip for December 26, 2005 through January 2, 2006. In the interim, we poured through guidebooks and websites, asked friends and family for tips and even bought some first class upgrade vouchers off eBay. Time marched on, and eventually December 26^th finally hit the calendar.

This is a travelogue of that trip.

The Flight There

I mentioned just a second ago that I bought some first class upgrade vouchers off eBay. In general, there are two types of upgrade voucher - "space positive" and "space available". Space positive upgrades are essentially "guaranteed" upgrades - you can call the airline the second you book your seats (no matter how far in advance) and upgrade to first class without any hassle whatsoever. However, space positive upgrades only work on "full fare" tickets, which we didn't have. So I had to buy the "space available" upgrades, which - as the name implies - entitle you to upgrade to first class on any ticket (even the cheapest class of ticket, which is what we had) if space is available. In other words, if you have these upgrades, you need to show up early to get the upgrade.

It was for this reason that we rolled in to Charlotte Douglas airport at 8:58am to check-in, even though our flight was scheduled for 5:30 that afternoon. We held our breath as we checked our bags in. The ticket agent checked for first class availability... He said that it looked as though the upgrades wouldn't be a problem, but that we wouldn't know for sure until just before boarding... DRAT! We were, however, put on the upgrade list at around 9:08am, which put us around first in line for getting bumped up to first... HOORAY!

Of course, we didn't hang out at the airport for eight hours waiting for the flight. We retrieved the car from the hourly lot and drove back home, where Lisa did some last minute cleaning whilst I - up late the night before tracking down information about some places I wanted to visit - opted to take a nap. Lisa's dad showed up around 2:30 to take us to the airport, which was actually quite refreshing. Our heavy bags were already checked and we didn't have to worry about parking, which apparently was quite an issue.

To make a long story short, we did indeed get upgraded to first class on our connecting flight to Philadelphia and our main flight from there to London Gatwick. I was as happy as a clam and Lisa was damn near over the moon - she'd never flown first class before and she was about to bust a gut to sink into those huge comfy seats! But first class isn't just about comfy seats and decent food. It was so nice being referred to as "Ms. Wilson" and "Mr. Cofer" instead of "hey you!" like they do in coach. The hot hand towels were a nice touch, as was the "amenity kit", which included comfy socks, a sleep mask, toothpaste and a disposable brush and earplugs. Drinking from an actual glass instead of a plastic cup and eating off real plates instead of microwave containers was so... elegant. Constantly being asked if we needed anything was wonderful. All in all, it was a wonderful experience, even if the flight was bumpy. And I mean constantly bumpy. The turbulence was never really bad - except for one little 30 second patch - but it was constant, as if we were taking a 4x4 via the overland route instead of a modern jet.

On The Ground

We landed just a few minutes late, but the first class perks kept on coming! Towards the end of the flight we were presented with "Fast Track" passes which allowed us to cut to the front of the passport control line. Since it looked as though there were 800 people waiting to get their passport stamped, we almost felt like celebrities going through a special "secret" line! But what's the deal with those questions the passport guys ask? I know that they're calculated to trip you up somehow, but it's not like I'm going to screw up and say "Which hotel am I staying at? ALLU AKBAR YOU INFIDEL PIG!" or "What's the purpose of my visit? Why, I'm here to deliver a suitcase full of heroin to a guy named Bullet Tooth Tony. Why do you ask?" I don't get it.

We also were given free passes to the first class lounge at Gatwick airport, which we both decided to take advantage of. I felt really crusty after the flight, so opted to take a nice hot shower, while Lisa sat in the lounge enjoying free muffins and drinks whilst she got her bearings. I've gotta tell ya, that shower was really something. The lounge hostess led me to a private stall which might have been bigger than the freakin' hotel room we had on our first London trip. The stall was completely incased in marble, was lit "just enough" and had nice dark granite countertops and cherry wood cabinets. Hell, it was relaxing just walking in there. It had a normal toilet - something you don't appreciate until you've been on a plane for eight hours - as well as a nicely-sized shower stall. It was "appointed" with luxurious Bulgari shampoos and shower gels. I know I'm rambling here, but it was as if the shower just resurrected me, even if I just put my dirty clothes back on!

So anyway, after the shower I had to decide which train to take - the Gatwick Express or one of the other lines, like Thameslink. I decided on Thameslink, as it stopped at the King's Cross tube station, which is much closer to the Hilton than Victoria station (where the Express terminates). But did I make a mistake? The winter weather was wreaking havoc on train travel in southern England. Trains were being cancelled left and right. Our own train was a few minutes late getting to Gatwick station... It should have been a sign, for no sooner had we passed East Croydon when our train ground to a halt! We were stuck there for around a half hour - which is always a blast after a long plane flight! To make matters even worse, we were stopped in the bottom of a steep valley which was covered in nothing but grass and some dandelion looking plants... so there was nothing for us to look at out the window! We were never told what the specific problem was - it was with some train ahead of us - but no matter... eventually we were on our way again!

Exhausted from lugging our bags around the King's Cross and Edgware Road tube stations, we arrived at the Hilton London Metropole only to find an unexpected perk - it seems that they somehow screwed up our reservation... and had to upgrade our room to a king size bed! Woo-Hoo! Check it out:

Anyway, after Lisa and I relaxed in the room for a little bit, we decided to take a walk around the neighborhood. We ended up calling the area "Little Lebanon" after all the shops advertising Halal meats (with signs in Arabic) and ladies walking around in burkas. At times, it was almost as if we were in Lebanon instead of London! It was something of a jolt seeing the occasional island of British culture in the midst of all this, like the Marks and Spencer next door or the lone pub on the street or the occasional Ladbrokes (bookies). Of course, Lisa was less than pleased to find Corporate America butting in as well, as it seems as if there's a Starbucks on every corner of London in general, not just "our" neighborhood.

By this point, we were hungry. Neither of us knew much about Lebanese food, aside from hummus and falafel. Do you know what kibbeh bil-saneeya or yakhnet batata is? Because of our lack of knowledge of Lebanese cuisine, we opted for Indian takeaway... only it was microwaved. Lisa ordered some samosas and I opted for tikka masala. The guy took our order, carefully filled some takeout containers with what we asked for, then (without shame, mind you) put them into one of a bank of microwave ovens behind the counter. Interesting.

After taking a little nap back at the room, we departed for our first tourist destination: the Ceremony of the Keys. The ceremony is how the Tower of London is locked up every night. It's the longest-running military ceremony in the world and has happened every night for the past 700 years! Learn more about the ceremony here.

A "busker" (Brit slang for "street performer"), sitting on the sidewalk outside of the Boots drug store in Piccadilly Circus. Note that most buskers earn a living by playing a musical instrument, doing magic tricks or juggling or something. This guy just had a standard pylon that he'd probably stolen off the street. He was trying to play it "didgeridoo-style"; as you might imagine, he only succeeded in making a directional version of the "buzzzzz" sound with his lips. In fact, he was so bad that this nice couple were there giving him pointers on how to be a "real" busker.

There was a funny postscript to the day. As we were walking around Piccadilly Circus, Lisa said that she needed to find a restroom. I glanced up the street and saw a pub and suggested that we go in there so she could pee and I could just chill out and get a beer. As we approached the pub, I got the nagging feeling that it looked familiar. As we entered the pub, I looked around and felt that it looked really familiar. I asked Lisa if the place looked familiar... and she burst out laughing!

"You don't remember this place, Captain Absinthe?"
"This is the place?"
"Yes it is. You were drunk enough already last time, yet you walked in here and had three or four shots of absinthe. I trust you know the rest?"

Egads... How embarrassing! At least on this visit I just had one single beer! After leaving the pub, we stopped at a pizza takeaway place and got a slice each (also microwaved). It had a bizarrely "spongy" crust. Oh well, it was good eats anyway. After polishing off the pizza, we went back to the room and crashed. Whew - What a day!